The recent floods at
Uttarakand caused due to cloud burst have resulted in huge loss of property and
lives of both humans and animals. It would take quite a time for the restoration
and the epicenter of the devastation and the prime piligrim spot, Kedarnath
temple is expected to be closed for one year for restoration works. Some allege that the restoration of the
temple may take even more but no one is talking about the quick restoration of
the temple faster and to bring the pilgrims back to the state and revive the
economy faster.
The prime focus at the
moment lies in the evacuating the stranded peoples and bring them to safe locations.
As usual the media has lost the track for the first few days and entered the
scene pretty late. The harvesting the tragedy though has started late, the
media has made a quick come back and has poked its cameras, mikes into the
faces of the grieving people who have been rescued. The media is allegedly is
said to have entered the temple sanctum sanctorum with shoes hurting the
sentiments of the communal souls of this country. Though the weather
predictions mentioned about heavy rainfall, the cloud burst was unexpected, but
the government was a bit lazy in not managing the affairs of the pilgrims and
in a way helped in reducing the count of the communal in this country.
The kind of deaths
that take place at the pilgrim centres of the communal souls of India will definitely
bring a point to the minds – Whether the government is desperately trying to
maintain a neutral stand? The facilities provided for the secular pilgrimages
to the Haj and the ministers who are handling the affairs work with perfection,
while those overseeing the communal pilgrimages donot conduct their works to
any levels of perfection. Thus year after year there are deaths during the
communal pilgrimages.
The deaths that
occurred at the railway station during the kumbh mela, the deaths occurring at
the Sabiramala, the accidents that occur at the Amarnath pilgrimage etc are all
instances of the government maintaining its secular neutrality. But the neutral
government has missed the point that even after all the secular disasters that
are not avoided, the communal that come year after year is only increasing and
thus is a slap on the face of the secular neutralism of the government.
To add to the
happiness of the communal, the government taxes the communal pilgrimages to
generate more revenue to conduct more secular pilgrimages. The government has
every right to spend the money of the public in the way it thinks is correct as
it is the representative of the majority of the people (30% of voters at max).
The government can also subsidize pilgrimages of a certain group of people all
in the name of secularism while members of the group ask the government to stop
such practices.
The government should
take over all the communal temples of this country and the money should be
spent on building more roads, schools for improving the secular credentials of
the citizens and in the end hope that there is more friendliness between the
different communities. The present religious neutrality of the Congress government
is really hurting the sentiments of each and every group of citizens. While it is hurting the religious sentiments
of the communal souls by not doing anything, it is damaging the meaning of Haj
of Secular Pilgrimages.