Two years ago, I wrote an article under the same title. Today I have more reason to rewrite the same article with more passion and conviction because politics in India has become highly communal and the government has become more cruel and insensitive to the people who have elected it and whom it is bound to serve by the commitment it has made under the constitution of India. The most inhuman way the government is treating the striking farmers by cutting electricity, water and internet connections, putting up multiple barricades and barbed fences, and embedding spikes into the roads, shows how the government of today has become anti-people. I also observe resurgence of religious fervour and avalanche of devotions in the religions of India, and at the same time I see inhumanity and insensitivity growing by leaps and bounds. The speed with which hate speech travels on social media is shocking. Intolerance has reached a high peak which has no parallel in the history of India.   

For many people, the title of this article may appear to be awkward, and even outrageous to some others. Holiness is often understood as being detached from worldly affairs and politics is deemed as the worst among the so called worldly affairs. On the other hand, if holiness is understood as being in the world and transforming the world by one’s presence and actions, then politics need not be something that is to be shunned, but to be taken seriously.

People have different perceptions about holiness. As a result sometimes it becomes extremely difficult to distinguish between holy men and unholy crooks. Some of the god men who had millions of followers are languishing in the jails of India because of the crimes they perpetrated under the garb of holiness. Their secret world of crime and cruelty behind the facade of holiness are depicted in the Hindi Web Series, ASHRAM, streaming online in MX Player. This web series puts forward eye-opening truth, the harshest reality of the so-called god men and god women culture in Indian Society.  
 

What is Holiness? 

Pandit Chaturvedi, the main character of a 2007 Hindi movie, Dharam, directed by Bhavana Talwar, makes a pertinent statement at the end of the movie, “Religion is not simply rituals; it is duty and responsibility; religion is unity and harmony; abandoning discrimination is religion; humanity is religion”. The favourite bhajan of Mahatma Gandhi was a song written by the 15th century poet, Narsinh Metha. The bhajan describes the qualities of a holy person. The first four lines are as follows.  

Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye je 
Peed paraayi jaane re 
Par-dukhkhe upkaar kare toye 
Man abhimaan na aane re (Vaishnava)

“One who is a Vaishnav (Devotee of Vishnu)
Knows the pain of others
Does good to others
without letting pride enter his mind”.

The Sermon on the Mount, particularly the beatitudes, articulates the kind of holiness expected from a follower of Jesus Christ. It describes the attitudes, qualities and actions expected of a holy person. The Sermon on the Mount does not prescribe any ritual or prayer to become holy. Mahatma Gandhi had great admiration for the Sermon on the Mount. He said of it, “Christ’s Sermon on the Mount fills me with bliss even today. Its sweet verses have even today the power to quench my agony of soul.”

According to the Gospels, Jesus was a prophet and a spiritual person. The three main qualities of a spiritual or holy person, as reflected in the person of Jesus, are compassion, courage and creativity. Jesus was busy with his mission of healing, teaching and questioning and critiquing the unholy elements in his own religion in the day time, and often he went to pray in the mountains or lonely places in the night. He went to the temple to teach because people were available in the temple. He condemned the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and long prayers. Holiness for Jesus was fulfilling the will of his Father and doing the mission of bringing about transformation in individuals and societal structures.

Jesus did not follow most of the rituals and prayers of the Jews and he violated many laws and rituals that did not promote life. As a prophet, criticism and questioning religious practices and the hierarchy were part and parcel of his mission and holiness. For Jesus, keeping quiet on the face of injustice, oppression and exploitation was not holiness, but escapism and cowardice (Mt. 23: 1-36). For Jesus, speaking truth and standing for justice are the crux of holiness. That is why he was fearless before the Jewish Sanhedrim and Pontius Pilot. The social activists, who are put behind the bars, are the true followers of Jesus, the prophet.   
 

What is Politics?

Politics is not limited to party politics and elections. It is only one dimension of politics. Politics is the art or science of government and governance. Governess is a process that consists of making and amending laws, implementing laws, formulation and implementation of policies for the welfare of the people, maintenance of law and order for securing life and property of the citizens and ensuring rights and justice to the citizens when their rights are violated and justice is denied to them. In this process many players are involved: the citizens and the three wings of the government in a democracy-the legislature (elected people’s representatives), the executive (Ministers and the whole bureaucracy) and the Judiciary (judges and judicial staff). In a democracy, if the people have to enjoy their rights and get justice, the government is to be made accountable and there should be checks and balances among the three wings of the government. 

The Constitution of India has provided the checks and balances among the three wings of the Government. But any time distortion can happen; hence the citizens and the media are to be alert and there should be vigilant media for making the government accountable to the people. All major decisions affecting the life of the people are taken by the government and they are political decisions. The motivational speaker Shiv Khera in his video speech, Country First, says that the medicine we eat, the water we drink, the electricity we use are political because the decisions affecting these basic necessities of life are taken by the political leaders who are in the government. 

In a democracy the government has to make policies and decisions in accordance with the constitution, taking into account the well-being of people, irrespective of the party in power and its ideology. The core values or the goals, as mentioned in the preamble of Indian Constitution, are sovereign, socialist and secular democracy, justice, equality, liberty and fraternity. The government in power irrespective of the political ideology has to strive to realize these goals or values. The core values enshrined in the constitution of India are very much similar to the values of the Kingdom of God, the vision of Jesus. When the government deviates from the path of the constitution or violates the provisions of the constitution or denies the rights of the citizens, it is the right and duty of every citizen to criticize it. For the disciples of Jesus, it is part and parcel of their holiness. 

The current political scenario of India is really frightening. The main agenda of the BJP government at the centre has been transforming India into a Hindutva Rashtra. The Hindutva ideology is diametrically opposed to secular democracy and the vision of Indian constitution.  After its return to power with and enhanced majority in 2019, the BJP became more aggressive and inhuman. 

The second term of the BJP government at the Centre has been characterized by passing laws that violate the constitution and denies the rights of the citizens like the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), abrogation of article 370 and 35 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state into two Union Territories and making stringent the infamous Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Anyone who criticises the government or the Sangh Parivar is branded as anti-national or ‘Urban Naxalite’ or enemy of the nation by the government and the members of the Sangh Parivar. 

The arrest and incarceration of 83 year old Fr. Stan Swamy SJ who spent almost four decades of his life fighting for the rights of the Tribals is the latest example of blatant human rights violation. Besides Stan Swamy, 15 activists, lawyers and academics are jailed in connection with the violence that broke out in Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018. Some of them are in Jail for more than two years. As advocate Vrinda Grover termed, the case against the activists is ‘criminalization of dissent’, as those arrested had raised their voice on various issues.

Rampant violations of human rights and basic freedoms guaranteed by the constitution of India are taking place on a day to day basis. While the executive is becoming dictatorial and fascist, the parliament has become a rubber stamp, as the laws, including the controversial three farm laws, were passed without sufficient discussion and the winter session of the parliament was cancelled without the concurrence of the opposition parties. 

The Judiciary that is entrusted with the task of protecting the rights of the citizens and safeguarding the constitution often looks the other way. Denial of interim protection from arrest to the makers, and actors of the Tandav web series, against whom multiple cases are filed in different states and denial of bail to comedian Munawar Faruqui, and at the same time, the alacrity with which Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami was given bail by the Supreme Court raise doubts about the impartiality of the judiciary in protecting the rights of the individuals. 

The present political situation in India, characterized by rampant violation of human rights, denial of justice and basic freedoms guaranteed by the constitution of India, and domesticated media is definitely against the situation of the Kingdom of God. Human rights and the dignity of the individuals are the foundation of the kingdom of God. Holiness demands a proactive response to this unholy situation by the followers of Jesus. 

What Political Actions Holiness Demands Today? 

The response could be expressed in different forms. Some proposals are the following.  
Defend secular democracy and the Indian constitution through its study and dissemination of its core values through various ministries, especially through education.  Defend the rights of minorities, dalits, tribals and women through awareness creation and provision of legal aid.  

Become agents of peace and harmony by promoting pluralism, particularly in religion, culture and language. Send messages of peace and harmony on the social media platforms to counter the spread of hate and fake news. 

Read newspapers everyday and news magazines and books and reflect on various issues affecting the country in the light of the teaching of Jesus and respond to the issues. Learn about the organizations and ideologies that are opposed to an inclusive, egalitarian and liberal society, and contest the views of those organizations and ideologies who advocate hatred, discrimination and exclusion.  

Take part in protests and agitations against all kinds of discriminations, exclusion, exploitation and human rights violations taking place in India. Express solidarity with the human rights defenders, and the groups that are struggling for their rights by visiting them and joining in their struggle. 
 

Conclusion 

Holiness is being in communion with God, other human beings and nature, and transforming oneself and others in view of the Kingdom of God. Holiness does not consist in performing rituals, prayers, penance, pilgrimages etc. They may help or may not help a person to become holy. Often these practices make a person complacent, self righteous, arrogant and prejudiced towards the followers of other faiths. Contemplation, an appointment with oneself and God, can surely help a person to grow in holiness. A holy person or spiritual person is a prophet. Prophets have to intervene in the socio-political process to defend the weak, the marginalized and the excluded and to empower them for accessing their human rights and regaining their human dignity. They have to be critical of the systems and policies that increase the gulf between the haves and have- notes. They have to condemn discriminations, oppression and exploitation both by the state and the non-state actors. When a disciple of Jesus exercises his/her prophetic function and his/her responsibility as a follower of Jesus, his/her actions become both political and holy; they are two sides of the same coin.