The Ayodhya debate has been raging in India for hundreds of years, and with the December 6, 1992, demolition of the Babri mosque, the issue emerged with greater focus turned on it with many thanks to the politicisation of the debate. India is a secular nation, and before beginning any such debate involving religious fanatics and politicians, the secularity of the core subject must be stressed. Religion and politics must not be mixed until secularism is to be discarded. A nation founded in the name of God must be run by a religious congress and none else. This is to ensure that the interests of the citizens of the state are always foremost in the minds of those who make decisions pertaining to the future of the state. The same principle extends to a nation founded on a secular basis: the only decisions made by those in power should concern the development of the state as a whole, while also keeping in mind that all men are equal. After 1992, with the steady emergence of groups such as the Shiv Sena, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and anti-secular fundamentalist leaders such as Narenda Modi, the moderation of the oft-baseless hatred amongst the Hindus for Muslims and the Muslims for Hindus has become a momentous task.
I had the good fortune of meeting up with one such person in my college; let’s just call him BT for now. I don’t know how the topic came up, but eventually, the both of us and Vohra finally managed to steer things into Indian politics and religious fanaticism. When BT finally opened up, the two of us were in for a sumptuous treat consisting exquisitely of brazen moronism. Let me just tell you that before the evening concluded, one of the worst lines I’d ever heard from a guy older than me was when an engineering gradute told me a few minutes prior to his job interview, “I’m not worried about the interview, yaar! Which ever way it goes, I’ll just take a few lakhs from dad, play poker (a double-or-nothing quip thrown in for good measure) and settle down in life!” Perhaps I’ve not met my fair share of such people, or perhaps I’m yet to fully understand the harmless nature of the doggie that barks, but such ‘decisions’ always manage to give me a kick. I’m only left asking “how” and “why” to the walls.
So yeah, BT began with what seemed like a step by step disintegration of the political scenario of India as seen through the eyes of a reasonable man. The Indian National Congress is in command for a second consecutive term, with Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi at the helm. The Bharatiya Janata Party, with a decisive defeat in the 2009 General Elections, has been forced to being a blunt opposition in the face of mindless capitalist drives by those in power. Money is making its way into all forms of life and living with no regard for traditional and cultural values. This could have gone on for as long BT was pissed off with the setup, which he was, so I began to question him as to why he felt that way. In a snap, he replied, “I hate all Muslims in India. The Hindus are a much superior race and must be dealth with so.“
I hadn’t known BT much before that particular evening. He was just a fourth year student here and a happy-go-lucky sort of guy. There were hundreds of people like him here, and that doesn’t have to mean anything, at least first. But seeing an educated individual hailing from an affluent family speaking like that is sure to give anyone a jolt. Although I may not be in a position to question with all authority here, I would like to do it to his reply for the sake of it. And I did. I’m sure BT mistook me for someone who was not very well informed about Indian history, and so, he took me (with him, I think) into the recesses of our past.
Lessons on how to demolish a mosque
The Mughal Empire, which ruled over a vast swath of India from 1526 to 1857, is apparently the root cause of everything. On an unfounded assumption* that Mir Baqi, the chief commanding officer of the Mughal army under Babur, tore down a temple at the sacred site of Ayodhya, which is considered the birthplace of Lord Ram (an avatar of Lord Vishnu), in order to construct the now non-existent Babri Masjid. Furthermore, Babur, followed by Akbar, also commenced the forced mass conversion of Hindus to Islam. “In the process, millions of Hindus became Muslims through what constitutes a needless process of reformation whose sole goal was the sustenance of the Islamic Persianate.” I am only willing to concede that point. Yes, the Mughals wronged severely in doing that. They could very well have chosen to uniformatise the opportunities available to all their subjects instead of ensuring that opportunities would be available only to those who adhered to the views of the controlled-state. All the same, that was around 500 years ago, and let it rest. No?! Why not? Fast forward to the India-Pakistan War of 1965, where Pakistan attempted to infiltrate Kashmir with insurgents in order to precipitate an opposition to Indian rule in the region. “The Muslims, all of them, their whole community, were responsible for this.” If you don’t mind, jump another 6 years to 1971, with the third India-Pakistan war in only 24 years of independence. “India dealt blow after to those bastards.“
All that sufficed to be a good introduction for BT. Now came the issues “that mattered”. By now, he had deciphered the look on my face to be disbelief, and accordingly proceeded to resolve things for me. First in line was the forced conversion issue. “So many devout Hindus were lost to the faith and forced to become people they were not. That is just not done! Today, it is up to us to ensure that what was rightfully ours be returned to us. All the Hindus lost hundreds of years ago must now be reborn. The only solution is to massacre all Muslim men in India (yes, you read that just right) and take the Muslim women into Hindu households through wedlock. That way, the Muslim women will be converted to Hinduism and the babies born therefrom will also be Hindu babies.” I opened my mouth just then, but he cut me short. “See, if Vohra here marries a Muslim woman, his child will be a Vohra. The male gene factor will be carried forth into the baby; I’m sure the child will not be called some ‘Mulla’ or ‘Khan’ or ‘Tikka’ or whatever.” I could say nothing after that. How could I? This little guy sitting next to me was talking absolute logic, and any logical and reasonable man would agree with it!
Issue #2: the Indian National Congress. “What’s wrong with the Indian National Congress?” (In my mind, there was a voice: “How can you ask that question?!”) “Arre, starting from Gandhi and Nehru, all of them were [expletives]s. This Gandhi [expletive] let all the Muslims stay in India. How could he do that? He has no sense of our griefs or what?! And then there was the [expletive] Nehru. You know one thing?“ “What?” “Nehru slept with Mountbatten’s wife! You don’t know that? And then, after Nehru came Indira Gandhi. She was another [expletive]! When the Sikhs of Punjab wanted a separate state, she imposed an emergency on the whole country and got her way with it! These mindless [expletive]s don’t know how to rule the nation! The people who voted for them to come into power should all be killed.“
“Tell me, if you were to vote to decide the future of your country, who would you vote for?” “I’d vote for anyone who I think is fit to rule the nation.” “Arre, that is wrong! You must be proud to be a Hindu, and this is Hindustan. You know what Hindustan means? It means ‘the [home] of Hindus’, and that is the way it should be. The INC came to power only through the votes of the Muslim people. Why do you think that is?” “Why?” “Because no sane Hindu would vote for them. By letting loose their grip on Kashmir and allowing Muslims to consturct the PoK [Pakistan-occupied Kashmir], and by allowing for unfair Muslim quotas in a Hindu nation, the INC has pocketed all of those bastards! They are no different from the Mughals!“
At this point, Vohra, who was till then engrossed in a futile RA2 skirmish, chipped in. “What’s wrong with quotas?” “What’s wrong with quotas! Arre, for example, if I have scored 70% in an examination and if a Muslim fellow gets 60%, he will get the preference in a university which has that quota. Isn’t that a disgrace to my education? I am losing a seat for nothing! The government is giving aids to everyone in the nation, all the farmers and even the poor… they are giving books and the opportunity to attend a school. Why do you think the ranking system exists? If I have ranked more than some other guy, it means I have scored more marks than him. If a university admits students on the basis of the rank, then how is it feasible to have quotas?!” Vohra: “Than don’t you think you should also be crying out against the state quotas? Like how institutions have a specific number of seats set apart for people from their own state?” No response. Vohra: “Ok, let me give you another example. In this college, haven’t you noticed how the Tamilians stick with the Tamilians, how the Punjabis stick with the Punjabis, how the Telugu people stick to other Telugu people? It’s because everyone in this world feels better when in the company of their own kind. When such quotas can exist, it only makes sense to have the other quotas as well.”
“Ok, but that doesn’t explain quotas for SC/STs! These slum dwelling people, they are doing quite well these days. If they think they are deserving enough to receive higher education, why not make use of the money the government gives them? Every year, the government is setting apart hundreds of crores for them, and those people are only wasting the money on black activities. When the time comes, what sense does it make for me to lose my seat for people like them?!“
Vohra: “Listen! It is easy for you to sit here on my bed and lift a finger, but have you ever tried washing your own clothes? Have you ever tried sitting down for four hours by a pool of dirty water and removing the stains from your own underwear? You spend two dirhams once every two weekends to grumble about a washing machine that does not do YOUR job too well! Have you ever had to come back from college on a hot day and then immediately leave for work in a garage just because your father and mother aren’t able to sweat enough for your dinner? Then you’ll know [expletive]!” No response. “I’m sure that when your father was your age, he didn’t go to his friend’s room, sit on his bed and sing his tale of woes. I’m sure that when he was 21, he would have begun earning, whether it be in tens or crores, just so you, his son, could have a good life and a good education. What you’re saying is simply not what I would expect from an educated fellow!”
There was a dense lull in the room after this. I had succesfully managed to divert my attention to the laptop screen, where Vohra had resumed his campaign, while BT sat in silent self-contemplation. However, this truce did not last long. Soon, BT looked as though he had warmed up enough to provoke and elicit a response from either one of us with this: “You, my friends, are not getting the gist of what I am trying to say here. We are a Hindu country, and Muslims have no place in it. You are a Tamil fellow-” [to me] “-and you can never fully understand the extent to which the people near the Indian border during the partition were harassed. Do you know that Atari train incident, in Punjab, near the Wagah border? That train was full of peaceful Hindu devotees. All the Muslims in the region mercilessly halted and encircled it, and set it on fire. I will remember that incident because it is burnt in my heart. They wrote on the train, ‘Pakistan’s gift to India’. When we reciprocated later, I felt so happy, you know that! We wrote ‘India’s gift to Pakistan’ – I still have the image saved on my laptop. It was the perfect response.“
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray
After that, BT had to leave. He had one last thing to say before he exit the room, though. “At this point, we must decide to give the reins of the nations to more capable people. Some years back, we made Abdul Kalam our President. Alright, he made some nukes for us, but is that a reason to empower him with complete command of our armed forces? We could have satisfied him very much by just doubling his salary. This nation has no sense of purpose. Who knows, he might have even sold a few nuclear missiles to Pakistan as a side business. Can you refute me on that?” I could not. “We should make Narendra Modi our President, Bal Thackeray our Prime Minister, and Lal Krishna Advani our Chief Justice. Then, the nation will know.“
What will it know, I wonder.
—-
While we continued to play the game after that, BT returned later in the evening. This time, he seemed hell-bent on making me ‘admit’ that I was proud to be a Hindu, which would have been in line with BT’s belief that he was more proud to be a Hindu than he was proud to be Punjabi or Indian. At that time, I simply refused to say it not because it would appease him, but because I hadn’t really given the idea any thought ever. Now, I just think why importance must lie at all in being the follower of a certain faith. In my honest opinion, that is the mistake. When one confuses one’s faith to be the guiding rule for one’s decisions in a secular state, turbulence is sure to follow. Even in a non-secular state, due importance must be given to the individual and his or her choices, greater than to the wishes of the state. The state exists only if its people do. Individual actions being generalised to the extent of blaming his or her whole community for it is plainly inexcusable. One must be taught to teach oneself, willingly learn from his or her mistakes, than be given the luxury of blaming a collective. That is childish mob behaviour, and such people have no place in a society built on reason. They must either change as tomorrow demands or stay one with the past. As for religion: what every religion preaches is not just the belief in a God, but certain values that a devotee must be imbued with in order to attain deliverance from one’s sins if there be any. Screaming “I am proud to be a Hindu!” and “Kill everyone who has wronged us!” is absolute shit when you don’t follow one of Hinduism’s foremost values, that of tolerance.
Clathration Therapy 