A WIDE CANVAS
LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER
History teaches us only one thing: that nothing lasts.The grandest of empires have fallen; the mightiest of kings have gone. The saying in Latin goes: Sic transit gloria mundi- thus passes away the glory of the world.
If anything lasts at all , it is the memory of the noble souls who helped mankind. They need no advocates, organisations, churches. People remember them through the millennia. They live beyond their time, beyond their organisations., beyond even their locality or country.
Of the many civilisations that once flourished on earth, only China and India were still living in the 20th century; all others ended up in books and museums. China changed course in the mid-century. India is tottering: its ancient religion is still living, still practised but is facing assault from three sides: the proselytising forces of Islam, Christianity and the west-oriented secular-leftist outfits. Often the three work in tandem.
I wonder how many of us pause to think about it and ponder the situation. Hinduism never had a central authority, did not have a network of organisations; at least for a thousand years they faced continuous Muslim threat; for over 300 years sustained Christian missionary assault; for over 60 years after Independence, an indifferent and hostile govt. Yet we have survived. But we can't say we are flourishing. We can't be sure how long this will last. The more one studies the situation, the more frightening,worrisome it is.
The reason , in my view, is that Hinduism has taught people to focus on the one true question at all times: What is man? Why is he here on earth? Where does he go from here? He is sure to go - and join the majority, as they say. But where has the majority gone? It does give answers, but does not force them on any one. If people understand that there is a basic question, it is for them to find the answer. This is the spiritual quest for which only a handful aspire in any culture. The majority want to enjoy the world, with God's help. Popular religion caters to that.
But Hinduism has neglected social and political organisation in the last 1000 years. Its historical structure was based on Varna-Asrama.Kings acted as its guardians.It ensured livelihood for everyone. It was based mainly on barter and mutual obligations. The system automatically incorporated principles of socialism- no excessive disparities in income and wealth. India was very prosperous- contributing about 30% of World's GDP up to the mid-18th century, and along with China dominated the world economy.
Successive Muslim and European invasions and rule drastically changed this. Muslim rule challenged our religion and society, but could not destroy them fully. The Portuguese indulged in forced conversion; but the English were more sophisticated: they left the conversion to the missionaries, but concentrated on administration,economy and education. They looted our country, destroyed our industries, made our agriculture subsistent. And their education system removed our self-confidence and made us pen-pushers in the service of their very govt. They alienated us from our own roots.
India has not been able to tackle the resultant problems yet. We have not been able to create an alternative , to fill the gaps left by the fall of the Varna-Asrama arrangement. Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi gave solutions, but they have not been followed up by any concrete steps. Lack of organisation is our biggest problem. Independent India has moved away from their ideals. Society has been fragmented on many grounds like language, region, community, political ideology, etc. Hindu society is marked by total lack of unity.
This is where we have failed to draw lessons from Islam and Christianity. We tend to think of them as monolithic blocks. This is not true. They are monotheistic, but not monolithic.Conversion is an article of faith with them- a religious duty and this gives them the appearance of a solid bloc. But each one of them is riven by internal dissensions.
Take Pakistan for instance, which separated from India on religious grounds. Most people think of it as simply Muslim country. How many know that there are so many divisions among them: Sunni, Shia,Zikri, Sufi,Ahmadiyya, Ahle Quran, Ahle Hadith, etc? (There are 29 factions within the Sunnis.)How many know that the Sufis consist of at least 4 different orders: Naqshbandiya,Quadria, Chishtiya, Suhravardiya? How many know that each group considers the others 'infidels' ie non-Muslims? In fact, the problem became acute early on in Pakistan's separatist history , each group attacking the others and inciting violence. The govt.of Pakistan appointed a commission under Justice Mohammad Munir to go into the question of 'who is a Muslim'! The commission said in its report,1954:
Keeping in view the several definitions given by the Ulema.....no two divines are agreed on this fundamental. If we attempt our own definition as each learned divine has done and that definition differs from that given by all others, we unanimously go out of the fold of Islam. And if we adopt the definition given by any one of the Ulema, we remain Muslims according to the view of that alim but kafirs according to the definition of every one else.
Hindus cannot realise what this implies. According to Quran, kafirs must be converted or killed. Suppose a Sufi converts to some other order. This is considered "apostasy" in Islam. There is only one punishment for apostasy- Death. The resulting situation is that if one group (eg.Sunnis) are in power, all others are kafirs; but if they try to change, they commit apostasy in the eyes of their former group, and invite death. This may look like a huge joke of that lovable Hindi screen villain Ajit, who is supposed to have asked that somebody be put in liquid oxygen so that the oxygen would not let him die, but the liquid would not let him live! Jokes apart, this is a very serious situation. As the Munir Commission noted:
According to this doctrine, Chaudhri Zafrullah Khan, if he has not inherited his present religious beliefs but has voluntarily elected to be an Ahmadi, must be put to death. And the same fate should fall Deobandis and Wahabis....
According to Shias all Sunnis are kafirs, and Ahl-i-Quran...are unanimously kafirs, and so are all independent thinkers. The net result of all this is that neither Shias nor Sunnis nor Deobandis nor Ahl-i-Hadith nor Barelvis are Muslims and any change from one view to another must be accompanied in an Islamic State by the penalty of death if the government of the State is in the hands of the party which considers the other party to be kafirs.
Over the years each group has issed fatwas against the others! In 1974, Pakistan parliament declared Ahmediyas to be non-Muslims. Over the years, the violence has intensified.The Sufi mosques are under systematic attack. Since 2001, 35,000 deaths have occurred due to violent attacks, more than 5000 people have died in suicide bombings, and 5000 law-enforcement personnel have lost lives.
And all these religious divisions come on top of the big five ethnic divisions in Pakistan which have been violently fighting each other: the Baluchis, the Pathans, the Punjabis, the Sindhis and the Mohajirs- Muslims who migrated from India, who are really treated as third class citizens, after the Punjabis and the Sindhis! The sixth group- the Bengalis- seceded with the separation of Bangladesh! Each group has its own ancient traditions, which it cannot easily give up, given the feudal set-up that prevails still in large parts of the country. Each one is a separate nationality! And the mullas are taking them backward, towards the time of the Prophet himself!
And all these religious divisions come on top of the big five ethnic divisions in Pakistan which have been violently fighting each other: the Baluchis, the Pathans, the Punjabis, the Sindhis and the Mohajirs- Muslims who migrated from India, who are really treated as third class citizens, after the Punjabis and the Sindhis! The sixth group- the Bengalis- seceded with the separation of Bangladesh! Each group has its own ancient traditions, which it cannot easily give up, given the feudal set-up that prevails still in large parts of the country. Each one is a separate nationality! And the mullas are taking them backward, towards the time of the Prophet himself!
Demonstration agaisnt sectarian violence in Pakistan
www.opinion-maker.org/2011
Pakistan is just one example. Every Islamic country is in the same state. They all fight against non-Muslims; if there are no non-Muslims, they fight each other. This has been Islamic history from day one. Yet our media, so called intellectuals and self-styled secularists extol Islam as one religion, a religion of peace!
The problems in Christianity are even more acute, even if the violence is not noticeable. Most Indians know that there are two big divisions in Christianity- Catholics and Protestants. According to Wikipedia, there are about 40 major divisions in Christianity. Some years ago, an Indian English weekly listed about 150 denominations. Popular western estimates run to about 220. But according to World Christian Encyclopedia,1982, there were 21,000 denominations.According to the revision, there were 33,000 in 2001! The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimated the Christian denominations at 43,000 (yes, no mistake- believe your eyes: forty-three thousand )in 2012, while there were just 1600 in 1900! They believe in one God, one book, one saviour; yet there are so many divisions among them. And one division will not pray in the Church of another. Yet they want to "unite" the world!
Major Christian denominations in the US
Public Domain Wikimedia Commons
Protestants being massacred by Catholics on St.Bartholomew's Day in France, 1572. Public domain, Wikipedia Commons.
Religious intolerance and consequent volence have been the exclusive contribution of the Abrahamic religions to the world- Judaism, Christianity, Islam. In the political field, it has been the contribution of the Communists- Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot. Remember the millions they killed.
I give all these figures to show that we Hindus have been so silent, tolerating all sorts of insults against us. The leftists, self-styled secularists, so called intellectuals have all been criticising us,spreading half truths and falsehoods, alleging that Hinduism is not one religion, that India was not one nation,etc. And we have been on the defensive. It is time we knew the truth and faced our detractors with hard facts.
Throughout the world, no one country or land mass is occupied by only one race, ethnic or language group. No one religion consists of only one set of doctrines and practices. The moment rigidity is enforced, splits occur. This has happened in all religions- Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam. This happens even in political parties, such as the communists which are supposed to be rigid; where the split is not in the open,groups operate secretly. In company boards, there are groups. Even in pure business or professional associations like the chambers of commerce or lawyers' or doctors' bodies, there are groups. Now, when communication and technology, knowledge and cultural exchange and travel have brought people together, herding us all into a "global village", as Marshall McLuhan said, it is a sort of imperialism for any one to attempt to make the whole earth of one faith or ideology- whether religious, political, economic or any other kind. Such people are forgetting the lessons of history. We have to live together. India has shown since ancient times how this is achieved silently, effectively- without noise, without fanfare. Islam and Christianity are disturbing it with their conversion attempts. This is what we have to counter, not just resist.
Public Domain Wikimedia commons.
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