<p>Hundreds of monks of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission have abstained from voting in this West Bengal Assembly election, following a now well- established tradition of not taking sides in political contests.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A senior monk of the monastic order, founded in 1897 by Swami Vivekananda, said almost all of them have EPIC voter cards but only for the sake of an identity proof.<br /><br />"For all these years we have been following the instructions of Swamiji not to go beyond spiritual and humanitarian activities. Voting will mean taking sides of a particular politician or party which we don't do," he said.<br /><br />Over the years this practice of staying away from the electoral process has become a well-accepted tradition in Belurmath, the headquarters of the order located only a few km away from the city.<br /><br />Monks said there is no official instruction on voting for them from the top ranks, but all new members of the monastic life have been following it without complaints.<br /><br />Belurmath hosts around 1,500 'Brahmacharis' and 'Sanyasis' living an ascetic life based on the Vedanta philosophy.<br /><br />The Math and the Mission together have 178 branch centres all over India and in different parts of the world.<br /><br />Interestingly, almost 95 per cent of the monks possess voter ID cards.<br /><br />"For the sake of identification and particularly for travelling, almost 95 per cent of us are forced to seek a voter ID card. But we use it only for identification purpose and not for voting," a monk said, adding that Aadhar card have now made things easier for them.<br /><br />During the freedom struggle, the Mission had, however, taken sides as a section of the monks had kept close contacts with freedom fighters of various camps.<br /><br />A number of political revolutionaries had later joined the Ramakishna Order.<br /><br />Among the present generation of politicians both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are known to keep close contacts with the monks.<br /><br />He considers Swami Atmasthanand Maharaj, president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission Order, as his guru.<br /><br />Polling in Howrah district, where Belurmath is located, was held today. <br /></p>
<p>Hundreds of monks of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission have abstained from voting in this West Bengal Assembly election, following a now well- established tradition of not taking sides in political contests.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A senior monk of the monastic order, founded in 1897 by Swami Vivekananda, said almost all of them have EPIC voter cards but only for the sake of an identity proof.<br /><br />"For all these years we have been following the instructions of Swamiji not to go beyond spiritual and humanitarian activities. Voting will mean taking sides of a particular politician or party which we don't do," he said.<br /><br />Over the years this practice of staying away from the electoral process has become a well-accepted tradition in Belurmath, the headquarters of the order located only a few km away from the city.<br /><br />Monks said there is no official instruction on voting for them from the top ranks, but all new members of the monastic life have been following it without complaints.<br /><br />Belurmath hosts around 1,500 'Brahmacharis' and 'Sanyasis' living an ascetic life based on the Vedanta philosophy.<br /><br />The Math and the Mission together have 178 branch centres all over India and in different parts of the world.<br /><br />Interestingly, almost 95 per cent of the monks possess voter ID cards.<br /><br />"For the sake of identification and particularly for travelling, almost 95 per cent of us are forced to seek a voter ID card. But we use it only for identification purpose and not for voting," a monk said, adding that Aadhar card have now made things easier for them.<br /><br />During the freedom struggle, the Mission had, however, taken sides as a section of the monks had kept close contacts with freedom fighters of various camps.<br /><br />A number of political revolutionaries had later joined the Ramakishna Order.<br /><br />Among the present generation of politicians both West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are known to keep close contacts with the monks.<br /><br />He considers Swami Atmasthanand Maharaj, president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission Order, as his guru.<br /><br />Polling in Howrah district, where Belurmath is located, was held today. <br /></p>