“BLESSED ARE THE MEEK,
FOR THEY WILL INHERIT THE EARTH” Mathew 5:5
This verse form the Bible has been variously explained ever since and here is yet another humble attempt to understand this.
I WAS REMINDED OF THE ABOVE VERSE for this topic by a recent Supreme Court verdict which re-established the truth that the original inhabitants of this Sub-Continent of ours i.e. India were the tribals scattered over Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhaypardesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra and some parts of Karnataka. All others namely Aryans, Dravids, Mughals, British etc were late entrants and hence migrants. The Court stated that Tribals have equal rights over the natural resources of this country and cannot be whisked away without their will. Today Tribals constitute some 8% of Indian population. Except The Hindu, the media both print and electronic did not report it because of obvious reasons. How could they annoy their moneyed and powerful bosses? Dr Binayak Sen who dedicated his whole life in the service of these humble souls is being haunted by the courts. But then it is a very large issue.
History is full of tales of oppression of the meek by the strong. “Trail of Tears” is the most pathetic one. During our trip to the Smokey Mountains, Tennessee ,USA, we were told about this sad story.
click image for close-up In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.
This picture, The Trail of Tears, was painted by Robert Lindneux in 1942. It commemorates the suffering of the Cherokee people under forced removal. If any depictions of the "Trail of Tears" were created at the time of the march, they have not survived
There is huge difference between meek and cowards. Meek are not cowards. It is just that they have been conditioned to believe that justice will be done one day. They have yet to learn the maxim of ‘tit for tat’ or ‘eye for an eye’. The greatest example of a meek and resolute person was our own Mr. M. K. Gandhi. He asked the British to leave and let India be governed by Indians. He reasoned out with them with passion and compassion and even when they tortured him did neither flinch nor hate the tormentors. Instead he launched a peaceful agitation which he called Satyagrah and finally India had its Freedom.
A common man or woman is not Gandhi. All what he/she wants a peaceful life, live let and live. But day in and day out this person is denied the rightful dues. If one is not arrogant or violent, he is considered weakness and cowardice. The sharks in the streets are ready to strike and kill. The meek is pushed in a queque, thrashed for no fault, ridiculed all the time and denied his rightful dues.
These Tribals of India or the Indians of USA to my perception are the ‘Meek’. They are gentle, humble and considerate. People who are displacing them are arrogant and violent. And the Lord said the meek will inherit the earth so why is it that the meek often become the target of oppression and exploitation.
In our own Epic Ramayana, Lord Rama was on the side of the meek-the saints and sages, starting from the tribas, the boatmen Kewat, the eagle Jatayu, the dethroned Sugreeva, the outcast Sabari, the harassed Vibhishan,
In spite of all this His Prophesy does not seem to be present on the ground. As someone said in frustration, “The problem with God is that He has no father, no family and no roots” . We His creation, have a biological father, a family and roots that we have to care about. The God would not know what the ‘meek’ are suffering in the hands of the ‘strong, both of them being His creation or does He?
People are hackled and shoved just because they cannot be as aggressive or violent. Cheats and cunning flourish. Honest and sincere get punished. One may be tempted to say that this is because of the bad Karmas of past or present life. One may say the oppressor should be dealt in the same coins. What would you say?
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