When Mala’s mother died, Mala stayed a distant away from the funeral rites for fear of contamination. Huddled together with her husband and two children, Mala was morning at the passing of her mother but her husband and children looked on with blank faces.
Mala married Samaroo more years eight years ago in a Hindu marriage. Two years ago Samaroo’s brother, Rajan, became a pastor. He was able to convince Samaroo to answer the call of Jesus. Mala resisted initially but her husband persisted until Mala submitted. Like all Hindus she comforted herself that there is one god whether your call him Krishna, Allah or Jehovah. Now at her mother’s funeral she remembered the stern warning of the pastor, her brother in law, “not to participate in any demonic rites.”
The ongoing proxy war in Yemen where 22 million are in desperate need for food and more than 6,000 died is an indictment on the Islamic world which continues to be vocal on events in Kashmir while ignoring this ongoing conflict. As a Hindu I wonder why a people of the Book have to be constantly fighting. Don’t they have the answers in the Quran?
While the Abrahamic gods remain jealous of other gods, our Gurus and Swamis reason that the Hindu gods are peaceful and all embracing. “All pathways lead to Bhagavan,” said the pandit at the yagya. “See god in every body, even your enemies.” Mala, Samaroo and Pastor Rajan are worshipping the one god!
Islam came to India after the conquest of Sindh. The temples were destroyed and the Hindus were given two choices: convert to Islam or be killed. For more than 1000 years Hindus have sacrificed their lives on the battlefields to preserve the Hindu way of life. Hundreds of thousands of warriors have died fighting the invaders. Hindu women were kidnapped, raped and sold in the slave markets of the Middle East. The heroic resistance of Guru Gobind Singh, Shivaji, Rana Partap, Pritviraj Chauhan are legendary but these are never mentioned by the pandits on the singhasan.
Today Hindus in Kerala observed the anniversary of the killing of nine fishermen in Kerala, India on May 02, 2003. It was a planned massacre to remove the Hindu residing in the coastal village of Marad so that nefarious activities can be conducted. Police were blocked by women from entering the mosques where the murderers went hiding. When the police finally entered the mosque they discovered a largr cache of bombs, knives and cutlasses. More than 139 were arrested and 63 were charged to stand for trial. In the final verdict 62 were sentenced to life imprisonment and one was acquitted.
Last Thursday Zafarul Islam Khan, Chairman of Delhi’s Minority Commission and member of the ruling Aam Admi Party of Delhi was booked by police after he threatened that “Hindus would face an avalanche when Indian Muslims join with the Arab-Islamic world.” Hailing Zakir Naik, an anti-Hindu Islamist and terrorist sympathizer, and now a fugitive wanted by Indian police, as a household name in the Arab-world, Zafarul Islam Khan charged that Hindus are “Hindutva bigots.”
Incensed by Khan’s outburst, 106 prominent citizens including retired judges, senior police officers and top bureaucrats have signed a petition addressed to the Lt Governor of Delhi for the removal of Khan as Chair of Delhi’s Minority Commission.
China, an ally of Pakistan, has embarked on a mission to cleanse the country of Islamic and Christian symbols. During Easter last week the Chinese authorities began removing huge crosses on the top of churches. Last year the Chinese destroyed the domes and minarets of mosques in their effort to curb the spread of Islam. Muslims were taken from the district of Zinjiang Province in western China where Uyghurs Muslims form 50% of the population to camps they underwent training to “de-Islamized” their minds. Shockingly, Pakistan is silent, not raising an alarm of this crime committed against fellow Muslims and for reasons well known.
Only last week two Sadhus on their way to the funeral of their guru were beaten to death by a mob in Maharashtra. A picture showed a police handing over the Sadhus to the mob. The World Hindu Organization is appealing to the President for his intervention for a speedy resolution to this heinous crime aided and abated by state officials including the police.
Pandits are sowing the seeds of their destruction when they parrot that all pathways lead to god. It means that a Hindu will still find salvation if he embraces another faith. It is important to underline that Hindus did not embrace Islam and Christianity but were left with no choice. Our passivity and general peacefulness are uncharacteristic of our true nature. It is a denial or suppression of our warrior spirit.