Religious Pluralism in and Sikkim Brian Hoffert

Abstract In the summer of 2018, I participated in an AsiaNetwork Faculty Enhancement Program (ANFEP) on Religion in National and International Affairs in China and India. Each day of our three week trip was packed with visits to religious sites and meetings with top scholars, but the nine days we spent in the regions of Darjeeling and Sikkim made a particularly strong impression on me. As a religious studies professor, I have an academic interest in the issue of religious pluralism, but what I experienced in Darjeeling and Sikkim went beyond mere respect for religious diversity or even a willingness to discover sacred truth in other traditions, for in these foothill communities of the Himalayas, religious pluralism is deeply embedded in the very fabric of society. This essay is my attempt to convey the flavor of religious pluralism in the region by reflecting on some of my most memorable experiences from the trip.

Keywords: Darjeeling, Sikkim, Himalayas, Religious Pluralism, Animism, Interfaith Dialogue

Preface: In the summer of 2018, I participated in an AsiaNetwork Faculty Enhancement Program (ANFEP) on Religion in National and International Affairs in China and India. The program, which was generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, brought ten American liberal arts professors to Hong Kong, Guangdong (Canton province) and northeast India (Kolkata, Darjeeling and Sikkim). Each day of our three week trip was packed with visits to religious sites and meetings with top scholars, but the nine days we spent in the regions of Darjeeling and Sikkim made a particularly strong impression on me. As a religious studies professor, I have an academic interest in the issue of religious pluralism. In my experience, most of the religious communities that I have interacted with in both North America and Asia have exhibited a genuine respect for religious diversity and an openness to interfaith dialogue and other forms of engagement with a variety of religious traditions. What I experienced in Darjeeling and Sikkim, however, went beyond an appreciation for religious diversity or even a willingness to discover sacred truth in other traditions, for in these foothill communities of the Himalayas, religious pluralism is deeply embedded in the very fabric of society. The following essay is my attempt to convey the flavor of religious pluralism in the region by reflecting on some of my most memorable experiences from the trip.

One of the special characteristics of rural communities in Northeast India is the samaj.

According to dictionary.com, a samaj is “a Hindu religious society or movement,” though in this part of India the emphasis is on “society” rather than “religion.” Indeed, we were told that the local samaj typically includes residents from various religions who share in each other’s religious customs. For example, if a couple is getting married, all will pitch in to make the necessary preparations and participate in the associated religious rituals and members of the

community participate in each other’s religious festivals.

While this seems to be a good recipe for religious tolerance, it was noted during a Seminar on

Religious Pluralism that we attended one morning that seemingly harmonious communities have

exploded into religious violence before. For example, when Yugoslavia was broken up after the

collapse of the Soviet Union, Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and Bosnian Muslims

slaughtered each other even though they had previously lived together harmoniously. There are,

in fact, social issues that have the potential to disrupt the religious harmony for which the region is well known, though religious pluralism (i.e., harmonious relations between adherents of different religions and/or religious denominations that go beyond a mere tolerance for diversity) is such a defining feature of the region that it is likely to endure for the foreseeable future.

Our first stop in the was the

Makaibari Tea Estates. During our tour of the tea

fields, the manager mentioned that there had

recently been a three-month general strike in the

district, which Makaibari supported despite the

tremendous cost to the company (they lost an

entire year’s harvest and it took several months

to rehabilitate the tea plants once the workers

returned). To be clear, Makaibari has a long

history of treating its employees well; indeed, on

April 12, 2017 Swaraj Kumar Banerjee, the current heir of the family that began the estate, gifted his remaining 12% share in the company to the workers (Giri 2018). As we found out, the Makaibari employees (and the people of

Darjeeling more generally) were not striking for higher wages, but in response to the West

Bengal government’s announcement that Bengali would be a compulsory subject for grades 1-10

across the state (Staff 2017).

At the time, I didn’t have enough information to fully appreciate the sociopolitical factors that

led to the strike, though after picking up additional details during the trip and doing further

research at home, I learned that the so-called “Gorkhaland Agitations” date back to the 1980s,

when Subhash Gisingh initiated demands for a separate state in the Darjeeling region. The

movement turned violent and ultimately led to the deaths of over 1200 people (Wikipedia, n.d.,

“Gorkhaland”). In 2010, conflict within the movement led to the assassination of Madan Tamang, a political leader who was hacked to death by supporters of a rival faction for his insistence that the Gorkhaland issue be resolved through negotiation rather than violence (Wikipedia, n.d.,

“Madan Tamang”). One of the professors that we met lost his father to such violence when he was young and eleven more died in the 2017 strike.

The term “Gorkha” refers to a conglomeration of various tribal ethnicities, each of which has

its own language, though the entire region has adopted Nepali as the lingua franca. Whenever I

asked someone about the languages they spoke, they always listed a minimum of three (their

mother tongue, Nepali, and English), though none of the people I asked spoke Bengali; this was already a controversial issue, so the government’s move to impose this language on the region would appear to have been an intentional provocation. In any case, the Gorkhaland separatist movement has considerable support in Darjeeling district and therefore serves as a unifying force, though as the assassination of Madan Tamang demonstrates, issues that unify can quickly become disagreements that divide. In the words of Yonah Bhutia, “The movement for separate state status of Gorkhaland ventilated dissatisfaction with the prevailing level of low development and it also shows growing consciousness as regards ethnic identity…. In the wake of cultural, linguistic and political dominance by the Nepalis, the demand for Gorkhaland raised questions as regards the position of other ethnic communities in the region…. [In particular, there has been a] marginalization of the Lepchas who are considered to be the original inhabitants of the region” (Bhutia 1996, 7). It is also worth noting that the West Bengal government has been encouraging the revival of tribal identities by providing economic benefits for “scheduled tribes” (i.e., tribes that have historically been disadvantaged), which could “open up space for inter-community conflicts based on differential political affiliations” (Sarkar 2014).

As an outsider with insufficient information to reasonably evaluate the issue, it is not my place to weigh in on the question of whether Gorkhaland independence would ultimately be good or bad for the region. It does, however, seem likely that independence would increase the amount of internal conflict in the region, as the various ethnic and social groups that are currently unified against the state and national governments would refocus their attention on power struggles within a new state administration.

As the above discussion suggests, Darjeeling is not immune to social and political conflict and has experienced a considerable amount of violence over the past few decades. Yet religion has not been a significant source of tension, despite the fact that in April of 2017 the Pew Research

Center ranked India as the fourth worst country in the world for religious hostilities (Pew

Research Center 2017). This is a complicated issue with many facets, but it is surely worth noting that religious intolerance is implicit in the official “Hindutva” (Hinduness) ideology of

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which “many Indian social scientists have described…as fascist, adhering to the concept of homogenised majority and cultural hegemony (Wikipedia, n.d., “Hindutva”). In the words of George Plathottam, Director of the National

Institute of Social Communications, Research and Training, “Hindutva has permeated much of

the fabric of Indian society, polity and culture. The dangerous, or at times catastrophic,

ramifications are there before our eyes or are unfolding” (Plathottam 2012, 38).

So, what are they doing right in Darjeeling and Sikkim—and to what extent can their “recipe”

for religious harmony be exported to other parts of India? In the aforementioned Seminar on

Religious Pluralism, T. B. Subba (a highly respected anthropologist who recently served as the

Vice Chancellor of Sikkim University) suggested that the successful development of religious

pluralism in the region was due to what he called the “sedimentation” of religious traditions.

According to this theory, non-indigenous religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity

are merely the surface layers of a belief system that is ultimately grounded on a substratum of

animism—the idea that all things, both animate and inanimate, possess some type of spiritual

essence.

This process of sedimentation is particularly clear in the case of Tibetan Buddhism (the

primary form of Buddhism in the region), which continues to preserve animistic elements from

pre-Buddhist Himalayan traditions. Yet we saw evidence of a similar layering of traditions in the

two churches that we visited in . The first was St. Teresa’s Church, which was built

by Father Jules Douenel, a Swiss Missionary who arrived in Kalimpong in June, 1924 (Dsouza

2015, 120). He used local craftsmen to build the church, which is based on Tibetan architectural

design and resembles a Bhutanese gompa (Buddhist monastery). The doors of the church have beautiful carvings that continue the syncretic theme of the architectural design: the carvings on

the outside represent the eight auspicious symbols of Himalayan Buddhism (tashi tagye), while

those on the inside are symbols from the Christian tradition. According to Dr. Basil Bhutia, an independent researcher who gave us a wonderful lecture on the history of the church, the fact that the Christian symbols are on the inside may be said to imply that one can maintain traditional culture on the outside but be a Christian in one’s heart; however, from the perspective of Dr. Subba’s sedimentation theory, it might also be interpreted as Father Douenel’s acceptance of the indigenous people’s “animistic substratum” as an effective strategy for proselytization.

St. Teresa’s Church (Kalimpong, West Bengal)

We saw further evidence of Christian “inculturation” in Mary Mother of God Church, which split off from St. Teresa’s in 1974 (Dsouza 2015, 132). Like St. Teresa’s, this church is built in the style of a local Buddhist monastery, but in this case the indigenous elements are particularly striking. The outside of the building is covered in non-Christian symbols, such as the Chinese ideograph for longevity and standard Tibetan Buddhist symbols like the Dharma Wheel

(representing the dissemination of Buddha’s teachings) and the conch shell (representing the sound of the Dharma being “trumpeted” far and wide, awakening sentient beings from ignorance). There are also numerous paintings both inside and outside that incorporate indigenous motifs in their presentation of traditional Christian themes; for example, as one enters the church, there is a painting of St. Peter floating on a lotus throne with the key to the Pearly

Gates in one hand while the other makes a mudra associated with Amitabha welcoming the dead to the “Pure Land” (which is roughly equivalent to the Christian conception of heaven).

Mary Mother of God Church (Kalimpong, West Bengal)

We also experienced this spirit of syncretism in the

Jesuit Residence at Loyola College of Education in

Sikkim. As soon as we entered the front door there was a “Welcome” sign with many images of oil lamps.

While light is a common symbol of wisdom and spiritual illumination in many traditions, I was struck by the fact that that the lamps in question were distinctly Indian; indeed, the sign was devoid of any Christian iconography and without any additional context one might have guessed that we

were entering a Hindu temple. Proceeding down the hall, we came to a set of seven Tibetan style thangka (Tibetan Buddhist paintings), which upon closer examination portrayed Christian

figures and themes. For example, one presented twelve

scenes from the life of Jesus in a style that is highly

reminiscent of the twelve links of dependent origination

(Skt: pratītyasamutpāda ) in the ubiquitous Bhavacakra

(Wheel of Life) mandala. Another presented similar

scenes in the style of a thangka depicting the Twelve

Deeds of the Buddha (Skt: dvadaśabuddhakārya), which

in this case features an image of Christ at the center that

is almost indistinguishable from a Buddha holding a

wish-fulfilling gem, though it is described in the legend at the bottom of the painting as “Christ

has Died, Christ is Risen, Christ Come Again.”

While the syncretic elements of these examples may not

be typical of all the Christian institutions in the region, they

certainly demonstrate a spirit of openness to other religious

traditions that was characteristic of everyone we met,

regardless of their religious affiliation. To paraphrase Lama

Ngawang Gyatso Tenzing of the Dali Monastery in

Darjeeling, the beliefs and practices of the various religions

are like the clothes that we wear, but beneath the clothes we are all the same, unified in our common pursuit of an ultimate reality that transcends our attempts to conceptualize it. This sentiment, which was shared by so many people that I met in Darjeeling and Sikkim, was on full display in Saraswati

Dolma Mandir, a small temple that I found on a morning walk in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.

When you enter the temple compound, you immediately see images of Ganesh and Hanuman

(two Hindu deities that are widely worshiped throughout India), but as you approach the worship hall you pass by various pictures, including one of Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha), another of

Jetsun Dolma (a.k.a. Tara, a deity that is popular with both Hindus and Tibetan Buddhists), and one that features icons of various global religions. The primary deity in the worship hall is of

course Saraswati (depicted with a stringed instrument called a vīnā). To her left are the Hindu

deities Krishna, Ganesh, and Durga, but on her right are the Buddhist deities Tara, Sakyamuni,

and Padmasambhava (a.k.a. Guru Rimpoche, patron deity of Tibetan Buddhism). After

performing devotion to these deities, I went to the Hindu priest on the left to receive a tilak (in

this case a vermillion dot applied on my forehead, symbolizing the divine “third eye”). Behind

the priest was another popular trinity featuring Jaganatha (“Lord of the Universe”—a form of

Krishna) flanked by his brother Balabhadra and his sister Subhadra. There were also posters depicting Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838?–1918) and his supposed reincarnation Sathya Sai Baba

(1926–2011), whose temple we would visit on the way back to Darjeeling. There was also a place to receive Buddhist blessings on the right side of the temple, though no monk was in attendance to bestow them.

Saraswati Dolma Mandir (Gangtok, Sikkim)

This is one more example of the kind of genuine religious pluralism that we witnessed

throughout the region. According to Diana Eck, a Professor of Comparative Religion and Hindu

Studies at Harvard as well the founder and director of Harvard’s Pluralism Project, there are four

essential principles of pluralism: “First, pluralism is not diversity alone, but the energetic

engagement with diversity…. Second, pluralism is not just tolerance, but the active seeking of

understanding across lines of difference…. Third, pluralism is not relativism, but the encounter

of commitments…. Fourth, pluralism is based on dialogue” (Eck 2006). Such pluralism certainly exists in the U.S., but in Darjeeling and Sikkim it seems to be the norm. Perhaps this is connected to Dr. Subba’s theory of religious sedimentation, according to which the region’s shared substratum of animism would make it easier for people to see beyond the surface layers of religious belief and practice, just as people from different parts of the U.S. should, in theory, be able to connect with each other through a shared substratum of “American” values (though political polarization is unfortunately making this increasingly difficult—a danger that could potentially materialize in Darjeeling and Sikkim as well).

My own sense, however, is that there is also a conscious belief in the idea that the divine is one but its forms are many. This was, in fact, a mainstream Hindu belief for much of India’s history, though like the ideological polarization that threatens American tolerance for competing political agendas, the ruling party’s “Hindutva” (Hinduness) ideology has little room for any genuine engagement with religious diversity. However, refusing to engage with the “other” does not make them go away: if there are social issues that are creating friction between religious groups, the problems don’t get solved, but only become more deeply entrenched. And when the resulting pressure builds up, there will inevitably be an explosion of religious violence. So what can Indians do to improve their ranking as the fourth worst country in the world for religious hostilities? They could start with Diana Eck’s fourth principle: “pluralism is based on dialogue.”

In this regard, they could certainly learn from the Darjeeling Interfaith Group, which was formed in 2005 by our very own Father George (the president of Salesian College who organized the

India portion of our trip).

The group is made up of representatives from various religions, including Hinduism, Jainism,

Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. They meet every three months, with the location rotating among its constituent members’ places of worship. On our last day in the region, we attended one of these meetings, which on that day was held in a Sathya Sai Baba temple in Darjeeling.

There were seven religious leaders on the altar/stage and approximately 150 members of different religious communities in the audience. The meeting began with a beautiful ritual in which each of the representatives participated in the lighting of a large oil lamp (which as previously noted symbolizes wisdom and spiritual illumination in most religious traditions). Glenn Shive (the other organizer of the ANFEP program) was given the honor of participating in

the ritual and was also invited to sit on the stage with the other representatives, which ultimately

meant that he had to give an impromptu speech on the significance of interfaith harmony. The

opening ceremonies were conducted in English (for our benefit), but thereafter they switched to

Nepali (with the obvious exception of Dr. Shive, who spoke in English).

Although we could not understand the speeches, the tenor of the meeting can be gleaned from

various quotes that were published from the meeting in December of 2017. For example, Dr.

Samuel Lepcha, Head Priest of Cathedral Parish, noted that “Only seeking truth through dialogue

among religions can bring peace and harmony” (Paul 2017), while Venerable N. T. Gyatso,

Director of the Dali Monastery, said “We are traveling in the same boat in the same river which

has currents and turbulences even though everyone hopes to reach the same destination safely”

(Matters India 2017). Such sentiments beautifully summarize the sense of interfaith harmony that

we experienced at the meeting we attended and indeed everywhere we traveled throughout the

region. It would be hard to imagine a more appropriate way to end our trip!

[INSERT SELFIE AFTER PEER REVIEW]

Concluding Reflection

The Himalayas, to me, exemplify what India represents—a mosaic of cultures, worldviews, philosophies, languages, ethnic identities and much more. One of the most powerful symbols of what India is may be found in the great rivers that take its birth on the slopes of the Himalayas. The water merges with thousands of other streams and tributaries, making them into the mighty Brahmaputra and the Ganges. Nature, the Himalayas, in particular, never ceases to teach us how to be different and yet related and to be connected, maintains harmony, and how to be assimilated without losing one’s identity, selfhood, and freedom. (Plathottam 2012, 33)

In the inspirational words of George Plathottam: “The Himalayas are not only a physical fortress that protects the country, it represents in microcosm what India is; she is the depository of the sub-continent’s cultural, linguistic and religious richness and diversity. We can rediscover the richness and beauty of our country not by using the expression ‘unity in diversity’ merely as a platitude, but by affirming its worth in a thousand little ways. When we affirm the myriad identities of all the peoples who inhabit India we are affirming our true identity and unity”

(Plathottam 2012, 41). Religious harmony is ultimately a choice: it requires a community of open-minded individuals who affirm its worth in a “thousand little ways,” from crossing sectarian lines to participate in religious rituals and festivals with your neighbors to celebrating diversity by attending interfaith meetings. Religious pluralism is not a given, but a mountain that must be scaled—and the hill people of Darjeeling and Sikkim know how to climb!

Postface: I would like to add a few words of gratitude for all of the people that made this essay possible. First and foremost, I am grateful to AsiaNetwork and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for providing the funds for the Asia Network Faculty Enhancement Program (ANFEP). Words simply can’t express my appreciation for the hard work that Glenn Shive and Father George Thadathil put into organizing the program, which far exceeded my very high expectations. This appreciation extends to those who assisted Glenn and George: David Palmer, Martin Tse, Eunice To, Mark Pixley, Karen Lim, Father C. M. Paul, Peter Lepche, and Patrick Johnson. I must also thank all the faculty who participated in the program: [INSERT PARTICIPANT NAMES AFTER PEER REVIEW]. The insights that I developed on the trip are a product of our collective discussions, both formal and informal, and I look forward to our reunion at next year’s AsiaNetwork conference in San Diego.

References

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Dictionary.com. n.d. “Samaj.” Accessed August 5, 2018. dictionary.com/browse/samaj.

DSouza, Lorenzo. 2015. “Study of the Educational Approach of Don Bosco as Implemented in the Schools of the Western Region of India.” Shodghanga: A Reservoir of Indian Theses @ INFLIBNET. Accessed August 3, 2018. hdl.handle.net/10603/110400. Eck, Diana. 2006. “What is Pluralism.” The Pluralism Project (Harvard University). Accessed August 12, 2018. pluralism.org/what-is-pluralism.

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Staff, S. W. 2017. “Here’s A Timeline Of 104-Day Long Gorkhaland Agitation That Ended Today” Scoop Whoop News. September 27, 2017. scoopwhoop.com/heres-a-timeline-of- 104day-old-gorkhaland-agitation-that-ended-today/#.r3ltnfuye.

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