Through its Media Monitoring Unit, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has flagged numerous religiously intolerant remarks that have appeared in the comments section of posts in relation to the installation of the 50-foot Bhagwan Shiv Murti at the Badrinaath Ashram at Spring Garden on the Essequibo Coast in Region 2. The ERC, constitutionally tasked with the maintenance of ethnic harmony in our nation, has since issued several cautionary warnings to individuals who have made the religiously intolerant statements.
It has also announced in an official statement, “However, due to the escalating number of negative comments and inflammatory remarks, the Commission urges all Guyanese to exercise mutual respect and uphold the principles of religious freedom that (are) enshrined in our Constitution.
“Guyana is a proudly multi-ethnic and multicultural society, where religious diversity has long been a cornerstone of our national identity. The majority of our population actively participates in and respects each other’s religious celebrations, demonstrating a model of religious harmony that sets a global example. The ERC strongly cautions against any actions or statements that may seek to undermine one of Guyana’s greatest strengths — our religious unity. It is imperative that we do not allow divisive rhetoric to disrupt the peaceful coexistence that has long defined our nation.”
From the negative comments that this newspaper has seen, it is evident that the values of our nation on religious diversity, that the ERC articulated above, need to be inculcated at all levels in our society. We can do no better than starting with our educational institutions, starting from nursery through tertiary and post graduate programmes. Religion is one of the cornerstones of the identities of our peoples who were brought from across the continents to join our Indigenous Peoples, who had their own spiritual beliefs. It is an unfortunate aspect of our history that, during the colonial period, we were hegemonised by the Europeans to denigrate our non-European spiritual practices in favour of a version of Christianity that not only justified our exploitation, but the eradication of our beliefs as “pagan” and “heathen”. It is a supreme irony that the same Europeans had earlier suffered the exact fate by the successors of the Roman Empire after the latter had conquered them. It is truly said that the abused become abusers.
Our African citizens, who were enslaved and dragged across the Atlantic, suffered the greatest social destruction. Our own Caribbean sociologist Dr Orlando Patterson, who taught at Harvard, described the end result as “social death”, from which their descendants must be recuperated. Even after the “abolition” of slavery, when educational and religious institutions were formed to induct them into “freedom”, the former taught that they were “savages” who must be “civilized”, and the latter preached that they were irredeemably sinners as the “children of Ham”. Yet, the Christianity into which they were inducted insisted it was superior to the “animistic” beliefs of the Indigenous Peoples, and to the religions – Hinduism and Islam – of the new Indentured labourers brought from India to replace the former enslaved Africans on the plantations. The Chinese and Portuguese were already Christians, the latter albeit of the lesser “Catholic” variety.
And we arrive at the insults directed at the Murthi of Lord Shiva at Spring Garden, which has been described as a “statue” and an “idol” by the critics, who articulated what were explicitly described as “Christian” positions on the sin of “idolatry”. There were any number of quotations from the Bible, a typical one being from Isaiah 44:9–20: “All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit.”
The commentaries were even more scathing while describing the eternal punishment in hell that would result from the worship of Lord Shiva.
It is interesting that no Muslim was condemnatory of the Lord Shiva Murthi; and President Irfaan Ali, who is a practising Muslim, was an honoured guest at the installation of the Murthi, and he praised our religious diversity. He offered to assist in the training of the purveyors of the three main religions in our country – pandits, imams and priests. It is clear that some who practise the Christian faith need to broaden their horizons.
