An open letter to Asifa

Dear Asifa, 

I know you are too young to understand why those 8 people did to you what they did. I know you are too young to care about the system and I know you don’t even worry whether prime minister Narendra Modi spoke on your case or not.You don’t care whether your case was a religious propaganda or a political act. But I am sorry that we are just concerned about these points.I and other people of our nation are just worried about the caste of the men who raped you. we are more caught up in finding what did Rahul Gandhi say, what was the view of Menka Gandhi. Today, through this letter I want to apologise to you on their and my behalf. 

Asifa, I am sorry I don’t even want to think what punishment your rapist should get because after whatever you faced I really don’t know who should be behind the bars, them (accused) or the whole human race. After reading your story I want to serve penance myself for not being able to create a better society for children like you. Today, with your sinners I hope we all humans would be able decide our retribution because when something like this happens the question is not only why the accused did what he did, the bigger question is where are we leading ourselves on the name of religion, on the name of politics. 

When a man does a hideous crime like rape, I feel sorry and culprit myself that I didn’t raise my voice higher enough to urge every mother to inculcate basic values in their sons. I am sorry Asifa for letting these man ruin your life.

Asifa, when you meet almighty I request you to complain not only about those 8 cruel men but also feel free to tell him, that we the so called ‘intelligent race’ have created monsters in ourselves through knowledge and power. Do convey him how shallow this world has become. Also tell him that even after your death we kept on raping you daily in newspapers. Girl, Do not shy away from telling him that the world he moulded has nearly came to an end. 

It was heartbreaking to hear that you passed away but somewhere I feel it happened for a good reason because you know we won’t have allowed you to have normal life. This is how we have developed ourselves in this blind race of politics, votes, religion. 

I am sorry Asfia because we didn’t build a good society for you. As a human, as an elder and as a woman I apologise to you for making you go through all that. I don’t know the art to flip time but I can promise I will try to work harder, I will try to raise my voice higher for developing a more secure space for angles like you. 

-Soumya

Yoga - an anti-Christian practice

Recently a commission report was prepared by the Pala diocese Bishop, Kerala, which was later on approved by the Syro Malabar church synod. It is interesting to note that the report states, “Yoga doesn’t bring about any improvement in any person.” It also adds, “The RSS and other sangh parivar groups are trying to promote yoga all over India. So laity and church heads should take care to avoid paying attention to yoga and other spiritual movements which are totally against the catholic faith. The yoga and other ‘anti-Christian practices’ do not encourage the official teaching of the church.” 

On the one hand the whole world acknowledged the importance of yoga and to even celebrate its virtue declared 21 June as world yoga day while on the other hand there are these people who have the courage to link yoga with some culture. Plus have the audacity to declare it anti-Christian. What I don’t understand is what is anti-christian in practicing yoga? What makes a community to say that any sensible person should not encourage such practices? 

Just because the roots of yoga and meditation are found in India, it suddenly became a threat and something which should not be practiced at all. Doesn't a way to meditate, a way to attain peace should be universal? Don’t you feel instead of trying to find cultural or so called communal issues in it, we should rather be focusing on how to promote it to create a stress free society? When even western science is understanding the importance of yoga, isn’t it baffling to hear that only sangh or so-called Hindu organisations are trying to promote yoga? Is yoga or ways to mediate patented by RSS? How by practicing yoga, a way of exercise, a person would be unfaithful to his own culture or community? 

I want to highlight here that even science says yoga improves health, reduces stress and elevates mood. In a 2005, German study, women who described themselves as “emotionally distressed” took two yoga classes a week for three months. The control group maintained their normal activities—which did not include exercise or stress reducing techniques. At the end of the three months, the women in the yoga classes reported improvements—depression scores improved by 50%, anxiety scores by 30%, and overall well-being scores improved by an incredible 65%. Headache, backache, and poor sleep quality complaints also decreased more often in the yoga group than in the control. 

So what kind of vigilance is report asking for? And how a practice to have a good health against catholic faith? I do not intend to mock or insult anyone’s culture or beliefs but I do wish to get answers to my questions. Because these kinds of report not only misleads innocent minds but also in some way winds communal tension. These reports should be studied carefully before approving because they can factually wrong and may also hurt someone’s beliefs. Anyone influential should understand what difference their word could make before speaking or stating any item. They should also realise what kind of message world be interpreted by their statements. 

Some people have already raised voices against this report. I hope their voices would build pressure on the makers to amend the same.