Author: Ashok Chowgule
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 18, 2008
Tolerance should not be seen as weakness
A Hindu finds it very uncomfortable to talk
bad about others. And this characteristic is often treated as a sign of weakness
by his opponents, and serious attempts are made to bully him into submission.
A Hindu tolerates it all -- but only up to a certain point. When he reacts,
he reacts ferociously.
Forces which have been working to destroy
Hindu civilisation have had success almost in all their other encounters.
Even though Hindu civilisation has retreated from some areas, the Hindu has
still kept alive the ethos in a large area. It is today the oldest surviving
civilisation.
Despite its proven record of resilience, the
attacks on Hindu civilisation have not ceased. The expectation of the enemy
is that the resistance may snap, and then victory will be theirs. It is the
duty of every Hindu to be eternally vigilant and not let down their ancestors
who so valiantly fought to keep the ethos alive.
The issues surrounding the provision of facilities
for pilgrims to the Amarnath shrine have to be viewed in this context to make
sense of those opposing the leasing of 97 acres of land to the Sri Amarnath
Shrine Board. The Hindu is reacting not just to the injustice that is being
done in this case, but the injustices that he has been suffering for a long
time.
In an article in Arab News, MJ Akbar has succinctly
stated the Hindu case. He writes: "The Hindu who has quietly watched
mosque and dargah expand around him, explodes when a few acres are denied
to pilgrims on the arduous trek to Amarnath. He has seen Haj houses sprout
around him for Muslims on their way to Mecca. These Haj houses are not loaned
to the community for the two months involved in the two-way journey for Haj;
they have become community centres all year round. He asks a question: Why
should he be denied a place for tired feet on the way to Amarnath?"
This denial is supported by those who are
considered to be moderate Muslims, as well as those who carry the label of
secularism proudly on their sleeves. Mr Omar Abdullah announced in the Lok
Sabha that Kashmiri Muslims "will give their lives but won't part with
the land". If that be the case, does he have any moral right to own land
outside the Kashmir Valley? The 'secularists' are blaming the previous Governor
for implementing the orders of the various courts to provide proper facilities
for pilgrims.
The 'secularists' have also made serious attempts
to obfuscate the real issue. They have implicitly given credence to the ridiculous
argument by the separatists that the granting of the land would alter the
demographic composition of the Kashmir Valley. They want people to forget
that the damage was done in the 1990s when Kashmiri Hindus were ethnically
cleansed from the Valley by the very forces which are today opposing the leasing
of land.
This is not the first time Hindu angst has
expressed itself. Famously the Ram Janmabhoomi movement is the beginning of
it in modern times -- a movement which VS Naipaul described as one which started
from the bottom. The attempt by the UPA Government to belittle, through an
affidavit in the Supreme Court, the memory of Sri Ram, the maryada purushottam
(the ideal person), was met with widespread resistance on the streets.
On the one hand, Hindus are faced with the
threat of Islamist terrorism, and on the other, the are confronted by an indifferent
system. Decisions relating to the interest of the nation are taken on the
basis of vote-bank politics, and this programme is authenticated by pseudo-secular
intellectuals. Thus, it is alleged by the latter that the Jammu intifada has
made Islamist terrorists and separatists in the Kashmir Valley stronger. The
support to them by parties like the PDP is completely ignored. And there is
no mention that it is to appease them that the lease of land to the SASB was
cancelled.
'Secular' political parties take Hindus for
granted. As in the past, this time too Hindu anger was underestimated by the
Government which did not anticipate a reaction. Pseudo-secular intellectuals,
rather than place the facts in the proper perspective, have only ended up
communalising the entire issue.
- The writer is vice-president of the VHP.