Missing link in politics and statecraft

[This was published in the Financial Express on 03 June 2012, Dhaka, Bangladesh]

There is no denying the fact that there is a missing link for which all the visions and missions of politics in various models of democracy are faced with acute crisis of not getting implemented smoothly in spite of the Himalayan efforts and drives. Political parties of various faiths and ideologies, ruling or opposition, are confused and bewildered since the overall landscapes entailing social, economic, cultural, religious and political are degrading day by day putting serious challenges to peace, stability and continuity. Corruptions, philistinism, cronyism, degradation of moral values, private or public, greediness, lessening ties of fellow-feelings, brotherhood and so forth have appeared as ‘Leviathan’ before the nation-states in particular and the world in general as if we are almost in the Hobbes’ ‘state of nature’. Widely-quoted fundamentalism, terrorism and trafficking of many faces are on rampant increase. Therefore, the question is what is the missing link?

Answer is clean, clear and thought-provoking indeed since there is emerging a new line of thoughts in new-fangled modes and contents from the latent areas of politics to voice and reiterate, and I believe also, that careful attention to the real teachings and practice of religions of various faiths and folds should be taken as the possible missing link. Today it is being felt and realized to a greater extent than ever before that the objects of politics are manifested all the way through its contents and for overhauling and rejuvenating the contents, carriers and implementers from within and without requires supports from religions as religion only religion can touch the body and soul together. Ethical standing and standard of politics are condition precedents for its survival, development, continuity and longevity. Man-made theories, doctrines, laws, rules and regulations all are subject to flaws and short-sightedness, and contain adequate roads, avenues, lanes and by-lanes for escapes and exits. Greediness, lusts, ugliness, negative competitions etc can hardly be uprooted from the very minds of those who prefer philistinism and opportunism anyhow and at any cost to altruism, sacrifice, dedication and commitments which are the basis of politics. Therefore, keeping the appeals and efficacy of religions at a long distance in the name of so-called standards of politics and civilization it may not be possible to continue as a measuring rod in the coming days. Growth of extreme secularism i.e. separation of religion both from life and state means inevitable rise and application of proper teachings and lessons of religions in life in the final end not as a segmented piece but as a whole at every possible stage of life from self to family to society to state to international compacts. Let there be no ambiguity about the conclusion that ‘whole is truer than a part and all the parts together constitute the whole’.

Time has come to reassess and recast everything in a new perspective and focus that neither Muslims nor Christians nor Jews not Hindus nor Sikhs nor Buddhists nor others in the currents are in a position to say in most of the cases, to be sure, that they are very much aware of the proper teachings and lessons of their respective religions while dealing with other(s) in a community, society, state in particular and the world in general. No religion in true sense of the term encourages a person to be dogmatic, hostile, terrorist, regressive and static. Humanity, humanitarian outlook, dedication and sacrifices are said to be ornaments of a religion. This is also true that, like other areas, religions have also become prey of negative interpretations, uses and escalations. We have to bear in mind with awareness the difference between a religious person and a religion-loving person. One is exactness leading to conclusion being the minority of a religion and the other is vagueness keeping distance from conclusion forming the majority. Today it is really difficult to find and rank a community based on proper foundation of a religion. Let the leaders in the domains of religions take the crisis as challenge without delay anymore.

Take it guaranteed that I am neither talking of anything in line with politics based on religion, nor asking for revival of Din-i-Ilahi ((Persian: دین الهی "Divine Faith") of the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great who reigned the Indian sub-continent from 27January 1556 to 27 October 1605(&1000000000000004900000049 years, &10000000000000273000000273 days). Akbar, for the purpose of perpetuating his rule, devised this synergetic model accommodating and merging the best elements of the religions of his empire, and thereby made attempts to command and enjoy the confidence of the people of all faiths and folds together. One of the major targets of it was to reconcile the differences that divided his subjects causing serious disorder and threat to the smooth and peaceful running of administration and atmosphere thereto. My proposition rather goes on saying that no canvass or model of politics aimed at the well-being of the people and development thereto can succeed or thrive in full or even achieve an optimum level of satisfaction if the people engaged in the process of leadership, distribution and implementation are not committed and dedicated from within with a considerable degree of sanctity and purification from her or his religion.

Once founding father of India Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi, widely acclaimed as pioneer of non-violent movement in India, remarked, ‘there is no politics devoid of religion’ and his concept of religion consisted in truth and love. Gandhi, in brief, desired to moralize man and society with an emphasis that moral means must be adopted to achieve desired results because where there exists and continues moral values and standard there is a way to even-mindedness which is full of a kind of spiritual power to spray and spread one’s sense of dedication and sacrifice. Today my realization is, ‘there cannot be politics proper short of touch of religion in building and cementing the base of dedication, honesty, transparency and sacrifices’.

Looking at the recent development in France, a land where laïcité (secularism) grew and developed, further attention deserves to be paid to the book ‘La République, les religions, l'espérance (The Republic, Religions, and Hope) co-authored by Surkozy, immediate past President of French, in 2004. He argued in the book that the young should not be brought up solely on secular or republican values and advocated reducing the separation of church and state, arguing for the government subsidy of mosques in order to encourage Islamic integration into French society. About the philosophical or ethical standing of France he stated on many occasions that ‘the roots of France are essentially Christian’. It’s a clear indication to the finding of religion as a possible missing link in politics.

When a US President-elect routinely touches the holy Bible while taking oath it at the same time conveys a message that even the President who remains under the obligations arising from the Constitution of USA requires further to tie himself with the religious lessons so that both divine and temporal laws may his guide, friend and inspiration. In its currency it wrote,’ ‘In God we trust’ and recent trends also cover a convention of political party with a prayer. If such is the necessity in the statecraft at the climax then should not the same be reflected and practiced in other areas of the administration and politics in the country?

In Germany political parties exist and continue and even voted to power in the name of Christian religion. In India religion of various folds and faiths are deeply rooted with Hinduism at the peak. Political base and mass support to BJP is a pointer in this regard.

In Russia religion is reviving, which has started even before the fall of socialism, more acutely than ever before. Fabrics of Chinese societies are much tuned to religion predominantly with Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism and, to speak the truth, Islam and Christianity are developing there gradually. All these were also encouraged more vividly through a constitutional amendment in 1982.Above all, in Japan there the ‘Emperor’ is regarded as the direct descendent to the Sun.

Article 33(2) of the Constitution of Greece reads:

‘Before assuming the exercise of his duties, the President of the Republic shall take the following oath before Parliament:
"I do swear in the name of the Holy and consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity to safeguard the Constitution and the laws, to care for the faithful observance thereof, to defend the national independence and territorial integrity of the Country, to protect the rights and liberties of the Greeks and to serve the general interest and the progress of the Greek People".

In fact, The Greek Orthodox Church is under the protection of the State, which pays the clergy's salaries, and Orthodox Christianity is the "'prevailing" religion of Greece according to the Constitution. The Greek Orthodox Church is self-governing but under the spiritual guidance of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople. Freedom of religious beliefs is guaranteed by the Constitution, but ‘proselytism’ is officially illegal. According to the most recent Euro stat "Euro barometer" poll, in 2005, 81% of Greek citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 16% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and only 3% that "they do not believe there is a God, spirit, nor life force". This would make Greece one of the most religious countries in the European Union of 25 members, after Malta and Cyprus.

The Muslim minority, concentrated in Thrace, was given legal status by provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne  in 1923 and is Greece's only officially recognized religious minority. The recent influx of (mostly illegal) immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Third World has an expectedly varied multi-religious profile (Roman Catholic, Muslim, Hindu etc.).

During the 2001 constitutional amendment, complete separation of church and state was proposed, but the two major parties, ND and PASOK, decided not to open this controversial matter, which clashes with both the population and the clergy. For example, numerous protests occurred over the removal of the Religious Denomination entry from the National ID card in 2000.

In United Kingdom it is laid down in documents that the Head of kingdom shall be a protestant by faith at the same time being the ex-officio Head of the Church of England. More interesting is that the necessity of religion has desperately further been echoed in the voice of David Cameron, sitting Prime Minister of UK, on 16 December 2011, which Daily Star, Bangladesh quoting AFP noted on 18 December 2011as follows:

Britain is a Christian nation and should not be afraid of standing up for Christian values to help counter the country's "moral collapse", Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday.

In a rare foray into religion by a British premier, Cameron said "live and let live" had too often become "do what you please" in Britain.

The "passive tolerance" of immoral behaviour had helped fuel the August riots, excess in the banking industry and home-grown Islamist terror, he said.

"We are a Christian country. And we should not be afraid to say so," Cameron said at an event in Oxford to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

"The Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today. Values and morals we should actively stand up and defend.

The alternative of moral neutrality should not be an option."

Cameron described himself as a committed but only "vaguely practicing" member of the Church of England, who was "full of doubts" about big theological issues.

"We've got stand up for our values if we are to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations," he said.

"Moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn't going to cut it anymore.

Cameron said that along with the works of William Shakespeare, the King James Bible was a "high point of the English language".

"The Bible has helped to shape the values which define our country," he said.

"Responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, love, pride in working for the common good and honoring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families and our communities -- these are the values we treasure.

"Yes, they are Christian values. And we should not be afraid to acknowledge that.”

"But they are also values that speak to us all -- to people of every faith and none. And I believe we should all stand up and defend them."

All these testify on records that religion in its many manifestations are inherently tied to life, society, politics and state but the real teachings and lessons are not properly reflected in life, society, politics and state. Why the half-done initiative and performance? Isn’t it true that a half truth is more dangerous than a lie?

Keeping all these in right perspective, therefore, my stress, unlike Gandhi’s, is on the use and application of the proper teachings and lessons of religion (religion in the true of religion, not in Gandhi’s line) in one’s life so that a human being fells and realizes all the time that he a creation of the Sovereign of universe, visible or not visible, and he has no choice but to go back to Him any time upon His call and satisfaction. It is well perceived and digested that living in the world for a period of time is just one of the billions of fractions of ultimate time. No religion asks its followers to be bad, wicked, greedy, dishonest, corrupt, immoral, unethical, inconsiderate, ruthless, and inhuman and so forth. A human being is a blend of animalism and rationalism so fight for supremacy of one over the other is on all the time. When a human being acquires the ascendency of rationalism in life, he becomes a valuable asset for himself and others around him. Unfortunate to note it is that the numbers of such people are on decline everywhere in the world.

Moreover, today it is tested, and crystal clear in all respects that neither socialism nor capitalism can stand and sustain suitably as a possible response to gear the wheels of politics for development because of the inherent flaws, constraints and limitations. All the so-called sweetest words contained in the documents, theses, theories, books and publications have come to a critical standstill, nay, collapse because of their failures to cope with the calls and needs of politics and development overshadowed by mismanagements, laxity in determination of priorities and corruptions in particular.

In the overall context of Bangladesh where Islam has been declared as the state religion paying attention duly to all other religions it can safely be arrived at a proposition that the people of Bangladesh comprising of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians etc are mostly religion-fearing not religious in the true sense of the term for which the teachings and lessons of the religions are not in a qualified position to inspire them in action as a whole. Speaking in the superlative, whereas all the positive laws, by-laws, rules and regulations are almost grappling and groaning because of lack of strict observance in the respective perspectives and operations for the reasons, known or unknown, posing as well serious threats to politics and statecrafts then relentless war against all sorts of corruptions, terrorism, social restlessness and the erosion of ethical standard at an unprecedented rate and degree cannot not but be a challenge indeed. Politicians and statesmen here in Bangladesh now have to ponder about the maximum utilization of religion in its positive mode for the benefits of individual, associations, bodies of professional and non-professional backgrounds, society and state .But care must be taken so that this noble venture may not be misunderstood as a plea to move to politics based on religion.