Narrating the story of a man who once raised orphans on the border of India and Pakistan, popular Kerala magician Gopinath Muthukad spoke about religion being a creation of the human mind.
Muthukad was responding to a comment he received for his post appreciating a lovely piece of wisdom that came from a little boy called Muhammed Fayiz who was much celebrated in Kerala last week. Fayiz had, in a video, said that things sometimes work and sometimes don’t but that it doesn’t matter if you fail. He casually said this while attempting to make a paper flower craft and did not manage to make it properly.
“I was appreciating the innocence and the words he had for those who stand weak in front of failure. I want to thank everyone who appreciated my words. But one person’s message shocked me. It said to talk about Hindu kids at least sometimes. While several messages under this were against it, some people also supported it. I thought about what a dirty world we live in. I didn’t see a Hindu or Christian or Muslim in that little child,” says a calm Muthukad in a video he has made as a response.
He could be seen scrolling through his phone and stopping at this comment made by a person called Gopakumar Gopan.
It is after this that Muthukad narrates the story of a man who had sold everything he owned to build a centre for hundreds of orphaned children. When India and Pakistan were partitioned, there came the question of where these children will go. The authorities asked the man to decide and he said that they had no parents, some had mental illnesses and no one knew their religion. He raised them as human children, he said. The authorities didn’t want to hear any of it and said that the children will be separated into two, to be sent to both the countries and a fence will be built across the centre.
“The story is that the man died of pain on hearing this and went to a world without religion. I have never seen anyone as Hindu or Christian or Muslim, never asked the religion of another person. How could I see a kid like that?” Muthukad asks.
The renowned magician is also known for his work for children with disabilities, running a centre to promote their artistic talents.
In the video, he goes on to speak about the human body, saying that except your mind, every organ works like a machine. “The mind is the creation of a society that we grow up in. It is formed by where we are born and what we hear. My religion, my god, my country – all these thoughts form from what is around you. It is others who create it for us, it doesn’t affect our internal organs. That’s why when you go to a hospital to get treated for an illness, no one asks the religion of a doctor or a nurse or a donor who donates their organ or blood. When you go for COVID-19 treatment, you don’t even know who is inside a PPE kit, treating and looking after you. There are only human to human interactions, love inside your heart, and the science of treatment.”
He says that while it’s fine to teach the goodness preached by every religion, it becomes dangerous when people are taught that every other religion is bad. “One has to understand that it is all man’s creation and be able to see every child as a child. There is a saying in English. God didn’t make any mistake because he created only children, not even one adult. So there is no need to blame god for any of this, it is all the creation of humans.”
Watch: