Response to Petition against Dr. Swamy

On behalf of millions of Hindus and Global Hindu Heritage Foundation, We want to express our deep appreciation to Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s for his article. It is superb, outstanding, excellent, thought provoking, imaginative, inspiring, practical, timely, excellent article on the most difficult topic as to how to eradicate Islamic Terrorism. Islamic Terrorism is rampant, extensive, deliberate, purposeful and heinous attempt to de-stabilize the government so that Hindus can be rooted out. Dr. Swamy has shown his intelligence, his expertise and his depth of knowledge on the subject. Even a cursory reading will give the impression about his history of Islamic terrorism and cultural perspective on the subject. Sooner the Hindus realize it, sooner the better. The Islamic terrorists have sacrificed enough Hindu lives and other lives and Dr. Swamy’s approach is pragmatic and should be implemented forthwith.  These strategies are addressed for the protection of the Country and it’s territorial integrity. It should not be treated against Muslims.

            Petition against Dr. Swamy’s article on “How to wipe out Islamic Terrorism” was drafted by about 250 students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and others demanding “that the Harvard administration repudiate Swamy’s remarks and terminate his association with the University.” What a pity. Let us look at what their shock at the strategies Dr. Swamy suggested.

            We request all the Petitioners to be reasonable, objective, non-biased, logical, and examine from a global point of view instead of  concentrating on the localized point of view.    We request all the petitioners not to be  trapped into ”frog in the well” concept. There is a whole world in front of you to examine, analyze, compare and contrast different countries and look at their the human rights issues, freedom, liberty and human dignity.

            According to the petitioners they are concerned about the strategies to deter terrorism. These include “declar[ing] India a Hindu Rashtra in which non-Hindus can vote only if they proudly acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus”; “[r]emov[ing] the masjid in Kashi Vishwanath temple and the 300 masjids at other temple sites”; “[e]nact[ing] a national law prohibiting conversion from Hinduism to any other religion”; and “[p]ropagat[ing] the development of a Hindu mindset.”

PETITIONERS CONCERNS

            Before we go into these Petitioners concerns, all of us should remember what George Santayana said about our own grasp of our history. ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’  Hindus have to be aware of their untold suffering in the hands of Muslims, how they were massacred for refusing to be converted to Islam on the high mountains of Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, how they converted thousands of Hindu Temples into Mosques and how they built them on top of the exiting Hind Temples.  Hindus have to visit all the Hind Temples that have been damaged, mutilated and broken by the Muslim rulers. In fact Hindus should take their children, and show them the atrocities committed by Muslim rulers on Hindus so that they will take necessary steps to avoid the repeat of the cycle of human tragedy. Look at Pakistan where Post Independence Hindu population of about 18 percent dwindled to handful at present. Similarly, nearly 24 percent of post Independence Hindu population declined to less than 6 percent. No imagination is need to figure out how the Hindus may have been converted or massacred in these two Muslim countries.

I) Islamic Terrorism.

            Dr. Swamy indicated in his article that Islamic terrorism must be wiped out. Why would he say that? What could be the reasons for his argument? Does he have a substantive evidence to suggest such strategies? Did he know any thing about the history of Islamic brutality?  No question about his views on the strategies to deal with it. In fact ample evidence is available for any open minded, scholarly, academic, inquisitive and fair-minded person to read, digest and ponder over the bloodiest period in the Indian history. 

            Will Durant, the author of the Story of Civilization, captured the true nature of Islam in the following assessment:  “The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within. The Hindus had allowed their strength to be wasted in internal division and war…”

             Nearly 13 centuries of atrocities of Muslim rulers and the present Islamic terrorists are the testimony of the cruelty inflicted on Hindus. Their Temples were destroyed, their idols were shattered, millions of Hindus were killed, thousands of women were raped, thousands of people were mutilated, jewels of the Temples were stolen, many Kings were subjugated and committed untold atrocities on Hindus in the name of Allah. At present with the support of the present government, Muslims are enjoying more rights than their counterparts in other Muslim countries, and determined to “complete the unfinished business.” Since Independence, their hunger to convert India into a Muslim country is insatiable. They openly talk about it with no recourse from the government or the Hindus.

            One can argue that let bygone be bygones. Let us not harbor on the past. What guarantee is there that the history will repeat itself? May be one could argue that the present day Muslims may be different and they may not resort to that kind of vindictive, malicious acts on Hindus in India. Unfortunately, it is not true. In fact it may be even worse that what had happened. Now a day’s Islamic terrorism is more widespread than before and spreads all across India.

            Dr. Robert Blackwell was an US Ambassador to India 2001-2003. He was the Belfer Lecturer in International Security at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  Let us read what he said before he left India about the Islamic terrorism:

             “While I was preparing for my Senate confirmation hearing in early 2001 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I started to read regularly the Indian press. It was then that for the first time I encountered the devastating fact of terrorism against India. Sitting in my office at Harvard, I began to keep a daily count of those killed here by terrorists. Three on Monday. Seven on Tuesday. Fourteen on Wednesday. Five on Thursday. Two on Friday. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month.

India’s death toll from terrorism mounted as the snow fell and melted in Cambridge, and that New England winter turned to spring. And I became more and more angry. Innocent human beings murdered as a systemic instrument of twisted political purpose. Terror against India that rose and fell with the seasons, year after year after year.

By the time that I left the United States for India in the summer of 2001, this very personal death count that I was keeping had reached hundreds. And, for me, these were not abstract and antiseptic numbers in a newspaper story. Each death, I forced myself to remember, was a single person — an individual man, woman, child — with family, loved ones, friends. They each have a name. Just like us, they each had a life to lead. These are our mothers, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our babies, and our friends. Each had laughs to laugh. Tears to shed. Loves to love. Meals to eat. Accomplishments to record. Setbacks to overcome. Places to go. Things to do. Prayers to offer. All snuffed out by the killing hand of terror. On September 11 in America. Nearly every day in India.

            No respectable religion could excuse these merciless acts. No moral framework could sanction these abominations. No political cause could justify these murders of innocents. And yet, they go on.

But, my friends, these terrorist outrages against my country and against yours will not continue indefinitely. We know this from the Ramayana, and many other holy books. Good does triumph over evil, although it sometimes takes more time than we would like.”
Mission of Terrorist Organizations in India

            Many Islamic organizations are openly talking about making India a Muslim Country. They use any and all methods to terrorize Hindus to leave their areas of residence, slowly occupy them and dominate the state as in West Bengal. The Indian Mujahideen’s emails warn the Hindus to “Accept Islam and save yourselves” and or else face a horrible fate: – “Hindus! O disbelieving faithless Indians! Haven’t you still realized that the falsehood of your 33 crore dirty mud idols and the blasphemy of your deaf, dumb, mute and naked idols of Ram, Krishna and Hanuman are not at all going to save your necks, Insha-Allah, from being slaughtered by our [Muslim] hands?”

Split India and form Mughalistan Country

The “Mughalistan Research Institute of Bangladesh”  created jointly by Pakistan and Bangladesh released a map where a Muslim corridor named “Mughalistan” connects Pakistan and Bangladesh via India. There are Muslims in India, who dream of “Mughalistan” are working relentlessly towards a further partition of India by creating “Mughalistan” in the UP-Bihar-Bengal-Assam corridor. It remains the focus of mainstream groups like the Tablighi Jamaat,  the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujahideen, who have blown up several Indian cities killing thousands of people.

Until Mughalistan is achieved, Indians will continue to see serial bomb-blasts, attacks on Hindu festivals and temples, killings of Hindu activists, conversions of Hindu women and socio-economically backward sections, and brazen cow-slaughter that will continue endlessly until the Hindu mind becomes too numb and shell-shocked to look at the bigger picture, or comprehend the future – that Mughalistan is inevitable. (Source: http://mughalistan.wordpress.com/)

            Additionally, Pakistan-based militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are seeking accession of Kashmir to Pakistan. Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. Jaish-e-Mohammed is viewed by some as the “deadliest” and “the principal terrorist organization in Jammu and Kashmir.
 
            Indian Mujahideen warns frequently that “We will strike terror in the hearts and minds of these idol worshippers until the mountain of injustice is undone.  We will leave no stone unturned come what may till the anger of believer’s hearts is removed and a Magnificent Masjid is built at the same spot (Babri Masji)….  Be assured that Indian Mujahideen, the sons of Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Firuz Shah Tughlaq and Aurangzeb  have resolved that none of your Mandirs will remain safe until and unless all our occupied Masjids throughout India are returned back to the Muslims with honour. ”
 
            Indian Mujahideen further states: It is important to note that in its “holy war” against India, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba has openly declared Hindus to be the “enemies of Islam” who should all be converted or killed. The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba group has repeatedly claimed through its journals and websites that its main aim is to destroy the Indian republic and to annihilate Hinduism.
 
 
II Kashmiri Pandits are thrown out
 
            Dr. suggested that Article 370 be removed and create Panum Kashmir for Hindu Pandit community.  Why did he do? Article 370 has given a special provision whereby state’s residents lived under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to Indians. Without State Government’s concurrence the Indian Parliament cannot applying and enforce all other laws. Further more, Indian citizens from other states and women from Jammu & Kashmir who marry men from other states can’t purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir. It is almost like a new country within a country.

            Over the last two decades, these organizations have driven out as many as 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits from their homeland. Constituting nearly 95 percent of the total population of Hindus living in the Kashmir Valley, they have been forcibly pushed out of the Valley by Islamic terrorists. They have been forced to live the life of exiles in their own country. Terrorism has unleashed in Kashmir a systematic campaign of terror, murder, loot, arson and rape against Hindus in Kashmir. Hundreds of temples in Kashmir have been desecrated, destroyed, and looted. Over the years terrorists have attacked more than 900 educational institutions. Properties of Pandits have been vandalized, businesses destroyed or taken over, even hospitals have not been spared.
           
            It high time that Article 370 is repealed immediately to make Jammu & Kashmir a part of India.
           
III. Hindu Rashtra          

            Every nation has a unique cultural identity. The values, believes, ethos, conduct, moral compass, dress, personality, family values and demeanor of a given country are set apart from other countries. Muslim culture, African culture with many differences, American culture, Italian culture, Mexican culture, Chinese culture, etc are examples of their uniqueness in terms what they stand for. There are many differences among Hindus depending on their region and sub-regions. There are many traits that are unique to Hindus. Ahimso paramo dharmaha – non-violence is utmost important. It has a history of many centuries. Karma philosophy, karma theory, belief in reincarnation, respect for other religions, and the underlying belief in live let live philosophy, are the hallmark of Hindu identity.  Many people describe Indian culture as unity in diversity resulting in more tolerance.  Never invaded any other country and never subjugated others for reasons of religious dominance.

            Francois Gautier said that Hindus “had also given refuge to persecuted minorities from across the world—Syrian Christians, Parsis, Jews, Armenians, and today, Tibetans. In 3,500 years of existence, Hindus have never militarily invaded another country, never tried to impose their religion on others by force or induced conversions. You cannot find anybody less fundamentalist than a Hindu in the world and it saddens me when I see the Indian and western press equating terrorist groups like SIMI, which blow up innocent civilians, with ordinary, angry Hindus who burn churches without killing anybody.” 

            There is interest in imposing their religion with Sword and money. It cannot be said of Islam and Christianity. Their whole mission is to convert and emphasize is exclusiveness. Hindus are inclusive. No other country has one civil code for Muslims and one for the rest.  Tolerance, freedom, nonviolence and coexistence are the hallmark of Hinduism. In almost all the Ashrams across India, they display the symbols of all the religions indicating the respect for other faiths. Can any other religions say about the unity of all faiths?

            What about Islam? Islamic scriptures contain a number of passages to inflict atrocities on non-Muslims, but none in Hindu scriptures on non-Hindus. Let us look at one simple example from Sura IX, verse 5 of the Quran, “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolators wherever ye find them, and take them captive and besiege them….”.
            Amir Taheri, The idea of equality is unacceptable to Islam. For the non-believer cannot be the equal of the believer. – Sunday Times, 23rd May 2004.

            Next question to ask is why would Dr. Swamy say that in Hindu Rashtra, only non-Hindus can vote if they proudly acknowledge that their ancestors are Hindus. It is a known fact that overwhelming majority of the Muslims was converted from Hindus mainly through force. Once they know that they all Muslims and Hindus have the same blood that would certainly ease the tensions resulting in more tolerance toward each other.

            Pakistani National Flag: Many of you may have seen that some of the residents of Kashmir hoist Pakistan National Flag instead of Indian National Flag almost every year during the time of Independence Day. Is it because Indian government cannot apply laws without the concurrence of the State. In 2011 the state government even opposed Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) to hoist the Tricolour on Republic Day at Lal Chowk, a place which has witnessed the hoisting of Pakistani, green Islamic and white flags not just once but several times in the past.
 
            It makes one wonder whether Indians have any rights to settle in Kashmir, do business and purchase property. Do you think that any other country will ever tolerate this kind of discrimination against tier own people?
 
            Sharia Law imposition, once the Muslims become majority, is going to be disastrous for the Indian subcontinent.

            The petitioners’ say that they are shock at the suggestion that India should be declared Hindu Rashtra.  What would be their shock if they come to know that more than 50 countries in the Middle East are Muslim counties. Is it perfectly OK for them to have that many Islamic countries?

            As Dr. Swamy advocated that India should be declared as Hindu Rashtra to advance the idea of equality for all religions, to avoid the impending catastrophe for human race, and pass one single Uniform Civil Code for her citizens. Proudly hoist Hindustan flag and sing Vandemataram. We request all the petitioners to PONDER and look at the global picture.

IV. Kashi Viswnatha Temple.

            The petitioners were shocked to read Dr. Swamy’s strategy that Masjid in front of Kashi Viswanath Temple be removed and 300 others in other sites. If any body had visited Kashi Vishwanath Temple, he would come away disgusted, wondering how can one group of people can be so vindictive and spiteful for another group of people. The time has come for that Masjid to be removed. We want ask all the petitioners if they ever visited Kashi Vishwanath Temple to feel the shock. May be a handful. Even that we doubt it.  These petitioners are students, faculty, staff and their parents, attending or affiliated with one of the most prestigious universities in the world. They know better than mere arm chairing. They are supposed to be rational, objective, logical, reasonable and scientific.

            Please know that it took more than 60 years to decide whether Babri Masjid is built on the site of Lord Rama Temple. Will it happen in any other country?  In September 2010 when the High Court declared it as a birthplace of Lord Rama, still many Muslims questioned the judgment.

            Dr. Swamy mentioned about 300 other Masjids at different sites that need to be addressed.  Sri Sita Ram Goel’s monumental book “Hindu Temples: What Happened to them?” identified 2000 Temples including Mathura, Taj Mahal, and others that were converted to Masjids. Praful Goradia’s book “Hindu Masjids” should be eye openers for all Hindus and they should work to re-establish the true history of Bharat and rewrite the negated history; expose the concealed, contrived, manufactured and false history.
         
V. Prohibit Conversion

            Mahatma Gandhi called religious conversions a fraud on humanity. He wrote: “If I had power and could legislate, I should certainly stop all proselytizing”. “I resent the overtures made to Harijans.” “Stop all conversion, it is the deadliest poison that ever sapped the fountain of truth.” Poverty doesn’t justify conversion.

            Swami Vivekananda speaking about what damage Christian missionaries have done to India, he says in a lecture reported in the Detroit Free Press (February 21, 1894): “They come to my country and abuse my forefathers, my religion, and everything; they walk near a temple and say ‘you idolators, you will go to hell’, but they dare not do this to the Mohammedans of India, for the sword will be out but the Hindu is too mild.”

            Dr. Swamy suggested that we enact a national law prohibiting conversion from Hindu religion to another religion. Petitioners seemed to have been shocked at this and they argued that ban on religious conversion “would grossly violate freedom of religion.”

            Hindus welcomed all the oppressed religions and provided shelter for them to practice their faith. The Parsis, the Jews, and the Buddhists came and practiced their religion without fear, without force and without interference.  In fact the Hindus protected the early Christians and Muslims too. The vision of God in Hinduism compels them and propels them to do that. Hindus accept various forms of worship, prayers and Gods; one more really does not matter to us.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati observes that, “religious conversion by missionary activity remains an act of violence. It is an act of violence because it hurts deeply, not only the other members of the family of the converted, but also the entire community that comes to know of it. One is connected to various persons in one’s world; he would affect everybody he connects to.”          

Do the petitioners know any thing about apostasy in Islam? Do the Muslims allow conversion from their religion to other religion and allow the converts to criticize Islam?
Some Muslim leaders believe that the death penalty can only be applied in certain cases. Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq, professor at Upper Iowa University, states “Undeniably, the traditional position of Muslim scholars and jurists has been that apostasy [riddah] is punishable by death.”

            Zakir Naik also states that if a converted Muslim speaks against Islam then that is considered as treason and punishable by death in a country ruled by Islamic law.
            According to Sunni Hadith “Whoever changed his (Islamic) religion, then kill him” Sahih al-Bukhari, 9:84:57.
            Do the petitioners express shock over the punishment of killing of a Muslim if he changed his religion?

            Or killing is less shocking than banning conversion as suggested by Dr. Swamy?

a) Illegal immigration: There many millions of Bangladeshi people are entering the border districts of West  Bengal and causing havoc in these districts. The unchecked Muslim infiltration from Bangladesh to India, along with the vast borderline of West Bengal, is causing lot of problems for Hindus.  Two strategies may be adopted: stop illegal infiltration from Bangladesh, which is difficult, and annex lands in proportion to the illegal migrants.

b) Family Planning. No country can afford to have a unlimited explosion of population by having as  many babies as 14 per family. “Sangbad Protidin” a leading Bengali daily in West Bengal covered this burning news on its 18th June 2011 issue under the caption: 14 children of a Mother, Population Blast in the Border, Administration Worried.

The newspaper “depicts a dangerous threat of outburst of Muslim population in more than 100 villages in Islampur block in Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal – Bangladesh border. The areas of Agdimati, Khanti, Bamlagaon, Sujali and Govindapur near Islampur is overburdened with the families with 14/15 children or more in a family or for a single mother.” If any Hindu reporter says that huge increase of Muslim population is caused by motivated birth rate advocated by the Fundamentalist Muslim clerics, he may be branded fundamentalist. Government is afraid to talk openly and have open discussion. More children they have more strength would have to fight the non-Muslims. The “small family-happy family”… “choto parivar-sukhi parivar” is a meaningless slogan to the Bengali Muslims in whole of West Bengal.

Dr. Swamy rightly suggested the enactment banning conversion, adoption of  family planning and curtailment of the illegal infiltration to reduce the Islamic terror.

VI Hindu Mindset

Petitioners also expressed shock at Dr. Swamy’s strategy to wipe out Islamic Terrorism through the development of a Hindu mindset. What is this mindset Dr. Swamy is talking about?
 
This is the mind that has explored various aspects of reality, delved deep into the human body, analyzed the external boundaries of the universe, and transcended time and space.  David Frawley observed that “The Hindu mind represents humanity’s oldest and most continuous stream of conscious intelligence on the planet. Hindu sages, seers, saints, yogis and jnanis have maintained an unbroken current of awareness linking humanity with the Divine since the dawn of history.” The Hindu has been connected to the true Self and Being that transcends all outer appearances and religious divisions. It is never reduced to one religion, philosophy, language or culture.
 
Hindu mind cannot accept one Son of God for every one, questioning the very need of conversion by the Missionaries, the very methods of forced conversions, the need for harvesting the souls, and the need to plant a cross on Indian soil. Similarly, Hindu mind will question the very rigid Islamic formula of One God, on scripture, a last prophet, paradise for believers and hell for non-believers.

Hindu mind developed a power concentration that has not been surpassed. It pierces though the mind, matter and soul. Sister Devamata observes that “ Like a search light, or an X-ray, it (Hindu mind) should pierce the densest veil of matter. It should be able to penetrate into the heart of all things, above all into the nature and constitution of man himself. The perfect scientist therefore must be a Seer.”  
 
In ancient India, all sciences made great strides. Nothing is left undone. It covered almost every thing and every subject under the sky. One of the members of the French Academy, M. Brieux observed that, “The noble minds of India, without having had the necessity of having recourse to experimental science like us, discovered the truths which we discover after them. By the unaided power of concentration, they have given an explanation of the universe which appeared ridiculous for us for a long time, but which our scholars are now beginning to accept.”
 
Hindu mind is universal, nonsectarian, non-religious, scientific, exploratory, methodical, sacred, logical, investigative, intuitive, objective and inclusive. It is with this kind of mindset, one can live in peace, wipe out terrorism, root out sectarian dogmas, value the human life, respect the dignity of individuals, practice non-violence, tolerate differences, value the freedom of expression, advocate the pluralistic believes,  uphold the liberty for all, refrain from terror, abstain from destroying other civilizations, and live in peaceful coexistence. Let us conclude with sloka rendered by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita, “ I am the same in all beings. I have no favorite and no enemy. Those who worship me with love, I am in them and they are in me.”
 
We believe that Dr. Swamy’s bold, brave, brilliant, valiant, and powerful article on “How to Wipe Out Islamic Terrorism” is the answer for societal ills. They need to be addressed with the strategies suggested by Dr Swamy. We request all the Petitioners to be fair-minded, objective, scientific and reasonable in addressing the issues raised by Dr Swamy without carrying the baggage containing the guilt and the belief in the exclusivity of one’s own religion to dominate others.
 
Om Shanti! Om Shanti! Om Shant!

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