JACOB PEENIKAPARAMBIL ARTICLE: After a gap of 20 years the Taliban has taken complete control of Afghanistan. People of Afghanistan, especially women, are living in shock because of the terrible fear that the Taliban would impose sharia, the Islamic religious law that would introduce punishments such as stoning, whipping and hanging etc, and curtail freedom for women. People are recollecting the cruelties committed by the terrorist group in 1996-2001 when it was ruling the country.  

When the Taliban was in power, it had banned television, music and cinema and disapproved of girls aged 10 and above going to school. Women were allowed to go out only if they were covered in burqa from head to toe and accompanied by a male relative. The Taliban were accused of various human rights violations and cultural abuses.

Terrorist groups like Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) have roots in the radical or fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. Although there are differences among them, their emergence is the result of fundamentalism overpowering the spiritual dimensions of Islam as a religion. Fundamentalism and fundamentalists are found in all religions. But when they take control of the social and political life of people, human rights are violated, basic freedoms are denied to people and brutal violence is unleashed against those who oppose them. That is what happened in Afghanistan in 1996-2001.

Growth of fundamentalism in any religion is a threat to Human Rights, democracy and world peace. The fundamentalists believe that their religion is beyond any form of criticism, and should therefore also be forced upon others. Logical explanations and scientific evidence have no place in these belief systems, if they go against their religious beliefs. For fundamentalists, religion dictates every sphere of their daily lives.

How can we stop religion becoming fundamentalist? A reasonable answer can be found in the book, “THE GURU OF JOY: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Art of Living”, written by Francois Gautier. Human beings have five major identities. Firstly, we are part of the Divine; secondly, we are human beings; thirdly, we are male or female; fourthly we belong to a particular nation; and fifthly we belong to a particular religion.  If we identify ourselves with nationality or religion, forgetting that first we are part of the Divine and secondly we are human beings, we bring misery onto ourselves and onto others also. On the contrary, if we focus on the higher identities i.e. we are part of the Divine and we belong to one and the same human community, the rise of fundamentalism in religion can be stopped.  

The book also gives another interesting explanation on how people can become spiritual. Religion has three aspects: spiritual values, rituals and symbols. The spiritual values are common to all religious traditions, but rituals and symbols vary. The rituals and symbols are like the banana skin, and the spiritual values are the banana. The spiritual values of most of the religions are love, forgiveness, compassion, justice, respecting every being etc. If people give priority to the practice of the spiritual values over the practice of rituals they will become spiritual and start respecting every human being and they will live in harmony with people of all faiths.

The solution to the growth of religious fundamentalism and emergence of religiously motivated terrorist groups is promotion of spirituality by focusing on the practice of the core values taught by all religions.  Focus on spirituality will help us to build understanding and harmony among the followers of different religions.

If we, Indians, practise the sacred values enshrined in the preamble of Indian Constitution like justice, equality, liberty and fraternity and individual dignity, fundamentalism and communalism can be kept away from our social and political life.

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