PSEUDO-RELIGION, FUNDAMENTALISM, AND VIOLENCE

Abstract

India is a land of great sages who have searched deep into their own hearts to come to a perennial understanding of the reality. The co-existing religions and a pluralistic vision of reality are the living testimonies of the great heritage that India has to offer to humanity, especially when clouds are darkening on Indian and international horizons. Although religions still hold sway on the Indian population, pseudo-religious entities are sneaking into the holy precincts reserved for genuine religions and as a result we witness tensions and strife in our society. Added to these woes, politicians play foul games to tackle the vote bank and manipulate the religious identities for successfully realizing their political designs: religion is becoming a puppet in the hands of politicians. The so-called holy men and women who make venomous statements against all other religions and call for the boycott of one or the other religion as it is not originated in the land, or proclaim their allegiance to various political parties for temporal gains are, by and large, unholy in their being and actions.