Kabir was a saint of the Bhakti movement who was raised Muslim and later inspired by the teachings of saint Ramananda. He hailed from the Varanasi region in Uttar Pradesh.
Kabirpanthis have nothing to do with Hindutva politics or so and they believe in religious harmony.
New Delhi/Dimapur
It was a typical Nagaland variety shocker that left a monk stunned.
"I was sitting at the Dimapur airport... I asked my co passenger where he was traveling (flying) to. To my surprise his response was very brief and cryptic - India," said Prakash Das Mahant - a student of Kabir Panth.
The 29-year-old monk from Bikaner region in Rajasthan said -- "It was a shocking remark from the man I spoke to .... because he looked well educated and was answering the calls in English".
"Why he had to say this to me ... ?" - the monk later asked me in the aircraft.
This was on Monday Oct 28th, 2024, --- Indigo flight - 1 PM flight to Delhi.
As a courtesy I was smiling and at the same I was wondering -- how do I explain the dichotomy about what goes in a Naga mind to him.
"Lagta hae yeanh yeh chalan hae...., (It appears people are used to answering such questions like this in Nagaland)," he said.
The hermit - a confirmed bachelor at such young age - further stated, "I was in Assam's Jorhat for a Sat-Sang congregation for a few days. There we do not have this problem".
I then responded telling him that Nagaland has a long history of anti-India insurgency movement. He countered -- "ULFA problem is in Assam too... but sadharan log ( common people) do not talk like this".
He posed a question - which party government runs in Nagaland?
I said : "It is a coalition government headed by regional party NDPP and the BJP is also a partner".
He claimed his locality in Nokha region of Bikaner district in Nagaland were Congress supporters for decades.
"Personally I liked many Congress chief ministers of Rajasthan including Ashok Gehlot... But among the BJP leaders I admired former Foreign minister Jaswant Singh".
Then he went on -- "People in Nagaland may still call Delhi or other parts of the country as 'India'... bit the fact of the matter is Indian tax payers money comes to Dimapur and other parts of north east...so if people have still not able to integrate themselves with the nation; it is unfortunate".
Then he said - "The state government should take cognizance of these remarks etc."
Quite aware of contemporary political issues and campaigning in the last decade or so -- the Mahant quized me - "Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi not do 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign in this part of the country".
As a Modi fan -- I shot back "Nahi Mahant ji... the campaign around India's national flag - Rashtriya Tiranga - was quite successful even in Nagaland in 2022".
To this his response was : -- "Then it is okay... But I presume Nagaland has not able to integrate itself completely with India due to encouragement from political circles".
I countered yet again - "Yeh chalan hae (People are used to saying so. But the BJP is not encouraging such remarks or such ideas".
"No. I am not talking about the BJP. Such things have sustained due to faulty policies of the Congress for so many years".
The Mahant then asked me whether 'non-Nagas' are otherwise safe in Nagaland. As I said - "generally safe ... But there is a problem of 'my people and their people' (We and They syndrome) in the entire north east. Manipur problem in 2023 you must be aware of. The problems are between Kukis and Meiteis".
Then he asked, "Are there any non-Naga or so-called outsider MLA or Minister or senior officials in Nagaland "?
Of course my response was easier - "There are many non-Naga senior officials, IAS people and also in police. DGP is also from outside and most business operation is done by non-locals. But sir, for a long time there is no non-Naga MLA... Long back there was one".
ends
 |
| Many Bengalis/Nepalis - Took to Christianity |
"This is the wrong story to run, I don't think people think or talk that they are travelling to India. This boy may be an aberration." - a retired Govt servant
ReplyDelete