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| Evil spirits warded off, Govt expects order as House resumes today | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, August 6: Relying on the ‘spiritual exercise’ as well as political maneuvering the coalition government is expecting a smooth run in the House but the opposition Peoples Democratic Party still appears in an unrelenting mood as Legislative Assembly resumes its business after an over weeklong break in Srinagar tomorrow.
The Legislature Complex in Srinagar seems to have put the fear of the God in the officials of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. Last year itself, officials had started whispering that the complex was haunted after Ghulam Nabi Azad government bowed out of office.
The differences between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its then coalition partner, the Congress, were attributed to the ominous shadow of the legislature complex. Some officials even suggested that the place was haunted and should be abandoned. Never mind the crores of rupees from public exchequer that had been spent on its construction.
A year down the line, the Chief Minister, Mr Omar Abdullah, created a flutter when he submitted his conditional resignation to the Governor, Mr N N Vohra, last month. Once again, the legislature complex was portrayed as the villain of the piece, and not Omar’s anger, and the conditional resignation was attributed to the effect of evil spirits.
Omar visited the famous dargah at Ajmer for thanksgiving a couple of days ago, along with his wife, Payal Abdullah.
On Wednesday, 21 Muslim clerics visited the legislature complex and conducted Quran Khwani, recital of the Holy Quran, for apparently ``placating the evil spirits’’. Remembering the God in good times and bad is something that humans draw strength from. In this case too, it was no different as the officials seemed to believe that Quran Khwani will help drive away the evil spirits.
Interestingly, after the Quran Khwani, laddoos were distributed among those present. A couple of officials suggested that the distribution of laddoos was considered a good omen in Hindu religion and that is why they were distributed.
The message being sought to be conveyed was that religious rituals of both the communities, Muslims and Hindus, were included in the proceedings. It was a rather simplistic way of conveying that the rituals were secular or sensitivities of both the communities were taken care of.
This is in fact a distortion as by no stretch of imagination can the distribution of laddoos be considered a Hindu religious practice.
Among Hindus, if a place is considered haunted, the religious rituals that the priests may suggest include Akhand path of Ramayan, Bhagwat Saptah, Gita path, Mahamritunjay path etc. Shudhikaran or purification in Hindu religion also involves the conduct of havens, accompanied by Vedic incantations.
Distribution of laddoos definitely is not something that any Hindu priest suggests as a way out to placate evil spirits.
If the officials really believed that Hindu religious rituals also needed to be followed, they should have consulted pandits or pujaris, the Hindu clerics, for the needful. Just as they left Quran Khwani, a religious matter, to the Muslim clerics. They should not have abrogated to themselves the right of declaring distribution of laddoos as being a Hindu religious practice. This was far-fetched and in bad taste, unlike the sweet and delicious laddoos.
There was no need for the officials to try to mix Quran Khwani and the distribution of laddoos. These half-hearted measures or explanations, entirely devoid of any sincerity, are the bane of the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
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