A National Apology: From A Hindu To Each Indian Muslim

By Parul Verma

14 November, 2015
Countercurrents.org

Hindutva does not represent the Hindus’, nor ever will

“ Yes, I am, I am a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist and a Jew ”---MAHATMA GANDHI.

My great grandfather always said " there lies a thin difference between being patriotic and being a nationalist. The feeling of patriotism results from what your country does while the feeling of nationalism arise from whatever your country does. Now, listen to me carefully. One day when you bow to your motherland, respect her with your patriotism for it brings peace with its flavours. Refuse to be a nationalist, for it is the cause of deviant tension and war". I never really understood what he meant , until now.

" I have been getting re-occurring dream", she said as she sipped her tea.

"What it is about?"

" I see group of men running towards my home with bricks and swords. I am on the terrace and could see the anger on their face. As they reach my door, they are shouting something that I don't remember. But the fear I felt in my dream was real. I can still feel it .You know what I said to my father after I woke up".

"What? " I asked.

" Father, please make sure that no matter what happens, there should be a hidden exit and re-build the doors so strong, that no unwanted stranger can break and enter "

I could feel the anxiety in her voice and could view the remisence of fear on her face as she narrated her dream. The reality has been infected with such communal terror, that the presence of this fear has now seeped in the unconscious psyche of this young Muslim girl. A contagious communal deviancy is plaguing my country through the tainted and biased ideologies of right wing Hindutva party. The power to abuse and the abuse of power is seeping in the soma of my motherland. And it is all happening in the name of the religion I follow. I ,being a Hindu apologize to each Indian Muslim for being ridiculed, lynched, humiliated, stereotyped by the ideologues who does not represent the peace that Hinduism breathes. As a Hindu, I reject their fascism and dispirit their pathological extremist ideologies that directs the assault on civil liberty and intellectual freedom.

Dear IndianMuslims,

Though my apology is highly subjective, I shall introduce objectivity to validate my assertions, as certain mind-set would look for the flaws to legitimize their right wing Hindu ideologies while they read the letter. I wonder what Ali Brothers, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Shaik Abdullah, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru , Bhagat Singh and others would think ,if they were alive to view the nation being tormented by the right wing ideology that is taking it to the path of self destruction. None of our ancestors died, for certain religious mindset to lynch, burn and celebrate the same ,all in the name of a religion.

“HANG THEM OR SEND THEM TO PAKISTAN” Said RSS Leader Indresh Kumar.

Its is indeed an irony when RSS Leader with such self proclaimed nationalism, speaks of ignorance. He is his most ignorant state forgets that the only reason he is uttering words on the land of the free, is because our ancestors ( all religion included) fought for the liberation for the same. Someone should give him a history lesson before he in his fascist fantasy claims to falsely Hindu-nise our Mother India.

Muslims had played a significant role in the formation and establishment of various national forums and parties in undivided India for the freedom of the country like Indian National Congress, peasants’ and workers’ unions and cultural and literary groups. They also founded their own organizations for the same purpose. Important among them with an all-India base was Jamiat-ul-Ulema-i-Hind, founded in 1919. Others being Majlis-i-Ahrar-i-Islam (1929), Anjuman-i-Watan-i-Baluchistan (1932), All India Momin Conference (1925), Praja Karshak-Bengal (1934), Khudai Khidmatgar, NWFP (l924), Muslim Majlis (1940) and Jamiat-uI-Ansar (1909).

Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam (chairman of IOS), explains the Muslim participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement, 1930, in the British Indian Empire was also higher than their proportional population. Ninety thousand Indians defied law and courted arrest, and 29,000 among them were Muslims. Presence of Muslims was noticed everywhere throughout India, including the native kingdoms. They were active in north, central and south India. In the east, Muslims of middle class participated in a big way in Senhatta, Tripura, Gaibanda, Bagura and Noakhali. In Dhaka, Muslims belonging to the marginalized communities joined the movement. Muslim women from the middle and upper classes also participated. Weavers and the families associated with them were actively involved in the national struggle. Their participation in Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements in U.P., Bihar and Maharashtra was enthusiastic. Many Muslims thought that facing bullets and meeting death was better than a life in slavery. The British opened fire on unarmed Pathans in Peshawar. They refused to budge and heroically faced the bullets.. Ashfaqullah Khan of the famous Kakori case, while being hanged requested the jailor to put a handful of soil of his homeland into his coffin for which he staked his life. No wonder, because of this patriotic sentiment the series of killing of Muslims, which began in 1857 continued till 1947, till India received her freedom.

● How dare any political party or a person of any religious ideology in his right conscious can command any Indian Muslim to go Pakistan or any other country for that matter ? This land rightly belongs to each IndianMuslim as it to any other religious communities. How dare can he insult the sacrifice made by our forefathers ? You are no less than a regime who implements the concept of Divide and Rule ,if you try to Hindu –nise this land, subtracting Muslims and other religion from it.

“ the Vedas order killing of anyone who slaughter a cow. cow slaughter is a big issue for Hindu community. For many of us it is a question of life and death.” Said RSS

Another attempt to politicise the animal in the name ofHinduism has plagued the country.The lynching, burning, murdering of the Muslim community IS NOT justified, on the suspicion of slaughtering a cow . The status of the cow as an animal has been reformed into the political symbol via which the privileged religious ideologies is being endorsed. The political cow is being misused for the crass exertion of the political power of the skewed ideologues .
The religious justification of the law supporting criminalisation of cow slaughter by the hindutva community does not allign with the historical and archaeological facts . Irony penetrates in the status symbol of the cow,of then and now,once researched extensively.

The ancient Vedic literature suggested that the Gopatha Brahman describes 21 types of yajñas (sacrifices), the most important of which included animal sacrifice. The offering varied depending on which god was being propitiated Gods such as Indra had a special preference for bull's meat while sacrifices to Agni were of both bull's and cow's. Vedic traditions suggest that the Maruts and the Asvins were also offered cows. The Asvamedha and the Rajasuya yajñas all included animal sacrifice in large numbers. In Asvamedha for instance, more than 600 animals were killed, and its end was celebrated with the sacrifice of 21 cows. The archaeological excavations reflects ample of empirical evidence for the same.Excavation at lal quila,district bulandshehar—[source:-Indian Archaeology 1969-70 A Review] conducted by the Archaeological Research Laboratory at Oxford, indicate a mean date of 1880 B.C found animal bones in large numbers. The cut-marks, present on many of them, suggest that the meat was the staple diet. Evidence of some grains(cereal), suggested agriculture as a subsidiary occupation, was also available(source:-beef eating in ancient India : Sanjeev sabhlok)

●The Hindutva community should re-read the Vedas and the practices implemented in the era to religionise any animal for that matter. If cow slaughter was a ritual being practiced during the Vedic era, then why the ban now? As a matter of fact, the question is not about the banning of beef but how Hidutva has been lynching and murdering Muslim community and justifying the same, all in the name of this political animal (THE COW) is highly disappointing.

HINDUTVA, STOP FRAGMENTISING OUR COUNTRY.
HINDUTVA,STOP DISSECTING OUR COUNTRY.
HINDUTVA, JUST STOP....

I , as a Hindu,deeply apologise to each Indian Muslim who has been infected with pain (psychologically and physically) from the right wing Hindutva ideologies , that infact does not represent the peace and equality Hinduism is rooted on. There are many rational Hindus’ like me, who refuse to support the lynching /stereotyping / burning/ murdering of any Indian Muslim. This land belongs rightly to each, for it is not preserved for the selected few. Let not the political lust of the parties to gain votes and supports religion-mise the land and brainwash you and me. The implementation of endorsing one privileged religion over another is an act of religious bigotry. If the condition is not intervened with just policies that operates with the zero-tolerance towards any civilian exgravating the communal riots, the nation shall foresee a tragic future. We are the present, the decisions we make today, shall determine our future. Let not the future be swayed in the communal violence,benefiting the greedy. While I end my apology, I start the effort to unify each ,for even the lion becomes powerless when stitched by the cobwebs of the spiders. This is the power of unity. Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, all....it's time, we UNITE.

Parul Verma ( activist, student and a writer). Reach her at [email protected]