Pluralism needs to be reconstructed: Prof HS Shivaprakash
5th May Literary Fest
Dharwad, May 27: Senior writer Dr HS Shivaprakash opined that in the present context, there is a need to reconstruct both pluralism and oneness in the country.
Speaking on “India of multi-religions” at a two-day 5th May Literary Fest organized by the Ladayi Publication of Gadag, Chittara Balaga of Dharwad and Kavi Publication at Papu Auditorium here on Sunday, he said that “We have forgotten equality and coexistence. Karl Marx had called for powerless society. Unfortunately, corporate forces have been ruling the people in the country. We are in a critical situation where we need to reconstruct both pluralism and oneness”, he added.
Religion was debatable issue since two thousand years. India did not have Hindu religion earlier. When Britishers came to India, Hindu religion was brought into practice like Christianity. Earlier, the concept Hindu was not being used in religious context, but it was being used in related to a particular region or area, he opined.
“There are many schools of thoughts and religions. I have not read Brahma sutra. I have read more on non-Vedic traditions like Sharana, Naatha, Shakhya Sufi and other schools of thoughts. None of these would impose oneness on us. All the Schools of thoughts like Bhakti, Sharana, Naatha, Shakhya Sufi emerged during medieval period had advocated oneness in pluralism or unity in diversity. In Jain tradition, they have a term called ‘Anekantavada’. Each religion would evolve based on their experiences”, he said.
The word ‘Lingayat’ is an indicator of Self, while ‘Veerashaiva’ is an indicator of Practice. Sharana community is an indicator and it was used in Vachanas four thousand times. But the word ‘Hindu’ was not used for a single time. So, there is no question of reviving the Hindu religion there. Vachanas were written in over 40 years by several Vachanakars, communities and people from different professions. Many communities have opened up to the literary field to such an extent that no country or literature in the world has witnessed this development. It was happened only in Karnataka. While collecting the Vachanas, some personal agenda has crept and they were collected as Allama-centric and Bassava-centric vachanas and women writers were neglected, he said.
The factors influenced the people most in this election was neither Hindutva nor secularism. But castes and sub-castes have played major role. More than castes, people and communities have tried to identify themselves as sub-castes, Shivaprakash said.
At the end of the session, a discussion was held. Noted writers Chandrashekar Patil, SG Siddaramaiah, Ramjan Darga, Kalegowda Nagawara and others participated in it.
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UP: Misled by GPS navigation, car falls into river from partially constructed bridge, 3 dead
Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.
"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.
The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.
There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.
Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.
The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) November 24, 2024
