In India we have religions but generally people are not religious. Religions have become an hindrance to material progress. Selfishness and corruption has seeped in the society unfortunately at all levels mainly due to the examples set after independence by the elite of the country. Nehru ji occupied the most levish and best house in the capital , that of the outgoing British Commander-in-chief . Others followed suit. They changed their life styles. That needed easy money. Corruption was the only viable means. Birla's were given monopoly for their Ambassador car to be exclusively sold to all the Govt Departments both civil and military. Fiat people were obliged separately by not permitting manufacture of imported cars. The seeds of corruption were sown. Nehru's all relations and even his family cook were taken care of either bringing them as members of parliament or nominated to IFS, IAS or other coveted posts. How could he stop others following him. Greed has no religion. Gandhi ji accepted the hospitality of Birla's every where except for a very brief period when he went to Bhangi Colony. He kept mum. He was the only one who could tell Nehru to have a frugal life style and occupy a modest house. A bad and a dangerous example was put in motion to be followed by the people as Nehru was venerated by all. Once the self takes over who bothers about the country.
In contrast, China had a benevolent and dedicated leadership , though despotic, yet very patriotic with a determination to make China a top class country, militarily, politically and economically even at the cost of social well being and personal freedom of the masses. Dissent had no place. They created a largely corruption free society. Main aim was the material progress of their country. How was it achieved was meaningless. Result was the main thing , means had no value. They seem to have done well but at the cost of personal freedom.
Officially China has no religion. So there is no hindrance or obstacle in taking hard decisions. For decades every one in China wore the same type of clothing , even stitched the same way-closed collar coats. Remarkable thing to be noted is that every one including the elite wore the same. It led to large scale manufacture of the same cloth. What a saving of money needed for progress in other directions. Once the wealth is created , it is easy to deal with social backwardness. China is doing fine as religion is personal to people as it should be. It has nothing to do with the governance of the country. Otherwise each religion would try to pull the country towards it and a chaos would result.
I may add that human beings whether in China , India or else where in the world can not live at peace with one self if one does not believe in some God or an unknown Force. In adversity only God helps us in tiding over the tough period . We say that what ever happened was God's will and it was not our fault. In China too all individuals would be believing in some God . Truth would come out in the open when democratic freedom comes to the people. Example is the upsurge of Christianity after the dismemberment of the erstwhile Soviet Union. All Churches every where had remained intact. Religions can not be wiped out from the minds of the people. It remains in the mind for ever.
R.K.Singhal
10.01.2008
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Wednesday, January 9, 2008
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