Safronisation of Indian History Elicits Deafening Silence

Category: Asia, Life & Society Topics: Government And Politics, History, India, Taj Mahal Views: 15638
15638

In 1199, Qutub-ud-Din built the Qutub Minar (15-km South of New Delhi, India) as a minaret to the adjacent Quwwatu'l-Islam Masjid. From a base of 14.32m it tapers to 2.75m at a height of 72.5m.

Did you know that Jesus Christ wandered the Himalayas and drew his inspiration from Hinduism? That a Hindu named Samundragupta built the Qutb Minar, originally known as Vishnu Sthambha? That the Taj Mahal was really a Hindu Temple known as Tejo-Mahalaya (Shiva's Palace)? That the Red Fort in Delhi was a Brahmin palace? Or that the largest Holocaust in history was perpetrated by Muslims against Hindus in India? 

This is news to me. Probably is to most people. No, these are not extracts from a child's fable nor the impression of a lunatic few. These "historical truths" have been taught for many years at more than 22,000 Vidya Bharati schools operated by the Hindutva movement composed of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) also known as the World Hindu Council, Shiv Sena (Shiva's army) and the Bajrang Dal (brigade of the monkey god).

Now thanks to a recent decision, these distortions and falsifications are not only being disseminated by these right wing Hindu-chauvinists organizations but by leading educational bodies in the India. Despite widespread opposition, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the body responsible for developing school curriculum in India, decided in November 2002 to rewrite Indian history texts. "It is not a question of revivalism," says the center's director, Physicist J. S. Rajput, in an interview published by the Washington Post late last year. "Every country should write its history from its own point of view. Our history books have been written from a Euro-centric view because we were a colony for so long. History books should instill a sense of pride in the young mind and should be rooted in our culture."

Critics contend that the saffron brigade is using history as a tool for mythmaking and patriotism. Historical research and teaching has become a battleground for the identify and future of the nation. The situation is so grave that the Indian History Congress (IHC), the largest membership- based association of academic historians, passed a unanimous resolution setting up a committees to examine NCERT's new history textbook at its 63rd annual conference in Amritsar. The IHC concluded its conference on December 30, 2002 on a note of caution stressing that it would remain vigilant in the face of subversive activities of the communal forces in its mission to safronise history.

Interestingly, even before the BJP embarked on its project to rewrite history, there were complaints about bias in history textbooks. In fact, as early as the Fifties and Sixties there were suggestions that textbooks in Gujarat and Maharashtra were inaccurate. A Parliamentary committee, which included Professors K. G. Saiyidin, J. P. Naik and Gopinath Aman appointed to look into these charges, found that historical events were "presented in a manner as to arouse and perpetuate prejudice against certain religious groups." The committee concluded that "the books were overweighed with Hindu mythology...Hindu beliefs are presented in a manner as if they were universally held by all Indians." As is the case with most commission reports, the findings were shelved by the authorities. 

With the BJP's victory in four states in 1991, the issue surfaced again as the newly elected governments started rewriting history to promote the political ideology of Hindutva. The governments even directed college libraries to stock titles with clear communal overtones such as Why Hindu Rashtra? Hum Mandir Wohin Banayenge (We Would Build the Temple There Only), Shilanyas se Shikhar ki Ore (From Laying the Foundation Stone to Attaining the Peak), etc. Now, the BJP's landslide victory in Gujarat last month even after the massacre of more than a 1,000 Muslims in the wake of the murder of 59 Hindu pilgrims in Godhra, appears to have emboldened the saffron brigade even more.

Anyone following the developments in India would have at least heard of the attempts to rewrite history, but not many are fully aware of the magnitude and scope of the endeavor. I was rudely awakened to extent of the project when I stumbled upon an article in Canada's largest daily, The Toronto Star, a couple of years ago. Ajit Adhopia, a regular columnist in the religion section at the time, was promoting the work of P. N. Oak, the head of the Institute for Rewriting Indian History. Adhopia was praising the "historical research" of Oak in the Saturday edition of the paper, which has a circulation of close to one million. Oak, who has written a number of books, including Some Blunders of Indian Historical Research and Islamic Havoc in Indian History, is one of the main proponents of the view that Indian history, as it is taught today, is developed out of myths planted by British historians and adopted and promoted by Indians of the Marxist, Secularist and Islamic persuasions. According to Hindutva theorists the intelligentsia, led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, set out to erase from Hindu memory the history of their persecution and subjugation by Muslims. Another foreign proponent of Hindutva history, Francois Gautier, claims that "Hindu-bashing became a popular pastime." Why would they do this? Oak, Gautier and those of their ilk have a number of absurd theories. The Marxists wanted to win favor with Arabs who were fertile ground for Marxism and Secularists wanted to nurture Hindu-Muslim unity. Muslims, obviously, had a vested interest in not exposing the fact that they had nothing to contribute to Indian history or culture or that they destroyed thousands of temples and perpetrated the largest Holocaust in history.

Disturbingly, historical revisionism has significant support among Non Resident Indians (NRI) particularly among the wealthy and educated expatriate communities in the West. According to a Times of India editorial the movement survives in part thanks to funding and involvement from NRIs. I was particularly perturbed to read glowing book reviews of these revisionist history texts by prominent NRI academics at Western universities. Consider, for instance, what Professor C.J.S. Wallia of the University of California (Berkley) wrote in his glowing review of Arun Shourie's Eminent Historians: Their Technology, Their Line, Their Fraud, a book critiquing secular historians in India: "During the past fifty years, `this bunch of Marxist historians have been suppressing facts, inventing lies, perverting discourse, and derailing public policy' by seizing control of institutions such as the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), the National Council of Educational Research Training (NCERT), large parts of Indian academia, and nearly all of the English-media newspapers and publishing houses." Shourie, who holds a Ph.D. from Syracuse University and served as the editor of the leading Indian newsmagazine India Today is a prominent scribe of the Hindutva ideology and has written numerous books attacking secular historians and Christian missionaries, among others.

Interestingly, such views are not that new. In fact, the first major endeavor to research Indian history was financed by Nehru (yes, the same Nehru who the revisionists claim is one of the main propagators of false history and whitewasher of Muslim faults) in 1951. This project carried out by a leading Brahmin (an upper caste) historian by the name of R. C. Majumdar concluded that Muslims had distorted Indian history. It also found that Muslims had persecuted the masses of non-Muslims during their reign. A group of upper caste historians set out to make the "corrections" in 1964. This group produced a number of works that forms the basis of the recent efforts to rewrite Indian history.

In addition to working at the grass roots by changing school curriculum the BJP is also working at higher levels. In 1998, India's Minister for Human Resources and Development, Murali Manohar Joshi, an ardent Hindutva supporter, reconstituted the once respected Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR] by appointing Hindutva leaning members. In fact, of the eighteen new members appointed at the time, four where members of the World Hindu Council's panel that worked to promote the idea of a temple at the site of the Babri Mosque and five others were closely associated with the movement. In February 2000, the ICHR stopped the publication of two volumes of Towards Freedom, a projected multi-volume history research project. Despite widespread protest and opposition from historians both within and outside India, the 1940 volume edited by Professor P.N. Panikkar of Jawaharlal Nehru University and the 1946 volume edited by Professor Sumit Sarkat of Delhi University were scrapped. The current head of the ICHR is none other than B. R. Grover, an open supporter of the extremist VHP with a well-documented history of communalistic politics, including openly supporting the razing of the 400-year old Babri Mosque in 1992.

In what has been termed by some observers as the BJP's "Long March Through Institutions," in addition to reconstituting the ICHR and NCERT, the Hindu- nationalist government has appointed Hindutva supporters to fill posts within the University Grants Commission, the secondary school board, the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, the councils of social sciences and historical research, etc. Fortunately, the membership-based Indian History Congress has so far been able to fight off the Hindutva tide. There was a close call back in 1991 when an attempt by 360 Hindutva historians to take over the group was defeated by the membership. 

The Hindutva scholars are joined by foreign scholars such as Koenraad Elst and Francois Gautier. Elsts's work Negationism in India: Concealing the Record of Islam and Francois Gautier's Rewriting Indian History is part of the growing literature attacking Indian history textbooks. Their version of history portrays Muslims as having contributed nothing to India other than death, destruction and subjugation. Gautier, for instance, who is political correspondent for the leading French daily Le Figaro and the Swiss daily Le Nouveau Quotidien, writes: "Let it be said right away: the massacres perpetrated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger than the holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis; or the massacre of Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese."

Nothing appears sacred to these writers. In fact, even the father of Indian independence, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is not spared. Hindutva historians sideline his role and attempt to justify and excuse his assassination by the Hindu extremist (a fact conspicuously left out from Hindutva textbooks) Nathuram Godse. Gautier, for instance, claims that Gandhi bears a great deal of responsibility for whitewashing the alleged atrocities and selfishness of Muslims and for aiding the British goal of divide-and-rule. "Gandhi did enormous harm to India," writes Gautier, "... for ultimately no one contributed more to the partition of India, by his obsession to always give in to the Muslims; by his indulgence of [Mohamed Ali] Jinnah, going as far as proposing to make him the prime minister of India."

The fact that the bulk of historical evidence does not back these claims appears not to stand in the way of these "historians." After all what does evidence have to do with anything when "facts" can be created and more rigorous historians can be dismissed as Marxists, secularists, anti-Hindu or ignorant of the caste system. For instance, in a glowing review of Elst's work Negationism in India, A. Ghosh writes that the view advocated by many Indian historians, including the Marxist M. N. Roy, that Islam was welcomed into India because it brought equality and respect to lower classes, is based on an incorrect understanding of the caste system. Not surprisingly, the main proponents of the new history are upper caste Hindus.

"They want to omit any uncomfortable references to Hindus and merely glorify Hindu culture in the name of Indian culture," says Professor Arjun Dev, a prominent historian. "This version of the past is crucial to their political and religious ideology of Hindu supremacy. They will go to any lengths to achieve this, even put forth a fake, invented past."

And it is not only proponents of the Hindutva movement that have been guilty of adding and deleting from history. Indeed, as some historians such as Professor Partha S. Gosh have pointed out even some of India's secular "historians have, in their enthusiasm to show that Muslim rulers were secular-minded, bent over backwards to prove that those rulers were not communal." There is no denying that many crimes were perpetrated by Muslims, some perhaps even in the name of Islam, but to paint Islam and Muslims with the broad brush used by the saffron brigade is unjustified, baseless and bigoted. At the same time history should not be whitewashed for the sake of political correctness. As the Bombay High Court ruled in a 1967 case (Anant Janardan v. State): "History is not to serve as a handmaid of a particular school of thought. History must be impartial and objective. To rewrite history according to the views which are popular or which are necessary for bolstering up nationalistic egoism or jingoism, is perversion of history."

It is worth noting that the IHC also set up a second committee to review history texts used in states that will not be accepting NCERT texts as a protest to the BJP led revisions. The IHC pointed out that there were errors in these texts that needed to be corrected as well. But the academic body drew attention to a clear distinction: While the NCERT books contain ideological slants and factual errors; the texts not influenced by the Hindutva movement did not suffer from these handicaps. In the latter case, the mistakes were more in the process of translation or inadvertent errors.

The Hindutva agenda is clearly driven by an agenda other than objective research. "[Communal history] is not motivated by genuine concerns of the progress of the discipline though changing interpretations which are integral to the advance in the discipline," notes a Times of India editorial, "it is a religious approach based on falsification and fabrication of evidence."

Their ultimate goal is nothing other than to marginalize the contribution of Indian Muslims. Obviously, a marginalized community is easier to alienate and cleanse. However, it seems that the ease and speed with which they have been able to propagate their revisionist theorists suggests that there is not enough resistance and challenge to the Hindutva mythmaking.

The international community, particularly the West, justifiably expressed its shock and opposition to the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban but our silence on the safronisation of Indian history is deafening. Clearly, the secular and liberal forces in India cannot fight this battle alone.


Faisal Kutty is a Toronto-based lawyer and writer.  He is also a columnist for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.  He serves as legal counsel to a number of leading Muslim organizations and as General Counsel for the Canadian-Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA).


  Category: Asia, Life & Society
  Topics: Government And Politics, History, India, Taj Mahal
Views: 15638

Related Suggestions

 
COMMENTS DISCLAIMER & RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
The opinions expressed herein, through this post or comments, contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessarily those of IslamiCity. These are offered as a means for IslamiCity to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission of being an educational organization. The IslamiCity site may occasionally contain copyrighted material the use of which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. IslamiCity is making such material available in its effort to advance understanding of humanitarian, education, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and such (and all) material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.


Older Comments:
PRAVEEN FROM INDIA said:
mr faisal.....
please open your eyes and try to see with open mind....you will know the truth
2010-03-28

GIRISH SINGHAL FROM INDIA said:
Did Mr. Faisal Kutty visit any of the sites and tried to verify the facts?... Just one visit to a very public building, so called Qutub Minar and its surrounding architecture with a view to minutely examine thing with open mind (as a human discoverer) would be enough to make him mad. As ones own belief if proven contrary can make a person feel helpless and non-existent. Human existence is the existence of his beliefs.
2009-07-07

BDDF FROM XCBCXBX said:
If so many people say that history has been perverted to suit their needs, it could be true and looked upon with an open mind, rather then outrightly rejecting such claims. After all, such outright rejection also amounts to narrow mindedness only...
2009-04-19

SAURAV BASU FROM INDIA said:
The author is recommended to avoid spreading the veil of ignorance over some ignorant islamic fundamentalists buoyed by an ultra aggressive self righteousness, thanks to these marxist and nehruvian historians who have resorted to every possible lies, deceit and historical forgery to legitamise and whitewash the islamic holocaust in India.

Before, indulging in mud slinging on such an eminent personality as R C Majumdar, arguably the greatest indian historian ever; the author should examine his own credentials which are soiled with the flag of islamic terror and petty xenophobia against brahmins. MR Kutty is even unaware that R C Majumdar's world renowed 3 volume text, on History of the freedom movement was shelved at the last minute by the communal education minister of free India, Maulana Azad, pampered by Nehru. Majumdar's 11 volume History and culture of the Indian people was funded by K M Munshi and published by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, represents the finest historical work on Indian civilization till date for its objectivity, breadth of knowledge and scholarly interpretation while dealing with myriad controversial aspects of Indian History
2007-04-20

ASHUTOSH DIXIT FROM INDIA said:
Your views that Qutub Minar is a minaret to adjacent mosque seem to be far-fetched. Could you please show another example of a mosque that has much taller minaret/s than itself? I have visited the complex recently and was apalled to see the destruction carried out by the invaders. It is really sad that we still carry their names as builders who infact destroyed the cities and temples of a rich civilization.
2007-01-22

TEG BAHADUR FROM USA said:
This article is obviously written without proper knowledge of Hinduism or India.

Anyone that has ever studied India's history will notice that Hindu culture was suppressed and twisted by the British and the Muslim Moguls for years. Only now are th people finally revising and re-publsihing their history the way that it SHOULD be.
2005-04-15

SAMEER SAWDEKAR FROM INDIA said:
Those of you who were residents of Mumbai[formerly Bombay],would've easily gauged the magnitude of the hatred in the hearts and the campaigns in the Hindutva camp and saffron politics.
In 1993,I remember,I -- an Ambedkarite Buddhist -- was in a Muslim school.But still I had no trouble and apprehensions from the Muslim community nor the Muslim locality located in the very vicinity.I remember on a day when only 2 students,my friend,Anirudh -- a Punjabi Hindu -- and I were the only ones to come to our class of 11 students and all the rest were absent.All absent were of course Muslims.
By just this incident it is clear that a conscious effort is being propagated by the Hindu chauvinists to promote hatred towards Muslims and Christians in order to create a Brahminical Social Order in India.
No wonder you'll find more non-Muslims websites preaching hatred and heaping scorn at the Muslims than vice-versa.
Those who haven't been in Mumbai in 92-93,would undoubtedly know what they have missed -- known as Muslim Fraternity.
2003-04-28

JOHN HAMMER FROM ENGLAND said:
Great article.
2003-01-20

AMIN FROM USA said:
Jamil,
we are not polite to people because we like them or their view but to show others by example how it is appropriate to behave. If John disagrees with us and won't listen to reason, or answer logical fact based comments it is not a problem. We present facts to help maybe help people with flawed opinions come to more accurate conclusions. We also give them to help other like minded people to defend their own opinions. There is no place for rudeness. Our job is not to change someones mind if he has already decided to support an idea no matter what it is to try but more to help and support our allies in our faith.
2003-01-18

ZAKIR HUSSAIN FROM CANADA said:
I really appreciate ur comments on the Safronisation of Indian History Elicits Deafening Silence .I want to add to the topic that u have not included the plight of the Gujarat Muslims during the recent centre sponsered riots.
Also i would like to add that the present government in anti-muslim govt. and it wants to totally remove muslims from the country and make India a so called Hindu Rashtra.
India, once governed by Muslims was a peaceful country and now it is ruled by so called secularist.
2003-01-18

IRFANA FROM INDIA said:
It is shocking to read the magnitude of the hatred of the Hindutva party towards the Muslims and Islam and chilling to know the lengths to which they will go to rationalize their massacre of the Muslims.

The international community needs to raise its voice against this vehemently enough to be heard and to put a stop to this propagation of falsehood. The next generation will grow up having no sympathy with each other and mutual respect and tolerance will disappear from the face of the Earth.

No longer will children of different faiths play with each other, with no differences but of speed and agility amongst them. The innocence of children is being stolen and the idealism of the youth destroyed by this falsification of history.

2003-01-17

MONTANA SKIES FROM USA said:
Lick your wounds John.. see you at the next ring.
2003-01-17

AZAD FROM US said:
Those who wants to know more can refer these sites:
http://www.geocities.com/indianfascism/fascism/rss_what_is_it.htm

http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/2002/FEH/index.html

Wake up world! Before you'll be forced to sleep!!!

Thanks!
2003-01-17

JAMIL FROM USA said:
Johny dear, Montana Skies is right, it is not worth being polite to people like you, sick, insulting people, who dont see reason nor ever want to because the basic intention is not clean.

Fact nos. 1, Abraham(PBUH) was not the first monotheist Prophet of God in the world, the first was the father of mankind Adam (PBUH). Then there were many after him and before Abraham. I dont have to name to list, look at your scriptures and you will find it.

Secondly, Islam did not begin with Prophet Mohammed, the message of one Almighty is sealed by him. It began with Prophet Adam (PBUH). You want to justify your purity, your lot being the chosen one and thus make Hagar appear the exiled partner of Abraham. I am not going into history to let you know the facts, but I am going to tell you one thing, just look at us, how we respect Ishmaeil and Israel, both sons of Abraham and how you constantly only insult. Now let me ask you one thing, why would the Israeli's be the chosen people of God, he created everyone of us, regardless of our place of origin, all are a creation of One God. If you only understood, God repeatedly tried to make mankind not deviate from belief in one God and to follow his command, you would understand Islam. A person is loved by God by his belief in him, his deeds, his actions and not be a clan, country or state.

You think you are good and respectable? How can you be, when you dont even respect others? We dont criticise you for your beliefs, because God says, there is no compulsion in belief and each one is responsible for his own deeds. Only our deeds and belief in him that save us or destroy us. It is very simple. Why not just follow what you believe in and leave the rest to Our creator to judge and accept. That is what we muslims belief in and follow.
2003-01-17

SHUJA SYED FROM TORONTO, CANADA said:
To John Norman:

Was Jesus God or Son of God?

Shuja
2003-01-16

ZAHID FROM CANADA said:
We have to do lot of real Dawah work in India (to Muslims and non Muslims), this real dawa activicities have been blocked by ignorant groups like Tablighies, they mislead muslims in to dark. I am confident by showing real practical Islam to Hindus we can attract many converts who are oppressed by higher castes and at the same time we need to erase the misconceptions (historical, political and social) about Islam in muslims, and educate them about their rights. One good thing about south (India) is the people are more educated, so the more we supply right information the better it be in the interest of Muslims and India as whole. So invest in distributing literature.

Secondly, as we are at a point where just Dawah work is not enough for our safety, we need to have an alliance with Naxlites groups (especially around Hyderabad) to get prepared to defend out self in situations like what happen in Gujrat. We cannot trust the local government which is supporting BJP in center. And we know from Gujrat even the most loyal Muslim (of Gujrat) to so called Indian "democracy" can be brutally killed with the support of government forces.
2003-01-16

MONTANA SKIES FROM USA said:
John Norman:

Didn't I ask you to show us with chapter and verse where it is unequivically stated that Ibraham was a Jew?

Didn't I ask you to tell us why Abraham would declare Isaac, and all his progeny as Jews and leave out of this honor Ishmael his oldest.

Well, reviewing your last response you wrote things to the extent;

1. Islam = Mormonism, which, doubtlessly = still-ignorant (and loving it) John Norman.

2. That Muslims want to "Make" every one Muslim, to which I respond:
Can I make you eat something you don't like?
Can I make you jump and dance for me?
can I make you make a fool of yourself? (No help is needed here.)

A little banter. But, seriously, John we invite, that's all. And I will take issue with any Muslim who gainsays that; Ch.2 vs. 256:" There is no compulsion in religion." If you read the Quran (God forbid and parish the thought) you will see numerous 'invitations' to people: statements like 'if they examine it', 'come let us ponder', don't they think' and so on -mere invitations.
Hey I didn't know that cause of the uproar in Italy; those guys should have been more tactful and careful not to offend the sensibility of Christians.

Ok, back to the business of truth-finding: I want that verse John, and I want the version of the OT or Tanakh or Telmud whence it came. There is no shame in saying "I f--d up and spoke glibly and pronounced on grave matters I shouldn't have tampered with;" we are forgiving.
2003-01-16

ISMAIL ALAM FROM CANADA said:
Mr. Shuja i agree with you. This is the strategy lacking among Muslims not only in India but even in North America. We keep to ourselves away from the "kufaar." Imagine the situation if the Prophet had kept to himself in his own cocoon?
2003-01-16

SHUJA SYED FROM TORONTO, CANADA said:
According to Dilip Kumar, the greatest actor of India, Muslims will be history in the near future. After Gujrat, the prime target of RSS is Hyderabad. The plan is to completely destroy the Muslim culture of Hyderabad. We Muslims can still turn the tables by becoming socially active. Share your goodness with Hindus. Explain them our values and religion. Form local and social committees of Hindus and Muslims. Connect with your Hindu neighbors. Jamat e Islami has done a marvelous job in this regard. We cannot confine ourselves to Mosques and Madarsaas by wearing some type of clothes. Islam is for everybody. Only 3% Brahmins are creating the problem. Unfortunately, they are at the helm. In order to survive, we need to connect our neighbors, our co-workers, teach our children to explain our position to their Hindu friends. Invite them to iftar in the Mosques. Come out of the rituals and expand socially. Time is running out!

Shuja Syed
2003-01-15

SURYADHARMA FROM USA said:
Those who take exception to the word "constipated" in my post (9482), please re-read it carefully. I used "constipated" to describe the mindset of racists and advocates of ethnic supremacy. I am NOT referring to any faith or religion. People should be able to differentiate between race and faith, or ethnicity and religion. My comments were addressed to the former issue: race/ethnicity.

If anyone thinks that a racial supremacist--be he/she from the White, Black, Aryan, Jew, Arab, Chinese...or Gungan race--represents a mental and social framework that is healthy and desirable; well, you certainly have the right to that view. I find the advocacy of racial superiority unpalatable. I view those who think that their race or ethnic group is supreme above all others as suffering from constipated mind. Meaning: their thinking is impeded, blocked, clogged, and constricted. The mind has been so densely packed with accumulated illusions of grandeur that it becomes rigid. Thus, those who are afflicted with this disease become stiff-necked. Na'udzubilLlah!

The supremacist mentality is not restricted to one particular race, nor is it confined to matters of social relations. The underlying arrogance--the Iblisian complex--permeates into other aspects of life. Like Iblis, the supremacist thinks he (and his people alone) commands the right to the first and foremost position: be it in worship, possessions or social status. In their arrogance, they try to limit God's generosity; they fail to understand that His Mercy encompasses all. In their obstinacy, they wish to curb God's sovereignty; they did not understand that He gives to whom He wills and He takes from whom He wills.

"O humanity! Behold, We have created you from a male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may come know one another. Surely, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one most pious. Indeed, God is Omniscient, Aware." (Qur'an, 49:13)

2003-01-15

AMIN FROM USA said:
Constipated? Come on can't you do better than that?
Mr Norman Why do you only respond to people who insult you? You don't respond to anyone who presents valid evidence/facts. If something isn't true then state why it isn't true what the truth is and why this is more credible than the other thing.
Guy's don't insult Judaism provide evidence
and examples from history and from their holy book and studies done on it you can't use the Quran because they won't the arguement to be valid, since they don't believe the Quran is valid. First you must discredit differing opinions than bring out your own basis in the Quran.
2003-01-15

DESI GANDU said:
Dr. Maleha dont try to cover up for Hindu fascists. Shouting out a few names cannot whitewash the systematic campaign by these fanatics to destroy Gandhi's legacy..or whats left of it.
2003-01-15

RAFAT ALAM FROM CANADA said:
Well Done!
This is the truth. I am from India and go there often. I have been living in Canada for 32 years. I see the changes in every visit. Mutilation of muslim history and economic suppression are the major weapons in the systematic cleansing of muslims. It is happening at the unconscious level and unfortunately muslims over there will probably never wake up to it. It is happening in such a subtle manner that if you live there you can never put your finger on the Hindutva movement. But what can be done? Probably nothing! WhY? Because every muslim in India consciously or sub-consciously KNOWS one thing. And that is they have no say in what happens to them. A very unfortunate situation but thats the way it is. By design of course. History makes people proud, therefore mutilate it. In the next twenty years muslim youth growing in India will have no sense of who they are and combined with economic suppression, they will only wonder why they were not born as brahmins. It is a gloomy prognosis but lets not be in denial. The only way is to get muslims out of India. Hindus are in a mood to call India a Hindu state. They can do without secularism. They do not have to cater to non hindus. We are blessed to be where we are and we must extend our hand to our brothers and sisters over there. There is nothing for them over there. They are people with no status( unofficially). They have no say in the government. Their leaders are self serving double talkers. I have seen some madrassas in Hyderabad, which are glorified orphanages where kids are taught to recite Quran and pray in the most ritualistic manner in the most unhygienic conditions and just enough food to sustain life. God knows what their future is going to be.
2003-01-15

ABDUL QADEER FROM UK said:
THE PERFECTION OF THE FORMULA "M":

The people world over have perfected this formula which has caused a lot of Misery to other people. The main driving force is Money and Malevalence. It is a stepwise approach.

1. Monopolisation of institutions
2. Misinformation
3. Misrepresentation
4. Marginalization
5. Murder and Mayhem

I think people who can afford to resist this should do so in order to stop this familiar pattern. But I also think that such people are becoming rarer and rarer because MATERIALISM is ruling the world.

I also think that this is an ongoing epic struggle between materialism and spiritualism that started with the advent of mankind and will end only with the annihilation of mankind. The faces have changed over the millenia but the characters and the theme are the same.

2003-01-15

ZULFIQAR FROM ENGLAND said:
Advani Saheb has this great phobia and inferiority complex.

We are living in strange times, wait till advani brigade declares What God? What nature? the Sun the Stars the Universe was all built by my great great grndfather Ullu Advani the greatest Hindu of all!

Advani Saheb and his followers are product of hate and envy and I pray that we should not mistake them for Hindu.

We have great Hindus who are/were great intelectuals, architects, great philosophers. Any visitor to India can see such great temples, palaces etc which are great pieces of marvel and artisanship.

No sensible Hindu would like to own Muslim's heritage as one of Hindus. Also there are so many monuments and architectures that has been the joint efforts of hindus, muslims and other sect in India.

History is the only way Advani can prove that he is son of his father so he better not trample with history.

I asked one of my Indian friend about the mental state of Advani. The answer seemed little odd.

"advani is not that educated, he takes history as his story!"

2003-01-15

JOHN NORMAN FROM UK said:
Suradhyarma: I take exception to your language. My religion is not "constipated". I don't think yo will make any friends that way. You seem to be not unlike Adel Smith, the muslim who was beaten up in a TV studio in Italy (Bologna?). He and his friends have been going around shouting from the rooftops that Jesus was merely "a corpse stuck on a wooden cross etc etc...". He has managed to insult millions of Christians and millions of Italians and brought Islam into disrepute. Calling Judaism a "constipated" religion only confirms for most of us non-Muslims that, contrary to the idea that muslims try to propagate, Islam is fundamentally contemptuous of every other faith other than its own.

Thanks anyway for confirming to me that Abraham was the founder of the Jewish family. If yiu're still not sure, try reading the Tanach

2003-01-14

SURYADHARMA FROM USA said:
To that ludicrous claim (9408) that Muslim rewrote Jewish history by making Abraham and the other prophets--upon them be peace--"muslim"... Well, what is wrong with calling them "muslims"? If people don't already know--"muslim" is the Arabic word for a person who submits to God: one whose worship and service is solely dedicated to the One God, the Lord and Sustainer of all. As to the claim that Abraham, alaihi salam, was a "Jew", well...somebody ought to pick up a good dictionary and check the etymology of the word "Jew". Along with that, why not brushed up one's Biblical history (check out: The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible, c.2001).

Those who cannot accept prophet Abraham, alaihi salam, as a muslim has not been able to grasp the awesomeness of his legacy. He is not and cannot be made hostage to a constipated racist or ethnocentric mentality. Abraham is the exemplar for all--all those who wish to worship the One God with humility and sincerity.


"Who but a fool would renouce the faith of Abraham? We chose him above others in the world, and in the Hereafter he is among the righteous. When his Lord said to him: "Submit!" he responded: "I have submitted to the Lord of the Worlds." And this was the legacy Abraham left to his sons and so did Jacob: "O my children! God has chosen the faith for you; then die not except as those who have submitted to Him." Or were you present when death came to Jacob? He said to his children: "What will you worship when I am gone?" They replied: 'We will worship your God and the God of your forefathers, Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac: the One God. To Him we will surrender ourselves.' That was a nation which has passed away. Theirs is what they earned, and yours is what you have earned. You shall not be questioned about what they did." (Qur'an 2: 130-134)
2003-01-14

DR. MALEHA MEMON-BROWN FROM USA said:
Mr. Kutty keep referring to authors and writers who have based their works on historical records, especially Muslim court historians, as facist, etc., he fails to mention that one of the most regarded historians, Will Durant, in this "Story of Civilization, Vol. 1, Our Oriental Heritage" makes the same point purely by quoting the ancient historians themselves. We praise Durant for writing so favorably about Mohammed (pbuh) and Islam, but 'overlook' the same works on Indian history. Is it that anytime anything is against Islam that it is "biased"? Maybe we should look into our own history books of Islamic countries and try to purge them of their hateful 'kafir' language.
2003-01-14

ZAINUL RAZA FROM INDIA said:
Rewriting history,
only if man could just rewrite history only on paper. But as goes the saying history repeats its self and the price paid by humanity is double. Only if this is under stood we will have a sorrow free world . For Allah gives a chance to each civilization to rule till they dont trouble the innocent. For when the cry of a innocent man reaches Allah there is natural distruction.
This is what is to be understood before troubling any one. Thus the whole human race as one should under stand that no tryant shall go un punished in the eyes of Allah.
More important than the other religens it should be understood and practiced by our own brothers who have in their praise for power started respecting people who grow on the politics of hatred. Without being disrespectful to any one in perticular lets sit down and arrive at a society that the world wants to copy and follow.
Only then we will have turth prevailing over evil and inshallah we will have a better world for the generations to come.
salam
2003-01-14

SYED HASSAN FROM U.K. said:
It is a sad reflection on the intelectual bankruptcy of BJP.

But one should relish and champion the Indian press and secular intelectuals who are resisting and fighting against this kind of fascist BJP's effort to falsely bring grandeur.

Hindu religion does not need such stupid efforts for its justification.

There is lot of good thing about hindu religion and their own history is also not short of great acheivements. A true Hindu should not be little its own acheivments by trying to own other peoples history and successes. BJP and its follower clearly seem to be in awe of Muslims and their this inferiority complex is leading them to indulge in such foolish inane and stupid policy.

I for one have great faith on our Indian brothers and soon we will see BJP deposited to the political bins.
2003-01-14

MOHAMMED SAFIULLAH FROM USA said:
Safronisation of Indian history by fascist Hindus is continuous and on going process. Fabrication and clinging to a distorted view is nothing new in India.

Attitudes like these in the past cost India very dearly. Hindus went into dark ages for nearly a millennium. One thousand years ago, the famous Scientist, Geographer & Linguist Burhan-ul-Haq Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Beruni (362 - 443 A.H. / 973-1051 A.D.) during his travel observed very peculiar attitudes prevailing throughout north India.

Al Beruni was born in Khwarizm (Present day west Caspian Sea region) and traveled in India with Sultan Mehmood Ghaznavi around 1000 A.D.

In the opening chapter of his famous book Kitab-ul-Hind, Al Beruni writes......

"... Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no king like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited, and stolid. They are by nature niggardly in communicating that which they know, and they take the greatest possible care to withhold it from men of another caste among their own people, still much more, of course from any foreigner............"

When speaking of Hindu knowledge, Al Beruni's observations are:

"They are in a state of utter confusion, devoid of any logical order and in the last instance always mixed up with the silly notions of crowd.......

I can only compare their mathematical and astronomical literature, as far as I know it, to a mixture of pearl shells and sour dates, or of pearl and dung, or of costly crystals and common pebbles. Both kind of things are equal in their eyes, since they cannot raise themselves to the methods of a strictly scientific deduction."

(Kitabl-ul-Hind by Al Beruni translated from Arabic by Edward C. Sachau. W.W. Norton & CO, Inc; NY; 1971. SBN 393 00568 2)

The fascist Hindus are again reverting back to haughtiness and ignorance. Knowledgeable Hindus should get up and stop this nonsense.

Mohammed
2003-01-14

PARVEZ FROM USA said:
yazid ... it is because we havent learnt the lessons from history. In fact mulsim youth does not know their own history. Muslims in india dont know what happened in Turkey, and the ones in Algeria dont know what happened in India. We cannot get a global picture.
this allows them to be compalcent about the doings of their rulers. they feel that the obvious divide and rule policy may in fact bring some benifits to them. It is time we understood our collective history as a whole particularly our history of the last 500 years and specially the history of the last hundred years.
giving speeches, writing articles, organising symposisums we will reach about 1 percent of the muslim world in say 2 decades. We need a much better vehicle for putting our views and opinoins in proper prespective. A medium which can have a dramatic impact in just a couple of years.

2003-01-13

PARVEZ FROM USA said:
We have a many people in the main stream media as well as in the various audio visual arts. We also have a very good dept of audio visual arts in the Jamia Millia university.
why shouldnt we put together our message interspersed in form of popular movies. Muslims are there in every aspect of movie making, also intelivision and in fact are leaders in it.
2003-01-13

PARVEZ FROM USA said:
I think the problem we muslims have is we do not set the debate but answer it. And we will keep on loosing it. Instead of going about answering to critisism we should change the nature of debate. We need to understand how modern media works and how it impacts thinking.
Instead of bleating constantly about Palestine a movie could be made which instead of showing the refugee camps and the oppression shows the origin of the conflict and bring home the hard reality by soft means. A string of stories of peoples life before 1948 linking each real character to his exact location inside isreal. Justapoxing them with the present settlers and the life of the people now dispalced will create a impact that no amount of TV shots with blood and gore will create. since it etches the reality and brings into focus the occupation and the story of where it all started. I hope some one takes up on such projects and gets some major organisation to air them.
Similarly the situation in the Middle East the lack of democracy or the presence of dictatorships is some how blamed on Islam. How about a movie which pans the 1916 break up of the Ottoman empire by inciting muslims peoples against it and promise of freedom and subsequent actual reward of colonialisation and subsequent constant suppourt of Secular but Tarranyical regimes. Put in a humuan context to it and watch it become a intresting movie.

Perhaps what is needed is a Muslim Media Project initially drawing from the strength of various muslim institutions and individuals who across the globe in media and also actively encouraging Youth to take up media as a profession.

Nothing impacts better than a audio visual media and nothing better impacts a history in a form of a entertaining movie.

Discussion forums, speechs at muslim gatherings. Kind words at inter faith gatherings have small impact compared to a normal movie, defense in talk shows have small impact Such methods could also be applied in Indian muslim
2003-01-13

YAZID FROM USA said:
Salaam-

PLEASE! I cannot believe you guys are posting something like this.

I'm sure Faisal Kutty has his reasons for wanting to write this article but there are other more PRESSING issues at this moment in time concerning Islam and muslims.

For example, EVERY MUSLIM country in the mid-east is selling it's soul to the US by letting them use it's lands to attack Iraq

WRITE ABOUT THAT!
2003-01-13

S.M.PASHA FROM INDIA said:
A SCINTILLATING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING ARTICLE WORTH BEING TRANSLATED INTO OTHER LANGUAGES LIKE FRENCH, ARABIC ETC., SO THAT THE WHOLE WORLD MAY KNOW/
2003-01-13

JAWED MOHSEN FROM USA said:
We the followers of Islam need to vow to legally
immediately stop any corruption & falsification
of muslim history in India through International arousal & stop BJP forever to distort historty in India & stop muslim bashing forever. Insha Allah,
Allah will help muslims to protect the truth.
2003-01-13

MONTANA SKIES FROM USA said:
My dear brother Jamil -re: John Norman

I understand what you're saying, but brother please understand that there is a line, a very fine line, between being polite toward those who are earnestly seeking the truth, those who are misled and are not sure, and between being firm with those who are actually attacking you -every day, every hour, whose lives are now revolving around destroying people whether physically as with the IDF (or should I say IOF, D for defensive being now utterly offensive to every human sensibility and should be replaced with O for occupying or oppressive) or, as in the case of John Norman, mentally. He's a grade A, certified, repeat Muslim basher. As in the words of God: "and let them (your enemies) find fierceness in you (your response.)"Yes, be polite, but I've only reciprocated his past caustic invectives and harangues.

Everybody please, show this man no mercy in your responses because anyone who revels in the murder of innocent civilians is, himself, devoid of mercy. He may write under this name or a pseudonym but the attacking is transparent and clear.

I'm sorry my brother for my rough edge, I've always had it and, especially now, cannot afford to temper it while iconoclastic intellectual mercenaries lacerate me and hurt my siblings.
2003-01-13

JOHN NORMAN FROM UK said:
Montana Skies (nice nom-de-plume, by the way) and Gmax: Historical fact:the founder of Islam was the Prophet Mohammed, not Abraham. Abraham was the first monotheist and founder of a family and tribe and,eventually,nation. The name Hebrew may have been derived from Hapiru and/or "eber", from "across.. the river". "Yehoodi" derives from Judea, one of the 2 Jewish Kingdoms. Ishmael was Abraham's eldest son from his handmaiden and servant, Hagar. Both were exiled and Ishmael went on to become the forefather of the Arabs. I know Muslims want everyone in the world to become Muslim. It's not going to happen. You are a bit like the Mormons: baptise everyone who is dead and make them Mormons. You should check with the Chruich of Latter Day Saints in Salt Lake City and see if your ancestors have not now been made Mormons. Frankly, I think that such actions are hugely insulting. You should know better.
2003-01-13

GMAX FROM USA said:
Thank you Montana Skies ! For the longest period of time John Norman claimed he wasn't Jewish.....but his ugly zionism and scatalogical posts exposed him for what he really is. I guess he's now "reinventing" himself.
Is it any wonder that the Hindu Brahmin mafia and Jewish terrorists are now on good terms. These vermin are the scum of the earth.
2003-01-13

MICHAEL TOWNES FROM USA said:
Extremely informative article, thank you for bringing this issue to light. This is a very serious problem and it is of the utmost importance that the information that Mr. Kutty has compiled be spread to a wide audience. I will try my best to assist this effort.
w'salaam
2003-01-13

ABUBACKER MELATTUR FROM UNITED ARAB EMIRATES said:
IT IS REALLY INTRESTING AND WORTHWHILE YOUR WORKS, I APPRECIATE FIRST AND BRING THE REAL PICTURE OF THE SANG PARIWARS ATTITUES AGAINS MUSLIMS AND THEIR REAL FACE BEFORE THE WORLD.
2003-01-13

JAMIL FROM USA said:
Montana Skies, your response to Norman the illiterate mentioned the points correctly, but please, do we muslims have to raise our tone or react sarcastically.
Johny Norman dear, I repeat all Montana Skies wrote, but in a softer tone, Anyone submitting to the Almighty's will is a muslim. And we Thank the Almighty that we never called Moses, Jesus, David and all the prophets of God non-believers (infact for us they are Muslims, same as all believing people and followers of God are called muslims, we call followers of Jesus and Moses Muslims who lived in their times, muslims is not a term used for followers of Prophet Mohammed alone)or ever insult any of them like you do of us and our Prophet (PBUH), that alone should let you think for a minute, how come if muslims are so bad, they have never cracked jokes about Moses, Jesus, Abraham, or anyone of them, mocked them, ridiculed them or anything. Infact we protect them, respect them all equally and believe in each and everyone of them. So the fault is not with us, but we are blamed, funny isn't it? Just as an advise, what you dont understand or know completely, be quite, atleast for the sake of humanity if nothing else, we have enough hatred going around, if you can contribute to peace please do, otherwise dont. Oh, but I forgot, these are Islamic traits, and what would you know about understanding, peace, leaving each one to his beliefs, not criticising others faiths etc. I am sorry Montana, I know I myself could not in the end control my sarcasm.
Assalam alaikum to all.
2003-01-13

MONTANA SKIES FROM USA said:
This John Norman -now he's a Biblical scholar.
Hey mister, show me anywhere in the Pentateuch where it says Abraham was a Jew.

The problem with you and your ilk is, lamentably, the desire to stay ignorant. It is unfathomable that you linger at this site for so long and still don't know what muslim is. It's an adjective meaning submitter -a submitter to God's will. This is what Abraham and his progeny were -simply submitters. It's the quality of every faithful person. Now, do you know what Jew is in Arabic? It is Yehoodi (as in Ehud the Hebrew name) from Had meaning found guidance. The word was not used until the time of Moses, on whose hands God freed the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Until then they were just that -the children of Israel (Jacob.)

Yes, you're allowed to speak, but why make a fool of yourself? Why choose to ignore what glaringly stares you in the eye? For example, you say:" No, he (Abraham) was a Jew. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, King David, Muslims? No, Jews each and every one of them." What about Ishmael??? Who? never heard of him would you say? He's the other son of Abraham (read the OT).

Give me a scholarly answer to this (yes, you may ask your Rabbi):

Would Abraham, or God, ordain Isaac and his offspring as Jews, but not Ishmael?
2003-01-13

AHTESHAM M FROM CANADA said:
In my opinion, India has been hijacked by the BJP and its allies. They have distorted history, committed mass attrocities on the minority communities. Yet they are able to continue this campaign unhindered because the rest of the world is either unaware of their dangerous plans or to busy with other petty things on hand that are far less in magnitude. Your efforts to write such a clear and detailed article on this subject are highly appreciated. I hope the International community wakes up and does something to the political crisis in India before it is too late.
2003-01-12

KAOSAR FROM USA said:
Wow..i'm from india ..well my parents are. and we're muslism and personally this is really pathetic...holocast against the hindus by muslims ..yeah right! maybe Aurngzeb killed a few during his rule but how do they justify what they did to the muslims in gujrat!? i mean really ..come on!And on the top of that to claim the Taj as their own! That really gets to me..anyway great artical!oh and may i ask where u got this info about the whole holocast and stuff..i'd be realy greatful if u could tell me..thanks!
2003-01-12

SHUJA SYED FROM TORONTO, CANADA said:
Nonsense to say the least the comments of Mohamed Noohu. He is putting the cart before the horse. Hindutva has begun in around 1920 when Pakistan was not even in the conceptual process. Azad has blamed "the likes of Nehru" for creating Pakistan in his book "India Wins Freedom". The secular Indira Gandhi has called the Arabian Sea a Hindu Lake, and claimed to have avenged 1000 years of defeats in 1971. Had not for Pakistan's existence, the Muslism of India would have experienced the same fate as of Spain. Despite the failures of Pakistan, it has no doubt become the barricade against India to occupy Sri Lanka, Maldeeves, Burma, Nepal and Bangladesh. Please read "War on top of the World' by Eric Margolis. India has also claimed the gulf oil together with Israel. Today, Pakistan is loaded with nukes have become the stumbling block for Brahmin zealots. We should not be in illusion that with the combined population of Muslims of sub-continent, we would have overcome our problems. We are up against against highly educated, extremely organized, well-informed Hindus. For instance, 250 million Muslims were occupied by 25 thousand British. Such is the state of affairs of Muslims. Instead of blaming the Muslim Kings and Queens, we should blame ourselves first. Come out of the ghettos of ignorance. Participate in Indian social system. Become proactive. Indian Muslims are taking the last breath. Stop blaming Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. If Ahmed Shah Abdali, with his army of 35 thousand can defeat 1 million Marathas, then how come 200 million Muslims are not challenging the dominance of Hindus. Shuja Syed
2003-01-12

JOHN NORMAN FROM UK said:
Seems no worse than the re-writing of Jewish history by the muslims. Abraham a muslim? No, he was a Jew. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, King David, muslims? No, Jews each and every one of them.
2003-01-12

MIR RUWAID ANWAR FROM BANGLADESH said:
excellent article, it just goes to show the hypocrisy attitude of the BJP, on one hand they make these campaigns for the unity and brotherhood of all the indians no matter what relegion he belongs to,while on the other hand they openly persecute the muslims of their nation. i suggest every indian, muslim or non muslim to read this article and judge by themselves.
2003-01-12

MOHAMED NOOHU FROM CAYMAN ISLANDS said:
I believe that the forefathers of the muslims of the sub-continent were the main reason for the events happening in India. The creation of Pakistan in 1947 with the majority of muslims still in India is the root of the cause. It put the Indian Muslims in a corner and still they are paying for that.I can't stop imagining India ,Pakistan and Bangladesh together as a single nation which will not only eliminate the tension between the nations but make the word safronisation irrelevant
2003-01-12

GRENDIZER FROM USA said:
Superb article. Isn't it funny how countries who which brag about being "democratic" also tend to be the ones who have the most skeletons in their closet....India, Israel, Turkey....the US.
I would have liked to have read more about the funding of hindu terrorism by Hindu extremists in the west, particularly those in the IT sector. If the Hindus are so hell bent destroying India's rich and diverse heritage....they should destroy the Taj Mahal...but ofcourse they'll never do that since it brings in the tourism $$$..so now they claim some hindu contructed it.
The current politics in India clearly demonstrate that the nation is far from any democracy, but rather an impoverished nuclear power ruled by the Brahmin mafia which believes in turning the clock back on the country.
2003-01-12

SUHAIB R. FROM CANADA said:
A very laudable effort by Faisal Kutty to expose the activities of the Hindutva brigade in India. These activities are not surprising considering that the roots of Hindutva ideology lie in an admiration for Hitler's and Mussolini's movements of 20th century Europe. As such, the Hindutva ideology's means and ends are very similar to Nazi and Fascist ones.

Hitler lamented, while losing World War Two, that he did not have enough time to raise an entire generation in the Nazi ideology. The Hindutva-fascists seem to be reading Hitler well in their attempt to do an encore in India. The rewriting of history is the primary means through which a fascist India will come into being. The twin goals of Hindutva-ideology: annihilation of Indian minorities (Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits, etc.) and violent annexation of neighboring countries to create a "Greater India" (akin to Hitler's lieberstraum: living space for Germany) would then be more easily achievable. These developments, in an unstable and nuclear-weapons laden part of the world are truly disturbing.

One wonders when the international community will wake up to realizing the real dangers that the Hindutva ideology poses to humanity.
2003-01-11

SHARIF HASSAN FROM BANGLADESH said:
Excellent article. I wish the writer would add (for the benefit of westerners) the fact that the Muslims in India weren't outsiders or ethnically different than the hindus. Or colonizers like the British. They were mainly converts who were oppressed by the higher caste members of their own religion. It's because of this persecution by the hindus that followers of Buddism (which appeared in India much earlier than Islam) had to flee India, resulting in Buddism's spread in Tibet, China and Japan.
2003-01-11