| Hinduism and
Buddhism - Aryan culture
Oppressive Caste System in India Exploitation of Women Honor Killing of Women Conquerors of India Muslim Rule British Raj Independence Struggle Creation of Pakistan Sikh Struggle in India Persecution of Muslims in India Creation of Bangladesh Destruction of Mosques and Churches in India Holistic and Eastern Medicine Core Issue – Kashmir Dispute Restoration of Hindu and Sikh Temples in Pakistan Pauper Nuclear Powers of South Asia |
Fundamentalism
in India and Pakistan
By Shah N. Khan While world population has doubled to over six billion in forty years, nearly 25 % people live in the Indian-subcontinent comprising of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and smaller states like Bhutan and Nepal. China with its population exceeding over 1.50 Billion continues to be the worlds’ most populous nation. Remains of the Bronze Age culture (2500?-1700 BC) have been found in the Indus valley sprawled over present day Pakistan and parts of India and Afghanistan. It is regarded as the earliest known civilization of South Asia. Hinduism and Buddhism
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According to Niyan Elango, M.D. black people having African roots since before the recorded history live in very large numbers in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Gautama Buddha, the Black revolutionary Prince founded the egalitarian religion of Buddhism to counter the bigotry of Hinduism. But Brahamans the priestly class the Hindus highjacked Buddhism and killed Buddhists in large numbers. The Buddhist missionaries fled to other parts of Asia and spread the message of the Buddha in China and other parts of Asia. Those indigenous Dravidians who were loyal to Buddha and resisted the caste system became the untouchable outcastes (Dalits). But the brand of Buddhism that is practiced by the Dalai Lama and the Chinese, Japanese and Sinhalese are all different forms than that regarded as real Buddhism in South India. Very few practices or beliefs are shared alike by all Hindus. Most worship Shiva, Vishnu, or the Goddess (Devi), but they also worship hundreds of additional minor deities peculiar to a particular village or even to a particular family. Many regard cows, snakes and rats as Holy deity. No doctrinal or ecclesiastical hierarchy exists in Hinduism, but the intricate hierarchy of the social system is inseparable from the religion. The caste system was dominant in the past but is still followed by Hindu orthodoxy and regards Brahamans as superior class than merchants and workers as well as all created being. The practical compendium of Hinduism is contained in the Smriti, which includes the Sanskrit epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; the many Sanskrit Puranas; and the many Dharmashastras and Dharmasutras (textbooks on sacred law). Bigots in the ancient times made Hinduism
a patriarchal religion making servitude by women for their husbands a religious
obligation and introducing the concept of untouchables in their caste system.
Women were recruited to work in temples as Devdasi (God’s Maiden ) enticing them as Married to God, and their duties included to satisfy sexual desires of Hindu priests and the donors to the temples. Although officially abolished, the practice of marrying a girl to the god Yellamala is still prevalent. Married to the deity, these temple girls are left to serve in temples and are sexually exploited in the name of an archaic tradition. Abandoned by their families, with no adequate means of livelihood, the women depend on a meager State assistance and by begging outside temples. Muslim rulers and Nawabs built harems in their palaces. Dozens of slave women in their harems called kaneezes catered for satisfying not only their sexual appetites but also those of their guests besides carrying out other duties of housemaids. . Among ignorant classes of South Asia not
only Hindu but also Muslim wives are still treated like slaves. Among Muslims
about 2% husbands are estimated to be polygamous
As an Indian Runoko Rashidi writes: “The greatest victims of Hinduism have been the Untouchables. Indeed, probably the most substantial percentage of all the Black people of Asia can be identified among India's 160 Untouchables. These people are the long-suffering descendants of Aryan-Sudra unions and native Black populations who retreated into the hinterlands of India in their efforts to escape the advancing Aryan sphere of influence to which they ultimately succumbed. India's Untouchables number more than the combined populations of England, France, Belgium and Spain.” He goes on to write: “The existence of Untouchability has been justified within the context of Hindu religious thought as the ultimate and logical extensions of Karma and rebirth. Hindus believe that persons are born Untouchables because of the accumulation of sins in previous lives. Hindu texts describe these people as foul and loathsome, and any physical contact with them was regarded as polluting.” The basis status of India's Untouchables is changing slowly. Still in some areas it has recently been observed that "Caste Hindus do not allow Untouchables to wear shoes, ride bicycles, use umbrellas or hold their heads up while walking in the street." Untouchables in urban India are crowded together in squalid slums, while in rural India, where the vast majority of Untouchables live, they are exploited as landless agricultural laborers and ruled by terror and intimidation. As evidence of this, several cases from 1991 can be cited: On June 23, 1991 fourteen Untouchables were slaughtered in the Eastern state of Bihar. On August 10, 1991 six Untouchables were shot to death in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. On August 16, 1991, an Untouchable woman was stripped in public and savagely beaten in the southern state of Andra Pradesh. On September 6, 1991, in the western state of Maharastra, an Untouchable policeman was killed for entering a Hindu temple. Official Indian figures on violent crimes by caste Hindus against Untouchables have averaged more than 10,000 cases per year, with the figures continuing to rise. The Indian government listed 14,269 cases of atrocities by caste Hindus against Untouchables in 1989 alone. However, Indian human rights workers report that a large number of atrocities against Untouchables, including beatings, gang-rapes, arson and murders, are never recorded. Even when charges are formally filed, justice for Untouchables is rarely dispensed. Most of Asia's Blacks can be identified
among India's 160 million "Untouchables" or "Dalits." or "Outcastes" as
they are often called. Indian nationalist leader and devout Hindu Mohandas
K. Gandhi (1869-1948) named them "Harijans," meaning "children of god."
But the official name given them in India's constitution (1951) is "Scheduled
Castes." But during the last 50 years "Dalit," meaning "crushed and
broken," is a name that has come into prominence. And they have started
struggle for equal rights.
As an Hindu Raja of Debal in Sindh (now a province of Pakistan) had taken Arab merchants and women as prisoners, Mohammad Bin Qasim, the great Arab Muslim general sent by the Caliph from Arabia. He invaded this subcontinent in 712 A. D., and conquered Sind and Multan (now in Pakistan) But Arab Muslim soon gave back the rule to Indians as they agreed to pay regular taxes and tributes. Stanley Lane-Poole, in his book ‘Medieval India under Mohammedan Rule’ writes that as the Hindu rulers had oppressed the lower caste people heavily, and the Jats and Meds and other tribes were on the side of the invaders. The work of conquest, as often happened in India, was thus aided by the disunion of the inhabitants, and jealousies of race and creed conspired to help the Muslims. To such suppliants Mohammad Kasim gave the liberal terms that the Arabs usually offered to all but inveterate foes. He imposed the customary poll-tax, took hostages for good conduct, and spared the people's lands and lives. He even left their shrines undesecrated: 'The temples,' he proclaimed, 'shall be inviolate, like the churches of the Christians, the synagogues of the Jews, and the altars of the Magians.' Similar policies for enlisting support of local population were adopted by British when they started their conquests in India. In 1398 AD the Mongol conqueror Tamerlane destroyed Delhi but he left of his own accord and the Lodi dynasty of Muslim Kings took power. In 1526 AD. Babur the founder of the great Mughal dynasty, defeated the Lodi army, proclaiming himself emperor of the Muslim dominions. The Mughal Empire attained its peak of cultural splendor but Muslim ruler did not force Indians to convert to Islam as conversion by force is prohibited in Holy Quran. Hindus enjoyed full freedom for their religious and social customs. Although Muslims ruled India for about
500 years, they did not force the Hindus, Jain and Buddhists and Sikhs
to embrace Islam. India has the second largest Muslim population but they
comprise hardly 17 % of total population of India. The Muslim rule
in most of India ended in 1800 as Colonial powers from Europe who came
as merchants started capturing different parts of India that had divided
among various states of Nawabs and Rajas after weakening of Mugal Empire
in 19th century. The British established their rule in India in 1857.
They outlawed many of ancient Hindu customs such as Suttee (burning of
widows in the funeral pier of the husband) and started discouraging Hindu
caste system. .
As the Sikhs became a distinct religious
community, they took up arms and created a powerful state in the Punjab
in about 1800, but after internal dissension and two wars, the Punjab was
annexed by the British in 1849. Under British rule the Sikhs gained wealth
and a reputation as soldiers and policemen. After creation of Pakistan
and partition of Punjab they migrated to Indian Punjab. A movement for
independent Sikh State of Khalistan is continuing that was brutally crushed
by Indian armed forces. Because of violent clashes with Indian forces many
Sikh families migrated to Britain, Africa and Canada where nearly one third
of total world population of Sikhs is located.
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