Like millions of people across the world, Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is in quite a celebratory mood during Christmas. His Twitter feed suggests he has been visiting a lot of Churches, greeting people and participating in the festivities. And indeed, that is how it should be.
Attended three different Christmas celebrations at churches in rural Amaravila. Spoke of the real message of the birth of the Son ofGod in a manger: our duty today to think of those who have nothing, not even a home. True Xmas spirit: the solidarity that marked the #KeralaFloods. pic.twitter.com/4vwj7I0acq
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 24, 2018
Attended the midnight mass at St Mary’s, Pattom, & was honoured to be invited to cut the Christmas cake by Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis. Deeply touched to receive his blessings before the congregation. He joked that I visit the major churches every Xmas because I like the cake! pic.twitter.com/g9P7MgkoNm
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 25, 2018
However, contrast this with Tharoor’s sentiments regarding Diwali.
Bakr-Id sacrifices hurt only goats; Muharram mourners flagellate themselves, but Diwali firecrackers affect celebrants&non-revellers alike.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 10, 2017
Diwali’s “Hindu haze”: my take in @SCMP_News : https://t.co/baUoLrAMU0
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 15, 2017
Not just Tharoor, even Times Now, after it spread rampant negativity during Diwali was in quite the festive mood during Christmas. During Diwali, the news channel had asked its followers to exercise restraint to achieve their weight loss goals. Ahead of Christmas, however, it was urging them to partake in high-calorie delicacies.
It has become par for the course in recent times. Every Hindu festival is mired in negativity. From Holi to Makar Sankranti to Dussehra, efforts are made to raise environmental concerns on these particular days while ignoring them for the rest of the year. Delhi’s air quality is still extremely poor but how many activists have raised their voice against it since Diwali?
Our festivals have become events for motivated social activists to hijack them from their own agenda. No one cares about animals during Eid but everyone suddenly develops a soft spot for animals in their hearts during Jallikattu. Karwa Chauth is branded a patriarchal tradition by the same people who oppose a ban on Triple Talaq and Nikah Halala.
As I have said before, it’s because of the Abrahamisation of the elites of our society. In their hearts, liberals are quite the Abrahamics. And therefore, they are in an extremely celebratory mood during Abrahamic festivals and like Abrahamic fundamentalists, do not like Hindu festivals very well. And of course, since they are ‘secular’ or at least pretend to be, they invent ‘secular’ reasons for their opposition such as patriarchy and environmental concerns.
Hardly anyone talks about the victims of clerical sexual abuse and its shameful and abhorring cover-up by the Church during Christmas. Hardly anyone talks about the manner in which Churches protected and still protects paedophile priests and sexual predators in their ranks during the festival. Almost none of these self-proclaimed compassionate people refrain from participating in festivities with the organization that stoutly defends and protects sexual predators and paedophiles. They are reminded of social concerns only during Hindu festivals because Abrahamic fundamentalists cannot tolerate a pagan festival without having it tarnished by negativity.
It also reminds me of NSA Ajit Doval’s words in a video clip from one of his speeches that went viral on social media. In the video, Doval says that history is the greatest judge and it only favours the strong. He made the argument that the Hindu civilization has suffered so much misery because Shakti was not on our side.
The same cause can be attributed to the negativity that surrounds Hindu festivals. The Hindu civilization needs to regain its strength so that it can assert its authority. Detractors only respect strength. And it’s absolutely essential that we become strong, only then will we able to celebrate our festivals in peace and keep alive the traditions of ancestors. Only then will we be able to continue our worship of the Gods of our ancestors.
