In India, Religious Conflict and Harmony

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Our era is dominated by violent religious extremism - and not only in the Middle East. Thousands have died in recent years in India in violence involving Hindu, Sikhs and Muslims.

Mark Tully was the BBC's correspondent in that country for more than two decades. He recently published a book called "India's Unending Journey." In it, Tully acknowledges the menace of Hindu extremism, but also highlights the pluralism and tolerance of Hinduism.

The book prompted NPR's South Asia correspondent Philip Reeves to send us another letter. It's about visiting Sri Lanka, a country just off India's southern tip, where his guide and translator was an unusual Sri Lankan journalist called Chris.

PHILIP REEVES: When I first met Chris, I was in bad mood. We were in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, and running late. We had a war to get to. The action was hours away, on the other side of the island. Chris wanted to waste more time. He wanted to drop in on a Catholic church before we set off - the Church of St. Anthony. St. Anthony is the patron saint of Sri Lanka's fishermen. I couldn't see what fishing had to do with our mission. But no man can deny another their right to pray. We eventually set off in tense silence. That day we only drove for a couple of hours.

The next day it happened again. This time Chris insisted on stopping at a Hindu temple. Inside sat the god, Ganesh - serene and colorful. Hindus believe Ganesh protects travelers. But as Chris silently sprinkled petals at the feet of this friendly, elephant-headed deity, I was growing puzzled. Was Chris a Christian or a Hindu?

The mystery deepened on the third morning. Chris this time insisted on visiting a roadside Buddhist shrine. By now we were here on the East Coast, in an area where there've been many sectarian killings and abductions. We weren't in a safe place, especially for Chris, who's Tamil.

The previous evening, we'd sat on the hotel deck admiring the lagoon below. Occasionally we heard the whoosh of shells flying out of an unseen Sri Lankan artillery position towards the jungle hideouts of the government's enemy - the Tamil Tigers. We steadied our nerves with a few toddies, head-spinning shots of local rum. The effect still hadn't worn off by the time we reached the shrine the next day. Chris gazed blearily at Buddha and then shook his head. It's wrong to approach God when you're drunk, he said.

Working in South Asia, I've see many instances of religious conflict. Yet I've also found an amazing open-mindedness about other people's religions and a willingness to draw on other faiths. You find Buddhists and Christians who worship at Hindu Shrines and vice versa. This is one of the themes of Mark Tully's book. Tully talks of the shocked incomprehension of Hindus when confronted with dogmatic certainties, and of their belief there are many paths to God. This is refreshing in an era so dominated by violence justified by religion.

On our final day, Chris again asked to stop. By now we were here in Tea Country amid Sri-Lanka's lush hills. The island's conflict is between the Sinhalese, who are Buddhists, and the mostly Hindu Tamil minority. Tens of thousands have died. There have been some diabolical atrocities.

This time Chris wanted to show me a half-built Buddhist temple. He had a particular reason. He and some fellow Tamils were quietly building this temple, he explained, for Buddhist Sinhalese villagers. This was his contribution to peace. After several days with this brave and strangely pious man, I did not doubt his word.

Philip Reeves, NPR News, New Delhi.

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