Gurgaon Fridays And The Silent Genie

The Gurgaon Namaz Row is interesting and educational for one important element that is so conspicuous by its absence that most people have missed it – because it is too obvious.

It is a genie. Or rather its silence.

If you are wondering what I am talking about, please indulge me a little. Kindly invert the Gurgaon situation and perhaps then you will understand. But invert it with some changes.

Here the land is public space. But assume that the land belongs to a Hindu temple land – that is lying idle. Imagine that some Bangladeshi illegal immigrants had occupied that land. Imagine also that now the Hindu temple management wants to build a larger extension. And you do not have to stretch much your imagination. Imagine the inevitable. There is tension.

Now we need to get our magic lamp. It is available I am told, in Khan market. So let us go there and get it and rub it.

Out comes the genie now! Our genie is quite a shape-shifter.

It bursts forth as the spiritual Hindu intellectual upon the space of mainstream media op-ed space. He will start telling us Hindus what a great religion Hinduism is. It is not just a religious tradition but a way of life. It is not just any way of life but a way of life filled to the brim with spirituality. From the great Shankaracharya to Mahatma Gandhi this Hindu tradition is nothing but love and non-violence and more importantly spirituality. And what is spirituality? He will tell you. It is all about the inner space and universal peace, you see. So if you want to worship your God or Goddess what is a better temple than your own heart. If you need an extension then expand your heart. Look at these poor huts of the -oh what did you call them illegal immigrants? -no! economic refugees! Expand your heart to include their huts – that is more beautiful than any temple you can build with cement, concrete and bricks.

This gets 50 percent of the Hindu temple management to get on their knees, sobbing their hearts out. But the Genie will not stop till even a single member is unrepentant.

So the Genie shape-shifts into a pop-mythologist. He will illuminate you with further 'real Hinduism'. Do you know that temple building itself was alien to Hindus and was brought by Greek invaders? Yet the Hindutvaites want temples extended and expanded. This is nothing but the proof of Abrahamic nature of Hindutva.

Now another 25 percent of the temple management committee will relish the smug feeling of being an enlightened intellectual cultural Hindu feeling sorry for the ignoramus who demand temple extensions knowing zilch about historic Greek roots of temples.

The last 25 percent may still remain unconvinced. But the Genie knows the best. With sagely white hair and a crooked smile, our genie is a JNU professor now, the cult-goddess of Indian history. Were not temples historically the places of exploitation of the subaltern? Were not temples originally Buddhist Stupas taken over by Brahmin priests? The remaining 25 percent realise they have always been on the oppressive exploitive side of history and their children studying NCERT textbooks also tell them that they are ashamed of being the children of parents who had historically exploited the 'subalterns'.

That is the Genie of the Nehruvian lamp of Aladdin – the lamp you purchased at Khan Market. But the genie is special. You should not misuse it.

What is misuse? It actually should be in the user-manual that comes with the lamp. But most miss it.

For example in the above scenario even if the ground is public space as it turned out to be in Hubli and as it is right now in Gurgaon, the genie will never appear and do a spiritual performance like below:

Is not namaz a prayer? Is not prayer a spiritual communion between the Maker and you? Should it not be peaceful and not exhibitionist? Is not there a Hadith that speaks of the inner namaz as greater than the external namaz? Is not using namaz to usurp land, even momentarily, the most unspiritual and unIslamic thing to do? You can always do namaz in the inner sanctum of your heart.

And all that Jazz. Your Khan-market purchased Aladdin lamp will just remain inert. No genie.

Nor will the genies pop out in the pop-mythologist-form searching for Sufi tales which speak of the hypocrisy of those who parade their religiosity through doing their namaz in open congregations.

Rub it for the JNU professor variant. The JNU professor may labour hard to point out how though religion in her theory might be the opiate of the masses, when it comes to certain religions, somehow the ecstasy tablets miraculously transform into Vitamin pills.

So no genie in that form too.

The lamp for all its lustre of 'sufistry' shall remain silent. That is the genie not in the room.

If you understand the genie-present and genie-absent from the Aladdin lamp of Khan market, then you understand the values of that glorious Nehruvian India which every market-losing stand-up comedian drools about, which has been slowed down from taking its natural course becoming the dream dystopia of every Friday-traffic-stopper.