Indian Tolerance

Indian Tolerance

Couple of months back, some sections of the society be it Muslims or Christians complained that they are facing threats from Hindu community and they perceived religious intolerance. I was surprised to learn about this remark. I am not sure what they mean by Hindu Threat or Dominance. Did ever in the History, India proved to be a threat to foreign lands or religions? Or, is it that India is the only country in the world which has suffered to the worst ever aggression from the Greeks, the Britishers and finally from the Islamic rulers.

I am proud to be a Hindu and I mean it. When I say I am Hindu, I do not mean the surface level religious practices but the inner identity that no other faith would have thought about it.

If somebody asks me who I am, I initiate by saying - Chatussagara Paryantam Go Brahmanebhyah Shubham Bhavatu and followed by identifying myself from the rich ancient Rishi lineage as a gratitude for what I am today. Chatussagara Paryantam means “all the four seas covered”, Go Brahmanebhyah Shubham Bhavatu indicates that “all cows and brahmins should be bestowed with the best auspiciousness”. Why is it said like that? Does this mean only cows and Brahmins are the only living entities be taken care and nobody else? This kind of thinking is very mean and proves ignorance. According to Hindu Dharma, Cow or “Go” is a sacred animal. Hindus worship Cow as they believe all God’s to be present in the Cow. Even, if we are silent on the religious part of praying Cow, yet, Cow is the only animal which inhales and exhales oxygen. Also, the product of Cow such as Milk and Milk products along with the cow dung are sufficient for a householder to raise his family for the rest of his life. Hence, Cow which is called Go-Matha translated as “Mother” because it nurtures the entire family with its offerings. There are other animals but all of them come after Cow due to its importance and sacredness. The above saying indicates that all animals starting with cow should be safe and be protected. In the same way, a Brahmin is a person who studies the eternal knowledge of Veda and protects its sanctity. Technically speaking, a Brahmin is a person who is in constant contemplation of Brahman not just in his thoughts but also manifested in his deeds. As a Brahmin, his duty is to offer prayers to the Prakruti (nature) and all the God’s (in different forms) to seek their blessings for the well being of the society. When we say that Cows and Brahmins should be protected and they should be bestowed with goodness, we are seeking for our own well-being and not for any selfish motives. The essence of this identity is that he shall follow all the activities according to the Dharma that is prescribed by Ancient Seers. Hence, A Hindu will always function in the materialistic world with a Spiritual vision.

Having such impartial and eternal vision, how can anybody expect intolerance and dominance by Hindu’s in India? The straight forward question is, can Muslims, Christians, Jains and Buddhists be safe anywhere else in the world other than in India? Or, because, India is soft towards its own Dharma, other religions can take it granted to speak their rubbish mind out?

Probably, this generation of Muslims should not forget their past. There should be a self-exploration to know their roots. Are they real Muslims or are they forcefully converted from Hindu religion to Muslim during the Moghul Period? Facts are not known to the current generation.

I tried to get to know the intolerance by Moghul dynasty on Hindu and the Hindu temples. If I try to source data from any text authored by Indian, my work may be perceived biased. Hence, I referred to a book – “Rewriting Indian History” by Francois Gautier (FG) who happened to be French, lived in India and studied Indian history. A French when he is about to write the history of India, will not be biased. In fact he will not have any reason to be. He can write books about the greatness of French revolution to Indian struggle for Independence. Yet, FG did not do so. He studied Indian History by spending enough time on research and finally could bring the facts into the light. The following is the extract taken from his book Rewriting Indian History.

FG wrote referring to Muslims dominance – “….., And so as long as this concept One God is ingrained in the minds of Muslims, there will be a problem of intolerance, of tolerating other creeds. And this is what happened in India from the 7^th Century onwards: invaders, who believed in One God, came upon this country, which had a million Gods….and for them it was the symbol of all what they thought was wrong. Hence, they planned and executed to disturb and demolish the 4000 year old Hindu faith. They entered this beautiful land and initiated systematic destruction of everything that was beautiful, holy and refined. Thus the conquest of Afghanistan in the year 1000, was followed by the annihilation of the entire Hindu population there; Indeed, the region is still called Hindu Kush. The Bahmani Sultans in Central India, made it a rule to kill 1 lac Hindus a year. In 1399, Teimur killed 1 lac Hindus in a single day and many more on other occasions. Historian Konraad Elst, in his book “Negationism in India”, quotes Professor K.S.Lal, who calculated that the Hindu population decreased by eighty million between the year 1000 and 1525, indeed, probably the biggest holocaust in the world’s history, far greater than the genocide of the Incas in South America by the Spanish and the Portuguese.”

These facts of mass killing for proving the Muslim faith right cannot be accepted by a typical Muslim at this point. Yet, some Muslim leaders in order to create a false identity and provoke hatred among Hindus succumb to hate speeches against Hindus. The Genocide as it is called is not over yet. What are the facts according to Muslim Records about Mass Killings of Hindus? Let me put them across.

FG writes – “Aurangzeb (1658-1707) did not just build an isolated mosque on a destroyed temple, he ordered all temples destroyed and mosques to be built on their sites. Among them the Kashi Vishvanath, one of the most sacred places of Hindu worship, Krishna’s birth temple in Mathura, the rebuilt Somnath temple in the coast of Gujarat, the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares and the Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhya. The number of Temples destroyed by Aurangzeb is counted in five, if not six figures, according to his own official court chronicles: “Aurangzeb ordered all provincial governors to destroy all schools and temples of the pagans and to make a complete end to all pagan teaching and practices”…”Hasan Ali Khan came and said that 172 temples in the area had been destroyed”…” His majesty went to Chittor and 63 temples were destroyed”…Abu Tarab appointed to destroy the idol temples of Amber, reported that 66 temples had been razed to the ground”. Aurangzeb did not stop at destroying temples, their users were also wiped-out; even his own brother, Dara Shikoh, was executed for taking an interest in Hindu religion and the Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded because he objected to Aurangzeb’s forced conversions.”  

Having gone through all these facts, can anybody have still doubt on thinking negatively about Hindus to be intolerant towards other religions or is it vice-versa. What is the intention behind, Aurangzeb’s systematic temple destruction? He wants to instill fear among Hindus about Idol worship and left no choice except for them to convert forcefully to Islam otherwise they have to take the wrath of Kings Punishment.

Let us analyse the present situation. A typical muslim and a Christian is happy to live in India unless somebody from their section provokes them by showing their authority or threatening them from isolation. What is the solution? India is happy to share its demography with highest number of Muslim population, which indicates that in the world, Muslims are happy to be in India otherwise, they would have migrated to Muslim favoured countries like Pakistan or Afghanistan. When this question was asked to some identity seeking, hatred promoting politicians from Muslim community that why they are not choosing the option to go to Pakistan for a better living? The answer is – they are the children of India and they have equal right to stay in India. The question is, are they interested to stay in India because of birth factors or they want to be patriotic to India. If geography is the cause, they can shift their geography to Pakistan. I am afraid whether Pakistan will accept Muslims from India. If these fellows are patriotic, then they should refer to India not in the vision of early Britishers who came in disguise to trade in India and later exploited it but go back centuries old India which is called Bharat, (Bha+Rath) a Sanskrit word which means a Land where people are longing for absolute wisdom. This wisdom does not contain any hatred among religions or in human beings. This wisdom does not allow people to go after destruction of other faiths but appreciate and recognize the faith in order.  

It is very difficult to restore Indianism among Indians as long as the Western Education is occupying the driver’s seat. India, should not forget the Nalanda and Takshasila which are the World’s principal Universities in Ancient India which attracted foreign students to study in India. We should revive the ancient system of education according to the modern day needs and not blindly go after western education. The problem with western system of education is that it also blinds the learner the host country’s eternal values, principles and character. Hence, I pray Lord Shiva, the giver of the highest wisdom to bestow the right education among Indians and give us the strength to protect our Sanatana Dharma and revive the lost Indianism.

Dr. B. Ravikanth