Bilal Bashir Bhat
On a global level in general and in our part of the world in particular, it seems that today’s politicians are coincidental with Dr. Iqbal’s well-known verse that “Juda Ho Deen Siyat Se To Rah Jai Hai Genghis.” [Translate Yourself]
It is now settled that the current world order exempts all politicians from being “religious” because they are elected based on a secular setup. Therefore, at the global or regional level today, if we consider the political class to be “religious” this will is clear proof of our flawed intellect.
There is no denying that the current politicians whosoever are living their lives in an opulent and imperial style which although no other religion on the planet allows. It is indeed wisdom to think of politicians as just politicians. It does not matter who prays where? Or who shares the stage with whom?!
Recently, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, in his extraordinary statement emphasized that religion should not be used for politics. Although this statement of former Congress leader Azad is not new to explain this statement, he tried to refer to “history”.
According to him, Islam entered the Kashmir valley six hundred years ago. Connecting ‘history’ with today’s politics itself is like connecting politics with religion.
The people themselves are responsible for being politically exploited by different political figures in the name of religion on different occasions. The main reason is that the people are looking for a religious figure in every political leader. Due to this, we especially in the subcontinent are witnessing that people are not only exploited in the name of religion but also resulting in curbing the development of the countries.
It is imperative that these politicians do not confuse their minds and do not make people suffer from any dilemma in this regard, rather, they should put their cause and purpose in front of the public in simple words and protect public sentiments from being hurt in the name of religion.
