Our intellectual impropriety is nowhere better demonstrated than in our approach to religion--an institution that is so sacrosanct to us that we lavish all praise on it without question. Allama Iqbalâ€(tm)s conviction that “Mazhab nahi sikhata, apas mein bair rakhnaâ€� (religion doesnâ€(tm)t teach enmity among people) is far from honest truth because it is religion that is at the heart of every major strife and conflict. Man in his primitive condition or tribal status, when religions were not born and ideologies were unknown, did fight and kill each other but it was for their basic, physical needs and survival. At best he was a pagan, who loved and feared Nature at the same time. All mischief and differences between man and man descended on earth only after religions and ideologies were manufactured and held a sway on mankind. Let us, in the interest of mankind, agree that religion is divisive, sectarian, and insular in its character and by its very nature confrontational since each religion professes and preaches different faith, which is its foundation. Though every religion exhorts to respect other religious faiths, in practice such a persuasion is hypocritical because, inherently every faith militates against the other and gives rise to conflicts. There can be no better example of such a conflict of faiths than Crusades that went on for two hundred years between the Muslims and the Christians.

Talking of burning people alive, it began during the early history of Christianity, when heretics were burnt alive on the stake to warn the detractors and to maintain the purity of the established Church. At present, the three major religions of the worldâ€"Christianity, Islam and Hinduism--present a very disgustingly gory face. Whatever reasons or excuses they may advance to justify their heinous actions, the truth of the matter is that no faith can tolerate the other as is inherent in the very nature of faith in general. A Muslim, a Hindu or a Christian would prefer to die for his faith than brook any compromise for faith can not be reasoned out. It may be stated that if faith, for that matter any faith, is put on the anvil of reason it won't survive even the first stroke and get reduced to a myth.

As if religions were not sufficient to vitiate human relationships that politics made inroads into the already crumbling social order. Since politics is also a matter of faith, ideological and not spiritual faith, it has established a steadfast relationship with religionâ€"a deadly combination, indeed. When two sectarian and divisive forces come together, what great damage can it cause to a nation is anybodyâ€(tm)s guess. All that is happening in our great countryâ€"corruption, rape, murder and of course, burning people alive is due to the vicious combination of politics and religion. Unluckily, both the major political parties, the Congress and the BJP, are playing the same religio-political card, indifferent to the serious consequences to the national life. Social life, which is vastly influenced by the political and religious goings-on, is adopting their evil ways. Disrespect for the laws of the land, contempt for moral and social values, disregard for human life and sufferings, and worst of all no love for the motherland are playing havoc with the nation. No surprise therefore that the Sikh Massacre of 1984,(Congress) the recent Godhra-Gujarat carnage,(BJP) the burning alive of the Stains in Orissa,(BJP) where the criminals with the help of the states have escaped the dragnet of the law, have emboldened the ordinary citizens to emulate these incidents. Recently, a little boy who rode his bicycle rather too close to a bridal car and scratched its mudguards was burnt alive by the wedding procession. A day before, in Jabalpur, a woman who resisted molestation was burnt alive. Earlier, a young woman was burnt into a Tandoor. Death is one thing but burning alive is the most dreadful, inhuman and cruel way to destroy life.

Let us ask a simple but honest question: have we, as citizens of India, advertently or inadvertently, supported the nefarious activities of our religious and political leaders at the expense of the country? Have we not condoned heinous acts/crimes of such leaders disregarding the interests of the country? Have we not quite often stood by them in their falsified justifications? Yes, it is we who have, neglecting the claims of the motherland, sanctified their dangerous freedom and emboldened them to act on our behalf? In a way we are equal partners in their crimes against the nation.

How to fight such a situation is a stupendous task, but the English novelist, EM Foster, has suggested a way out to survive in this dangerous worldâ€"we need tolerance. We know that tolerance is a very dull virtue; it is boring and negative. It means putting up with people, being able to stand things. Yet, this is a quality of an intelligent mind; the only force which will enable different races and classes and interests to settle down together for the common good. There is no alternative to tolerance. Time is running out for us.