Secularism and a Muslim voice

 Asghar Ali Engineer is no stranger to media watch people. Last few years I have followed up on many of his articles and have often found a sense of despair in his writing. He goes over board in his effort to prove the facts of history as rubbish.

In his article published in the Milli Gazette in June 2006 he has just done this again.

He says secularism means atheism as it is in the West. Would someone care to tell him that secularism means the State does not have any religious bias on its part of law making and it also means the State does not interfere in the matters of the religious community. Sadly this is what our State has been doing before we became independent even.But can the State of India keep away the Hindu culture which is part and parcel of what makes our country? 

He says secularism means atheism as it is in the West. Would someone care to tell him that secularism means the State does not have any religious bias on its part of law making and it also means the State does not interfere in the matters of the religious community. Sadly this is what our State has been doing before we became independent even. But can the State of India keep away the Hindu culture which is part and parcel of what makes our country?

But surprisingly to give a rational mid way approach to his article he goes on to agree that Hinduism is the central life line of India. Long after the Aryan invasion theory has been disproved, writers like Engineer and left aligned historians like to keep harping on the same subject. He says India before the so called invasion was a composition of many tribal cults.Further he talks of the Dravidians and how they were driven down south. Not properly explaining the caste system he goes on talking about the brahmin dominance and of the Brahmins who migrated to the south. and created 33 hundred thousand gods and goddesses! Sounds like an interesting fictional novel on our history.

He uses this to explain that India before Islam and Christianity was comprised of many religions. Not being a historian, i would like to know other than the offshoots of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, what were the other religions that existed? Like any civilisation in the world, the Indian civilisation also has many different beliefs amongst its communities. But the concept of trinity and Santana dharma was always unique to India and its people. If there was a migration, I am sure some relatives would have stayed behind in Europe where the same religion of the Vedas and Upanishads should have also developed. Or we would have to say that the Europeans moved into India got enlightened and then wrote the Vedas and created the Hindu culture.

He says that since most people in the Christan and Islamic religion are converts from the untouchable caste they have a caste structure in these two religions also. It quite amazes me because both prophets of these religions are suppose to have said that all people are equal. Thus if a caste system exists or has been created then it is clearly a case of blasphemy and not listening to God’s words.

He even goes on to agree that there are lower caste churches and mosques in several places.

A lot jargon later on Sufism and their respect for other religions he says that most conversion took place through Sufism and that ages later the caste situation has not changed on these converts. In that case why is converted Christians and Muslims still asking for minority status?

He does admit that Macaulay’s educational system has corrupted our history and beliefs. He speaks the truth when he says the Hindus picked up on learning when the Hindu – Muslim divide began to emerge and the Muslims were left behind due to their resistance to the new education. But he uses it as a baton to hit the Hindu community who took to the new British education and lies.

He blames the Muslim elite for siding with the British to partition India. then he goes on the blame the RSS for spoiling the Nehru-Gandhi experiment of a secular government.He says even that the RSS. that has a Sikh Sanghtan, considers the Sikh as second class citizens. he gives records of riots and talk of how the Muslims have been killed not talking about the violence created by the Muslim community before and after Independence.

Engineer proclaims that only 5 – 10 percent in India are non secular and they follow the RSS ideology.The rest 85% on population which includes Muslim militants, christian missionaries, naxalites are all secular!

He squarely blames the Sangh parivar for every communal riot that ever occurred or occurs in our country. Facts and figures will prove that majority of the communal riots are in retaliation to provocations by the Muslim community. Communal riots have happened in India even before the RSS was born. 

There is a sinister plan going on by the UPA government and the media to cover up the probe into the Mumbai blast. The people being arrested in different part of the country seem to be simply a cover up to hide the main organisations and people behind the blast. Even after the Intelligence Bureau has given indication of terror cells in the country, politician and media are busy highlighting the fact that no Kashmiri links are there. They keep stressing the Mumbai blast probe is giving indications that no major organisations were involved in it and it was the plan of some small group.

The RSS has nothing against the Muslims or Christians in India. Like any other organisation there may be individuals with a different view in the Sangh Parivar who would support extreme right wing vie of the whole issue.The RSS objection is only to the sectarian attitude of these Semitic religion who are converting many Hindus by giving false promises. The RSS aims to educate the Hindus about these issues and make them aware. The RSS has before also invited the Muslim community and the Christians to come to the Hindu mainstream by accepting that all religions can co-exist and by accepting the fact that Hinduism is a way of life for the dwindling majority of India.

Asghar Saab this is true secularism. Not your version of half baked truths and a scripture which calls upon believers to take up arms against non believers. Look around you and look at the world. Almost every crisis point in the world would be of an Islamic nature.

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