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The circus that recently left the town of Washington, DC, included noted US and India baiters who had come to complain to people in the United States that the principle of secularism is endangered in India.
I wholeheartedly agree with those clamoring aloud that clear and present danger haunts genuine secularism in India. An examination of the facts below will convince anyone of that reality.
The principle of secularism was placed on its deathbed the very moment the Indian National Congress accepted the partition of India engineered by the Indian Muslim League. Pre-independent India's sundering into India and Pakistan based on religion was the first notable action in heralding the beginning of the end for secularism. As soon as that partition came into force, secularism died in both East and West Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus (and Sikhs) were raped, butchered; their bodies thrown into bogies leaving places like Lahore and arriving, decapitated, on the railway platforms of cities like Amritsar. To hear some of my Punjabi friends tell those stories, such atrocities did not stop until people on the Indian side of the border - in utter desperation - took the law into their own hands and shipped bodies back into Pakistani territory. It remains an extremely sad story in the history of the World; a tragedy of unimaginable proportions; a misery of colossal magnitude forced upon trusting people by a selfish and unthinking leadership that paid lip service to democracy and traveled First Class on the express to self-glorification. Whom shall one try for crimes against Humanity? The spineless Congress leadership? The fanatical leadership of the Muslims? The representatives of a colonial power which wanted to hurt India most foul before the demise of its hideous empire?
Secularism's decline in India intensified with the acceptance of a schizophrenic constitution - a constitution that said India was a secular country; yet provided special privilege upon special privilege to certain sections of the society based on religion. The same constitution failed to enshrine a single law of all citizens of India, and chose to treat people differently based on the accident of the religion of their birth, yet proclaimed it was heralding the utopian era of secularism.
One of the greatest pillars of this "secularism" is the Nehruvian concept of "Fixing the Hindus," as journalist S. Gurmurthy puts it. That stems from the following principles:
a.. Hindus should be always accommodating, even when not at fault;
b.. Hindus must always be told that they can show no pride in their religion; and
c.. Hindus must be reminded repeatedly that Islamic fundamentalism is acceptable while Hindu fundamentalism is not. The above philosophy has resulted in Hindu religious institutions being under the thumb of the government. It has resulted in the State regulating the practice of Hinduism. Indeed, it has resulted in unquestioned, unbridled and unmentionable denigration of Hinduism, all of it considered "secular!"
Politicians, mainly those from the Indian National Congress and its offshoots, have always been quick to join the cause of "secularism." For them, espousing secular thought has meant using the Nehruvian philosophy of insulting Hinduism, creating fear among practitioners of other religions that Hindus are a threat to them; and promising "Christian" governments in some parts of the country, as Rajiv Gandhi shamelessly did in Mizoram. At the same time, the same politicians have frequented the doors of Hindu god-men of dubious character, trying to win the votes of the gullible in the heartland of India. It is anybody's guess how far such acts have contributed to the growth of secularism.
A most dastardly act of mob violence took place in the year 1984, when in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination, goons led by Indian National Congress politicians roamed the streets of New Delhi and massacred innocent Sikhs in the hundreds. However, one does not get the impression that the "secular" establishment of India has ever shown much interest in bringing to book the guilty parties! "Secularism" must indeed have flowered on that opprobrious occasion!
Following on, the Rajiv Gandhi government - wasting the largest majority in democratic India's history - caved into fanatics among the Muslim community and put paid to the lives of millions of Muslim women. One can only speculate as to how many women became destitute, turned into prostitutes or simply became the road kill of vote bank politics because of the "Muslim Women Protection Act!" At the same time, Eminent Historians and Scholars from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were paraded daily on the University Grants Commission (UGC) programs on Doordarshan, proclaiming the oft-repeated mantra of Nehru: "Muslim fundamentalism does not bother me. It is Hindu fundamentalism that does." What a fine message for the impressionable youngsters of a particular community that it was all right for them to grow up as fundamentalists and fanatics! How wonderfully was the cause of "secularism" served by such acts of idealism!
For the last decade and a half, years, Hindus have been an endangered people in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Not even a single "secularist" has ever come forward to speak up on their behalf. Instead, you find many of these celebrities in the "secular" camp generally call terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir as "militants," "misguided youth" and "rebels." Now, a dastardly suggestion is being put forth in the case of the Godhra massacre, claiming Indian Intelligence engineered the killing. It must indeed be ultra-"secular" to blame the victims, particularly if they happen to be Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs! Whenever Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists or Jains die, it must be the handiwork of the Intelligence community. Whenever people belonging to certain religious communities die, it must be due to the "hidden agenda" of the "fascists!" Oh! In the land of Aryabhata, Patanjali, Bhaskaracharya and Srinivasa Ramanujan, what great new heights of logical genius have these conspiracy theories scaled!
All the above, of course, as it can be judged, have served the cause of "secularism" extremely well. However, there has been a more insidious effort, directed from the ivory towers of institutions like the JNU. That has included the doctoring of history text books to ensure that Hinduism is always seen in an utterly bad light and atrocities committed over the centuries on Hindus (and, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs) brushed under the carpet. That effort has included borrowing heavily from colonial references to a putative "race" of Aryans who invaded India and "destroyed" the local civilization, aka, the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). As scientific evidence has begun to mount against the AIT, the campaign of these Eminent Historians [Arun Shourie, "Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud," ASA, 1998] has become shriller; the verbal terrorism - as Shourie puts it - more desperate and the means used increasingly deceitful. The same group of Eminent Historians has tirelessly worked to excise every mention of atrocities by the West Asian marauding mobs. "Secularism," thy alter egos must be these Eminences!
The Indian English language media have been shameless promoters of this "secularism," Their propaganda has included, but has not been limited to, the defense of AIT; the whitewashing of India's history; and of course, the denigration of Hinduism. Some outlets are more eager participants than others are, but the general trend is unmistakable. The English language press of India, with notable exceptions, plays the judge, jury and executioner of Hinduism with ferocious felicity. Its modus operandi? Character assassination of an entire culture and people. World news organizations like the CNN and the BBC join with glee in any such effort. Again, the cause of which "secularism" has such intellectual hypocrisy served?
The same "secularists" active in academic and media spheres have fired the latest salvo in the campaign for "secularism". They have been touring the United States, telling anyone and everyone who will listen to them that secularism in India is in grave danger. They say that textbooks portray Hitler as a hero; that his "Mein Kempf" has had record sales; that there are extra-legal searches of Christian homes in the state of Gujarat; and that some states have enacted laws regarding religious conversion - laws that violate the Indian Constitution. More than anything else, they now allege that a "genocide" took place in Gujarat in the aftermath of the Godhra massacre.
If any of the above allegations regarding Gujarat are true, they must really dishearten any friend and well-wisher of India. However, true to their tradition of proving by repeated assertion, these accusing "luminaries" have done little else but repeatedly assert their charges, to the extent of being blue in the face. If history books indeed portray Hitler as a hero, which textbooks, which pages, which paragraphs? If "Mein Kempf" indeed has had record sales in India, what were the numbers before and what are they now? What are the geographic and demographic distributions of such sales? What are the cogent reasons in opposition to the laws that ban fraudulent and coercive religious conversions? Where have extra-legal searches taken place, and how many people have been affected? Did those whose homes were searched have a criminal record in the past? If a "genocide" really took place in Gujarat, what are the demographic and geographic distributions of that act? What state government and private records are available to buttress that claim? What evidence is available to prove that officials of the state knowingly and deliberately set in motion the steps to make that happen?
If indeed there is any truth to any of the above allegations, it is incumbent upon the Gujarat state administration, the Union government and the law enforcement agencies concerned to ensure that the guilty are brought to book. However, evidence appears to be elusive. One only sees argument by repeated allegation. Self-righteous indignation meets those brave enough to ask for evidence. Is a "secularist" above the law? Do statements of allegation also double as legal proof?
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has added its own fuel to the "secular" fire. In many Western democracies, whose concepts of secularism and jurisprudence earn quite a praise from Indian "secularists," the principle of "Double Jeopardy," meaning that a person cannot be tried for the same crime, once acquitted, is an accepted practice. Why is that not acceptable in the Best Bakery case? Have the "secularists" contracted a sudden case of laryngitis or Alzheimer's at this crucial juncture regarding this simple matter of accepted jurisprudence?
These "eminent" and "elite" secularists are on a witch-hunt - no different in purpose and no less in duplicity than the ones of medieval Europe - against institutions and groups that represent Hindus and Hinduism, all the while turning a blind eye towards acts of barbarous communalism perpetrated by their cohorts and benefactors.
A perfect example is the reaction (or the silence in response) to the recent release of the ASI report on the excavations conducted in the Ram Janmabhoomi area. The ASI has apparently found a "massive structure" with Hindu temple motifs, with some of the artifacts dating back to the Kushana era. Fallacious arguments are being cooked up now, saying that the finding of a temple does not mean it used to be a Hindu temple! What else was it, a Jewish Synagogue? Or, was it a Celtic House of Worship? A Druidic Altar, perhaps? The Indian English language Media are cognizant abettors of genocide in this abattoir of history.
Even as the ink has not dried on the ASI report, bomb blasts have shaken Mumbai and India. Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is the alleged culprit behind the blasts. What does the Indian correspondent of Washington Post write? I quote directly from the Post:
"No group claimed responsibility
for the blasts, but a senior police official said that preliminary
investigations pointed to members of a banned radical group called the
Students Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, which aims to forge a Muslim
identity among students and check the rise of Hindu fundamentalism.
...
The bomb blasts were the most deadly
in Bombay since a string of bombings in 1993 killed about 250 people. Those
attacks were blamed on mafia groups retaliating for Muslim deaths in Hindu-Muslim
riots that followed the destruction of a mosque by Hindu zealots the previous
year in the northern city of Ayodhya. The mosque site, which many Hindus
believe to be the birthplace of their god Ram, has been the source of strife
between India's majority Hindu population and the minority Muslims."
The story is always the same. If there are acts of terrorism from zealots in the Muslim community, it is understandable. Don't even bother condemning it. But, if for some reason, an overwhelmingly Hindu mob takes the law into its own hands (what are the chances of that in a country that is over 80% Hindu?), then all Hindus and their leaders must be damned in the strongest language possible. India's image must be sullied in World media, and every World capital must be made aware of the "lawlessness" that pervades India! If you dare question such "secular" action, then you must be a revanchist!
If secularism is still alive - even if barely - in India today, it is in the hearts of ordinary men and women who recognize and practice fairness and tolerance every day. However, in keeping with their character, they practice true secularism, not preach a distorted version of it. It is the duty of every right-thinking friend and citizen of India to ensure that authentic secularism takes root and blossoms in India. In that process, it is also incumbent upon the citizenry to terminate the careers of professional scaremongers who have managed to appropriate the label of secularists for themselves, while practicing and abetting the most reprehensible ultra-communal way of life imaginable.
Saint-composer Sri. Tyagaraja says, "Their display of piety is unsurpassed; yet their lustful eyes spare not even their own mothers-in-law." The Bible says, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny [him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." [Titus 1:16]. The Qur'an says, "When asked to desist from spreading corruption in the land they say: 'Why, we are reformers.' Yet they are surely mischief-mongers." [The Cow 11-12].
With charlatans sanctimoniously
worshipping at its altar and defending its shrine, secularism needs no
enemies.
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