[Reader-list] Pune: Hindutva terror?
TaraPrakash
taraprakash at gmail.com
Sun Feb 21 23:49:24 IST 2010
I agree with you. As I said in my mail and you missed it, we in the subcontinent discriminate against whoever we can. I was neither speaking about the specific country nor specific religion in my mail.
----- Original Message -----
From: Jigish Parikh
To: TaraPrakash
Cc: reader-list at sarai.net
Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 1:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Pune: Hindutva terror?
Tara,
The theory of descrimination against Muslims in India is baseless, a tool invented to gather support based on religious lines. How do you explain Mr. Kalaam becoming president or Mr. Hamid Ansari becoming vice-president? How do you explain Shabbir Hussain Shekhadam Khandwawala, new Gujarat Police chief appointed by Mr. Narendra Modi himself ? Want more examples ? Email me, I will send you a list. Unable able to compete and excel, wanting to blame that to something, Muslims cry foul about discrimation. In reality it is not as much claimed. It is unfortunate that people start believing media without doing their own reading and research. That includes the so called "intellactual" elite Hindus who are far away from reality. Only hope is they start seeing clear someday.
Jigish.
2010/2/21 TaraPrakash <taraprakash at gmail.com>
I was born a Hindu and never went through convertion. I have read a lot of Hindu scriptures. I don't think forgetting and forgiving a good virtue. However, I was overwhelmed and struck by a respectable christian woman whose husband was killed by Bajrang Dal activists and she forgave the murderers of her husband.
Priyanka Gandhi also offered some generous forgiving gestures towards an accomplice in her father's assassination but some mails on this list have suggested in the past that Priyanka is not a hindu
I think Mother Terresa is also a good example of people who could forget and forgive. What is common in these 3 examples? They at least had one parent who was not born in Indian subcontinent.
There is a religion common to all in the subcontinent. Whenever you can descriminate and work against the "other", enjoy doing it with ruthlessness. This is what the JDU BJP alliance did when they outsted an honest Muslim minister in Bihar when he raised his voice against corruption in the government. He was the "other" not only because he was a muslim but also because an unusual honest person among the clique of corrupt people.
Shuddha and Javed might point towards descrimination against Muslims in India, I can also point towards descrimination against those who are minorities in the minority institutions. Take the case of a professor in Aligarh Muslim University. He was sacked for his alleged homosexual activities, not in the university, but at home. This professor is a minority because he is not a muslim and also because probably he is gay.
So, if we have a common culture, it does not teach us to forget and forgive, it teaches to discriminate against the other. And remember the term originally was based on geography. based on Indus (sindhu) river so all in the subcontinent are Hindu.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jigish Parikh" <parikhjigish at gmail.com>
To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 11:08 AM
Subject: [Reader-list] Pune: Hindutva terror?
Shuddha,
You raised a valid point about people getting worked up
on specific words. Let me share my two cents on it.
A well-read person would not question the fact that history of Muslims
in general in context to
Indian subcontinent is full of waging wars, destroying/looting
properties and temples. Texts such as
Akabar Nama or Aurngzeb-nama or any other nama describes in details
how Muslim invaders' sole motivation was terrorizing & wiping out
Hindu kingdoms. "Terror" or terrorizing others is not alien to
Muslims. It has been their easy escape to
competition,injustice,imperialism or whatever. If in doubts, refer
books which will precisely point out every single invasion and
accounts of
destruction or even verse of the namas that praise those acts.
Now lets talk about a Hindu. When was the last time a Hindu invaded,
deliberately planned destruction of anyone ? Despite centuries of
oppression, slavery,
rapes and murders of their woman ? Can anyone enlighten me ?
The idea of inflicting violence/harm to others is TOTALLY "alien" to
Hindus. We are the people with "Forget and forgive" attitude not because we
are cowards/incapable but our ancient texts teaches us to live life that way.
So, when some half-learned, self-appointed scholars associate the word "terror"
with Hindu it is no surprise that lot of people get uncomfortable. Can
one of these self-proclaimed
scholar explain me suddenly how and specially why "now" Hindu
mentality changed particularly in a "liberated", democratic India when
misery
of Hindus is no where close to as in their worst times.
Actually by doing this(associating word "terror" with Hindu)
stupid,careless and mind-less media is fermenting a divide in
the society and pushing very silent and moderate sections of Hindu
society towards
the right.
The least I expect from every Hindu to understand this.
--
Thank you,
Jigish Parikh.
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--
Thank you,
Jigish Parikh.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/parikhjigish
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