Virtue of scepticism

Great tragedies have always evoked strange reactions from people. Happily, the most recent disaster has brought out the best in most people. But there has been the occasional silly note being struck. Let me begin, however, with a sketch of the nicer side of humanity.

I was in a hospital in Bangalore on the morning of January 26, far removed from the epicentre, whether political or seismic. Yet, I was happy to note that Chief Minister of Karnataka S. M. Krishna was among the first to respond to the calamity in distant Gujarat. Karnataka was one of the first to send cash (about Rs 20 crore), kind (blankets and medical supplies), and men (a team of doctors). Ordinary citizens, both in Bangalore and elsewhere, were generous to a fault.

Of course, that cooperative attitude was not unique to Karnataka. I believe that every state has responded, as have people from other nations and international aid organisations. Sadly, this harmony was rocked by some silly remarks.

A member of S. M. Krishna’s Council of Ministers, a Mr. John, allegedly stated that the quake in Gujarat was God’s response for the attacks on Christian missionaries. Sadly, this bigoted attitude was not unique to the Congress (I) minister.

The first time that I heard something like this was on a cable television channel in New York run by a sect of rabid proselytisers. They claimed that the super-cyclone in Orissa was the result of their God’s wrath following the death of Graham Staines. It is possible that they shall make the same claims again, although I hope that wisdom has dawned today!

The pronouncements of Christian proselytisers in the United States are not really an issue to us in India. (Or they should not be under normal circumstances!) But it is very sad to hear the same poison being spread in Bangalore. That is right, a certain group of Christians — often found evangelising from door to door — were heard saying much the same on Indian soil. (Let us not name any names; suffice it to say that even Pope John Paul II himself has been heard expressing his disapproval of their actions.)

Let us stretch a point and say that they have the right to say what they want. I can live with that, but surely it is a different matter when a minister, a public servant, comes out with such statements. It is, frankly, disgusting. (The minister has resigned in the meantime. – Editor)

I can imagine the furore had a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, or the Shiv Sena said something remotely similar. If a natural cataclysm on this scale strikes, say, the United States, would it be because of the anti-Hindu `dot busters’? And what led to the quakes that devastated Kobe in Japan, or Anatolia in Turkey, or the valleys of China, or the mountains of Iran? Was it because there aren’t any Hindus in those countries?

That is a moronic argument, is it not? Yet, what would be thought stupid in the goose is considered free speech for the gander. It would, I think, be a healthy development if somebody from the hierarchy of the Christian churches spoke out against John’s alleged remarks. They might also remind him that he is a minister of the state, not a minister of the faith. But I doubt that anyone is going to have him on the carpet!

The media have been happy to air stories of various communities coming together in Gujarat. But what is happening in the western state should not mask an impending tragedy in the south. Think about it: in India’s most computer-savvy state, it is becoming acceptable to make communal remarks. Coming from South India as I do, I realise how polarised my part of the country has become. I fear, however, that the worst is yet to come.

While in Bangalore, I also realised just how quickly panic could be struck off. Peninsular India experienced a mild quake on the morning of January 29. Then someone spread the rumour that there would be a devastating quake later in the day, at noon or shortly thereafter.

A hospital is supposed to be a temple to science. But there were enough people even there who believed rumours, unsubstantiated by any seismologist, who took them seriously. In blind, unthinking panic, some began moving hospital fittings out into the open air. Even some stretcher cases were, I believe, wheeled out.

Rumours and communalism are a potent cocktail. It struck me all too forcibly in Bangalore how desperately we lack the virtue of scepticism. People returned to their roofs when the noon hour passed without the earth heaving. Suppose, however, that it was a different kind of a rumour about, say, a riot. Would enough people believe it to make it a self-fulfilling tragedy?

There is much that is good in the human spirit, but there is also plenty that is irrational. Heavens grant us the wisdom to distinguish between the truth and the rumour!

And what led to the quakes that devastated Kobe in Japan, or Anatolia in Turkey, or the mountains of Iran? Was it because there aren’t any Hindus in those countries?