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PakNews.com, Updated on 2002-03-04 07:43:19
Reaping What You Sow
Anthony J. Aschettino
By the time that this article is read, it will be no longer
breaking news that a train bearing fundamentalist Hindus back
from a march on Ayodhya was attacked by a mob resulting in the
deaths of at least sixty odd people. While this event is tragic,
and while nobody in their right mind will come out in support of
such an action, it should not come as any great surprise to those
of us who have followed the actions of Hindu fundamentalism in
the sub-continent during the last two decades. Although perhaps
it is ironic to use a biblical quotation when describing Hindus,
this is simply a case of reaping what they have sown.
Many who read this will be fully aware of the Babri Masjid
incident that took place in 1992. For those who are not, a brief
explanation will suffice: the Babri Mosque was situated in
Ayodhya, the home of the mythical Hindu God/ King Ram. Upon the
urging of many fundamentalist Hindus, including the current Home
Minister L K Advani, thousands of radical Hindus descended upon
the site and burned the mosque to the ground killing dozens of
Muslims in the process. This act, which vaulted the BJP party
onto the political scene, culminated in sectarian riots that
consumed over two thousand lives before they subsided. It was,
one may say with a sense of certainty, the most damaging
anti-Muslim act by Hindus since their massacres on Muslims
attempting to cross to the newly founded state of Pakistan. Quite
fittingly, this same L K Advani was wanted in Pakistan (and still
is in a sense) for his complicity in an attempt on the life of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.
Since the time of the demolition of the Babri Masjid these
fundamentalist Hindus, with the blessings of the now ruling BJP,
have agitated for a reconstruction of a temple to Ram on the
remains of the old Mosque. Facing a certain eruption from the
internal and global Muslim population, the government has managed
to put off construction on the site for now, but it remains to be
seen how long they can keep delaying in the face of an increasing
radicalization of the Hindu population. This, coupled with the
current crisis in occupied Kashmir, may spur the government to
action on the issue.
While the rest of the world is frantically trying to deal with
the concept of "radical Islam", groups like the Shiv
Sena in India are preaching a violent version of Hinduism to the
masses. Consumed with the idea that the Hindu must be of the
warrior ethic, these radicals openly despise figures such as
Gandhi and are obsessed with expelling Muslims from India. They
call for the establishment of a non-secular, Hindu state and some
go even as far as to suggest that Pakistan should be
re-incorporated into India - by force if necessary. With their
websites such as www.hinduunity.org, closely allied with the
banned Kach movement in Israel (which advocates among other
things the forceful expulsion of all Arabs from Palestine), they
spout their ideology that Islam is inherently evil and that the
only solution to seemingly all worldly problems is the global
elimination of Islam.
While Hinduism has widely been portrayed as a religion of peace
and tolerance, and indeed for the vast majority of its adherents
it is, there exists a group of people dedicated towards a
violently anti-Muslim program who espouse this faith. Perhaps
what is scarier is that they are not just anti-Muslim, but also
rather anti-Christian as well. On the website for Hindu Unity,
Pope John Paul II, widely regarded as a great figure by all
faiths, is referred to as a "devil". This group of
people misrepresents their faith as much as people like Osama bin
Laden and the cowards who killed Daniel Pearl misrepresent Islam.
What concerns some of us the most, however, is that these people
are far from being a radical fringe group. They are in control of
the Indian government under the guise of the BJP and her allies
such as the VHP. They support the furthering of the Indian
nuclear weapons program and are also dedicated to escalating the
situation in Kashmir by pushing the sub-continent into an arms
race. Under BJP rule, the Indian "defense" budget has
seen the greatest increases in the history of the Indian state.
This is worrisome not only to Pakistan and China, who fear the
possible breakout of hostilities in the region, but also should
ring bells in Washington. These people are not only
anti-Pakistan: they dislike Christians and the West almost as
much.
The civilized world should oppose the recent attack on a train
full of these fundamentalists because in Islam, as in the west,
we respect the rights of those to voice their opinions and
believe what they wish so long as it does not bring harm to
others. However, the doctrine of hatred and violence that these
people preach seems to have come full circle. As Malcolm X one
time put so succinctly, "the chickens have come home to
roost". While we call on all people, Muslims and Christians
as well as Hindus, to refrain from jumping to conclusions as to
who was responsible for what, and while we deplore this act as
much as we would deplore any reactionary attacks, we should make
it clear that if these radicals are determined to continue down
this path that it will lead them nowhere but to the end that men
like bin Laden faced: total humiliation within their own
communities and global pariah status. For the sake of those in
India who do not feel the same, we hope that they do not bring
their country down with them.
[The author, Anthony J. Aschettino, is an expert on South
Asia and Middle Eastern relations.]