At a time when religious intolerance seems to be the order of the day, Sudhamahi Regunathan, vice-chancellor of the Jain Vishwa Bharati Institute in Rajasthan, talks to Humra Quraishi about her attempts to preach secularism through a series of lectures — ‘‘Understanding Religions’’. Excerpts from the interview: Last year, after you took over as Vice-Chancellor of this university, you started a series of lectures — ‘‘Understanding Religions’’ — in the Capital. What inspired you to do this?Our university is based on the fundamental Jaina principle of Anekanta, which believes truth is multi-dimensional. It is thus a wonderful tool for conflict resolution. If we are to work by Anekanta, it was imperative to try and understand each religion with equal seriousness. That is why we called the course ‘‘Understanding Religions’’ and not ‘‘Comparative Religions’’. We wanted to highlight the idea that every religion has its merit and it is in learning to cope with differences that we learn to live together. At another level, I found the intelligentsia was not really reacting to the atrocities being carried out in the name of religion. I felt that was because few of us have a clear understanding of religion, be it our own or others’. But not all of us have the inclination to do a Masters in Philosophy or religion. So I thought this would be an adult enhancement course. This year, you are again conducting a similar series of lectures.All university courses are repeated. One session was over. Another begins mid-August. Hopefully this will continue. Have your perceptions about Islam changed after interacting with Islamic scholars?Well, personally I knew little about Islam except for a little about Sufism and Sufi poets. When I met Maulana Wahiduddin, I saw the compassionate side of Islam. The lectures were very popular with our students too. They enjoyed learning about Islam. What was the audience participation like? Were there any politicians who attended the lectures? Do you think the lectures broadened the common man’s perspective about religions other than his own?The response we got showed that people are not wary of those belonging to other religions. Instead, they have a healthy curiosity and respect for them. One repeated question, addressed to speakers of all faiths, was: ‘Why and when did this mis-interpretation of religious texts begin?’ Unfortunately, no politician attended our course. None of them have shown any interest this year either. What can the average citizen do to counter divisive communal forces?While I understand the insecurities of the minority communities, I feel the more we segregate people into such categories, the more we widen the rift. The rift is created by politicians, not by the people. People get swayed by emotional propaganda. As Rev Valson Thampu says, Indian Christianity is so much more spiritual than Western. And as Moosa Raza pointed out, Muslims have deified lesser guardian deities as Hindus do. In many temples in the South, a special prayer is offered by a devout Muslim. There is so much give and take that if the will is there, the differences can become beautiful definitions not barriers. Most religious leaders seem to have lost their ability to reach out to the masses today. Why?Acharya Mahaprajna says religion has lost its hold on people because the ritualistic side has taken over, not the dharmic side. The dharmic side insists on high morality. We have given that up. All our speakers talked of how vested interests developed within every institutionalised religion and how it has become divested of its main ingredient, that is, morality. So if it were true religion that we were following, it would not be the cause of wars. It would be an agent of peace. In your university, what special steps do you take to ensure that the students maintain their secularism?I think the idea of secularism has to be understood. It does not mean giving no religion a platform. It does not mean finding commonness between all religions. It means giving equal respect to all faiths in spite of their differences. I think we need education in religions, even if it be our own. If each of us understand what our religion is saying it will be easy to appreciate another person’s religion. If we do not learn about our religion, we will only breed fanatics in our children — fanatics born out of ignorance.
