A Hindu Perspective
Interfaith Study in Secular Context: A Hindu Perspective Prabhakar Bhattacharyya* “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah sarve santu niramayah Sarve bhadrani pasyantu ma kascid duhkhabhag bhavet” “Let everyone be happy, everybody recover from illness, let everybody see good things alone and let no one suffer” This prayer is the expression of spiritual and cultural heritage of India and general inclusivistic attitude of the Hindu people towards all around including animals, plants even inanimate nature. Naturally, in these days of communal conflicts such inclusivistic sayings may seem mere lip service to the victims of such conflicts. However, history of communal violence is not very old in India and are the result of English education, western life style and alienation of the common people from educated elites. In this connection I like to quote from the proceedings of the British Parliament. Lord Macaulay acknowledged in the parliament on 2nd February, 1985 : “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such moral values, people of such caliber that I do not think we would ever conquer this country unless we break the very backbone of this nation which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and therefore, I propose we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.” The present paper is an humble attempt to show that Indian Secularism is not the legacy of western tradition, rather the direct inheritance of ancient and medieval social and political practice.
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