Padmaavat: Where are Muslim protesters?

In the article appended below, Aijaz Zaka Syed wrote, "What really worries me — as it should every Indian who loves his/her country and desires its wellbeing is the hate and ill will all this is generating between the Hindus and Muslims. Being taught those textbooks and perpetually bombarded with hate in films and on television, even Muslim children would grow up hating their own ancestors."
This is a real concern, indeed, this is precisely the experience of Native Americans. In one of our Programs of Holocaust and Genocides, we focus on Native American Genocides, and one of the young men says similar words.  Watch this at 7th minute in the video https://youtu.be/uneRYgYfgWI

As Muslim Indians, we care about the state of our nation and will do everything to restore her back to our pluralistic traditions, where we respected the otherness of others and accepted the God-given the uniqueness of each one of us. If you cannot respect a fellow Indian, what will you respect then? Let everyone live his own life and you live yours. 

One of the comments that reflect the thoughts of many a Muslims came from Safia Faruqi of Lucknow, "We are uninterested in how Khilji is portrayed. We do not identify with any of these kings. We are neither proud of them nor apologetic about them. We should, in fact, stay away from such meaningless things. We would be playing into their hands and furthering the agenda of polarization." 

In a message to my fellow Indians, I had posted a question;  "Should Muslims condemn the wrongdoers who happened to be Muslim Kings? After all, they did not do any good for Islam or Muslims except fulfilling their own greed like any other king of the time."

Another good response came from Tariq Farooqi, who wrote, "So what should Indian Muslims do?  There is no need to defend these kings as they were defending their empires and not representing Islam or Islamic virtues.  Muslim masses suffered as poorly as their Hindu counterparts.  While they could point to historians in stating that the movie is a fictional account of love between a king and a fictional woman, the Bhakts have taken over and started burning theaters and damaging surrounding infrastructure.  We can stay away from this madness and condemn the cowardly and unbecoming violence of the mobs."

Indeed, I am working on pulling Indians of different hues together and develop a working program to build a cohesive India, where every Indian takes pride in who he or she is.
Mike Ghouse 

Padmaavat: Where are Muslim protesters?

Courtesy - Saudi Gazette

Aijaz Zaka Syed

If anyone should be going ballistic over Padmavati — sorry, Padmaavat — the spectacular cinematic tribute to Rajput valor (obviously decent, virtuous Hindus) and crass demonization of Emperor Alauddin Khilji (the archetype of marauding, meat-gorging, horny invaders!), it is Muslims. Why’s Karni Sena, pray, going on the rampage, burning down multiplexes and malls and turning the whole country upside down?

This when bowing to the diktats of these defenders of Hindu pride, the filmmaker has already changed the title from ‘Padmavati’ to ‘Padmaavat’. It was only after the Supreme Court intervened that the film got released after repeated delays albeit it remains a ‘no show’ in many northern states.

Those who have watched the film found it so utterly reverential to the Rajputs and so demeaning to Khilji that it’s perplexing why the assorted nuts have been thirsting for Bhansali’s blood.

As Anjana Kashyap of India Today puts it, it is as if the Karni Sena whispered Padmaavat’s plot into Bhansali’s ear!

So what if Padmaavat is a deliberate distortion of history, just as many such period films, including Jodha Akbar, and television serials in the recent past have been?

In fact, the beautiful Rajput princess Padmavati never existed except in the imagination of Awadhi poet Malik Mohammed Jayasi.

And most of the valiant Rajput chieftains, except Rana Pratap Singh, never put up a fight against the Delhi sultans and Moguls. Many of them joined the ‘enemy’ against their own. Hindu Rajputs and Muslim Moguls even inter-married. Indeed, Mogul emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan had been the sons of proud Rajput mothers.

As for Khilji, he was anything but a savage barbarian and womanizer. Poet Amir Khusro, a contemporary, offers a detailed account of his reign. India’s first emperor, it was Khilji’s bravery that spared the country ruination at the hands of the Mongols.

Far from presenting historical facts accurately, Bhansali doesn’t even do justice to Jayasi’s romantic epic. Which is fine, I suppose. Filmmakers and storytellers enjoy a creative license. They hardly claim to be faithful chroniclers of history.

But should they degenerate into deliberate vilification of a whole community as bloodthirsty savages who live to kill, rape and eat, as Padmaavat and movies of this genre suggest?

It is not just cinema. Of late, there has been a deluge of such dramas on television too with everyone making the most of the hate fest roiling India these days.

Perhaps taking cue from the reigning order, these ‘historical’ storytellers claim to present the stories of Indian heroes. Almost always they are pitted against “fanatical Muslim invaders” with their regulation endless beards and violent tempers.

Even in a period drama like ‘Porus’ on Sony that tackles Alexander the Great’s attack, which happened centuries before Christ when the Muslims didn’t even exist, there are ubiquitous references to ‘foreign invaders’ who look and speak like you know who.

From willful and dangerous distortion of history in films and television to misrepresentation of historical facts in textbooks, there is a desperation to turn back the clock and rewrite the past, playing havoc with impressionable, young minds.

Medieval Muslim rulers are routinely panned as bloodthirsty barbarians who kill their subjects, destroy temples and are on an evangelical mission to convert all Hindus.

Although no shred of historical evidence exists to support these claims and fallacies, authored by orientalists, they have been wholeheartedly embraced and are routinely peddled by the Right.

If had been any truth in these claims, India would have been a Muslim country today. Instead of plundering and sucking it dry as the British did, Muslims made India their home, taking it to the heights of glory. India became the richest and largest economy in the world under the Moguls. You have to be blind to miss the Muslim imprint on every facet of Indian life.

Churchill said history is written by the victors. One wouldn’t lose sleep over it if this ‘Otherization’ of Muslims had been only limited to historical inaccuracies.

What really worries me — as it should every Indian who loves his/her country and desires its wellbeing — is the hate and ill will all this is generating between the Hindus and Muslims. Being taught those textbooks and perpetually bombarded with hate in films and on television, even Muslim children would grow up hating their own ancestors.

After all this vilification of a voiceless, dispossessed minority, coupled with the propaganda of love jihad and multiplying Muslims, who are loyal to Pakistan and forever lusting after the cow and fair Hindu women, would you be surprised if Muslims are increasingly being hunted like animals?

You reap as you sow. The Parivar’s persistent efforts over the past century have begun to bear results. The Muslims have become total strangers in their own country and driven to the margins of Indian society after more than 1200 years of existence in India.

What’s remarkable about this unprecedented phenomenon is the fact that the Muslims, who ruled India for nearly a thousand years, are at the bottom of the heap, according to every social and economic indicator.

As many government commissions and studies have acknowledged, the largest minority is easily the most deprived and disadvantaged in the country, even more backward than the low-caste Dalits. Still blamed for the Partition and reeling from tragedies like the Babri Masjid demolition, the community has learned to keep a low profile, curiously content in its abject poverty and ghettos.

For a community of nearly 200 million people, Muslims have little presence in parliament and state assemblies. The BJP takes pride in the fact that it did not field a single Muslim candidate in the recent assembly elections for Gujarat and Haryana. Again, not one Muslim was fielded in Uttar Pradesh, which boasts more than 20 percent Muslims in a population of 200 million.

There are around 2 percent Muslims in elite Indian Administrative Services. The same goes for the armed forces and police. On the other hand, they have highest representation in jails, far more than their 15 percent share in population.

Yet this pathetic minority is painted as the ‘clear and present danger’ to India and not just by the Parivar. The Indian media is obsessed with the ‘M’ factor, tapping into the inexplicable insecurities of the majority.

From Pakistan-trained terrorists to madrassas being used as terror nurseries to the specters of love jihad and triple talaq, apparently Indian society is perpetually threatened by its Muslims.

In the face of all this sweetness and light, Indian Muslim leadership appears curiously clueless. Let alone evolving a strategy to tackle the challenges facing the community, few of them appear aware of the world falling apart around them.

It is a depressing state of affairs, to say the least. Not very different from what the Muslims faced in Spain centuries ago after their 700-year long reign that enriched Europe and Western civilization. Today, there is not a single believer left in Spain; nor a mosque left standing. No wonder the Parivar often looks to Spain for inspiration.

— Aijaz Zaka Syed is an award winning journalist and former newspaper editor. Email: Aijaz.syed@hotmail.com 

Padmaavat – My personal take on the movie
https://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2018/02/padmaavat-my-personal-take-on-movie.html

Padmaavat – where are Muslim Protests
https://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2018/01/padmaavat-where-are-muslim-protesters.html

Padmaavat – Story of Vagina
https://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2018/01/padmavat-reduced-to-vagina.html

Padmaavat – story behind story
https://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2018/02/padmaavat-story-behind-story-when.html

Hindus maligning Muslims and Christians

Maligning Muslims and Christians

Our blog http://hatesermons.blogspot.com/  has responded to crazy statements from Noni Darwish, Wafa Sultan, Hannity, Riley, Spencer, Gabrielle, Geller and a whole lot of them. We have also responded to mindless Hindus and Muslims alike.

One Subodh Kumar on facebook posted denigrating stuff about Christianity and Islam while uplifting Hinduism. He forgot that his narration applies to Hindus as well as other religions.

Either he is blind or maligning others for whatever perceived gains he has on his mind.  He forgets that for every Muslim ass, there is a Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist ass out there.  

Every religion is about bringing peace to an individual and peace with what surrounds him or her.  Religions are designed to create orderly societies. A small band of followers violate the very guidelines they are supposed to follow.


He forgot as many things about Hindus as he wrote about others. Let a Dalit marry a Brahman, let a Hindu marry a Muslim – all hell will break loose with the violence and extremism. One Dalit groom rode on the horse in a village and he was beaten up, a Dalit cannot be above ground level than others.  This week (December 18, 2017) in Gujarat  the dreadful treatment meted out to Dalits at Una and later at a Navratri dance festival where a Dalit was brutally murdered by a group of high caste boys for just watching the show.

Let a Dalit or a lower caste Hindu go to the regular temple and worship, not only will he get beaten but the temple will be washed 7 times.

Dalit villages have been burnt, Dalit women have been raped and hung on trees, Dalits boys have been murdered because the did well in schools while their master's upper caste Hindus sons did not do well in exams.

Muslim men have been lynched and harassed and killed.  Atheist writers have been murdered in broad day light, Christian Nuns have been raped, and Ghar ki bahu (daughter in law) is dosed in kerosene and burnt alive for not bringing enough dowries. Girls at birth are killed, honor killings are rampant.... 

Nearly 5000 Sikhs were murdered in a matter of 3 days, 2000 Muslims were murdered in Gujarat…

Is Hinduism a violent religion? No, it is not, it does not teach any of the above violent acts mentioned above. Hinduism is about being truthful just as other faiths. Painting other religions badly is not Hinduism, it is Hindutva.

A few Hindus commit that non-sense, just like a few Muslims, Christians and Jews do foul things. Hindutva is not Hinduism, Neocons are not Christianity, Islamism is not Muslims, Extremist of Zionism do not represent Jews, Buddhists in Burma do not represent Buddhism.  We have to be smart and focus on bad guys and not on their religion or the nation. 

For every Muslim ass, there is a Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist and other ass.

I have done extensive work on these subjects, and I welcome anyone to visit the tabs workshop, Festivals, Programs, Calendar, Wisdom…. At www.CenterforPluralism.com

…….. …

The following note was compiled by Subodh Kumar at facebook:

Very Interesting facts!

Christianity ….One Christ, One Bible Religion…

But the Latin Catholic will not enter Syrian Catholic Church.

These two will not enter Marthoma Church .

These three will not enter Pentecost Church .

These four will not enter Salvation Army Church.

These five will no enter Seventh Day Adventist Church .

These six will not enter Orthodox Church.

These seven will not enter Jacobite church.

Like this there are 146 castes alone for Christianity,

Each will never share their churches for fellow Christians!

How shameful..! One Christ, One Bible, One Jehova???

Now Muslims..! One Allah, One Quran, One Nabi....! Great unity?

Among Muslims, Shia and Sunni hate and kill each other in all Muslim countries.

The religious riots in most Muslim countries is always between these two sects.

The Shia will not go to Sunni Mosque.

These two will not go to Ahamadiya Mosque.

These three will not go to Sufi Mosque.

These four will not go to Mujahiddin mosque.

Like this it appears there are 13 castes in Muslims.

Killing/bombing/conquering/ massacaring/... each other!

American attack on Iraq was fully supported by all Muslim countries surrounding Iraq !

One Allah, One Quran, One Nabi....????

Hindus -

They have 1,280 Religious Books, 10,000 Commentaries, more than one lakh sub-commentaries for these foundation books, innumerable presentations of one God, variety of Aacharyas, thousands of Rishies, hundreds of languages.

Still they all go to All TEMPLES and they are peaceful and tolerant and seek unity with others by inviting them to worship with them whatever God they wish to pray for!

*Be very proud to be a HINDU*

Ayodhya - a good story from Ram Janambhoomi

This is a good story of communal harmony in Ayodhya, indeed, there are many such stories in a series of article on Ayodhya published at http://MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com . We appreciate Dr. Frank Islam for taking the initiative to promote good stories to uplift people and put them on the pathway to cherish each other’s life.  We hope to open our offices in India soon to give a boost to the ideals of pluralism, i.e, respecting the otherness of other and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us.

Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism

‘There was never an iota of communal hatred in Ayodhya’

IANS|Economic Times

Updated: Dec 03, 2017, 12.32 PM IST

Courtesy Economic Times –

Locals, both Hindus and Muslims, say “outsiders” who came to Ayodhya in 1992 stirred trouble while locals were busy saving each other — irrespective of their religious faiths.

This is a town held sacred for its association with Hindu religious lore, which in latter days acquired the unflattering reputation of being a hotbed of Hindu-Muslim antagonism and religious-political conflict whose reverberations are felt both nationally and internationally. But what is little known, and may be even difficult to believe, is that Ayodhya has traditionally been known for its inter-faith harmony where it is not out of the ordinary for a Muslim tailor to stitch clothes for the idol of Ram or for a Hindu priest to help renovate an old mosque.

As  India approaches 25 years of the apocalyptic demolition of the 16th century  Babri Masjid on December 6, citizens of Ayodhya take pains to talk about their age-old heritage of cultural collaboration and free participation in inter-religious activities which has kept the secular fabric of the twin intact — despite the dragging temple-mosque politico-legal dispute over 2.7 acres of prime land whose ownership is contested by both Hindus and Muslims.

Locals, both Hindus and Muslims, say they were “outsiders” who came to Ayodhya in 1992 and stirred trouble while locals were busy saving each other — irrespective of their religious faiths — from the brunt of the riots that ensued. Out of the town’s total population of around 60,000, Muslims account for only six per cent. But they never felt any discrimination from Hindus, says Mohammed Chand Qaziana, priest at the Dargah of Sayyed Mohammad Ibrahim.

Qaziana said that the dargah was protected by local Hindus when the kar sevaks, or Hindu religious activists who came from outside the town, demolished the Babri mosque on December 6, 1992, on the ground that it was erected there by invading Mughal emperor Babar after razing a temple dedicated to Ram, the revered warrior-god of Hindus.

“This 900-year-old dargah has followers from the Hindu community as well, many of whom regularly pay a visit here. It is a symbol of our centuries-old harmonious existence. When it was attacked, our Hindu brothers formed a human shield around it and saved it,” Qaziana recalled to IANS.

Faizabad district, in which Ayodhya falls, has about 30 per cent Muslim population. Qaziana said there is an unannounced understanding among the people here not to fall prey to hate speeches of politicians and outsiders.

What makes communal harmony special here is the participation in inter-faith events and rituals — Muslims stitching clothes for Hindu deities, participating in Ramleela (religious theatre based on the life of Ram) or doing namaz (prayers) in Hindu religious places; and Hindus similarly contributing to mosque renovation or helping Muslim fellow townspeople in times of need.

ADVERTISEMENT

Echoing Qaziana’s views, Barfi Maharaj, who identifies himself as a Hindu social worker, said the Masjid was razed on December 6 by  Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) hotheads and locals had no role in it.

“We were neither influenced by hate speeches nor did we participate in the demolition drive. It was VHP that brought outsiders to demolish the Masjid. How can people from the birthplace of Ram, who is known for his secular teachings, commit such a sinful act?” asked Barfi Maharaj.

Giving examples of inter-faith harmony in the town, he said that a mosque near Hanumangadhi in Ayodhya was being renovated by a Hindu mahant (priest) while a Muslim tailor had been stitching clothes for the idol of Ram that is installed in the makeshift temple at the disputed site of Babri Masjid.

Sadik Ali, alias Babu Khan, said he had stitched seven to eight sets of clothes for the Hindu gods so far. Sadik, who is said to be a stakeholder in the negotiations in the issue, called  Babri Masjid demolition “unfortunate” but said he had no problem in the construction of  Ram Mandir on the disputed land.

“We do have faith in Ram. We had offered namaz at Hanuman Gadhi. If Hindus want big temples for their beloved god, we do not have a problem. We just want a piece of land nearby for a mosque,” Ali said.

Mohammed Salim has been making ‘khadav’ (wooden sandal), which were traditionally used by sadhus and priests but are now largely used in temples.

Salim said his family had been selling khadavs since generations which are usually bought by temple priests. “I have never witnessed any tension between the two communities here. We depend on each other for our needs and we respect each other,” he said.

The mutual understanding and respect for Hindus and Muslims here — revealing to an outsider — figure prominently in the region as one talks to the locals who, irrespective of their religion, slammed political leaders for vitiating the issue in an attempt to get electoral mileage.

A local contractor, Shailendra Pandey, said the people of Ayodhya were hardly consulted on what has come to be known as the Mandir-Masjid issue and politicians used Ram and the temple issue for their personal gains.

“You go anywhere in the city and talk to anyone. You will not find an iota of communal hatred among them. The unholy politics by outsiders has given our city a negative image,” Pandey said.

Mohammed Naeem, who is the president of Naugaja Dargah, said politicians were now creating hurdles in the way of the temple construction.

“This town is a perfect example of religious harmony and secularism, thanks to its rich culture and history. Everyone would be happy if the contentious issue is resolved amicably. However, we feel the politicians have kept this issue pending for their selfish motives,” Naeem said.

Whatever be the difficulties and complexities in the Mandir-Masjid issue, there will not be any negative impact in the socio-religious fabric of the city, feel the people of Ayodhya, once the kingdom of Ram, known for being a model of good governance in that era.

(This feature is part of a special series that seeks to bring unique and extraordinary stories of ordinary people, groups and communities from across a diverse, plural and inclusive India, and has been made possible by a collaboration between IANS and the Frank Islam Foundation. Saurabh Katkurwar can be contacted at saurabh.k@ians.in)A

Whose Hinduism Is It Anyway?

Excellent piece, my comment at the post. 

America does it to everyone. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and others have all Americanized thier religions, that is bring thier traditions on par with human rights, freedom, liberty and justice for all. A new version of each religion will evolve that won’t be recognized back home. Each group is embarrassed by the antiques of thier traditions and want to run from it, hence the fight. I’m all for RE-interpreting religions to reflect human rights and rejecting misogynistic attitudes.  Mike Ghouse with Center for Pluralism 

Mike Ghouse

Courtesy of thewire.

https://thewire.in/197024/whose-hinduism-anyway-rights-improved-version-lefts-warts-one/

Whose Hinduism Is It Anyway? The Right’s ‘Improved’ Version or the Left’s ‘Warts-And-All’ One?

BY SEEMA SIROHI ON 14/11/2017 • 1 COMMENT

The trials and tribulations of modern India – and especially the present-day – are affecting the debate on ancient India, even on the other side of the ocean.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Washington, DC: The battle over how to depict Hinduism – or the various vedic, bhakti, folk and now the newly minted Hindutva versions – is serious and emotional.

It is also not a simple contest between Hindu “fundamentalists” and “fringe” scholars, as the two sides have labeled each other. Shades of opinions, compulsions, aggressions – both micro and macro – and agendas are at play.

One side clearly considers itself superior to the other with acres of scholarship boosting its learned interventions. The other side has numbers, fiat, funds and general support from the community. It also has Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu member of the US House of Representatives, who is close to the BJP-RSS leadership.

In between are thousands of Indian Americans, mostly Hindu, who want a more positive experience of India in textbooks for their children, not one that is exoticised, essentialised and simplified into stupidity. They don’t necessarily want a fairytale but they do want a fair tale.

They are not Hindutva supporters for the most part, nor fundamentalist, but they do get exercised every time some unthinking American businessman decides to put the picture of Ganesh or Shiva on slippers and toilet seats.

And they did not like it one bit when last year the politically correct South Asia scholars wanted to change the word “India” to “South Asia” in the textbooks to reflect today’s reality. The idea was rejected after such big names as Diana L. Eck and Nathan Glazer intervened, calling the proposal ahistorical and anachronistic.

The battle has been playing out in California – a present-day Haldighati of sorts – through textbooks for middle school students. As in Rajasthan, where Class X history books were revised this summer to say that Maharana Pratap conclusively won the battle of Haldighati, defeating Akbar and thus doing away with the ambiguity of a truce, so in California, school kids will now read about a kinder, gentler Hinduism where the stigma of caste is softened, even erased and where Sikhism and Buddhism didn’t necessarily develop in opposition to the worst practices of Brahminism.

Last week, California’s State Board of Education approved changes in 10 textbooks based on inputs from the Hindu Education Foundation (HEF), 38 academics and other Hindu American community groups. The “positive edits” – as HEF called them in a statement – related to descriptions of caste, the Indus Valley civilisation and the “Aryan” migration among others.

There are many publishers and many textbooks in question and both sides have made hundreds of suggestions over time. The search for a fair, accurate and honest portrayal of ancient India and its history has raised tempers, led to accusations of intimidation and generally left much debris in its wake.

Activists opposing the changes accuse Hindu groups of corrupting the state’s “history and social science frameworks” with their half-baked scholarship. They say HEF members bullied them at the last public hearing and security guards repeatedly sent them to the back of the line. To be sure, Muslim and Jewish groups too are fighting similar battles over words and depictions of their respective religions and histories.

Why California? It has the largest and the oldest Indian American community in the US. It is also where new ideas are tested and tried. It is said what California does today, others may do tomorrow.

The war of words first erupted in California in 2005 when HEF became a medium of anger – some genuine, some ideological – for many community leaders who were outraged at some very obvious and egregious errors.

One textbook said Hindi is written in Arabic script, another described Hanuman as a “monkey king” who “loved Ram so much that it is said he is present every time the Ramayana is told.” The book then asked the students to “look around—see any monkeys?” A description of vegetarianism was titled “Where’s the Beef?” Was it a provocation or just a bad joke? You have to wonder at the authors of these textbooks because one contained a picture of a mosque while talking about Hinduism. A photo of a Muslim doing namaz was captioned “A Brahmin.”

Over time, HEF, the Vedic Foundation and the Uberoi Foundation, all of which share the agenda of promoting Hinduism and are ideologically aligned with the Hindu nationalist movement in India, decided it was not enough just to eliminate obvious errors.

What California does today, others may do tomorrow. Credit: Reuters

They wanted to fight bigger fight – of conflation of Hinduism with the caste system. They also targeted the baggage of colonial interpretations, including what they considered the myth of Hindus being the invaders of India. They said it was no longer the only acceptable theory. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) filed a lawsuit against the California Board of Education in 2006, saying the textbooks portrayed ancient India’s religious traditions in a negative light.

The court ruled mostly against the HAF and denied an injunction against the publication of the textbooks. The most contested language around the place of women in Hindu society, Dalits and Aryan migration/invasion remained. Last year, a new campaign was launched by HEF and HAF as the six-yearly review of textbooks approached.

This time they mobilised the larger Indian American community, most of which is Hindu but not fundamentalist, and got 12,000 letters and 14,000 signatures on a petition asking for “accuracy and equality in textbooks,” according to Suhag Shukla, executive director of HAF. She said in an email that immigrant Hindus from Fiji and the Caribbean, including Dalits, joined their coalition. Her list also included the NAACP or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the most respected and the oldest organisation representing black Americans, and the Anti-Defamation League, one of the most prominent Jewish groups fighting anti-Semitism.

The other side, represented by a coalition of Dalits, Muslims, Sikhs, regional experts and university professors called “South Asian Histories for All”, or SAHFA, dismisses the massive support for the rival coalition as a Hindu revisionist conspiracy and does not consider their concerns valid.

It also accuses them of using pressure tactics. “The State Board refused to enforce its own framework (guidelines for textbooks) and allowed discriminatory and inaccurate content to get in. They listened to the mob and created a platform for alternative facts,” Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a SAHFA member and a Dalit activist, told The Wire.

Dolly Arjun of the Dalit American Coalition said, “Upper caste Hindu nationalist lobby groups have been putting tremendous pressure to erase our history. They’ve been operating off the White nationalist playbook when they fight to erase uncomfortable historical truths.”

Some textbooks will now refer to Indus Valley as the “Indus Saraswati Civilisation” while others will teach that Indo-Aryans were “India’s original inhabitants.” HEF and its supporters, which also include many professors in various US colleges and universities, say the term “Aryan” is inappropriate to describe “ancient Indians” in school textbooks because of the racial connotations now associated with it.

Even scholars on the other side agree that the Aryan Invasion theory is not taken seriously anymore by most academics but they insist on an Aryan “migration” theory which implies that Hinduism is not indigenous to India but “migrated” to India.

In another contradiction pointed out by Vamsee Juluri, a professor of media studies at the University of San Francisco, these scholars insist that Hinduism wasn’t an organised religion until the 13th century but at the same time they reject “any changes that suggest that caste wasn’t rooted in religion.”

Juluri said that this group in “cruel irony” opposed including the names of Valmiki and Vyasa as the authors of Ramayana and Mahabharata because the text would have noted they were not Brahmins. But that would have contradicted the scholars’ beliefs about caste and birth.

“The scholars, it appears, would rather lose the chance for thousands of children to learn that the two greatest epics of Indian civilization were written by people born into lower-caste all in the name of empowering them,” he wrote in March this year.

To put it simply, the debate is complicated.

In another major development last week, the word “Dalit” disappeared altogether from some textbooks while one textbook retained the word “untouchable,” a term now considered a slur just like the N-word for African Americans, according to Dalit activist Soundararajan.

School children will also learn that Hindus do not bother about caste anymore. A sentence, which attempted to explain the continuation of the caste system over millennia describing how millions of Hindus continue to observe the tradition of marrying within their caste, has been deleted from one of the textbooks.

But Shukla insists that roughly 30% of the sections on Hinduism and ancient India in textbook drafts contain discussions dedicated to caste. “Thus the assertion that caste or its history are being erased is simply not supported by facts,” she said. “Our diverse coalition, which has Hindus from all backgrounds, including Hindu Dalits, only asked that the complexity and evolution of caste be explained.”

While Shukla may want to paint a positive picture, Hindu groups such as the HAF have tried to discredit Dalit activists as “Christian missionaries” during the textbook campaign. The Internet is a cruel reality check.

Soundararajan, an impressive spokesperson for her side, calls Shukla’s group “an angry mob” that browbeat the Board. “The Board got suckered into it. One member in the end called it a “family dispute” which it clearly it is not.” She is enraged that the “structured interventions by 100 South Asia scholars” from SAHFA lost out to HEF activists, many of whom are computer engineers who claim scholarship just because they might have self-published a book. The Board by treating the two sides as equals created “parity” between two unequal groups, she said, an equation that clearly hurt.

“The Hindu fundamentalists’ message is clear: if you cross us, we will intimidate you. What’s dangerous to the Hindu eco-system is that we have the facts. They are making a mistake if they think we are going to roll over. California is considered the Blue (Democratic Party) wall,” she said, adding that her group was exploring legal options. “We will expose them as right-wing forces. They present themselves as neutral, as bearers of yoga but they want to Hindu-fy Sikhism and Buddhism. They want to portray Islam only in the context of the narrative of conquest.”

If all this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. The trials and tribulations of modern India and especially present-day India are partly informing the debate on ancient India. The distrust and distance among various Indian American groups has grown enormously since Narendra Modi became the prime minister.

Multiply the distrust and the uber confidence of Hindu groups by political correctness infecting American university campuses and you have a chasm that will not be bridged. Both may want a layered, nuanced portrayal of India and Hinduism in the end but what should be the composition of that picture eludes them.

If the Hindu right is adamant and boorish, the Left is insular and out of touch with what resonates with a vast number of people and why. But this is not the first time, nor will it be the last when sensible solutions will be deliberately avoided. And all on the backs of sixth grade students.

Seema Sirohi is a Washington DC-based commentator.

Kashmir and its Governance

Kashmir and Governance | MikeGhouseforIndia.blogspot.com

No nation should be formed on the basis of religion anymore.  We have seen the ugly results of it, and any nation that is formed now should be democratic in governance, where all people's rights are protected.

There should never be an Islamic, Christian, Hindu or Jewish state, as religion is practiced by humans, and they may not live up to its highest principles. I would rather have a bad democracy over a theocracy, in a democracy we have a chance of correcting the course, and peacefully replacing the corrupt guys with good guys,  you cannot do that in a theocracy. Then the question is whose theocracy will it be?  

Shia, Ahmadiyya, Hindu, Christian and Sikh minorities live in apprehension in Pakistan, and in Bangladesh, you can add the Buddhist Minorities who are equally harassed.  The current but short-lived Hindutva wave in India is also causing apprehensions among Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other minorities. 

 The authentic Islam that respects the otherness of others, honors dignity of every human, and believes in living your own life and letting others live theirs is part of the individual Muslim psyche, but it has not reached in governance of many a Muslim nations. As a Muslim, I invite fellow Muslims to stand against the brand of Islam practiced in Pakistan,  Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan and.... others. There is no respect for other traditions within Islam in these nations, let alone others.  They claim to follow Islam, but they don't.

Islam is my religion and I love it, most of us want it to remain a personal guidance to continue to make us good humans and good citizens with no political ambitions to rule others, but to serve others as fellow beings.  The idea of ruling others in the name of a religion, corrupts that religion, any religion for that matter.

God honors caring people over religious people who do not care, caring is emphasized here. There are numerous examples - if someone gives water to a thirsty cat, God is willing to forgive his or her shortcomings, and such is the value places on caring for others.  God loves the man who shares his food with hungry fellow being, even if that person has committed sin over a guy who prays all day long. God only knows what is in your heart and you are reminded not to judge other people's faith.  God says in Quran, whether you are Jewish, Christian or Pagan, if you take care of fellow humans, he or she need not worry, as he would earn God’s grace.  Similar thoughts are in Hinduism, Christianity and other faiths – do the followers of all faiths follow their religion to the full? Then, why do we need a religion in governance?

An Independent Kashmir is not good for Kashmiris, Indians or Pakistanis. The extremists loaded with guns will swallow it and terrorize everyone, but most certainly Muslims for not following their brand of Islam. They will be coming from around the world to establish a false Islamic Caliphate in the likes of Islamic state, where they rape women, make them slaves and sell them, completely against the principles of Islam.

Islamic Caliphate should be consistently discouraged, what we need is democracies, which is Islamic in nature, you elect your representative who is trustworthy, but there will be a contest with other trust worthy individuals. That is how it was done during the first four Caliphs of Islam, and after that it was always run by  dictators and kings and together they have messed up what Islam is all about to suit their whims, Islam is a system designed for individuals to create cohesive societies where no human has to live in fear of the other with justice, mercy and equality to all.

Kashmir and Kashmiris are better off with a Pluralistic India, where they can choose who governs them freely. You can fix the problems in a democracy, but not in a theocracy.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is a community consultant, social scientist, thinker, writer, news maker, and a speaker on Pluralism, Interfaith, Islam, politics, terrorism, human rights, India, Israel-Palestine and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Visit him in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and a bulk of his writings are at TheGhousediary.com and several blogs listed there in.