AN irradiated eye, darkly penetrating and set in yellow-gold, shines steadily over the Temple of Freemasons. As the afternoon light chases deep shadows in Mumbai's Freemason Hall, the temple pulsates with its rich symbols, primed for its mystic rites. This is where the masonic brotherhood gathers to enact rituals that are over 250 years old. Rites that have been performed with seamless continuity since the birth of the recondite fraternity in Britain, cloaked in a secrecy that has tantalised the imagination of the uninitiated.
However, that ancient cloak of secrecy went slightly askew recently in a courtroom skirmish between the Grand Lodge of England (GLE) and the Grand Lodge of India (GLI) in Mumbai, that sent the Freemason fraternity skidding into discomfiting limelight. This is the first time in the world that Freemasons have allowed a legal tug-of-war to erupt within the brotherhood, claims Tehemton B. Dalal, Freemason and advocate representing the Duke of Kent, Edward George Nicholas Paul (who heads GLE). The two Grand Lodges faced off in a Mumbai high court, where a special bench adjourned the case for hearing on November 24. The sudden legal spotlight was mortifying for masons who take conspiratorial pride in the fact that their cabalistic symbols and rituals chain them into an exclusive international society. Where a secret mode of hand grip, among other shared signs, can identify one brother to another anywhere on the globe and open up heart and hearth for the brother mason world over.
Explains a high-ranking Freemason: "Freemasonry is a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. It is a fraternal organisation universal in scope and teaching through its symbols the garnered wisdom of ages. The purpose of Freemasonry is religious and not religion. No portion of the ceremony is without reference to the Almighty whether He is called the Great Architect, the Grand Geometrician of the Universe or the Most High. Just as in every system of religion, great truths lie hidden in symbols, so also in Freemasonry symbols play a prominent part. It is both operative and of beauty. The secrets of Freemasonry are enshrouded in its symbols."
Freemason C.K. Marfatia writes that the society had started with the Builders' Guild, Architects' Guild and Society of Masons. It adopted symbols from the trade to signify important masonic principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. "For generations the society worked along the lines of a mason's guild, admitting only those who were actually in the trade, expanding later to include gentlemen members. During the Holy Crusade, when the early crusaders returned home with the esoteric knowledge, they formed a society. Then came Knight Templars, a masonic band formed to protect the pilgrims. But they became powerful, and the Church, which was a political power then, joined hands with the French government against the Freemasons. The heads of the masonic society were arrested and tortured to make damaging statements about the rituals—such as jumping on the cross, black masks and marriage to the Devil. " The clique's insistence on secrecy only intensified the lingering misconceptions.
THE Temple of the Freemasons (with each lodge having its own temple within the premises) remains heavily barred to outsiders. Only a tiny aperture that flaps back allows the guard to check the credentials of the visitor to attend the meetings. A horde of paintings crowd the looming walls, most of them replicating the theme of the three degrees which capsulate the masonic principle—ballooning clouds, burst of sun rays, softly maternal women, children, and symbols of the masonic trade. The irradiated eye with its unblinking gaze overlooks the four throne-like chairs that seat the higher ranking brothers. These are set on the symbolic square over the tessellated floor, representing joy and sorrow. The podium has an open Bible, as per the rules followed by the Grand Lodge of England. In India, in respect to its multi-religious culture, there are also editions of the Koran, Gita, Zend Awastha, Torah and the Guru Granth Sahib. And each temple has the three Great Lights—volumes of the Sacred Law, the Square and the Compass.
A mind-staggering array of several hundred rules are elaborated in the Constitutions of the Ancient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, codifying everything from demeanour, deportment to dress code. Masonic doors remain firmly shut to women. A Freemason may NOT be an "atheist or irreligious libertine," he may not challenge the laws of his homeland, nor conspire against it but must propagate the "knowledge of the Mystic Art". He MUST believe in the Supreme Being. And never ventilate his views on theology or politics. Nor indulge in infantile impulse to "behave ludicrously or jestingly" while the solemn rites are on. Avoid gluttony or drunkenness. Address the senior-most as "Most Worshipful" and equals as "Brother". And ensure that even a "penetrating" stranger does not chance upon what is not "proper to be intimated". The shroud of secrecy may never, ever, be lifted.
If this looks like a hole-and-corner game indulged in by grown men, take a gander at just how many prominent men have found the exclusivity of the Freemasonry tag irresistible. The masonic label has sublimed into a prize tag that has been pinned onto worthies like Neil Armstrong, Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, George Washington, actor Douglas Fairbanks, Gerald Ford, Henry Ford, Clark Cable, Edgar Hoover, Rudyard Kipling, Mozart, Shakespeare, Bob Hope, Houdini, George Bush, Ronald Reagan and Harry Truman. In India, it has been sported by Motilal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer and Swami Vivekananda.
Masonic activity in India first began in Calcutta in 1728, followed by provincial lodges in Madras and Bombay in 1752 and 1758, with a heavy dash of Parsi members in the latter unit. The splendidly moustachioed statues and portraits of Cowasji Dadabhoy Furdoonjee and Khurshedjee Rustomjee Cama share pride of place with those of Lord Sandhurst, and "grateful thanks" for their dollops of donations for the hall's construction. After Independence, the Grand Lodge of India was spawned on November 24, 1961, with the Nawab of Rampur, Sir Raza Ali Khan as the Grand Master. A concordat was signed between all the Grand Lodges. And therein hangs our tale.
GLI was granted sovereign rights within India and was assured that no new lodges would be formed in the country. And those masons who were already members of the Grand Lodges of England, Scotland and Ireland which had their regional offices in India, were allowed to have plural membership. India had 246 lodges then. Of these, 145 decided, by a secret ballot, to join the GLI.
The shadow of the legal tussle took shape in July 1991 when the Grand Lodge of India amended its constitution, to frown on plural membership. This embittered the relationship between the Duke of Kent and the GLI. Charges and counter-charges, through advocates and in court, have been copiously exchanged since. The Grand Lodge of England promptly derecognised the Indian Grand Lodge for breach of concordat. Then went a step further by consecrating a new lodge—the Lodge of Shankar, in Mumbai. In turn, Nandlal Duggal, grand master, GLI, filed a suit in 1993 challenging this consecration, and counter-charged GLE with breaching the concordat, drubbing it "malafide action with an ulterior motive to create a vertical split amongst Freemasons in India." The other side's response was to ask how Duggal had made the constitutional amendment against plural membership through a hand vote instead of the secret ballot as is the norm. The city civil court dismissed the suit. Later, a first appeal against the injunction, restraining the Grand Lodge of England from consecrating the Lodge of Shankar was admitted by the court. The stand-off was complete.
Duggal, who is based in Delhi, points out: "It has been laid down in writing that no new lodge would be formed. No major amendment in the constitution was made as believed. There are no multiple memberships the world over." He is convinced that the plural membership will blunt the thrust of charity work undertaken by the lodges. "The masonic activity is that of charity. We feel this is being neglected due to plural membership. If there is Rs 100 to be distributed, instead of splitting it up into four, we are suggesting that it is donated to one establishment. Our stand has been upheld by Freemasons from several countries. The group opposing us in India is very small, while we have 306 lodges under our jurisdiction and over 15,000 members," he says.
The boil-over is also at the "imposition of sovereignty". Duggal believes the English Lodge is being imperial by its attempt to 'derecognise' the Indian Grand Lodge. The GLE counter is: "Does a derecognised lodge have a locus standi in challenging a consecration by the Grand Lodge of England?" Both sides hope the courts will speedily resolve the issue. So that Freemasons from both sides may, as their Ancient Charges command, put a "speedy period to all law-suits" or be forced to carry on "without wrath or rancour...that all may see the benign influence of masonry as all true masons have done from the beginning of the world and will do to the end of time".
