It is heartening to see Meghalayans from all walks pour scorn on the state government’s plan to inaugurate the Capt Williamson Sangma State University with a Christian prayer service but it is not surprising that the idea was mooted in the first place.
Religion and politics, church and state, often go hand in hand. Most politicians in Meghalaya love to be seen around priests, pastors and the like – the presence of holy men (and women) lends a cleansing hand to the image of those involved in the dark art of politics, or so the thinking goes.
To take an example, our Chief Minister often posts photos of him on social media attending religious functions, shaking hands with clergymen or praying. There is also a tale (perhaps apocryphal) of a now deceased politician who switched from the Presbyterian to Catholic Church to try and win a seat and then switched back when he lost.
This use of religion for political purposes is, of course, true in the rest of the country and much of the world too. No amount of propaganda, speeches and favourable media coverage can ensure control of the soul, so wherever religion still holds sway over the people, it is in the politicians’ interest to ingratiate themselves with religious leaders and to be considered by the voters to be believers.
This is often seen most blatantly in Meghalaya during large church gatherings where politicians – government, opposition, MPs, you name it – are given inordinate importance and the best seats in the house where they can be seen to be religious by the public.
India is a secular country (at least for now) but it follows a brand of secularism that differs from much of the world – here religion is not strictly avoided in public life, instead the state tries to embrace all faiths. So, if the Education Minister had said that the university would be opened with a multi-faith service, it would not have raised any eyebrows, though perhaps the agnostic/atheist community would have rolled their eyes.
But Rakkam Sangma was quoted as explicitly saying that, being a “Christian state”, Meghalaya’s first state university should be sanctified with Christian rituals, including a “massive prayer meet”. Firstly, let it be clear that having a Christian majority does not mean that Meghalaya is a Christian state.
However, he does, unfortunately, have a point when he said that Hindu rituals were used in the inauguration of the new Parliament building in New Delhi, so Christian ones can be used here. Secularism is being chipped away nationally and in many states and there are those ardent supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party that want India to scrap state secularism completely and officially be a Hindu nation.
If that ever comes to pass, Meghalaya and other states Christian-majority states might be within their rights to label themselves Christian. And the essence of India would have faded just a little bit more.
