DR. SHIRALI ON TRADITIONS
By giving the reference to the famous musical film “Fiddler on the Roof” set in 1905 Russia, in which a father tried to battle between Jewish traditions and the modernity that is changing the world around him, Dr. Shirali loosely defined what traditions are - common customs that we relate to or are familiar with.
He then presented 4 case studies from the world where there has been an attempt to flip the local traditions. First was Turkey under the rule of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. After World War I, he outlawed Arabic script and replaced it with Latin. He closed the religious school and embraced modern education. Second is Iran. In the post World War II period, Mohammad Reza Shah Pehlavi became the leader of Iran. He advocated complete dismantlement of the theocratic regime of Iran and establishing a secular and democratic republic. He also had a secret police force, SAVAK, to brutally suppress the dissent. Though he had intentions to turn Iran into an advanced country, he created a lot of enemies in this process. After the ‘Iranian Revolution of 1979’, he fled to the USA and Iran became Islamic Republic. Russia was the third case study that went through the ‘1917 Russian Revolution’ leading to destruction of religious structure and reformation of agricultural structures. And the last one is - China. Mao was the founder of the People’s Republic of China. He destroyed everything associated with Confucius philosophy. He encouraged children to denounce parents if they are against the Republic.
He compared the situation of the Fiddler with the Indian middle class today. They are unaware about the origin, significance and logic behind the traditions that they follow. They do not question them and follow them blindly. With the modernity entering with the changing times, they are lost in striking the balance between traditions and modernity. At the end, they understand none.
When Soviet Russia disintegrated, did it fulfill the objective of becoming the Russian Federation? In the race to become the superpower, China became ultra materialistic. It destroyed its family structures and social institutions. Many embraced the traditional idea of Nationalism and upholded the power structures that are infested with corruption. With the unquenched thirst for resources, China has engulfed Tibet, Russia is annexing Ukraine. This type of destruction has created more vacuum that needs to be filled with more and more mindless traditions. We have created for ourselves a trap.