Saturday, December 14, 2013

Akhand Bharat : A stand against genocide.



No fire zone is much talked about documentary about the civil war in Sri Lanka. Over a span of two years the LTTE slowly lost ground against the Sinhalese army and during the final months of the conflict, roughly 300,000 people were herded into a space of a few kilometers on a beach. (1) What followed is a gruesome story of systematic genocide and torture of the civilian population on a horrifying scale. Using air power and heavy artillery on a herded population speaks volumes of the intent of the armed Sinhalese forces to completely ethnically cleanse the area  of the Tamil people.

Apologists will often be quick to counter that the LTTE were a equally cruel lot, but i'm not speaking of the LTTE per say as the local civilian population that were exposed to such cruelty. However in my mind it's not the first time that Hindus have been a target for such terrible violence. The list in my mind stretches to all of our neighbors and beyond and where Sri Lanka is only a new link in the chain.
Another genocide being the 1971 Bangladesh war in which an estimated 2-3 million people notably Hindus were reported to have been killed. The numbers are mind boggling and probably the largest post world war 2 holocaust. (2) Yet this is hardly talked much in the mainstream Indian media. Post India's intervention and defeat of the Pakistan military, the hatred of Hindu ideals has continued to reduce Hindu presence in Bangladesh to being negligible.

Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus serves as a another example. Upto 300,000 Kashmiri pandits have been forced leave the vale of Kashmir which includes Srinagar due to Pakistan sponsored terrorism and ethnic cleansing.(3)
Pakistan in itself has virtually exterminated it Hindu population through forced coercion, abduction and ethnic cleansing. Cases of Hindu abductions of girls are almost a daily occurrence with the notable case of Rinkle Kumari(4) being etched into my mind. Indeed the hatred among Pakistanis is so far etched as national TV programs broadcast live conversions of Hindus taking the Shahada.(5)

Yet while India's battle with Pakistan and Islamic extremism is well known (and a separate topic to be discussed). What I find troubling is that in the new millennium, how could such mass slaughter escape Indian eyes as it did in Sri Lanka? With satellite imagery, including the TES as well as ongoing intelligence, how is it possible that we were unaware of the ongoing carnage and if we were aware, how can it be possible that we allowed such carnage to continue.

The documentary spells that many countries were kept at bay by the constant reassurances that the civilian population was being dealt with appropriately in that supplies were being delivered and the sanctity of the no fire zone would be maintained. On the other hand video evidence and UN representatives have maintained that none of these conditions were being met amounting to war crimes. Yet again the question remains, how did such mass slaughter escape attention on our doorstep? If so did our government choose to ignore the slaughter?

Indian vedantic thought maintains that all actions have  two forms of responses.'Dhrishta' being the immediate seen response, in which the army is massacring the civilian population. The vast pain and suffering endured at the hands of the Sinhalese army forms the 'Adrishta' or unseen response. Indeed it maintains that such suffering is a action unto itself and cannot remain unanswered. It deserves that a equal response to the suffering must be maintained and this forms the basis for the 'Law of Karma'. Indeed such suffering on a vast scale causes the manifestation of Bhagwan to reappear as a Avatar or in other cultures as the Messiah. In recent times past, we may envisage that Chhatrapati Shivaji was seen a a divine response to the suffering felt by the people at the hands of Aurangzeb. 

In our case, to allow such suffering to go unchecked places the burden of guilt and the consequences of Adhrista Karma on our shoulders. The gruesome murder of children such as Balachandran Prabhakaran(6) and the rape and killing of Isaipriya(7) has far reaching consequences. Indeed such actions have been repeated manifold over the final months of the war and remains ongoing in the continued repression of Tamilian Hindu identity post war. The silence and inaction from the central government of India is tantamount to supporting the cause of genocide and should be reported as such. 

How is it then that in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh where the Hindu minority are visible targets for extermination and intolerable suffering, that we as a community of Hindus in India numbering close to a billion fail to act? We are even unable to make a stand towards friendly countries like Bhutan in ejecting it's Hindu Lhotshampas. Thirty years on the Kashmiri pundits are still living as refugees in Jammu with no plans towards being repatriated. Why have we become such a soft target for mass killing and suffering with no response? 

Perhaps then the concept of Akhand Bharat holds more meaning. An ideal to work towards to ensure that Hindu communities may live in a environment that promotes growth of an individual to reach his or her fullest potential without the threat of coercion, intimidation or extinction. If our neighbors fail to provide security because of religious animosity, we should shoulder the responsibility to provide safe havens for all such involved. Previously I have debated the stand that 'Ahimsa', acting in the cause of the least harm proves a better standard to live by than 'Tawhid' or the one god. It's effects can be seen in India where minorities from numerous backgrounds are afforded security compared to it's neighbors.

As a stratagem towards working to this ideal perhaps some general outlines can be formed.  I shall try to limit myself to the Sri Lanka situation but the generalities may be assigned to all India's neighbors.

 Highlighting the suffering of Hindus should get more media attention. Suffering it seems, in the eyes of the world has the highest human value and moral effect cause. In the case of Sri Lanka, the ongoing intimidation of Tamilian Hindus post war, and the destruction of Hindu temples in Sri Lanka deserve more attention on the mainland. This effectively has a far more outreaching cry to involve Indians and Hindus from all backgrounds to support the cause. 
Far too long has Tamil nationalism hijacked the efforts of Sri Lankan Tamils in trying to project a homeland for themselves. 
Certain apologists have often argued that Tamil nationalism might have separatist tendencies on the mainland itself, stemming any efforts to project a secure homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils. 
If our neighbors cannot ensure safety for Hindus, why can't it become a question for the Indian Hindu majority as a whole? 

The creation of a homeland does not become one of a Tamil homeland but of a Hindu homeland. Eelam then has a new connotation, an extension of India's borders to secure the rights of individuals facing genocidal extinction. Akhand Bharat has a new ideal, the protection of Hindus who can't protect themselves. 
The ideal begins a framework to formation of homelands to ensure the safety of the minority Hindu populace. An Eelam for Sri Lankan Hindus. A homeland in Sind, Pakistan for the protection of the Hindu minority with a likely candidate being Tharparkar district. A Chittagong homeland for the protection of Hindus and Buddhists in Bangladesh. 

It does however require a change in thinking for most of us Hindus. Segregated into states barely 50 years ago, our identities often jump to the regional state we hail from and pride ourselves in vague state oriented uniqueness. This often has detrimental effects on the nation as a whole, indeed why should I care about my fellow Indian in Assam if I am Maharashtrian? Indeed why should I care about Hindus in Sri Lanka being massacred? 

For the betterment of all those who question thus, I would ask to be more compassionate. Hindu Vedantic thought has contributed to betterment of society in maintaining that actions in doing the least harm to all serve as a guide to live by. It is these ideals which have protected our society and encouraged refugees the world over to find safety in India. Zorastrians, Syrian Christians, Tibetans, Sikhs, Ahmadi Muslims and even animals have found refuge in India due to non violent thought.
 In Sri Lanka, the hatred has overwhelmed the teachings of the Buddha himself to dehumanize and inflict such tremendous suffering.  The regular break out of communal riots in India are ample evidence that Abrahamic ideals surge to supplant Hindu ideals. Why protect that Hindu in Assam or in Sri Lanka? It seems quite clear that as a community we have become the targets for Abrahamic and now Buddhist violence. Only through unifying our collective through an ideal of a Hindu Akhand Bharat, we may stem the bloody tide that sweeps against us. 

In trying to make a start, the process begins at various levels. Notably the individual to believe that he does belong to a greater collective in being a Hindu. In trying to make the effort to remain compassionate and to alleviate the suffering that many Hindus face in a daily basis one requires a start in learning the basics of Vedantic thought. I would hope that through such study one may have a shield against Abrahamic and now Buddhist hatred that propagates the world over wherever Hindus live. Akhand Bharat serves as a ideal where India grows in thought and mass to protect within it's borders those who serve as targets for victimization. Akhand Bharat can slowly become a living ideal against Hindu Genocide.

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