The Christians who cried Wolf.

As a follow on to my last post I wanted to comment on the ongoing impression of the 'crisis' that is ongoing in relation to Christian freedom in India. I am reminded of the time honored tale of Aesop,  the boy who cried wolf when watching the English Indian media today.(1a)  

While viewing through the historical 'looking glass' it seems nothing changes from a Christians perspective to malign all those who have not placed their blinding faith in Jesus, the messiah. Time tested tactics and significant resources with regard to funding are used to convert uneducated and tribal Hindus, often leading to significant harm in many rural areas of India. I would hope here to articulate some of the tactics used by the Christians in their zeal to destroy many of the world religions.

Natural Disasters  : 

Karmanyevadhikaraste, ma phalesu kadachana, ma karmaphalaheturbhurma te sango’ stvakarmani

Christians have always seen natural disasters and calamities as the most convenient time to evangelize. During a time of crisis and fear, when one's belief and mind are shaken by the most intense trauma, a helping hand and kind words can often imprint and be life changing. During the plague of Cyprian in the 2nd century, millions were affected and the misery of death was a daily occurrence. During this time, while state machinery and the army were finding it difficult to cope, Christians seemed to mobilize effectively with the driving belief to convert many on their deathbed. Doing so in the hope that they would be saving many new Christians from the hellfire and their salvation was assured. (1b)

Fast forward to 2004 and nothing much seems to have changed. During the tsunami, many evangelical groups saw the disaster as an opportunity to hand out food with Bibles and hold daily prayer meetings.

To quote Kp Yohannan an important Indian evangelist during the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster on its description :

" one of the greatest opportunities that god has given us to share his love with the people". (2)

The pope himself has gone on record to say that charity is the best way to evangelize.

Previously I had questioned the gospel literary account to act with such drive and found it lacking. (3) The Indian disaster management of force of volunteers and the army rapidly swung into action to assist as many as they could. Yet it seems however natural disasters are prime conversion grounds for the Christians to pursue their agenda, and within days Christians arrived with bibles and food packages in hand. Whichever way you look at it, it leaves a bad taste for such charity work is simply opportunism, taking advantage of those less fortunate in a desperate situation.

The verse above is a stark contrast the Hindu view of charity. From the Gita, Lord Krishna teaches that in any action we perform, try to perform the action with a prayerful attitude and realize that the fruit of any action is given by the Lord himself. To act with a prayerful attitude and without any agenda is in stark contrast to a personal drive to gain souls for the faith.

Christian Suffering or Self Victimization?

Christians have always tried to use the emotion of suffering to their advantage. Suffering often evokes deep personal sympathy and often times the illusion of being persecuted can be a powerful sleight of hand to mask further atrocities that are ongoing. 

From ancient Roman times, Christians have been the masters of propaganda. It is well known than for many troubled Christians of the time, martyrdom and death in emulating their savior was a avenue for escapism and suicide for the troubled. Belief in paradise and eternity spent enjoying the fruits of heaven seemed like a better option for many than struggling through the daily routines of 2nd century roman life. Today this is akin and brings to mind many troubled youth in waging Jihad with ISIS to die as a Shaheed.

One Roman governor in Tunisia is reported to have said, that there are many trees to hang from and many cliffs to jump from, if Christians wanted to kill themselves. Just stop pestering me....(for Christians that wanted to die in the arena).

Roman persecution of the Christians was indeed quite rare and for the most part Rome itself was a multi religious society that accepted all faiths. However, most Christians need to victimize themselves into feeling a serious connection to their savior. Fast forward to today and we've often seen multiple 'attacks' on Christians and their places of worship in India today.  How many of these stories are actually genuine?

I decided to delve a little deeper into the latest of these minority atrocities, being the recent case in Hisar. It seems that a Christian bought a piece of land in the middle of a Hindu district for what was labeled as a new house and then illegally started to build a church.(4) Not only this, he started to create more disharmony by trying to convert many of his neighbors. Faced with a frustrating situation, many of the neighbors took action against the illegal construction and broke down sections of the Church.

The Pastor immediately raised concern that he was being persecuted which was quickly caught onto by many media channels and reliably broadcast by our Christian owned English media with Prannoy Roy NDTV leading the fray. (His niece Arundhati Roy another well known Christian regularly spews anti Hindu and anti India venom). (5)

The cycle of victimization starts again as here we have another pastor suffering for his Church, another martyr in the making in trying to raise his damaged Cross among the brutal Hindu Heathen.

In any country however, any illegal action to raise a place of worship without the right authorization would have never gotten off the building blocks so to speak. In India however, it forms the basis for polarization, Hindu hatred and Christian victimization.

Truth is, on closer examination,  it is we us Hindus who are suffering and with no media coverage. Any attempt to broadcast the actual truth is swiftly met with dismissal. Beware the Hindus that actually take the effort to educate the recently converted. Swami Lakshminanda and his four disciples who sought to expose the missionaries agenda in Orissa, was brutally murdered with numerous Christians being held.(6) No progress has been made in this case...and it seems to have escaped common Hindu memory. 

Likewise, newly converted Christians attacking Hindus in the North East are rarely broadcast or documented. Its seems no people have suffered as much as we have with constant attacks by on all sides by the various Abrahamic religions.(7) Thousands of Indians lose their lives every year to religious terrorism but unfortunately when Indians die without a belief in Jesus or Mohammed, their lives do not matter and quickly consigned to short term memory.

Christian rule and Hindu accomplices:

What really led to the death of the old Roman Empire and religion was conversion of the emperor Constantine and his state sponsored programs to fund Churches and stop funding to the ancient temples of Rome. It comes down to simple economics, stop the funding and the death of a culture and religion can quickly follow. Christian terrorism on people of Old Roman Religion and the dearth of funds effectively led to the death of the old Roman way of living.

A parallel can be made to India today as most devotees funds to the temple are effectively taken by the state and central government, to finance programs that include building of Churches and Mosques! The dearth of funds has led to many temples and priests becoming debilitated, while under Sonia Gandhi and her progeny the growth of Pastors and Churches has seen a significant spike.

Not only had that, but conversion of the Roman emperor led to empowerment of the Bishops in government. Holding positions of power, they quickly passed laws culminating in the eventual banning of the Roman religion 40 years later under Theodosius. Under Sonia Gandhi, we've seen a rise in the number of Christians who held power in the Rajya Sabha which includes Ambika Soni, Ajit Jogi, AK Antony and YSR Reddy to name just a few.

Today the spectrum seems to include more Christians who openly show their distaste for Hindus such as Derek O Brien of the Trinamool congress. He constantly hollers that all those who have studied in a Christian school in India hold mass protests against new Hindu BJP government.  Many other chief ministers in the North East as well as Kerala are noted to be Christian as well. The ground work is well set for many of these political Christians to use state funds and misuse finances into building Churches. They then claim victimization when any of these illegal settlements are removed. Many Christians such as the late YSR wife in Andhra made no attempt at a cover when she openly stated that state funds would be used to build Churches and fund the salaries of pastors. Is it no wonder then about the massive conversion numbers that Andhra is experiencing? Here is another example of the newly formed Telengana government into funding a Christian Bhavan using state funds.(8a)

What troubles me are that so many Hindu accomplices in the congress government who seem to be promoting the above for their own personal gains. The list is indeed long and exhaustive to name, but one has to often spend a few moments on why it is that such Hindus throughout history have always allied with forces inimical to the faith. I can only think of this: Covert conversion and crusading for the faith or overwhelming greed for their own personnel gains.
It seems we are our own worst enemy in allying with enemies against the Hindus. (8b)

Indian tolerance for all  :

Roman religion was exceeding tolerant and for that reason, it seems to have suffered. The Christians had a dedicated game plan which included victimization, martyrhood, malicious conversion, rise of political leadership, slander, implementation of favorable laws before the final rise of overt terrorism.

Hinduism has sheltered many faiths from all around the world which include all the branches of Islam, Judaism, Tibetan Buddhists and the largest community of practicing Zoroastrians. The largest congregations of Baha’i are now in India free now to practice their faith without any persecution. Sikhs and Jains born of the motherland have only grown from strength to strength. Many early Christian groups flourished under grants and funding from Hindu Kings themselves.

It pains me to see that Christians today are at the forefront of trying to demonize the very religion and state that gave them shelter for over a thousand years. Make no mistake, as it is the religious tolerance for all religions that stems from Hinduism itself and not some western construct as some Hindu apologists would state as specified in the Indian constitution.

What happens though with conversion is self-loathing and a new unshakeable conviction to spread a poorly understood message of the new Christian faith. The seed of hatred against oneself and community has been planted. What grows unfortunately is a conviction from biblical scripture of religious apartheid that the new Christian should be a world apart from his prior life and community. What flowers is self-absorbed mission to prove their worth to the new faith by publically attacking their old way of life. Each conversion brings another crusader willing to victimize himself as Jesus did to gain more followers to the faith.

Rome fell post the rapid Christianization of the empire and the same tactics are shown to resonate in India today. At its height with protection from the government under the UPA regime, Christian attacks on Hindus and state sponsored Church planting have become all too common. Any observation to the contrary is quickly denounced as oppression by the Christian English media, specifically NDTV among others. What follows once Christians are in the majority are an alteration of state laws to promote Christianity and violence against Hindus while claiming oppression.

At its height, reading about the Goa inquisition serves as a gruesome reminder of what may happen to Hindus in a Christian dominated land. We may not be burned alive at the stake anymore but living under the threat of gun violence as seen from the North East is a all possible reality.

Our Personal Effort :

As I rack my brains about how to counter the disinformation raised around, I can only answer with counter education. Newly converted Christians would do well to educate themselves on Christ who was declared a God by a gathering of Bishops convened by Constantine himself. The man Christ became God over the course of a few days at the council of Nicea.(9) Their Bible is a conglomeration of selective Gospel picking by one man.(10) Their history is stained with blood violence in the blinding belief that Christ asked for all to hear the word of the gospel.

Hindus would do well to learn the above and perhaps discuss such issues with Christians themselves. The media slander must be countered by Hindus standing up and countering the disinformation on a individual and group level. Educated Hindus must seek out like minded individuals and publically make their voices heard.

On a personal level however, I’ve often found it beneficial to understand the basic tenets of the faith that has protected millions through the millennia. As conceived by the ancient Rishi's it's teachings about humanity and tolerance have persisted, and can be valuable to a new Hindu initiate with a poor concept about what it truly is that he is trying to defend. While I would elaborate on my own personal journey, I would leave that discussion for another time and merely direct the initiate to a valuable resource that has helped my own understanding of the Hindu faith.(11)

Support of Hindu temples and their plight towards funding is another issue that needs to be raised. As I’ve previously tried to discuss, without the appropriate funding whole temples and their Acharyas simply close down as they try to support their families through different means.(12) In their space comes the well-funded Christian NGO’s to spread more disharmony among the least educated and most impressionable.

One would think that with the BJP government and Narendra Modi voted to power, some of the above issues may be addressed. However what I have seen is a surge of anti Hindu propaganda and continual victimization of the Christians supported by the Catholic Gandhi family and their media outlets.
The government needs your support and your voice to be heard. In educating yourself on a personal level, funding the temples and joining Hindu organizations we may yet be able to hold back the biblical wave encompassing India.

Links : 

1a) The Boy Who Cried Wolf

1b) Christianity and the Death of Rome

2) Some Christian groups spread supplies - and the word They see disaster relief as an opportunity to create converts.
Kp Yohannan : Brain off, Jesus on, Wallet Out.

3) Souls to be saved

4) VHP defends attack on Hisar Church, Haryana CM says built is a illegal colony.

5) Who owns your media?

6) Murder of Swami Lakshmanananda

7) Terror in the Name of Christ in Northeast

8a) KCR announces Christian Bhavan with Rs. 10 cr

8b) Vijayanagara and Contempory lessons.

9) Nicene Creed

10) Athanasius of Alexandria

11) Arsha Bodha Center

12) What do Hindu temples do with their income?
What really happens to your money in Temple Hundi?

Christianity and the Death of Rome

A picture can often say a thousand words, it is said. Alexamenos is seen worshipping a crucified man with the head of a donkey.(1a) Scratched into a wall, near the palatine hill in Rome it casts a clue as to the confrontation that existed between Romans and the rising number of the Christians. What ran through the mind of that Roman as he scratched that image into the wall? How was this new upcoming religion of Christianity challenging devotees to Jupiter, Apollo and Venus. How did Christianity effectively destroy a way of life for millions within a matter of two centuries? Here I will try to step back in time and get a glimpse to answer the question of the ultimate triumph of Jesus over Jupiter.

Roman Daily Living :

Dionysius our graffiti artist above, after his artwork would have decided to head to the temple of Jupiter. Upon entering he would have seen a massive statue of Jupiter, flanked by Juno and Minerva on either side. Ancient Romans would always note the 'manifest presence' of the gods in their lives. Gods existed in the everyday lives of Romans, they involved themselves, and for those pious they would often appear to help their devotees. A popular story comes to mind from the mythology of Aesop, where a wagon driver having gotten his wagon stuck in the mud, appeals to Hercules, while sitting in the wagon. Hercules appears and reminds him : O Wagon Rider! Have you not stepped out of your wagon and made any effort? The Gods help those who help themselves! (1b) 

For those that were pious, there are numerous stories and sightings of the Gods presenting to help and advise them.

One may read the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, acknowledge his reverence for the gods and ponder on the greatness of his work.(2) Many lines capture the same, for a example :

VII 6 : All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there is hardly anything unconnected with any other things. For things have been coordinated, and they combine to make up the same universe. For there is one universe made up of all things, and one god who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, and one reason.

All could worship of their own accord as long as they remained good citizens and occasionally offered sacrifice to the gods. Offering sacrifice often meant taking an animal of value and giving to the god of your choice, which could be a bloody affair. Most times though, cheese, wine or milk would have sufficed. As a good roman citizen, you would ensure health to the empire,Caesar and yourself thorough sacrifice.

Into this world was born Christ and his teachings would say that there is only one father in heaven and no one can reach him except through him.(3) In fact most could only be saved by hearing the good news of the gospel. Without such good news, you were damned to a eternity of hell.  With his death,  a few stalwart missionaries spread out to "save" as many as they could. Christians could not accept any other God then God in heaven as described by Jesus and the spirit of God descended into Jesus himself. Christians could not partake anymore in the rituals of their ancestors, breaking even family traditions,  feeling to live out their lives as instructed by Jesus for a better life in the hereafter. Not just the promise of a better life, but the promise that if such teachings were denied, the hellfire would be theirs for the hereafter.

Armageddon here and now : 

Early Christianity would preach extensively that Armageddon or the day of judgement was just around the corner, and would whip up fervor in town centers to accept the word of Christ before it was too late. For those that did not accept, a life of hellfire awaited thee. Many would think that natural disasters and the coming plagues were a initial start to the coming Armageddon.
Indeed when the great plague of Cyprian struck in 250 AD many Romans would blame the plague on the anger of the Gods.(4)

Millions caught the plague and many millions died. Millions suffered great pain daily in the pestilence and horrors felt within and seen around them. Trying to appease the Gods with sacrifices would have had little benefit in the massive human crisis they faced and done little to assuage the fear in light of thousands dying daily in the plague.

Into this vacuum stepped a more organised Christian community.  Christians were much more organised then many central services including the army which was taking it's own casualties. They were often the first responders to help plague affected victims as their crucified messiah often did through his life. However the message was two fold, Armageddon had arrived and only in the belief of Jesus may you be saved in this life and from the hellfire in the hereafter. In view of desperate salvation from pain now and the hereafter, many Romans placed their faith and service to Christ. Through fear and coercion Christians managed to turn large numbers of the populace to their cause.  Christians may be commended for their social service, but service with the agenda to convert, takes the shine from service to help the needy. 

Martyrdom :

We do not know why Perpetua or her companions were taken to prison.(5) What we are given is a glimpse into the thought process of her mind, through her diaries. For whatever crime she did against the Roman empire, she refused to act as any Roman might. Christian accounts paint a heart wrenching story of her refusing beseeching pleas from her father to offer sacrifice to the gods and the health of the roman empire. The Empire did not care if you were Christian or not as long as you did your civic duty to the empire in Sacrifice, showing that you wished well for the health of the empire and were proud to be Roman. Her father would come and beseech her to conform, to live and perform the duties of a daughter and a mother to her new born. She however would often think of him as demented in his "old age".  Instead she only thought to die suffering as her God had done to provide her direct access to heaven, as was promised to all martyrs dying in the service of Christ. 

We read of a gruesome story of her facing a enraged bull and when broken by his horns, standing in front of a quivering gladiator, she plunged his Gladius into her throat. Romans could not understand the multitudes of Christians trying to commit martyrdom as their suffering God did. Supposedly however, such suffering did convince a significant number of Romans to appreciate their faith and investigate more. 

Glorification of martyrdom became a backbone of of the faith, a spiritual path to follow for those walking in the footsteps left behind by no less than than the Messiah himself.

A women's touch? 

What is impressive is the emphasis of personal communication in the Christian community. Stories are abound of solitary Christians acting as individual missionaries to spread the faith. Paul himself gives thanks to numerous women in the early church who gave considerable support to the movement.

Lydia of Phillipi was a wealthy lady and owner of a flourishing business in purple cloth who converted and then converted her whole household on hearing the apostle Paul.(6) She would often hold many congregations in her house. Paul again speaks of Priscilla and Aquilla multiple times and says at least on one occasion, they saved his neck. It seems that women in the 1st century seemed to be attracted to Christianity as it gave them a more prominent space in society.

Women are often given mention as to greatly influencing their male consorts such as Clotilde who managed to convert her husband, the great Frankish King Clovis.(7) Marcia the concubine to Roman emperor Commodus, is said to have spared many Christians from hard labor by her favors.(8)

Christ himself is said to have spent a great deal of personal time with one of his disciples, Mary Magdalena even going so far as to give her special secret teaching and in one broken line in the gospel of Phillip kissing her on the (.......) (9)

Many have filled in the blanks as to mean the mouth. She stands tall amongst the gathering of disciples revealing such  teaching to the frustration of Peter who is upset that a woman should have had such instruction. 

Women during the early Christian years seems to have offered much to the growth of the fledgling movement, before slowly being removed from authority and firmly pushed to the sideline.

Constantine : 

What seems to have really led the surge of Christianity and the death of the Roman Gods however is the conversion of the great emperor Constantine. In trying to reconquer Rome from his rival Maxentius he was influenced by a fire and light show from the heavens, what many now regard as a meteorite that slammed into the earth creating a dust storm. (10) Through the haze, Constantine thought he saw the sign of the Chi Rho the first two letters of Christs name and a booming sound that exclaimed 'By this sign conquer!' Constantine went on to defeat his rival Maxentius to take Rome and then kill his brother in law Licentius to take command of the whole roman empire.

What follows is state sponsored campaign to provide toleration to the Christians and a massive funding campaign to build churches with no funding to the temples. He convened the first Christian council at Nicaea, where the man Jesus was declared to be a God. His newly converted mother Helena went off to the Holy land where she identified the place of Jesus Crucifixion and had a temple to Jupiter torn down to build the Church of the holy sepulchre.(11)

This spells the beginning of the end for the gods of old. Constantine seems to have fully engaged his new religion by demonizing the old. He would call any offering or sacrifice to the gods as 'foul pollution'. Emboldened by their new protected status given by the emperor, Christians would go on the offensive, breaking idols and destroying temples. In a span of 30 years, Christian torture of unbelieving Romans, destruction and conversion of their religious sites led to the death of the old roman religion.(12) 

Dionysius our character may have been living through this time. He might have seen veneration to the gods at the great temples decline. He may have even seen destruction of a few temples firsthand.  While carving the head of the donkey on the body of a man being crucified, we may even understand his plight, if he was being terrorized. 

Roman religion was exceedingly tolerant and for that reason, it seems to have paid the price. By trying to accept all religions into it's fold and allowing a foot hold for Christianity to grow, it sowed a seed where Christians first loyalty would never be to family, nation or tradition. It tore at the very heart of unity in the empire and created a schism in the very same people. This seems to be the threat of the Abrahamic religions as a whole, and one would heed the voices from the past to see the threat to nations today where many of the above are unfolding.

Proceeding to today's age and one may see multiple parallels to what is happening in India today against Hindus.  In Part II I would follow the same theme today as to how Christianity has surged ahead in India using many of the same themes. If such a surge is not stopped, we may see the relics of Hindus scattered and collected in museums. Our temples destroyed and converted to Churches or Mosques, with a few scratchings on the wall to remember us by. 

1a) Alexamenos_graffito

1b) God_helps_those_who_help_themselves

2) Meditations

3) john 14-6.htm

4) Plague_of_Cyprian

5) Matyrdom of Perpetua

6) Paul_the_Apostle_and_women

7) Clovis_I

8) pg 281 Pagans and Christians : Robin Lane Fox. 

9) Gospel of Phillip - Nag Hammadi.

10) Space impact that saved Christianity

11) Helena_(Empress)

12) Pg 664 - 672 Pagans and Christians : Robin Lane Fox

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.

References :

1)  Sri Lanka : War Crimes Unpunished. 

2)  Genocide in Bangladesh

3) Kashmiri Pandit

4) Facebook : Justice for Pakistani Hindu girl Rinkle Kumari

5) Hindu Boy converts to Islam on live television show in Pak

6) Balachandran Prabhakaran

7) Isaipriya : Raped and killed by Sri Lankan army : Channel 4 video

Other :

1) Persecution against Hindus

Majma Ul Bahrain : A new thought to the Communal politics of India.

Religious riots seem to hit India more frequently nowadays. Termed 'communal' it is a term that is constantly thrown around on the Indian media. Communalizing, Communal tensions, Communal politicians and their Communal politics are often terms which are bandied about. However it often becomes a term to desensitize the horrors which often happen on the ground.
Violent religious riots erupt with gruesome consequences and horror stories of communities turning on each other often plagues my mind for a solution.

Analyzing the problem of Hindu - Muslim violence stems from 2 diametrically opposed philosophies. The concept of Tawhid is central to Islamic faith yet the Hindu ideal espouses a principle of Adhikari Bhera (the uniqueness of every individual gives the individual the right to follow his/her own path).  Idolism is abhorred in Islamic tradition and many verses are written against this greatest sin of Idol worshiping, yet the Hindus laud the virtues of Murti's in which divinity is given a visual focus for worship.
Dar Ul Islam and Kufr are terms used to divide Islamic countries and Muslim believers from the rest of humanity while Hindus use the term Vasudaiva Kutumbam to describe the world as a single family. Evil intentions placed by Shaitan are to be constantly guarded against in the Islamic tradition while in the Hindu tradition, Ignorance forms the greatest danger.

The list of differences is indeed huge and one often wonders how the two communities can resolve such opposing values, but perhaps dealing with this Hindu concept of  Ignorance is a fine place to start. The belief of ignorance is often meant in the specific context of the ignorance of Bhagwan or God which can lead to increased suffering and dissatisfaction with life. Expanding from this line of thought, perhaps we can say that if spiritual ignorance is a cause for suffering between the two communities then perhaps some basic religious study between the two communities may improve inter religious harmony.

Which brings me to two historical figures and the trials they initiated but ultimately failed. Akbar created the Din-I-illahi a syncretic mix of Sufism and Bhakti. He repealed the Jizya taxes on the Hindus and abolished to a large extant hunting of game in perhaps a changing of his values from Islamic to Ahimsa. He himself is to have reported to change his diet to almost completely vegetarian on the principles of Ahimsa taught taught by Hir Vijay Suri. His attempts though were deemed blasphemous by muslims including the Qadi of Bengal and Sufi Shakh Ahmad Sirhindi. (1)

His great grandson was to have little success either. A few days back I eagerly came across of a translation of Dara Shikoh's : Majma Ul Bahrain or a mingling of two oceans. I had often envisioned that Dara had picked up where his great grandfather had left off in trying to reach some commonality between the two religions. By the time I had reached halfway through the book, I was plagued with more doubts. Perhaps I had asked for too much from Dara, and it seemed in my view that he upheld the gold standard of the Quran while desperately trying to find a patchwork of Hindu sources to corroborate his ideas.

A few examples come to mind, in his opening few paragraphs, he makes the proposition that monotheism sets the highest standard and listening to the Indian monotheists, he did not find significant difference in the way each religion sought the truth... 

Indeed quoting Khwaja Ahrar he says : If i know that a infidel, immersed in sin, is, in a way, singing the note of monotheism, I go to him, hear him and am grateful. (2)

Here he already sets the gold standard of Abrahamic monotheism being the highest pinnacle that one can reach and has to find equivalence among Hindu ideals to prove that the latter can indeed meet the test.

Reading further, he makes a equivalence of the Hindu trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh to  the angels Jibrail, Mikail and Israfil. It is indeed a stretched reasoning on one hand to compare three aspects of Bhagwan to the three subservient angels in Islamic philosophy. (3)

Another example is the transitory nature of the soul in Indian religious thought which is intrinsically linked to the law of Karma. While one may stay in heaven or Swarg for a time, they eventually exhaust their cumulative good(punya) Karmas and are bound to be reborn again as humans to carry on in their quest for spiritual enlightenment. If successful in reaching enlightenment (Mukti), upon their death they shall eventually merge into God. This forms little resemblance to Kiyamat (Qayamat), the day of resurrection in which Dara tries to equate. (4)

Still, I believe Dara should be praised for his effort. Indeed it is said that he went on to translate the Upanishads into Persian and later the Bhagavad Gita shortly before his death.

The story of his death being a tragic one, defeated at the battle of Samugarh and betrayed into the hands of his brother Aurangzeb by a man he twice saved Malik Jiwan, he and his son were strapped to the back of a worn and filthy elephant and rode into Delhi. Covered in filthy robes, they were paraded around the city to be sighted by the Delhi residents who bitterly wailed at his condition. They remembered the same Aurangzeb imprisoned his father, brother and son and filled with hate, would no doubt plan a more gruesome fate for one he hated the most. (5)

Aurangzeb quickly convened a mock trial by some Ulema who deemed him Takfir (apostate) thereby sealing his fate.
Imprisoned, Dara was cooking his evening Dal with his young son, when four assassins sent by Aurangzeb fell upon them. Apparently he tried to fight with all he had, a small kitchen knife, before he was held down and quickly decapitated in front of his young son. His head was taken to Aurangzeb who exclaimed; 'Ah wretched one! let this shocking sight no more offend my eyes, but take away the head, and let it be buried in Humayun's tomb.'  (6)

A painful end to promising son of India, but what lessons may Dara offer to the 'communal' politics of India? Consider the diversity and plurality of Indian tradition where Adhikari Bhera stands for the idea that every individual has the right to pursue the religion of his or her own choice. Where one finds solace in Krishna, another may find such peace in mother Lakshmi yet the individual, has the choice of his own will to pursue his/her spiritual quest to the fullest.

Islamic Tawhid opposes this view and effectively sets the gold standard that the Quranic verses are the only verses for all man to live by. The punishments for deviation are death, and therefore can it be unsurprising that the world produces many more Aurangzeb's than Dara's?

What if more people were to open their minds to the heroic deeds of Akbar and his grandson Dara by trying to make a study of Vedanta from a Islamic perspective. Try to build on what Dara tried to create and consciously recognize that Arabian ideas may not be the gold standard to which Hindu ideas must match.

A small spark can reduce a mountain of wood to ash, may it be then that the spark that Dara started to burn will continue to burn the mountain of ignorance that exists among some Indians. Burning in time that communal hatred to ash....

References :

1) Akbar

2)  Majma Ul Bahrain : M.Mahfuz Ul Haq : Asiatic Society :  II-4, pg 38

3) Majma Ul Bahrain : M.Mahfuz Ul Haq : Asiatic Society : II-10, pg 44

4) Majma Ul Bahrain : M.Mahfuz Ul Haq : Asiatic Society :II-33, pg 67

5) Death of Dara Shikoh

Travels in the Moghul Empire : 1656 - 1658 : Francois Bernier. 

6)  Death of Dara Shikoh

Other links :

1) Dara Shikoh

2) Picture credit and more : Dara Shikoh, the forgotten Prince of Islam

3) Picture caption :

Dara Shukoh presenting a carved railing for Keshva Rai Temple at Mathura. Later, Auranbzeb orders (1666 AD) demolition of the temple. From Fact India.

Vijayanagara and Contempory lessons.

Narasimha lies broken, his hands and feet broken off and the Lakshmi from his knee missing. As I look around the destruction is rampant and murti's lie defaced, broken around me. A few hundred meters away the Ganesha murti's are equally vandalised and many of the stone mandir's have the unmistakable evidence of charring from the fires that once raged throughout the city.
This vast city, once the bulwark against Islamic proselytism and aggression to the south collapsed on a fateful day of 26 January 1565. In this battle of Talikota, five sultanates of the Deccan finally united to inflict a lasting defeat on the Hindu army led by Aliya Rama Raya.(1)

Aging emperor Rama Raya was surrounded, dragged from the battlefield and was beheaded by sultan Nizam Shah or his executioner. His head was set upon a pole and waved to back to his army causing fear and panic. Soon after,  the vast army crumbled and retreated back to the city. Tirumala. the surviving brother of Rama Raya, gathered what treasury he could  and fled to the fort of Penukonda.
Waiting in the city, the people confused and protected for generations by great emperors like Devaraya II, Krishnadevaraya and Achutadevaraya were suddenly prey for the invading Deccan sultans. For those that had a little time, they fled with family and belongings into the numerous caves in the region. What followed was a bloody hunt by the hordes to capture all booty available. Numerous Hindus were slaughtered in resistance while many were taken as slaves.
It is said the looting and vandalising went on for six months, from which the city never recovered.
Hampi forever remains a city frozen in time with the charred remains still evident.

A lot of reasons have been given for the defeat of Vijayanagar to the Deccan sultanates. Better cannons and trained gunners in the sultanate armies have been given as one reason. This included the Malik-i-Maidan , reputed to be the largest cannon ever cast in bronze. (2) An interesting story abound is of Rumi Khan taking a innovative decision to load the cannons with gun powder and copper coins, while continually discharging  the blast onto the oncoming Vijayanagar army. (3)
Another reason commonly discussed is the betrayal by the Gilani brothers. Invited to join the muslim armies prior to the battle, they secretly switched loyalty.  At a critical point, they suddenly turned their regiments back onto the unsuspecting Vijayanagar army raising confusion and inflicting a heavy toll.

Reading through the history, a interesting question crops up in my mind. How Hindu were the armies of Vijayanagar and was this really a epic battle of Hinduism vs Islam. Burton Stein gives a interesting narrative of the armies of Vijayanagar employing numerous muslim mercenaries into their artillery division. Indeed, masjids and muslim cemeteries were a  feature of the city and by the time of Devaraya II numerous muslims held prominent positions in the army. (4)
Rama Raya had openly felicited Adil Shah of Bijapur as his adopted son who sadly  could not save his 'father' from being beheaded at Talikota.

Indeed the like was commonly seen in the opposing side as well. Burton Stein discusses the fact that numerous Hindus fought for the sultan of Golconda with the Reddy clan being especially noteworthy. (5)
There is a mention of Raja Ghorpade and his army fighting under Adil Shah of Bijapur. (6)

I am reminded of something similar in the stories of the first muslims invasions of India with Ghaznavi. No recourse came for Somnath when Ghaznavi invaded and sacked Somnath and its Shiv mandir voraciously.  Jai Chand allying with Muhammad Ghori against Prithviraj led to the gates of invasion opening for India. Raja Mansingh fighting for Akbar against Rana Pratap is yet another example. Another memory serves in Rani of Jhansi fighting hindu allies of the British like Jayajirao Scindia. The List goes on....

Fast forward to today and news like beheading of Indian soldiers on the border is largely forgotten (7). Large infiltration attempts and numerous cross border raids illicit no pro active reaction. Terrorist attacks go on unabated and even large scale attacks such as Mumbai hold no accountability. Communal riots between Muslims and Hindu's are occurring with alarming frequency with the most recent Muzzafnagar hiding horrific details. (8)

 Fact is Indians are dying in their tens of thousands over the last decade due to Pakistani sponsored terrorism with no response from the ruling Congress party of India. Islamic theology drives the momentum to conquer and convert all those who don't follow their god or the teachings of their prophet. In this mass delusion the suffering of Hindus is indeed great for they are killed, forced to live as third class citizens, forcibly abducted and raped, forcibly converted and forcibly evicted. (9)

These horrors are hardly ever talked about and when they do reach media attention, a vast disinformation campaign is created to protect the ruling Congress family and their personal agenda's. Hindus are being equated with radical wahhabi Islamists and at every opportunity gross violations of human rights illicits a barrage of dubious equal-equal arguments and no action taken.
New wine in a old bottle of Hindus working with foreign agents against a Hindu identity. In this mass delusion, it seems that we are our own worst enemies in consistently voting for and electing political parties that hold such animosity to Hindu ideals.  What continues is a silent genocide for which thousands have died and continue to lose their lives. (10)

The story of Narasimha reminds me that insurmountable situations and people enduring great suffering can be overcome. The story states a individual filled with unquenchable greed attained near immortality in being granted several boons. Filled with desire  he began to terrorize the populace of the earth inflicting great suffering. Hindu philosophy states all actions must have a corresponding result and the suffering of a nation caused the avatar of Narasimha to appear and rid the world of the agent of suffering.

In our case, the answer lies in our own effort. Hindu identity must rise to conquer Islamic imperialism. Hindu ideology of humanitarianism, rationalism and universalism must rise to counter the barbarity of Islamic theology espoused by the mullahs and politicians. The Hindu co-agents must be rationally debated with and their arguments counter challenged regularly. We should seek to expose and report the suffering of our brethren on a more regular nature. The need of the hour is to educate and convince through reason tens of millions of muslim Indians on the like minded nature of their countrymen, while taking a more proactive course with regard to mullahs and hostile madrassah's. (11)

Vasudaiva Kutumbam is the Hindu ideal  for the world living as one family. Perhaps through steady education this ideal can serve as a counter attack to the various foreign proselytization efforts that divide and in the long run harm our own. The stone dead city of Vijayanagar serves a cold reminder of the alternative if complacency serves to be our only shield. The Jewish people remember well the atrocities committed to them at Masadah and shout never again! Vijayanagar holds many lessons but it too should be a rallying cry that never again should such destruction ensue and such large scale massacres of Hindus take place.

References :

1) Battle of Talikota 
2)  Malik I Maidan

3) Last of the Rayas

4) Vijayanagara : Burton Stein : mosques built pg, 29,35 and army page 29,70

5) Vijayanagara : Burton Stein : Pg 80

6) Battle of Talikota

7) Beheading of Indian Soldier

8) Muzaffarnagar Riots

9) Cases too numerous to be noted individually : A repository of articles are here :
Oppression of Minorities thread

10)  Persecution of Hindus
notable is genocide of Bangladesh.

11) Akbaruddin Owaisi

Souls to be Saved..

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.(1)

 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.(2)

Such quotes have empowered missionaries the world over to spread the gospel to the ears of the naive. If you are unfortunate enough to not have heard the gospel, your damnation is assured.For those that hear the gospel and reject it, they are still damned. The blinding faith of missionaries drives them on, in the belief that sharing  the 'good news' of Jesus Christ will save the ignorant  from the fires of hell.  Indeed, only by accepting Jesus Christ as their savior can they be forgiven for their sin, and be reunited with God. No unborn is sin free however as they still carry the taint of original sin through Eve eating a forbidden apple.
It becomes a bitter pill to swallow if you are outside this saved circle. Missionaries are doing this charitable work in your favor, to help you save your soul and you have no choice but to accept the message for the other option is to burn for a eternity.

Indeed through a combination of coercion which may involve political motives, monetary, social incentives millions of less fortunate have gained short term favors for long term education of a harmful nature. Indeed a strong memory lingers in my mind of a trip to Southern India, driving through a village affected by drought.  The poverty was quite apparent with groups of tribal families living in huts made of an assortment of branches and this year the crops had failed.While governmental agencies had been trickling in to assist, it seemed the first responders had been international Evangelical missions who set up a huge camp on the outside of town.
A huge tented auditorium had been set up and free food and drink to assist in the relief efforts. Loud speakers blared as the people received they food packages and were baptized to Christ.

That night as we came back, the roads were filled with previously hindu tribals staggering and collapsing intermittently yet joyous that having drunk 'the blood of christ' they were now redeemed and better off. Such  actions starts a rippling effect that can turn 

“ ‘a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ ⁽³⁾

Such actions I am sure have ruined the harmony of cultures the world over. Short term sacrifices of religion and culture have caused long term harm. My last flight to Africa was packed with missionaries to 'help' like minded Africans as well. One has to only look at the Joshua project (4) to see the determination of missionaries to spread the 'word' the world over in the Great Commission. What follows is a loss of traditional culture and values which not only affects the person and his immediate family, but society has a whole. 

Perhaps we can understand that the danger of literal meaning of such translations. The gospels offer much in value of ethics and morality and also help us grow as individuals. While there is much doubt over the authorship and age of each gospel, readings of it's teachings can hold value. However, the danger again lies in taking the literal meaning and enforcing it to a community. 

Indeed we are lucky to be in a position where we are able to read various gospels simultaneously including those that were suppressed by the early church, like the gospel of Thomas discovered at Nag Hammadi.(5) All have valuable information to offer, but to read and enforce only the canonized versions as authoritative and as the actual words of Jesus is misleading.  In fact we can see that even in the oldest gospel of Mark, circa 50 AD that additional verses have been placed much later :

 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.(1) (16.15)

This is not there in the oldest codices of Sinaiticus and Vaticanus which ends at 16.8. 

They went out, and fled from the tomb, for they were trembling and bewildered; and did not say a word to any one, for they were frightened.(16.8)

Here later additions were placed to spread the gospel which did not exist before. 
 

I often feel that suffering is a high value emotion. Christ suffered for our sins, we are often told and through his suffering humanity was saved and reconnected to God. People however continue to suffer on a daily basis, and suffering is universal. What can make suffering worse is delusion. Harmful education can isolate members of well knit community and even turn their minds against the very community that sheltered them. Through proper instruction and education, i feel, that even the misguided and deluded can be brought around. If we celebrate the diversity of cultures, study the wisdom they provide throughout history, we can slowly turn the tide against the unyielding Commandments of Abrahamic monotheism.

References : 

1)  Mark 16;15
2) Matthew 28;18
3) Matthew 10;34
4) http://joshuaproject.net/
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nag_Hammadi_library

Others : 

1) http://codexsinaiticus.org/en/
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_16

 

Introduction

Often I have spent my time thinking about the harm of the Abrahamic religions on ancient societies. Man has through history in various cultures expressed profound thoughts on ethics and morality. Unfortunately, such thoughts are often purged through socioeconomic incentives, eliminated by violence and crushed by ideas from God's 'favored' people.
Ideas should be stated to be better ideas if they on the whole cause less harm. Opinions should be stated to be better opinions if they cause less harm. Ideas that stand the test of time and hold value in today's world should be gathered and savored. The fallacy that the truth of an idea only makes sense during a particular period of time in a particular context should be closely scrutinized and contested.
It is my personal wish to see, contrast and compare ancient voices. To draw upon their wisdom as the struggle to extinguish them is ongoing. The harm to ancient civilizations continues and millions even today i believe continue to suffer because of a lack of understanding.
Here i hope to share stories of value that i have come across, questions and suggestions are welcome and i would hope to document ideas which I hope would be beneficial to a few who cross the blog.