Liberalism - An urgent necessity

The recent attacks on various churches in Orissa have shown the extent to which religious fanaticism is rising in India. Our ancient culture, which prides itself in its staunch commitment to the noble value of secularism, is under attack from the very quarters, which claim to be its protector. Organisations that claim to protect Hinduism forget that Hinduism is one of the most liberal religions in the world. Tolerance has always been a strong facet of Hinduism, but somewhere down the line, it has degenerated to what it is today.
This is indeed true of all religions; fundamentalism is on the rise, and rabid zealots brainwash people into following their own rigid version of their individual religions. Through history (from the time of the Crusades), religion has proved to be more of a divisive force than a source of strength. In today's world, where religious fanaticism have given birth to a potentially fatal brand of terrorism, there is a need to look for alternative solutions, which embrace the noble values of compassion, tolerance and togetherness. Inevitably, this would mean decreasing the role of religion in our lives. Faith is a personal issue; it need not be an emotive one. We have for too long sought to crush fundamentalism with a more narrow mined ideology, probably a by-product of the "eye for an eye" ideology which is seen to be so powerful. The results are there for all to see; the objective has not been achieved-instead the situation has grown to be more dangerous than before.
An urgent need arises to turn to liberalism, which especially in India is foolishly seen to be a western concept, to solve this problem. Liberalism is not new for us-even in times when the rest of the world acted in a caveman-type intention to stamp their authority on others, we adopted a policy of live and let live. This has resulted in the uniqueness of our country, where people of different cultures exist in mutual harmony. It is unfortunate that such noble values have now fallen by the wayside. Liberal attitudes are not only necessary to combat extremism, but also to remove the patriarchal mindset prevalent amongst a majority of our people. Such an attitude will lead to gender equality. Women have for long suffered a great injustice, even in today's age of globalisation, where patriarchal attitudes have led to a spate of incidents of violence against women. In the name of preserving our culture, a lot of our people, aided ably by rabid zealots, give a sense of legitimacy to patriarchy. Liberalism will also need to greater economic strength. India's growth story can be attributed to the liberal policies practiced by the Government post 1991. The Left, whose middle name is hypocrisy, is unfortunately blocking measures intending to bring in more economic growth. Liberalism will result in an all out win-win scenario. It is our only hope for a better future.