Page 5 - Pakistan Link - March 17, 2023

OPINION PAKISTAN LINK - MARCH 17, 2023 - P5
n By Dr. Akbar Ahmed Battle for the Soul of a Subcontinent - 3 the violence against Muslims in the present. These
American University nationalist historians are not only telling the story
Washington, DC of India, but also that of Pakistan and Afghani-
Added to this policy is the accumulated nega- stan in terms of their shared cultural and histori-
tive history from the past which flows unchecked cal past. Their statements therefore purport to in-
across the web universe. Pakistan thus stands for terpret societies outside the boundaries of India.
all the alleged sins that India faced from the Mus- Muslim leadership must also be able to present
lim invasions and wrongdoings. Muslim contri- their case more effectively while appreciating that
butions in art, architecture, music, language etc. they are a minority in a Hindu majority nation.
are ignored or reduced. Even the Now that India is emerging as a super-power
Taj Mahal is given the stepmother with its large population and economic success it
treatment. must adjust this new status with greater maturity
Culturally, it is not such a and magnanimity in dealing with its minorities
black-and-white situation for and smaller neighbors. We need to heed Shashi
Pakistanis. For many Pakistanis, Tharoor: “We must aspire to look ahead.” (India
especially of the older genera- Today, Debate with Dr Sampath et al).
tion, Bollywood stars like the Muslims Dilip Ku- In any case we need a spiritual guide for the
mar, Madhubala and Rafi are viewed with affec- way forward and I can think of no better name
tion; even non- Muslim ones like Lata, Mukesh, than Swami Vivekananda who described India as
and Dev Anand and the philosophers of the past a house with two brothers, Muslim and Hindu.
like Buddha, Asoka, Guru Nanak Devji and the The Swami hoped the brothers would not only get
Mahatma hold a special fascination for many rity,” repeated Major Gaurav Arya on the ANI in conversation. Such figures have been hidden on with each other but learn to understand and
Pakistanis. Indeed, the great Iqbal wrote a poem Smita Prakash show. He said several times that from history and his task is to expose them so love each other.
in honor of Lord Ram. “Pakistan is a nation of losers, it has never won that the present generation of Indians are able to Consider: Where is the synthesis between
This pluralist vision contrasts with the nor- anything in its history.” Ironically, he said this understand that they survived in spite of such at- Tharoor’s thesis and Deepak’s antithesis? The
mative interpretation of history which in Paki- while denouncing Imran Khan who won the tacks. Tharoor argues that the past cannot be used meeting point is in their admiration for Swami
stan is simplistically linear and the subject grossly World Cup in cricket for Pakistan. He dismissed to demonize and suppress present-day Muslims Vivekananda, popularly called “Guru to the
neglected. General Zia-ul-Haq who in the public the many Indians, including generals, who have who had nothing to do with the activities of their world” (see Ruth Harris’ study, Guru to the World:
mind more than any other politician represented said that a strong and stable Pakistan is good ancestors. We must not forget the past, but we The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda, 2022). The
this version of history dismissed all history before for India. The Major said that this is a “lie “and must forgive, he argues. That is why, Tharoor con- Swami represented the finest essence of his noble
the coming of Islam as unnecessary and superflu- a “fraud.” His podcasts have titles like “Time to demns what he calls “whataboutery:” the reaction faith. He electrified the audience at the historic
ous (see The Friday Times, “Debating a Dictator,” finish Pakistan.” to criticism by pointing to others and saying what interfaith conference in Chicago in 1893 with his
by Akbar Ahmed, May 31 and June 7, 2019, part The discussion is constantly kept at the level about them? For Tharoor a diverse country like opening statement, “I am proud to belong to a re-
I and II). This was a travesty. The civilizations of of hysteria. Pakistan bashing is then turned to India must continue to find common ground and ligion which has taught the world both tolerance
Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, the classic Sanskritic implicit suggestions that the Indian Muslim com- remain anchored to the constitution. and universal acceptance. We believe not only in
literature including the Ramayana, the advent of munity is to be blamed by default. In contrast, Not surprisingly politicians are picking up universal toleration, but we accept all religions as
Lord Buddha, the coming of Alexander, the great Pakistan media almost exclusively focuses on the nationalist arguments and translating ideas true.” Tharoor said he preferred to follow Swami
university of Taxila – Zia was dismissing all of attacking the prominent politicians of Pakistan. into reality. This is where the danger lies. History Vivekananda’s views on Hinduism, rather than
this history in one fell swoop. India is almost missing from the discussion. If is being rewritten and even Muslim victories on Savarkar’s. Deepak also expressed his admiration
Muslims, according to this version of his- India is busy distorting history, Pakistan simply the battlefield are being converted to defeats. One for the Swami, as has Prime Minister Narendra
tory, arrived with their enlightened views into an ignores it. headline declared, “Rajasthan rewrites history: Modi.
India with its bewildering number of idol-gods. If Indians pursue knowledge to acquire de- Maharana Pratap, not Akbar, won Battle of Hal- Swami Vivekananda offers a path out of the
In India they found the practice of the caste sys- grees to go on to Europe and the US and take top dighati –Rajasthan education board has approved theological and social cul-de-sac that the debates
tem and sattee. Women and the so-called un- jobs, Pakistanis prefer to focus on making money changing its Class X history books to teach stu- on Hinduism have landed modern India. With
touchables had virtually no rights. Islam, they through purchasing houses and properties and dents that the Rana of Mewar, Maharana Pratap his inclusive approach to religion and concept
argued, in contrast was and remains the most en- planning to influence the power elites. was the victor against Mughal emperor Akbar of Hindus and Muslims living in the same house
lightened of religions promoting scholarship and Where does all this lead us? If millions of during the 16th-century Battle of Haldighati” (In- as brothers, his teachings are more desperately
humanity. This understanding of history means people in the country are riled up and wanting dia Today, by Sharat Kumar, July 25, 2017). “With needed for the subcontinent than ever before
there is little or no meeting point between Indian revenge for supposed atrocities in the past and this change in the Class X history books, the aber- (The Friday Times, “Vivekananda – Guru to the
and Pakistan histories. Even the heroes of one blaming not only the minority community but ration has now been fixed, Devnani said.” Muslim World,” by Akbar Ahmed, December 11, 2022).
nation are the villains of the other. Mahmud of Pakistan as a symbol of that suffering, then the identity is being erased in the public square and It is time to focus on the essence of the faith by
Ghazni, Emperor Aurangzeb and Mr M.A. Jinnah weight of the argument will only lead to greater mind. Roads, buildings and even cities named following the guidance of the Swami. The histo-
are heroes in Pakistani culture and demonized as conflict and more deadly wars. There have al- after Muslim rulers for centuries are being vigor- rians must rediscover Sanskritic ideas of shanti,
villains in India. ready been three wars between India and Paki- ously changed to Hindu names. Even Akbar the seva and ahimsa and replace them with those of
Another historical figure that is drawing the stan, and the fourth one may well be a nuclear Great’s name has not been spared. hatred and rage.
Hindu-Muslim controversy is the once celebrated war, perhaps the first nuclear war of the world. A CNN story picked up the scale of the cri- True faith for the Swami meant service or
Muslim king of south India Tipu Sultan. To sup- It will also mean the end of the subcontinent as sis under the title: “India’s Hindu extremists are seva. His passionate love for Hinduism and the
porters of the BJP, he is a fanatic and intolerant we know it. That is why scholars and historians calling for genocide against Muslims. Why is “Sacred land of India” are fused. He also under-
Muslim ruler, to Muslims he is a noble and brave have to show much greater wisdom and restraint little being done to stop them?” by Rhea Mogul lined the importance of Islam and its relation-
warrior king who fought the British until he was in throwing about often half-baked ideas without and Swati Gupta (CNN, January 14, 2022). The ship with Hinduism. The two religions are like
finally brought down. He emerged when Muslim understanding their consequences. story began: “At a conference in India last month, brothers living in the same house, and though
fortunes were at a low ebb. His inclusive approach In their enthusiasm to throw out the bath a Hindu extremist dressed head-to-toe in the re- they sometimes have friction, they must learn to
and skills as a ruler and military commander water they may well have thrown out the baby. ligion’s holy color, saffron, called on her support- work together for the greater good of the house.
drew diverse communities to him. In the end, So, overlooked are figures like Dara Shiko who ers to kill Muslims and ‘protect’ the country…‘If He talked of their brotherhood and, while noting
the British knitting together a coalition of allies in his classic Mingling of the Oceans traced the 100 of us become soldiers and are prepared to kill past Muslim conquests, he believed India could
defeated and killed him. He died with his sword origins of the Sanskritic religions and the Abra- 2 million (Muslims), then we will win … protect not move ahead without each other. He was aware
in his hand. hamic ones to the same source after long discus- India, and make it a Hindu nation,’ said Pooja of the history of conquests of Islam in India, yet
Creating fake history is not a new exercise. sions with the great mystics and scholars of India. Shakun Pandey, a senior member of the right- he wished to move ahead to build a more har-
Professor B.N. Pande, a professor of history and Dara was not alone. Many in his illustrious family wing Hindu Mahasabha political party, according monious world in the future. “both Muslims and
the Governor of an Indian state, exposed the fab- like Akbar, and others outside it like Kabir, Guru to a video of the event.” Hindus were all sons of the same Mother’” (Har-
rication around Tipu Sultan half a century ago Nanak Devji, Badshah Khan and of course the ris, p. 156). The larger objective was to unite and
in an article referenced by Chief Justice Katju in Mahatma to name a few spent their lives creating Synthesis – Finding a Path to Peace get rid of the colonial British.
which he supported Tipu as a hero and rejected bridges. Having met so many Indians who have love Vivekananda singled out and praised the
him as a villain. The title of Katju’s article was: A cursory glance at the videos available and generosity in their heart, I despair why they Prophet (PBUH) of Islam. He placed the Proph-
“Tipu Sultan is a national hero, not a bigoted on Indian history will illustrate the scale of the have been swamped by so much evident anger et (PBUH) of Islam on his small list of what he
villain” (The Friday Times, February 15, 2023,). problem: Everywhere history has been re-written and hatred against Muslims. I wonder where the called the “World Movers.” These were certain
Katju wrote that “Tipu Sultan issued 34 sanads and made topsy-turvy. Fact and fiction have been famous Indian capacity for love and compassion individuals who changed the course of history
(deeds of endowments) to temples in his domain” vigorously mixed with fake new and conspiracy has gone. Something fundamental is missing. through their prana or life force. Prana is the
and there were “156 temples to which Tipu regu- theories. Clearly the purveyors of hate have much to an- fundamental energy, or as described by Vive-
larly paid annual grants” along with jewelry and While Deepak disavows any academic pre- swer for. kananda, “the infinite, omnipresent manifesting
land grants (“Tipu Sultan: Religious Zealot or tensions, Sampath regularly reminds us in every With so much hatred and misinformation power of this universe. “The World Mover was
Nationalist Hero?” Business Standard, November video interview that he is an academic. For me swirling about between Hindus and Muslims motivated by purity of thought and nobility of
13, 2015). an academic must be much more careful about there is a desperate need to forge a synthesis or character. His examples of World Movers, along
throwing around such exaggerated numbers as he middle path. Perhaps the answer is to constitute with the Prophet (PBUH), included Moses, Jesus,
The Consequences of Hatred does without any reference to a source. He will a Truth and Reconciliation Commission such as Confucius, and Buddha.
Indian chat shows and media are obsessed say things like Muslim’s slaughtered 80 million the one instituted in South Africa. Just as we con- Both Indians and Pakistanis must under-
with spiteful Pakistan bashing. “The existence of Hindus, kidnapped 3 to 4,000,000 women as sex demn the violence against Hindu civilians and stand, and here I am loosely paraphrasing Confu
Pakistan is detrimental to Indian national secu- slaves and destroyed 40,000 temples etc. casually their institutions in the past, we must condemn (Continued on page 23)
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