Christmas and good governance

The birthday of Jesus of Nazareth is celebrated the world over by Christians and non-Christians on December 25 each year. Our own beloved Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a former Prime Minister, was blessed to be born on that date nearly two thousand years later.

It should not surprise us that Narendra Modi’s government selected Vajpayee’s birth date as Good Governance Day, as it was Atalji as Prime Minister who had reminded Narendra Modi in 2002 that it was his duty - 'raj dharma' - to have controlled the carnage that Gujarat under his stewardship witnessed, after the Godhra train burning incident. Modi could not have forgotten that chiding. Taking it to heart, he concentrated on good governance and even won the Lok Sabha Election on that plank. When he occupied the Prime Minister’s chair in Delhi, he decided to proclaim his senior’s birthday as Good Governance Day, perhaps forgetting that it was a day sacred to his Christian brothers and sisters.

The minority Christian community was alarmed, even incensed. They had voted for the BJP in great numbers for the first time in 2014 and now the birthday of their Saviour, was selected by the Modi government for a different form of observance in schools across the country. This would mean that children and teachers, in particular, the Christians would be deprived of their traditional celebrations with their family. They need not have reacted thus. A little change in the observance of Christ’s birthday would have reminded them more meaningfully of his life and teachings. To my mind, there is no greater example of a practitioner of good governance than the Nazarene, who was born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago.

Not much is recorded of the life of Jesus before he reached the age of 30.  But in the three years between 30 and 33, when he was put to death by crucifixion on a cross for his non-violent but very potent threat to the Jewish clergy and the Romans who ruled Palestine at that time, his teachings and actions have been meticulously recorded.

Consider this, the rabbis (Jewish priests) used to sell pigeons, goats and other animals for sacrifice in their main temple in Jerusalem. Jesus used a whip to drive away the money-changers and animal vendors out of that temple. What greater protest in favour of good governance was possible in the prevailing circumstances of that time? When a woman caught in the act of adultery was about to be stoned to death, Jesus challenged the assembled crowd to throw the first stone if any one of them could honestly profess to be without blemish. 

It is undeniable that Jesus was a stickler for justice and truth. Who could be a better icon of good governance than him? It is a joyful coincidence that the birthday of our poet-statesman, Atal Bihari Vajpayee falls on the same day as the birthday of Jesus. Christians should welcome this coincidence. Our former Prime Minister was truly a great and good human being. It is unfortunate that he could not do more to mitigate the carnage in Gujarat, a blot on governance that would have hurt his well-known sensibilities.

So, if children were summoned to school on Christmas to observe Good Governance Day, they should have welcomed the move, though it would force them to part from the traditional form of observance of their sacred day. They could have been given sweets in school and reminded of the good deeds and teachings of Jesus and its relevance to good governance. The contribution of Atalji to that ideal could also be explained to them. The cardinal values of truth and justice could be inculcated in children through the ceremony, thus celebrating the day with much more than just feasting and merriment. Of course, there can be time made for that too, in every Christian home, after the school event.

The author is the former commissioner of police, Mumbai and ex-DGP, Punjab