Unholy nexus of state and sect

The violence which rocked Haryana and adjoining areas cannot be limited to administrative or police failure. It is also a reflection of an unequal society and the unethical dalliance of political parties with sects and various subcultures throughout India. In the Indian subcontinent, religion, popular culture, counter-culture and politics have interacted at multiple levels with each other. But the violence in Haryana shows lack of meaningful engagement between a sect and the state because of the manner in which electoral politics is positioned today.

Political parties continue to treat sects like vote banks and turn a blind eye to what goes on behind the huge walls of the sects in exchange for votes every five years. Lack of scrutiny allows a free hand to sect heads and enables them to turn the organisation into a land-grabbing and wealth-creation enterprise. But the irony is that the followers are mostly people who are already marginal and peripheral to the imagination of the Indian state.

To start with, the sects in India, including Dera Sacha Sauda, attract followers from lower castes who face structural violence on all levels. Whether it is an extraction of forced labour, coercive sex, denial of entry into sacred spaces or discrimination at the level of basic utilities like water and toilet, sects offer a counter culture. The premise of most of the sects is equality and dignity, for which people perceive them as agents of change, egalitarian and married to new modern philosophies of equality and liberty.

It is for this reason sects attract thousands of followers across India. These sects act like a counter veiling narrative to established religions. The sects also balance the crude edges of the Indian state.

The Indian state is not divorced from the mainstream biases of the society as it has repeatedly failed in protecting and treating lower castes equally. Whether it is the case of Mazhabi Sikhs or Dalit Muslims or Dalit Christians, the Indian state, at the level of benefit distribution, has failed often. When basic utilities like water, food, medicine, employment and shelter become freely available, married to a sense of purpose in life, the sects become extremely attractive and a world in themselves.

The problem is aggravated further because of lack of literacy in the country. This is not to say that individuals in modern times don’t have the right to create new ‘oeuvres’ in the realm of spirituality and religion, but what mainly gets produced is a cheap imitation of already existing dogmas.

This lack of literacy prevents individuals from interacting with religious texts, making them completely dependent on pravachans or oral communications.

The irony is that oral traditions in spirituality subverted what castes wanted to prevent in the subcontinent — the relationship of lower castes with dignity, texts, knowledge and the meaningful purpose of life.

But in today’s age, empowered with new communication technologies, oral traditions have ended up creating fake truths and views of the world. (Court’s judgement, for this reason, is not being seen as justice but as conspiracy of the state)

It ends up mediating truth through individuals who at one end create a meaningful world, but on the other merchandise and exploit ‘harvested’ souls. This discourse further gets vitiated in the Indian context as historically, a community’s sense of dignity and honour outweighs the individual’s right. Consequently, issues like that of talaq end up being about a community’s autonomy and honour, rather  than a woman’s right.

The violence in Haryana is a warning that there needs to be a healthy relationship between various sects and the state at every level. The scrutiny should not terminate for want of political and electoral support.

The spiritual and religious order have the right to interact with political and electoral establishments as hard secularism is not a workable framework of community management in India. What is required is a reimagination of Indian politics where sects aren’t allowed to work as secret societies.

It is for this reason that every state intervention with sects, whether it was Rampal, Ashutosh Maharaj or Ram Vriksha Yadav, ends up in violent episodes leaving scores dead.

Both BJP and Congress have indulged in flirting with the sects for votes in exchange of scrutiny. This must end. Netas should stop going to sect heads for votes. Instead, the sects should be open to the state’s scrutiny without harassment.

And lastly, to locate the issue, loyal party fellows don’t make good administrators. ML Khattar might have been a hardworking and honest pracharak, but lacks administrative abilities, which he has demonstrated thrice. It is time Khattar goes and BJP comes up with a person with good administrative skills.