THE CHRONICLES OF VERDAN BUSCADAN

This is a story about a wise, principled man whose life and untimely death sparked changes that would reverberate down the succeeding generations. It is a tale in the tradition of warning of dangers inherent in society and how people relate to each other and the power of religious leaders and Godmen.

With past and recent events in the countries of the subcontinent, it is clear that feelings about religion run high. While some readers will be quick to see the story below as specifically about Islam (which it is not), the more politically astute will see that it about the dangers of fundamentalist approaches to religion in general and notions of fixed identities. Of course the disingenuous will deny it applies to their own particular religion or culture which is viewed as unproblematic. However recent (and past) events in India suggest that is not the case.

THE CHRONICLES OF VERDAN BUSCADAN - PART 1

EXTRACTS FROM "THE LAST DAYS OF VERDAD BUSCADAN"

Guard: What faith are you?

Prisoner: I'm a human being

Guard: Answer my question!...What is your religion?

Prisoner: Human - as you are, or any other person in this prison.

Guard: You are being stubborn as always, old man.

Prisoner: Or maybe just consistent.

Guard: Your wordplay doesn't impress me. Deep down you're afraid to tell the truth.

Prisoner: No, you're the one afraid of facing the real truth.

Guard: Right now, the only truth is that unless you answer my question, you will suffer a great deal of pain. I suggest you concern yourself with that particular truth.

Prisoner: And if I answer in the way you expect me to, there'll still be pain and suffering visited upon me...Either way I'll suffer at your hands.

Guard: Since it makes no difference to the outcome, why don't you do us all a favour and answer me? Why makes things more difficult when all you need to do is say what your faith is?

Prisoner: My faith - my basic belief is that I'm a human being, capable of much love, compassion, understanding and tolerance. We're all human beings, regardless of which religious label we wear.

Guard: I didn't ask for a speech. A simple one word answer to my question will suffice...I ask again: what are you, old man?

Prisoner: I am the pinnacle of evolution, the gleam in God's eye.

Guard: I grow impatient with you, old man. Answer or I will be obliged to break your brittle bones, before the executioner pays you a visit. Now, what is your religion? What is your belief?

Prisoner: I believe we are all human beings, of equal value and worthy of respect.

Guard: You are trying my patience, old man. For the last time, what is your faith?

Prisoner: Why don't you tell me? You've been trying to coerce me into saying what you want, rather than what I know, feel and understand.

Guard: That's enough, old man! Your evasions and refusal to say you're one of us, and your defence of the heretic makes it very clear what you really are.

Prisoner: So according to you, by defending what you call a heretic, I've answered your question?

Guard: Yes. Isn't it obvious?

Prisoner: To defend the rights of another is to become the other?

Guard: Yes, if the other is not of the faith.

Prisoner: So why bother asking questions? I appear to be guilty as charged.

Guard: Most likely.

Prisoner: And according to your doctrines and decrees, I'll be put to death, because you put to death anyone uttering what you consider heresies, or supporting anyone who's uttered a heresy.

Guard: Correct. True believers like us do not utter heresies nor defend them. You're correct about heretics and their defenders being put to death.

Prisoner: In that case, I will answer your question.

Guard: Good. Common sense has finally prevailed. So what are you?

Prisoner: First and foremost, I am, and was born, a human being -

Guard: I am warning you, old man -

Prisoner - As I was saying... First and foremost, I am, and was born, a human being, and every kind of other label adopted, whether religious or ethnic is entirely subsidiary.

The prisoner was beaten badly and left bleeding. Subsequently a physician attended the prisoner's wound to ensure he would be fit enough to be executed. The execution of the teacher, Verdan Buscadan, was carried out in secret in the early hours before the sun came up the following day.

Footnote: The chronicles of the Sage Buscadan have been intensively studied for several generations. There is no escaping their harsh truth, and our collective crime: Although we did not recognise it at the time, he was not at all a heretic, but the wisest among us - as we discovered over the subsequent generations.

THE CHRONICLES OF VERDAN BUSCADAN - PART 2

THE EARLY YEARS - PART 1

Foreword

Many people, besides bona fide historians, ask about the early years of Verdan Buscadan. What experiences and influences made him the troublesome heretic' or apostate' to the religious authorities that they put him to death?

Unfortunately, Buscadan rarely spoke of his formative years, nor were there many people available or capable of accurately recording his words. The only information available to us are the recollections of Bayan Gracie, who nursed him during a prolonged bout of illness while he tutored her in science and philosophy. The honoured Lady was for a period his leraar (student), and he hereruditi (teacher), but she did not record her recollection until she herself was elderly and some people say, forgetful. Be that as it may, here are several of her anecdotal recollections. Despite their lack of total accuracy, they might still provide insights about the great man.

The ten year old Buscadan had enrolled at the Occam School set in the foothills of the Mount Bhahard. He studied there under respected Usta Mendaan Sochan. On his first day, the young Buscadan was involved in a heated argument with Pagnan Surro, one of his classmates, over the meaning of a religious text. According to Bayan Gracie, apparently the exchanges were as set out below.

THE FIRST STORY OF BAYAN GRACIE

Pagnan: The holy text does not say that at all!

Buscadan: But it does.

Pagnan: Only you think it says that. Do you presume to know better than all the generations of kutsals (priests) who have preceded us? Typical. You're deliberately being provocative, Buscadan.

Buscadan: The kustals only ape what they've heard. When did they ever think, as opposed to mouth dogma?

Pagnan: Insulting our holy priests doesn't advance your case any, and most certainly can't change what has been written down in the sacred texts. And those texts have remained unaltered since the day they were written.

Buscadan: That doesn't make any difference.

Pagnan: Of course it makes a difference, you fool!

At this point, Usta Sochan chanced upon the heated exchange between the two lads and intervened.

Sochan: Who's a fool and what makes a difference Leraar Pagnan?

Pagnan: Usta, Buscadan was being heretical in -

Sochan: - Leraar, we don't label people in that manner at this school!

Pagnan: Sorry, Usta...Buscadan was changing what is written in para 1 of chapter 6 of our holy text.

Buscadan: I was not, Usta...

Sochan: So, why is Pagnan so angry with you, Buscadan?

Buscadan: I read the text differently, Usta.

Pagnan: But how can he, when it's all clearly written down and hasn't changed in thousands of years? Usta, I know I am right and he is wrong.

Sochan: Have you considered the third option that both of you are correct?

Pagnan: But how can that be, Usta? Surely one of us must be wrong since each of us is saying something completely different. Besides, as I said, the words are written down and their meaning clear to everyone!

Sochan: Not to Buscadan, it would seem...Well, Buscadan, what d'you have to say for yourself?

Buscadan: The words may well be written down, Usta, but surely each of us is free to interpret them differently.

Pagnan: No they are not!

Sochan: I think, Pagnan, Buscadan may have a point.

Pagnan: But Usta, how can that be? If there is no agreement over the meaning, there is chaos and conflict.

Sochan; Pagnan, if you approach matters with a closed mind, why are you even at this school? How will you learn, if you repeat dogma instead of thinking for yourself?

Pagnan: But, Usta

Sochan: Enough, Pagnan. Either give me a coherent argument or accept the fact that there are as many interpretations of the holy texts as there are people who can think with the brain that the Creator has given them...And as for you, Buscadan...Are you always going to be like this?

Buscadan: Like what, Usta?

Sochan: Difficult and argumentative.

Buscadan: I expect so, Usta.

Sochan: At least you are honest.

There ends the first tale told by the Lady.

The next tale is about the young Buscadan when he was in his final stage of his schooling.

THE CHRONICLES OF VERDAN BUSCADAN - PART 3

EARLY YEARS - PART 2

The only information available on the early life of Sage Buscadan are the recollections of Bayan Gracie, who nursed him during a prolonged bout of illness while he tutored her in science and philosophy. (High born women often were privately tutored since women generally were barred from institutions of higher learning.) During his recuperation, the learned Verdan Buscadan told the honoured lady about his dispute with his science tutor, Ottama Schappan over the idea of schun, the religious notion of pure, holy or fit for consumption. (Aschun means the opposite - impure and unfit for consumption.)

THE SECOND STORY OF BAYAN GRACIE

The dispute arose when they had been studying the tiny creatures in the water from a nearby pond. Usta Schappan was asked by one of his students whether the presence of the tiny organisms was the reasons why pond water was deemed by the holy texts to be aschun, impure and therefore unfit for human consumption. When the tutor agreed with the student's remark, his classmate, Buscadan felt obliged to point out that animals drank the water without any injury. Usta Schappan responded by drawing attention to the fact that animals were not deemed moral creatures but humans were, and humans followed the holy texts. This reply enraged the young Buscadan so much he remarked, "I thought in this lesson we were studying science, not scriptures". This sarcastic remark was considered highly disrespectful and the incident was referred to Usta Mendaan Sochan, the Head of the Occam School.

As best she can recollect, Bayan Gracie states that the conversation was as follows:-

Buscadan: But Usta, the concept of schun and aschun is flawed and most certainly not scientific.

Sochan: And are you an expert in religious texts, Leraar Buscadan?

Buscadan: Of course not, Usta, but I am well versed in science -

Schappan: But not in religion, Buscadan. What bearing can your science have on ancient religious texts? Tell me that Buscadan?

Buscadan: Sir, Usta Sochan himself has often stated that clear thinking requires courage more than intelligence. I've the courage to voice the scientific or logical inconsistencies inherent in the concept of schun and aschun.

Sochan: So you wish to take logic where it does not belong?

Buscadan: Surely even religious texts need to be reasonable and sensible, Usta Sochan. Did people not once believe that Iblis (defeated demons) as a punishment for their crimes, pushed the planets in their orbits? We have dispensed with such religious ideas and now know that the force of gravity does the job of keeping planets in their orbits.

Schappan: That's all very well and good when we speak of astronomy, but how can science dispose of the notion of purity or schun, young man?

Buscadan: It's just not logical and does not square with scientific understanding.

Sochan: Buscadan, don't assert your view, explain it!

Buscadan: Very well Usta, I'll do my best.

Schappan: And more if you are to convince us.

Buscadan: Very well. Let's start with the idea that urine is aschun or unclean. Since we know the exact composition of urine, if we were to artificially make some by mixing the components in exactly the right amounts, would the liquid we created be aschun?

Schappan: Of course not.

Buscadan: But if this same, identical liquid is created by the kidneys, it is considered aschun!

Sochan: Because it is issued from the human body.

Schappan: Precisely.

Buscadan: That, Usta, is illogical since the liquids are identical chemically. A scientist would not be able to distinguish between the artificial urine and that produced naturally!

Sochan: Fine, we concede that minor point, but that hardly negates the principle of schun and aschun, young man.

Buscadan: There's more, sirs. According to holy scriptures, sea water is schun and all the animals that live in the seas are schun and fit to eat. But how can this be when human and animal urine and excrement finds its way into the seas thereby polluting them?

Schappan: The seas are vast and the amount of pollution is very small by comparison.

Buscadan: Usta, are you arguing that the effluent is too dilute to be considered aschun?

Schappan: Well...maybe...

Sochan: Good point, young man. Do go on.

Buscadan: So at what dilution level does this miraculous transformation from ashun to schun occur?

Sochan: What do you mean, Verdan?

Buscadan: Usta, if I put a drop of urine in a cup of water, is the water schun?

Sochan: Of course not. The water would be considered impure.

Buscadan: If I were to take a drop of liquid from that cup and put it into a bucket of water, what then?

Schappan: I know where you're going with this, lad but -

Sochan: Let him finish his point, Ottama.

Buscadan: Sirs, the urine or impurity would still be present no matter how great the dilution, so at what level of dilution would the water be considered schun?

Schappan: How would I know? I'm not a kutsal (priest). Besides, I doubt the Holy Scriptures give a precise dilution in terms of so many parts of urine per parts of water. It is Holy Scripture not a science textbook.

Buscadan: Precisely my point, Usta! So why do we accept statements from the religious texts as having greater veracity than what scientific knowledge teaches us?

Sochan: Well, what do make of that, Ottama?

Buscadan: With respect, Usta, I have not finished yet.

Sochan: You mean there's more? Fine, make you argument.

Buscadan: After performing our toilet, we wash our hands with soap, yet the kutsals expect us to recite passages from the Holy Scriptures while washing - or they say our hands are unclean. Does the soap alone not render the hands schun? Exactly how does reciting Holy Scripture aid the process of changing our hands from being impure to being pure?

Schappan: That I cannot answer, except to say that that is what the kutsals expect of us.

Buscadan: But, sir, you are a scientist. If you do not know, who will?

Sochan: Is that it, Verdan? You finished?

Buscadan: Not quite, Usta, not quite. There is a little more.

Sochan: Very well, go on, young man...

Buscadan: Sirs, if you will excuse my frankness, it concerns matters of a sexual nature.

Schappan: We're suitably cautioned, Verdan, now do get on with the matter.

Buscadan: As you wish...A man and woman are considered impure or unclean, after engaging in sexual relations. Yet the baby that such an act produces is considered a blessing, even a gift from God. How can an unclean act produce a blessing? I put it to you, that this is contradictory and illogical. Besides, how can the act of creating new life be considered an unclean act?

The two teachers looked perplexed but said nothing. They listened intently while the young Buscadan continued his argument.

Buscadan: Then consider the religious concept that a woman is impure when she menstruates every month. She is not permitted to prepare food, enter a place of worship, and if her husband touches her, he also is rendered impure or unclean. The kutsals say the menstrual blood renders her impure. Why is it that if she cuts her hand and it bleeds she is not rendered impure? After all, the blood from her hand and that from her intimate areas is chemically identical! Is the impurity due to the fact that the menstrual blood issues from that intimate part of the body? Is this female part of the body not where the creation of new life begins? How can it be considered impure, or any blood that issues from there?

Sochan: Enough, Verdan, enough...I think we've heard more than enough for today. Well Ottama, what do you say now?

Schappan: Well Sir, to be honest, in the light of what has been said, I'm not sure that punishing Verdan would be appropriate or helpful. However, I must confess I worry about the potential danger of Verdan's views for the religious faith of the other students in the class. And because of the views he espouses, he's also not particularly liked by the other students. I really don't know what I should do with him. Any suggestions you might have would be welcome.

Sochan: Tutor him individually, Ottama, when the others have gone. In the interim, give him more difficult texts to study. You up to the challenge, Verdan?

Buscadan: I'll do my best, Usta.

This recollection of Bayan Gracie contained considerable detail and the Lady put it down to the fact that the story had a certain resonance for her, since not only was she herself a student of science, but the argument also touched upon aspects of a woman's role in our society. The woman question was to be another subject that taxed Verdan Buscadan and he would take up with his peers and tutors before he completed his schooling.

THE CHRONICLES OF VERDAN BUSCADAN - PART 4

THE EARLY YEARS - PART 3

As mentioned earlier, little is known about the early life of the sage Verdan Buscadan, except for what has been told to us by Bayan Gracie. Though some of her testimony may not be considered entirely reliable, this particular incident she related is supported by physical evidence. The Lady had possession of the actual letter Verdan Buscadan received from his mother, on the last month of his studies at Occam School. The letter was offered to the chronicler of the life and times of the controversial teacher who was executed by the state for alleged heresy and apostasy. The letter reads as follows:-

"My dearest son Verdan: May the Almighty bless you and keep you steadfast in the faith.

Son, I pray you are of a strong heart because I write to relate some terrible news. Your father and I decided to keep certain information from you in case it distressed you and kept you from your studies. However matters have worsened and ended in calamity for our family. Now we are asking you to come home immediately to be with us at our time of need.

Your older sister, Naina is now with the Creator. She no longer walks among us."

The sage Buscadan wept openly even as he told Lady Gracie of the letter from his mother. At the time he first read the letter, he was inconsolable with grief and sobbed like a person bereft. As Verdan Buscadan continued to read the letter, he told Lady Gracie of how his anger grew at the injustice done to his sister and family. His mother's letter explained the events leading to the death of his sister.

"Your older sister, Naina was forced from her marital home by her husband, Kwaado nearly 10 months earlier. She arrived at our doorstep with only the clothes on her back and with only Suman, since Kwaado kept your nephew Bahadan.

It breaks my heart to relate the rest because your father and I know how much you love your sister and have always admired her. Naina when she arrived at our home had suffered numerous physical injuries which required immediate medical attention. The brute Kwaado had beaten her badly. Despite your father's visit to talk sense into the man, your brother-in-law was disrespectful, rude and quite unrepentant. He refused to accept your sister back into the marital home and insisted he would be keeping custody of your nephew and Naina could do what she wished with the little girl - our Suman.

Despite the advice of your father and me - you know how assertive she can be - your sister filed charges of grievous bodily harm against Kwaado. The case came to court, but despite Kwaado's housemaid's testimony, the court could not take one woman's word against a man's. There's that part in the Holy Scriptures that maintains that it takes two women's testimony to equal that of a man's.

To make matter more difficult for your sister, Kwaado had argued what is called the husband's defence. He claimed that his wife Naina continually disagreed with him and belittled him. As you know, under scriptural doctrine, a husband is in such circumstances permitted to use force against his wife. Kwaado claimed he had only exercised his God-given right. The court ruled that in line with scriptural doctrine, the husband had only exercised his right in the event of continual disobedience. The court advised that if Naina could not refrain from insulting him, she should immediately file for divorce. Your sister was apoplectic at the decision and raged against the kutsals (priests) and scriptural doctrine. We were all devastated by the ruling.

However unjust this ruling might have been, there was further heartbreak to come. Your sister's appeal to the court for custody of Bahadan, her son, was refused on the grounds that since Kwaado and Naina were still legally married she could not have custody of the children. Legally the children belonged in the marital home. Naina would be obliged to file for divorce before she could fight for custody of the children.

It was a measure of last resort for your father and a matter of much shame to our family that he was in the awkward situation of asking for a divorce on behalf of his daughter. That too, however amounted to nothing. Kwaado outright refused to grant Naina a divorce. Of course the kutsals refuse to recognise a divorce unless it is agreed by the husband. While Naina could go before the civil court (in preference to the religious courts) and be granted a technical divorce, in the eyes of the faithful, she would not be considered a divorced woman and therefore she would not be permitted to re-marry at some future date. She was in a state of limbo, neither able to move back or forward.

To add insult to injury Kwaado formally filed papers that he intended taking a second wife. Yes, strictly speaking she did have the right to refuse, but he was cunning in the way he went about achieving his aim. He used the barren wife' argument even though he has had two children by Naina! He claimed they had been trying for more than three years to have another child, but without success. Naina told us that this was a lie. He had taken up instead with a mistress and taunted Naina regularly about the matter. I will never forgive that shameless animal for what he put your sister through.

Naina was so upset by all that had happened that she withdrew into herself and refused to eat or even speak. The doctors were of little help with her condition. Yesterday your father found Naina in bed, her wrists cut open. We are beside ourselves with grief. Your niece is inconsolable. You must come home my son.

Please return as soon as you receive this letter, Verdan. We love and miss you. We need you with us to give us the strength to live through what the Almighty has planned for our family.

May the Almighty guide you home swiftly and safely.

Your mother, Niblis, wife of Veritan."

According to Lady Gracie, the death of his sister heralded a re-appraisal of the woman question' by Verdan Buscadan. For most men, there is little need to think about the injustice done to women; they simply accept they have God-given rights and they exercise these freely. Because of the events that precipitated the death of his sister, the Sage Buscadan was forced to consider the in-built discrimination that masqueraded as religious doctrine.

From that time forth, rather than believe in an unjust God who was biased against women, Verdan Buscadan held all teachings that maintained women to be inferior, or treated them accordingly, were the work of men and men alone.

According to Lady Gracie he began in earnest to teach this message when he was first imprisoned for civil disobedience. And it was among the persecuted and dispossessed that his message spread out to the wider world and has now, two generations later, brought our nation to its current crisis. The division in our society between those who wish the religious doctrines to be radically reconsidered and those who are willing to kill to keep them the same, looms ominously. Will these divisions herald civil war? If only Verdan Buscadan were here today to advise us and perhaps save us from the bloodshed that will prevail if the kutsals order a purge of the alleged heretics among us. We have come to the stage the Sage warned us of: all who disagree even slightly with published doctrine have now been labelled heretics and apostates.

THE CHRONICLES OF VERDAN BUSCADAN - PART 5

THE LATE ADULT YEARS OF VERDAN BUSCADAN

Foreword

It has now been half a century since Verdad Buscadan was executed by the state authorities for alleged heresy and apostasy. We know he was imprisoned, interrogated, beaten and then summarily put to death all within three days. However people are interested in the reasons as to why he was punished so severely.

The actual incident itself leading to the Sage's arrest was minor. That is the reason why his followers have argued that the arrest was in actuality due to an earlier event. The evidence to support this proposition are the notes of his last public speech made a month earlier at the prestigious University of Eldran. One student made verbatim notes of the talk. These have since been copied many times and some pages have been lost, while other pages contain content that is not easily decipherable. Many people argue that the contents of the notes have been altered significantly from the original and therefore not reliable. Nevertheless, the notes as they are, are offered to the reader since we have no other record of the Sage's speech.

Speech by Sage Buscadan at the University of Eldran

"Originally the university wished me to debate issues with Kutsal Menon in front of an invited audience. I refused to share a platform with the narrow minded obfuscator because he wanted the audience segregated by gender and religious denomination. That's the reason for the campus protest earlier today by the paid agitators hired by the priesthood. Those protestors claim there is nobalance if I do not share the platform with a representative of the priesthood. Pray tell me, where is the balance in schools and in our society at large, ensuring dissenting views from the accepted religious orthodoxy are also aired? Today I hope to set out the basis of that dissent - the basis, at least, of ... (indecipherable section)...

...So what is the crisis that has brought the police onto our streets? Why are people disappearing, never to be heard of again? Why are the kutsals issuing notices to all schools to spend additional hours on religious instruction at the expense of the rest of the curriculum? The only crisis that I can discern, is, a crisis of the soul. Where we are going as a nation spiritually and socially is at the heart of this crisis. I would add... (indecipherable section)...

When any one asks, who are you? What do you say? Without pause for thought, we say we are one of the faithful. We then get lost in a multiplicity of subsidiary identities of this sect or that - this tribe or that. But these masks we wear are of minor importance - their value, at best debateable, the criteria for inclusion, in dispute. To answer your puzzled frowns let me state the only incontrovertible truth here of which we can be certain: Before all else, we are human. That is the one fixed identity that we all share but ignore at our peril! Ignoring this shared identity has brought us to our current juncture, where we look upon difference as a threat. We are intolerant of freedom of expression - including freedom to choose a religion without fear or coercion, without loss of dignity or rights. While you can believe that it is important to be of this religion or that - this sect or that - it is in the end a matter of belief. The only fact we can be certain of is that we are born as human beings and die as human beings. Although, I must confess, at times, even I have trouble believing ... (indecipherable section)...

I want to point to another fundamental truth that most people would rather not hear. That truth that undermines the sense of superiority of the majority faith and destroys the basis of discrimination against minorities and sects. Your allegiance to the majority religion or sect is not based upon its merit or intrinsic worth. If you are fortunate in our society, you belong to the majority faith and that happened only because of an accident of birth. You made no informed choice about which religion or sect you wanted to belong to. It was a given - courtesy of your parents! If you had different parents, you might have been one of those groups most people label as non-believers, or even heretics. If people do convert to the major faith or sect, it is not a free choice based upon merit, but often due to societal pressure to conform and to avoid systematic discrimination at the hands of the majority. In the case of many women it is down to kidnapping and sometimes rape resulting in forced conversions. And these criminals rather than being prosecuted ... (indecipherable section)...

Violence, hate crime, murder, desecrating places of worship, and systematic discrimination are regular occurrences across our nation. This is a direct consequence of the intolerant ideologies supported by... (indecipherable section)... The state should be neutral towards all religions and sects. Of course the kutsals argue that such a secular state is an anathema, and inevitably leads to atheism and immorality. Secularism has become a dirty word to halt any discussion about the relationship between the state and religion... (indecipherable section)... Any proper examination of secularism would reveal that while the state as a whole is secular because it favours no one religion or sect, the citizenry can at the individual level be religiously devout and have the freedom of religious expression. That means... (indecipherable section)...

Let us be clear here. The minorities are not the only ones targeted by the kutsals. Those parasites wish to control and contain even the majority. Have any of you noticed that the number of blasphemy, heresy and apostasy accusations have mushroomed over the last decade? Even minors, like young children, and people with mental health problems are routinely punished for such transgressions. Perhaps we should ask Kutsal Menon if the all-powerful Creator needs us puny beings to defend him.

To deflect you from discussing the relationship between the state and religion, and the real essence of what it means to one of the so called faithful, the kutsals encourage ordinary citizens to inflict injury on vulnerable religious minorities, people of different sects, and other poor communities without influence or political support in the government. I see some of you shaking your heads... (indecipherable section)... The kutsal hierarchy remains silent, but not a day goes by without some junior kutsal making outrageous accusations against various sects and religions. These preachers of hate are never condemned either by senior religious or state players. That is neither accidental, nor an oversight, on the part of the leaders in our society.

Is this the kind of society that makes you proud? Is this the kind of society that you the youth of today wish to live in? I certainly don't! I want... (indecipherable section)...

At present we are a society mired in a false religiosity. If we have not already done so, we are encouraged to abandon our critical faculties. I don't need to understand the history of my religion, its complexities and multiple interpretations, provided I engage in the religious rituals. So we have handed this responsibility to the kutsals. However the eagerness of the priesthood to take up this role is not driven by concern for its faith community. The rise of the priesthood as a professionalclass, has occurred not only because the public handed over to them its responsibilities for understanding and practising its faith, but also because the kutsals have sought political power. They already have an ideology to propel them and as is usual with those who seek religion as a political tool, hate and tyranny, is their method of operation... (indecipherable section)...

The majority of the faithful' have surrendered their right of ownership of their religion to a professional class. This professional class is with few exceptions, zealous and tyrannical in its outlook; in its world view, it is profoundly ignorant and insecure. This professional class guards zealously what it has won, and will not surrender what it has acquired, without the faithful' taking back what they have surrendered to the kutsals. Extremist views have taken hold of the mainstream. And the state finds it is beneficial to distract the population from the realities of ... (indecipherable section)... and education. So, the state finds the priesthood a useful ally to control and contain dissent upon its behalf.

Formal and informal education, is one of the weapons for the people's liberation. However the classroom is the battleground that the priesthood has always been keen to control. There have been numerous debates about the curriculum and textbooks that have been approved for use. It is easier to poison young undeveloped minds than adult ones. It was bad enough during my days when religion trumped every curriculum subject. Today we don't have education but religious catechisms chanted like parrots without thought. The catechisms have taken the place of real knowledge and understanding. Children are taught to deny what we can see, measure and analyse in the sciences. Instead they are taught to favour religious texts. The kutsals have created a false dichotomy: choose either religion or godless science. This choice is both misleading, and a misreading ... (indecipherable section)...

Against such powerful players what do we have at our disposal, you might ask? Well, we have what makes us unique in creation. We have what sets us apart from the beasts in the fields. We have our minds. We have the ability to think critically and ask questions. Have you not noticed that recently it is almost a crime to ask questions? Someone claims the holy text says this or that, but does anyone actually bother to check the text to see if what they've been told, is true? Could there be other interpretations that might be valid? God forbid that someone should ask if the advice and guidance of the holy text written millennia ago, is still relevant to our society... (indecipherable section)...

In discussing rights, it is interesting that we wish rights for the faithful' but not minority sects or other religions. The irony is that our nation has been for at least a millennium, multi-ethnic and multi-faith. It has a culture that owes much to past invaders and immigrants. Whether we like it or not, we can be described as a b****** nation. Just to prove their loyalty to the nation, descendants of those earlier invaders and immigrants now lend their voices to those who would oppress us. Our oppressors continue to argue that rights if any, are reserved for the faithful'. Even among the faithful', we reserve rights only for the menfolk! Women are excluded. What few rights they are permitted, are at the behest of men... (indecipherable section)...

Rights are indivisible. You cannot have them for one group of citizens and deny them to others. To say that one group is more deserving of rights, amounts to nothing more than special pleading and self-justification. ... (indecipherable section)... Either no one is accorded civil rights, or everyone is entitled to civil rights - and that includes woman. Women are not an afterthought. Nor are they chattels to be traded or abused as men see fit. We need to create ... (indecipherable section)...to freely profess their religion and visit their places of worship. Instead of rhetoric, we need to ensure the rights of all citizens are guaranteed, irrespective of status, gender, religion or sect.

To achieve all of this requires... (Indecipherable section)... ... (indecipherable section)...

So, I will end my talk here in order that we can invite questions from the audience..."

(End of document)

THE CHRONICLES OF VERDAN BUSCADAN - PART 6

THE CENTENNIAL: THE LEGACY OF VERDAD BUSCADAN

To mark the centennial of the death of Sage Verdad Buscadan, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has called on two nationally recognised and respected historians to debate the legacy of the Sage. Didan Tortello is the Emeritus Professor at the University of Bhahard, specialising in the history of revolution and social change. He will be debating Professor Nishan Armen from Padua University, where she specialises in the history of religious thought.

Tortello: It is probably heretical to say that the Sage Verdad Buscadan did not bring about our current state of society. Natural forces in operation within society led to an organic transformation that abolished tyranny and oppression for most of the masses.

Armen: The introductory remark by my esteemed colleague is disingenuous since thanks to the Sage, we no longer have laws against heresy or apostasy. As a woman, I cannot dismiss the profound impact of the Sage's ideas on the rise of the feminist movement - the very first organised resistance against the oppression by the state.

Tortello: I concede that the feminist movement was the first grouping to organise in opposition to the regime. However, it started slowly, by organising education classes because women were hindered from entering higher education. This spawned various women's self-help groups as well as pressure groups, agitating for constitutional reforms that would give them equal access to all state services. However we know from studies that the oppressed are those that lead the charge of change. There is nothing remarkable about the fact that women were in the forefront of demanding change. Women were doubly oppressed by the state and by religious practices.

Armen: I do not dispute that aspect of your analysis but would point out that these women took their inspiration from the words of the Sage when he stated:

"Rather than believe in an unjust God who was biased against women, Verdan Buscadan held all teachings that maintained women to be inferior, or treated them accordingly, were the work of men and men alone."

That gave women the resolve to change man's laws - not God's. If the kutsals or their religious ideology were still in power, I would never have been appointed to my position at Padua University.

Tortello: That may be true, but you have to concede that had it not been for the brilliant strategist Leon Husten, the revolutionary movement would have been successfully suppressed as little more than an irritant, for at least several generations before it re-emerged perhaps under another guise. Leon Husten organised systematic resistance against the state apparatus that oppressed religious minorities, sect minorities and women. Through his actions the country became ungovernable.

Armen: I would not seek to deny Leon Husten was a brilliant strategist who tipped the balance in favour of radical change, but you forget the man came by his commitment to revolutionary change due to the influence of the Sage's philosophy. Husten was a junior ranking army officer who was from a minority sect and therefore repeatedly denied promotion despite his abilities.

Tortello: But Husten never claimed to be a follower of the Sage' doctrine. Yes, materially he was denied promotion, and the authorities did arrest, torture and kill his mother. The death of his mother at the hands of the repressive regime was the primary motivating factor - an act of revenge against the system, if you will. I would add that the other seminal factor in Husten's transformation into a revolutionary leader was the martyrdom of the one thousand'. The use of the army to massacre its own people in broad daylight, simply because they passively resisted, was an anathema to the idealistic soldier.

Armen: That may be so, and I will return to that point momentarily but first I have to say that Husten's mother was a feminist and Husten was very familiar with her views on the ills of society. So in that sense he was schooled in the ways of the Sage. Interesting that you refer to the Day of the Thousand Martyrs' but neglect to point out that those who died that day were all followers of the Ways of the Sage. Had they not given their lives, other oppressed minorities would not have seen fit to join the vanguard for revolutionary change.

Tortello: The other minorities were already allying themselves with the revolutionary movement, before the event of the thousand martyrs.

Armen: Yes, but not in the number that they allied themselves after the massacre of the martyrs.

Tortello: But the teachings of the Sage were not followed in the bloodletting that ensued the massacre of the martyrs. The families of army officers were hunted down and ruthlessly executed in the name of the revolution.

Armen: Emotions like revenge are stronger than rationality, and those killed were of the families of those soldiers who had fired upon the unarmed and peaceful protestors proclaiming the ideas of the Sage. The revenge killings by today's standards would be considered unconscionable, but such acts led to the army withdrawing and refusing to do the bidding of the government with respect to law and order. And as you are aware, that led to direct talks between the government officials and the protest or revolutionary movement.

Tortello: Yes, that is true, but time and again, talks failed to reach any compromise. The demand for the government to resign and hold open and free elections, eventually won the day. However the old guard did not entirely disappear. Some of them stood for office and held portfolios in the first provisional revolutionary government.

Armen: Some of the old guard professed to have changed and came into the fold of the Sage's wisdom. That was why they were permitted to stand in the elections. While no one is nave enough to believe that they had changed at their core, it is still accurate to say that they proposed changes that tried to accommodate the demands of the RGS (Revolutionary Guard of the Sage) and that of the kutsals.

Tortello: The old guard failed to deliver the changes demanded by the RGS. Had Husten not targeted the kutsals for assassination and torture, the religious class would have continued to be a major force resisting wholesale change in society. But through his cold-blooded strategy, the era of change finally began.

Armen: That may be so, but you ignore the important religious and philosophical debates that were taking place within the RGS. The early drafts of the new constitution were almost entirely down to the deliberations of those religious and philosophical debates that had taken place earlier. Furthermore, it was during this same period that the Book of the Sage' was collated and printed for the first time.

Tortello: The Book of the Sage' is full of anecdotes, apocryphal tales, sayings of the Sage and his critiques of the oppressive regime that executed him. While the book is revered by many, and is ranked second against the Holy Scriptures themselves, its authenticity is suspect to say the least!

Armen: You don't need to convince me of that. The Sagist who claimed to follow the true spirit of the Sage's teachings, unequivocally denounced the book as a work of fiction.

Tortello: Did the Sagists not burn the book in a public protest and incur the opprobrium of the masses?

Armen: Yes, they did indeed. However, there is no getting around the fact that the Book of the Sage' was an inspiration to many and began the wider debate about religious tolerance - and as I have already mentioned, laid down the foundations of the first post-revolutionary constitution.

Tortello: But the first post-revolutionary constitution failed to win the consent of the politicians or the public.

Armen: The reasons it failed were complex but -

Tortello: Not at all. The reason it failed to win people over was, it gave equality to only somesections of society, and left largely intact, the legislation enacted by the former oppressive regime.

Armen: If you had permitted me to finish my argument, I would have pointed out that it was a coalition of excluded minorities and those who sincerely held to the absolutist message of Sage Buscadan, that all must be equal before God and the constitution, that defeated the first new constitution.

Tortello: That is one interpretation of the history of the time, but, not one I share. Be that as it may. But even you would not seek to deny that with the rejection of the new constitution, there followed a period of uncertainty and turmoil.

Armen: Yes, until a new constitution was drafted, and a promise made, that all existing legislation in conflict with the new constitution would be in abeyance, until formally abolished and replaced with new legislation where appropriate.

Tortello: The education system was freed of the religious dogma that once dominated it. Women, freed to study and enter politics and the jobs market, had a major effect on how our society was run. Minority sects and minority religions were no longer discriminated against, and became full and valued members of our society. But still, our nation was not at peace with itself. Within a few years, the country was once again plunged into violence.

Armen: That is true. Suicide bombers and other terrorists targeted the state's institutions. A period of emergency was declared, to deal with the violence against the innocents of society.

Tortello: In other words, those who based the constitution on the teachings of the Sage had failed. They had failed to draft a constitution that met the needs of our nation, and when in power, these politicians behaved in the same oppressive way that the overthrown government had.

Armen: I would dispute that analysis.

Tortello: Are you denying that the new regime was heavy-handed, even oppressive - it denied due legal process to many accused of terrorism, and denied rights to a significant religious minority, namely the Scripturists. Those who held to the truth of Holy Scriptures.

Armen: Can I firstly remind you that the Scripturists were fundamentalists, who took the Holy Scriptures literally, and wished to live their lives in the way that people did before the revolution. The new regime had to stamp out terrorism that targeted people and institutions that promoted the ideas of the Sage. But before you condemn this approach to terrorism, let me say that in the end, the solution to the problem came from the mind of Sage Buscadan.

Tortello: The solution to the problem came from an amended constitution that granted full rights to all citizens including the Scripturists.

Armen: The earlier constitution failed because it didn't implement the philosophy of the Sage fully - namely, that all people have freedom of worship and practice.

Tortello: But these Scripturists are still denied certain rights: the right to refuse to employ women or minor religious sects or religious minorities in their schools, colleges and other institutions. Their religiously based inheritance laws do not automatically apply in event of a death. Unless statedspecifically in a will, the inheritance is shared equally between male and female offspring. They cannot teach only their own religion in their schools.

Armen: The Scripturists must teach the national curriculum and cannot indoctrinate children in their faith. They are obliged to teach about all faiths. The religious upbringing of Scripturist children is the responsibility of parents, not teachers employed by the state. Furthermore, opportunities for girl students in terms of access to the curriculum and other school activities must be similar to those for boys. For agreeing to this, the state funds Scripturist Schools.

Tortello: But the state has placed restrictions on their practice of their religion!

Armen: Only to safeguard the right of the majority. State laws against discrimination supersede any religious laws. If your religion expects you to deny rights to any group or individual, the law of the land will not permit it.

Tortello: Some would argue that that is emasculating religion.

Armen: Not at all. It is the way of the Sage. All throughout the past 100 years of mostly turmoil, the wisdom and teaching of the Sage has been a force for equality and justice. He has in a way, led us to the prosperous and free society we now enjoy. May the blessings of the Sage be with us all and for ever more.

(The End)