Last Friday, Stéphane Dos Antos Neto explained us the latest events of the conflict between Muslims and Hindus around the religious area of Ayodhya, a very symbolic place for the two religious communities. Indeed, Hindus believe that god Rama was born in this place whereas a mosque was built in Ayodhya in 1528. Since 1947, this place is the source of religious tensions and conflicts.
The struggle has really begun in 1992 with the demolition of the mosque by Hindus extremist. The riots between the religious groups have spawned 2 000 deaths since 1992, underlining the intensity of religious tensions in India since its partition in 1947.But September 29th, 2010 a court of India has decided to propose a compromise to remedy situation, sharing the site between Muslims, Hindus and a minority Hindus sect.
Currently, the government is trying coping with the rising of violence by appealing for calm. However, both Muslims and Hindus denounce the ruling because they reckon it not satisfactory.
Actually, the ongoing crisis is a test of India’s secular identity: to what extent can the country succeed in persuading the two communities to live together?
After this talk, Stéphane encouraged us to wonder about the relevance of the ruling: does the decision to share this area is the best one ? This pragmatic question did not cause a significant response in ours class. But the second question, slightly philosophical, provoked a burning debate: do you think the world would be better without religion ?
I deem this ruling boils down to forget the religious nature of the area: Muslims and Hindus are not fighting for a territory but for a place of worship. That’s why I believe a partition cannot solve the conflict. I consider that a politic of education attuned to the two religions in order to learn tolerance can conducive to put a stop to the struggle. I know it is an idealist idea but I think Indian government has no alternative to stop the tensions between Muslims and Hindus. Stéphane said he preferred the government make this place a secular one, building a school or something like that. But whatever the solution may be, it cannot stop confrontations immediately and I am convinced that Ayodhya will be in the headlines for a long time.
About religions, we said that there is no denying that its spawn world tensions or wars and that several tens of millions of deaths are attributable to religions. Some people in ours class reckon that religion is the ultimate cause of wars and for this cause, world would be more peaceful, better without religion. Nevertheless, I think that humans cannot live without religion: it may be a source of hope and some people find in religious practices responses to theirs doubts and theirs fears. Admittedly, we cannot exhaust the subject and I invite you to pursue this fascinating debate.
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