Reclaiming Ayodhya Ram Lalla temple may be a great achievement for India or its peace loving people.Gyanvapi and Baghpat cases courts have decided. Mathura and Dhar are still going on. The reclaiming destroyed temples peacefully through court orders is not satisfying a certain section of the society which claims,
‘Will convert Mandir into Kaaba': PFI incites Muslims to reclaim Babri, threatens to destroy Ram Temple idols’. Times Now Bureau Updated Oct 05, 2020
The bigger problem is the eagerness of Hindus to justify jihad on the basis of statements made by few individuals who have no power to convince extremists against their violent form of jihad. Even the softer version of jihad also talks of holy war. Recently I was at the world book fair in New Delhi. A book titled ‘The Supreme Jihad’. written by Pakistani author Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri drew my attention. The introduction is written by Sudhindra Kulkarni, a former member of the BJP, was associated with the India Shining campaign and He served former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was acting as a strategist for Lal Krishna Advani in 2008 With these credential he writes,
“ A couple of years ago, Dr. Qadri asked me to write an Introduction to the Indian edition of his book … I gave the following title to my introduction to Dr. Qadri’s book:
“If this is true Jihad, I would like to become a Jihadi!”
The ‘if’ in the statement remains undefined and poor Hindus who follow Kulkarni will be misled to believe it without any if and but. It is well depicted in the movie ‘Kerala story’ where a Hindu girl who was brainwashed with similar arguments, spit on her father’s face. the book defines jihad as three different kinds of struggle:
● A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible
● The struggle to build a good Muslim society
● Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary.
Many modern Islamic writers accept it without questioning or surrendering the third option of holy war. Unfortunately most of them are not accepted by the majority and are living in exile. There are so many references to Jihad as a military struggle that it is futile to claim that the interpretation of Jihad as holy war is wrong. A deep scar had been inflicted by the Islamic invaders who used jihad to instigate their armies to plunder, massacre, and destroy temples.
The holy war interpretation had inflicted thousands cuts and the pain is unending.
Mahatma Gandhi also got carried away by the same spirit while promoting the ‘Khilafat movement’ and the first setback was the massacre of Hindus during Mopla violence. The irony is that foolish Indian leadership still kept on projecting it as a revolt against Britishers and included it as part of Indian freedom struggle till recently; “a three-member ICHR (Indian Council of Historical Research) panel, led by Prof CI Issac, recommended removing the names of 387 Moplah rebels, including Variyan Kunnathu Kunjahammed Haji and Ali Musliyar, from the list of freedom fighters. According to the panel, the 1921 Moplah rebellion was never a part of the Independence struggle but a fundamentalist movement aimed at setting up an Islamist caliphate. The rebellion saw the massacre of thousands of Hindus, who refused to be converted.”
First post.Utpal Kumar April 11, 2022 20:07:42 IST.
“Islam khatre mein hai” call is too common and everybody is empowered to declare it.
This combination becomes deadly as the guilty is being made victim which empowers him to repeat the offense with more vigor. Mohammad Ghauri to Abdali there is a long list where they claimed their invasions against Hindu kings as a holy war without any pliable reason. The Indian kings neither invaded nor had any direct or indirect conflict. The same argument is used despite being the ruler in destroying temples. The king was supposed to protect its citizens and jizya was imposed on non Muslims yet Aurangzeb as well as his predecessors destroyed temples when nothing was under threat.
Creation of Pakistan did not help.
The same argument was used to create Pakistan despite Hindus undergoing atrocities for thousands of years. Successful creation itself led to millions losing their life. Not a year passed when the invasion in Kashmir took place.
This is proved time and again in independent India as well. Ethnic cleansing of Kashmir, encroachment in Assam or atrocities in West Bengal are the proof. It is a pity that nobody insists on dealing with conflict through constitutional means. Mere chanting of “Jai Shree Ram” has been labeled as threatening but the five times a day azan is sacrosanct despite both are praising the divine in their own way.
Now invasions are not needed as the ‘jihadi mindset’ not interested in ‘believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible’ is doing the damage.
This may look harsh but the long list of banned outfits given below is proof that there exists an extremist section which defies the constitution as well the sovereignty of India:
TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS LISTED IN THE FIRST SCHEDULE OF THE UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1967.
● Lashkar-E-Taiba/Pasban-E-Ahle Hadis
● Jaish-E-Mohammed/Tahrik-E-Furqan
● Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen/Harkat-Ul-Ansar/Harkat-Ul-Jehad-E-Islami
● Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen/ Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment
● Al-Umar-Mujahideen
● Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front
● Students Islamic Movement of India
● Deendar Anjuman
● Al Badr
● Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen
● Al-Qaida
● Dukhtaran-E-Millat (DEM)
● Islamic State/Islamic State of Iraq and Levant /Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/Daish, and all its Manifestations.
UNLAWFUL ASSOCIATIONS UNDER SECTION 3 OF UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1967.
● Student’s Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)
● Islamic Research Foundation (IRF)
● Jamaat-e- Islami (JeI), Jammu and Kashmir
● Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (Mohd. Yasin Malik faction)
● Popular Front of India (PFI) and its associates or affiliates or fronts
● Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP)
● Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction) / MLJK-MA
● Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Jammu and Kashmir (TeH).
(source:https://www.mha.gov.in/en/divisionofmha/counter-terrorism-and-counter-radicalization-division/Banned-Organizations).
“Sar Tan se juda” call is given every now and then, one crore booty is declared as a routine. Administration looks the other way for reasons best known to it only.
Until unless the nation imposes its authority in establishing supremacy of the constitution, the religious and political leadership will keep instigating masses.
The peace loving Muslims will keep suffering as these extremists show no mercy to sane voices in Islam.
To keep the option of holy war open in a democratic country despite having courts, minority commision, right to information and so many other reconciliatory channels is dangerous.
The discrimination is at its cruel best when Nupur sharma is hiding to save her life and the instigator Rehmani is moving freely enjoying media coverage.
With this framework in place it becomes easy for orthodox clergy to incite masses in Friday prayers. The atrocities faced by pandits in Kashmir were initiated from mosques only.
Why temples faced destruction.
Temples, sadhu and devotees knit well in sanatan dharma. The Chankya Niti says
“Sukh moolam dharma.
Dharma moolam arthah
Arth moolam Rajyam”
One can see the direct relationship between dharma temple and wealth. The invaders needed wealth which was available in temples. They wanted least resistance which was not possible till temples were preaching the spirit of Bhagwat Geeta as a result sadhus were leading armies. Banda bahadur led Sikh armies to annihilate the Mughal empire from Punjab.
Two recently published books, Temple economics and A decade for temples have explained in details:
“ The destruction, desecration and plundering of temples is millennia old, long rupture…except Hindus everyone got independence in 1947 ... .Hindus are till date struggling to free temples from the clutches of secular governments.”
(Preface of a decade for temples. Author Sandeep Singh 26th jan 2024).
If one looks at the broken temples and the mosques at prominent places in Hindu towns, not much is left to imagination. For instance take the example of Ahmedabad city, compare the numbers of Muslim population in the 14th century and the mosque built. One can easily understand the reason behind it. A prudent king would have built houses, hospitals and educational institutions if he was really building something with purpose. He will not build tens of mosques for a few hundred Muslims, that too far away in the middle of Hindu population.
A question remained unanswered why these kings failed to build palaces and could built mosques and mausoleums. These invaders could not think of anything other than building mosques on broken temples. Over and above they were invaders who came to plunder and not develop infrastructure of any kind, they had limited resources and were least interested in spending the booty in building anything. As a result we see the ugly Alai minar close to ‘Qutub’? minar. If the predecessor was such a great developer of monuments then what happened to their skill later on ? Why tughlaqabad fort is no match to Red fort. ( here we are comparing it with the original Lal kot inside Red Fort)
History is to be corrected to tell the truth not lies.
The best course of action is doing an archeological survey of all the disputed structures including mosques, Mazars and churches ( Goa has many such issues).
Even if these are not reclaimed it should be mentioned correctly so that war criminals are not glorified. Once the history is corrected a dialogue should be initiated to accept the past with a clear understanding not to indulge in such activities henceforth. Until this is done the nation will face conflicts where majority in an area banning bells in the temple, Shobha yatras getting attacked. Women of a community getting humiliated by misguided forces.
No point blowing the trumpet of Ganga jamuni Sanskriti while there is no acceptance. Jamuna must be wondering how she became Islamic despite being a companion of Vishnu.
Failure of Partition and two nation theory is proof that we have to work hard to achieve interfaith harmony.
Huge Muslim population not leaving India had proved that the divisive Muslim leadership created a false narrative which lacked real support. The eliminated temples and other monuments in Pakistan tell us the futility of relying on the spirit of, “A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible”. When faced with extremism the good people surrender meekly. Not a single voice was raised against the forces responsible for exodus in Kashmir.
The Constitution and law enforcement is the only remedy available to masses of all faiths uniformly. Places of worship act, Hindu marriage code, taking control of temples have impacted temples and Hindus only. No reform has been accepted by any minority religion. India suffered huge losses during covid when the clergy declared the vaccine against the religion. The court order of banning use of loudspeakers is being flouted.
The way forward.
A white paper should be placed before the parliament after an archeological survey of all the destroyed temples converted to mosques. Existing Disputes should be identified and sensitive ones should be referred to special courts created specifically similar to fast track courts. The parliament should pass a resolution condemning the actions of the invaders. A comprehensive law with stringent punishments should be enacted. No religious structure should be allowed without approval from the town planning bodies which will eliminate all future conflicts.
The nation can take a leaf from the life of Nelson Mandela who fought the apartheid, defeated it and forgiven the tyrants. The history of South Africa does not glorify tyranny.
By Rakesh Kumar
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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