Live and let live all together

Kajal Chatterjee
It is often being commented in various quarters that with the fangs of dreaded virus looming large over the India and world with cases of infection and death increasing each passing day; people have stopped religious bickering with temples-mosques-church tightly shut but hospitals wide open thereby suggesting that God resides within science, not religion!
There lies no doubt that God resides in science, not religion; but the billion dollar question remains  would this apparent realisation continue to persist when all things would turn normal with the terror of corona receding to background! People might not be engaged in religious tussle right now, but question needs to be asked whether the poison of communalism has at last got eradicated from the minds of all concerned for ever!
It would be too optimistic to conclude that communalism has yielded place to humanitarianism in Indian and global society! Rather even in this hour of crisis challenging human civilization, communal brigade are still at full play! This is the reason why pictorial posts have appeared in social media alongwith suggestive comments depicting a long queue of Muslim men standing closest to each other rendering Friday prayers! As if how irresponsible and orthodox they are! It goes without saying that the post garnered huge number of "likes"!  But the concerned "responsible liberal" citizen and his fellow followers had "failed to notice" the congregation at Ayodhya led by none other than Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityanath performing certain rituals revolving "Ram Lalla" when Indian lockdown had started with full force!  What a hypocrite mindset of selective "sight" and "blindness"!
So it is obvious that communalism, orthodoxy, show of superstition like mass drinking of cow urine(which are a bit subdued now) would again return with full vengeance and vigour once the visible danger of corona gets past!
However the Himalayan crisis and danger posed by the virus throughout the world affecting Who's Who of the concerned society to the marginalised, irrespective of status wealth economy religion race language caste colour  nationality and political background, transmits a strong and clear message that the present and future of human civilization are fully dependent upon each other or all. If we act in a responsible and cohesive manner --- be it on sphere of combating disease, protecting environment or ensuring world peace; human civilization would survive, else we would all go down together!
No wonder why that much far-sighted visionary came up with the lyric "Bishwasaathe Joge Jethay Biharo, Seikhane Jog Tomar Saathe Aamaro"("I too remain connected to you in the same way you move around connected to the universe"). Through this song, Rabindranath Tagore had urged all to unite with the human beings of the whole world according to the spirit of the divine. Wherever all would align themselves with each other, we would meet the divine in that very place. So by discarding the narrowness of personal interest, one would have to work for fellow citizens of the country and world.
Tagore's humanitarian lines are so relevant in this current crucial juncture when my survival depends upon the well-being of others and in turn the survival of others is dependent upon my well-being! Hope the global society, plagued by silly divisions of religion race language colour caste nationality politics gender class and economy, would draw a lesson from this civilizational crisis and try to uplift themselves to another level by lending cooperative hands towards all free of superstition bias prejudice and orthodoxy.
The writer is based in Kolkata