The problem with too much religion in public spaces

This week it was reported that Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wore a skull cap on Eid. This is the Indian thing to do and all politicians must be inclusive. Congressman Kadir Pirzada, the former mayor of Surat who used to be my neighbour, is always at the Ganesh Visarjan for the entire day, supervising the arrangements for drinking water and lifeguards. During Navratri, he was also open to holding the thali at the arti. One year Indian Express reported that some clerics had issued a fatwa against Pirzada because of this, but he did not change his ways. Both of these are good and admirable episodes. However, I have a problem with too much religion in the public space. For instance, one of the off-putting things about flying PIA is being subjected to Pakistani piety. “The Prophet of Islam used to say this prayer before beginning his journeys,” a voice announces in Urdu and English, and then something in Arabic is played through the public address system. This sequence is repeated on every flight, international and domestic. Why inflict this on paying customers? The other thing I noticed on the first Mumbai-Karachi flight I took many years ago was that only vegetarian food was served. At first, I speculated this was in consideration for Indian passengers, who may have dominated the flight. When this happened again on a second flight, I figured out that wasn’t the case. I began to suspect that the Pakistanis probably didn’t trust the halal food in India, and it was for them that all the food was vegetarian. This was also a display of religiosity and I thought it was petty. I also have a problem with displays of nationalism in professional settings. On Monday, July 22, I took Indigo 463 from Mumbai to Bangalore. The flight was late and the pilot, a trim man of about 50, came out of the cockpit after boarding was complete and spoke from the aisle facing the passengers. I’m a farmer and love the monsoons, he said, but unfortunately the clouds you can see outside also delay flying operations. He also blamed Mumbai’s one-runway situation for the one hour delay and then finished his announcement with: “Jai Hind! Vande Mataram!” When we were landing, he made his weather and related announcements and again ended with: “Jai Hind! Vande Mataram!” [caption id=“attachment_278928” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  When does cultural symbolism become religious? Pic: Reuters[/caption] As we exited, some of the fliers went up to him, presumably to say he should carry on the good work. I asked the air hostess his name as I was leaving. Captain Shailendra, she said. I’m sure he’s well meaning, but Indigo should tell its staff that gratuitous nationalism and patriotism is not to be fed to customers (especially on a budget airline where everything else must be paid for). I heard this related story about the actor Rahul Bose and he will forgive me if it turns out to be apocryphal. He arrived at Bombay Gymkhana one afternoon to see a little staff prayer set up for Ganesh Chaturthi or another such festival. He objected. Next your staff will want to perform namaz here, he said, and it will be difficult to stop that if this is allowed. He shut down the prayer, and I’m on his side. Another similar incident came from many years ago when I was interviewing Syed Shahbuddin. We were talking about religion in the public space and he said a secular state should not begin its functions with prayers and lamp lighting. He had just come from a function where this had happened. He said he found the prayer, if I remember it right it was the Gayatri Mantra, moving but thought both the prayer and the lamp were not in keeping with secularism. I’m not sure I agree with him about the lamp lighting bit. I don’t think too many Indians see it as a religious thing so much as a cultural and traditional thing. Shahbuddin would also know that and it seemed to me his objection came from being small-minded. The best thing is to be tolerant about the other person’s faith and not aggressive about projecting your own. If all of us could manage that, it would be a much nicer world.