Comment

One of India’s biggest scandal stories of a couple of decades ago was that of Jain Vanaspati, a company that made hydrogenated vegetable fat — once considered a substitute for ghee or clarified butter, for reasons of either health or economy.

It turned out that the company was doing its own economising, but substituting vegetable oil with beef tallow. As all vanaspati is not necessarily vegetarian, so all is not gold that glitters and all that appears ethical in business need not be so.

The business of business is to make profits.

Recent news about the creation of the Dharma Index — which only invests in companies which will not hurt the sentiments of Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs — is intriguing.

The implications are that these religions have similar precepts and thus investors who choose to go with the Dharma Index will find that they invest in companies which suit their own Dharma.

Somehow, and this is peripheral, the added idea is that these companies will also be ethical. It smacks of a certain sanctimonious goody-goodyness, but that’s another matter.

It is interesting that the Dharmas of the four religions mentioned are taken to be the same or similar.

There is a naiveté here, in any theological or philosophical sense. Actually, none of the four religions are the same, they may have some common points of origin but they have even more points of departure. Indeed, had the vast precepts — or the Dharma— of Hinduism been enough, the other three may not have emerged at all.

However, in the smaller, moralistic sense, perhaps this Index will try and look at companies which follow some common goals.

There is a common belief that ahimsa is integral to this joint Dharma, but that is open to interpretation. Sikhism celebrates its warriors, especially after Guru Gobind Singh, Buddhists are not vegetarian and it is the duty of the Hindu Kshatriya to fight, as Lord Krishna made clear to Arjun in The Bhagvad Gita. Jainism, amongst all these, is singularly opposed to killing.

So whose Dharma decides whether weapon manufacturers are a good investment for the Dharma Index or not?

Likewise, vegetarianism is not anintegral part of the Hindu Dharma or the Sikh or Buddhist Dharma.

Presumably, then, the Dharma Index does not have to specially blacklist companies which freeze or package non-vegetarian items or toothpaste which contains bonemeal or buttons, gelatine, cheese or alcohol. Retail chains, which might also sell non-vegetarian items, will then also make the grade.

In fact, it might be interesting to consider exactly which companies fit into the varied Dharmas of the four religions of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

Where do these four faiths have common ground which can then get translated into commercial success? And why is it necessary to make money with this ‘holy’ tag attached to it?Isn’t making money good enough for its own sake?

The question ultimately is of a complete misunderstanding of one’s own
religion and other people’s as well. There are people who will follow some absurd custom and then insist no one can question them because it is a matter of “our faith” or “our culture” or “our tradition”.

These are unfair examples but abandoning widows in Benaras and burning widows on their husband’s funeral pyres and female circumcision are also “tradition”, “faith” and “culture” but they are still wrong.

This idea of mixing religion with politics is noxious enough -- as we in India know very well -- but the idea of mixing religion and money seems crass. Forget its lack of knowledge about various religions, it in fact plays upon our insecurities just to make profits, by pretending to make money in a ‘good’ way.

It might be better to be honest in your profit motive — even if you’re like Jain Vanaspati —rather than just peddle hypocrisy masquerading as morality, which is business as usual.
Email: b_ranjona@dnaindia.net