SURESH SHARMA of CSDS, Delhi presented his view commenting on the need to transcend boundaries in matter of religiosity and theology. In our surroundings we see an apathy among individuals who consider it infra-dig to stand up. There is a duty of individuals which has abiding relevance even today – the duty to speak up their minds. In the morass of what passes by as religiosity is largely the creation of our passivity.

Linked with our praxis is the question of identity. It is simply not possible to practice what he termed as 'negation of the within'. Self identity is defined by what we do and how we relate to our living world.

Gandhi's sense of religiosity is a great example in our context. He is indeed a rare soul as he confronted the idea of religion with a difference. This difference is the source of his power and politics, apart from producing a self identity of lasting value and relevance, to which the world looks up with reverence, even now, after so many years of his passing away.

He stated that the idea of religion becomes meaningful and not degraded if it is freed from its denominational boundaries of all times.

ROHIT PRAJAPATI of Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti talked about his self identity and his transformation in the context of his work in Gujarat. He stated that Liberation theology seems to be something vague, but is not. Liberation Theology can enrich, not articulate religion and dogmas that prevail. The times that we are living in is one fraught with crises. Important questions are being posed to religion and ideologies.

Religion articulates the needs of people. But today it is articulating the needs and chauvinism of vested interests. Why is this happening? This is because distances in society have increased. E-mails and technology may have brought the world closer, but distances between two 'mohallas' have increased. Denizens of mohalls have stopped talking to each other neighbors have stopped talking. Alienation has made us monsters, indeterminate and insensitive, because as human beings we have stopped dialoguing with each other. So it is but natural that collective dissent is not there and there is no possibility of class struggle.

This raises fundamental questions. Shouldn't we allow society to speak and express itself. What is stopping it from practicing such common human interactions? We need seriously to grasp why there is a crises of identity today and why self identity asserts itself in terms of riots, not in reconciliation or in promoting communitarianism.

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