On September 11, 2022, Distt Court, Varanasi pronounced a historic judgement, rejecting the contention of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (which manages Gyanvapi Masjid), questioning the maintainability of the petition seeking the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri and other deities within the Gyanvapi mosque complex at Varanasi. District Judge Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha observed that the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991; Waqf Act, 1995; and Uttar Pradesh Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983, as was being claimed by the Masjid Committee. Expectedly, the Masjid Committee has decided to challenge the judgement in the Allahabad High Court. Self-styled ‘Muslim’ political and ‘religious’ leaders in the meantime, have expressed negative comments about the court judgement, raising the socio-political temperature in the country.

To a generation that has seen turmoil in the country, following attempts at rectification of historical wrongs, this event brings back memories of the charged atmosphere of 1980s and 1990s. The Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, that had its first communal clash in 1855, lingered on for almost 164 years before the Supreme Court resolved it in 2019. Is the social atmosphere in ‘India of tomorrow’ likely to be held to ransom by the old disputes of ‘religious one-upmanship’? Are the Kashi Vishwanath – Gyan Wapi Masjid (Varanasi) dispute and Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi – Shahi Eidgah dispute (Mathura) going to keep the pot boiling over the next century? Is there any way to put out the embers that are scalding the torso of Mother India?

Genesis:
George Santayana has said,​“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” To understand an issue, one needs to trace its historical roots and the path of its genesis. Simply trying to sweep the dirt of history under the carpet would be akin to treating a festering wound with a band-aid! This is what Nehru and his cohorts did, in the name of a convoluted definition of ‘secularism’. A Muslim preacher, who had never attended a proper school or college, became Education Minister of India for the first 11 years of this nation (1947-58). Humayun Kabir, Mohammad Carim Chagla, (long term associate and junior of Jinnah), Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, Syed Nurul Hassan were some of the other luminaries who ensured that Indian History, already distorted by the Europeans, was given a communal twist by the leftist agenda driven ‘historians’ of Delhi. Akbar became Akbar the Great (his acts of Jazia imposition were diluted), History of Delhi Sultanates became the History of Medieval India at the cost of the Cholas and the Vijaynagar Empire; the Ahom Kings who defeated Mogul army 17 times were not even a part of the footnotes. However, as the light of education and independent thinking started percolating, people started resenting this marginalization of the Hindu community and twisted Indian history. Facts started emerging, people started challenging the JNU driven historical interpretations. Late Mr BB Lal and Mr KK Muhammed, the famous Archaeologists produced irrefutable evidence of a Temple structure existing under the disputed structure at Ayodhya. History needs acceptance, not living in denial.

As per various Hindu organizations and historians, there are records of over 40,000 Temples of Hindu/ Buddhist/ Jain faith that were looted, damaged, desecrated or destroyed by the armies of Religion of Peace! From Mohammad bin Qasim’s conquest of Sind (708-11) to Tipu Sultan (1751-99) in deep South, most Muslim invaders and rulers made it a practice to demolish places of worship of non-Muslims as a State policy. I have seen the ruins of Martand in Kashmir - the handiwork of a rabidly bigoted despot, Sultan Sikandar Shahmiri (1389-1413), known as Sikandar Butshikan (breaker of idols), who singlehandedly destroyed hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist Temples in Kashmir, forcing Hindus of Kashmir to either convert to Islam or get killed. Across India, we see signs of such destruction. Once, at the Ajanta caves, an American tourist told me,” You guys need to be thankful that these caves got hidden for some centuries. Otherwise, who knows what havoc Aurangzeb would have wrecked on these caves!

Francois Gautier in his book ‘Rewriting Indian History’ (1996) wrote,
“The massacres perpetuated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger than the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis or the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese.” Who in India can forget the torture suffered by Guru Arjan Dev Ji at the hands of Mogul King Jahangir (1606 CE) for his failure to convert to Islam? And the martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji at the hands of the cruel and fanatic Aurangzeb on November 24, 1675 CE – for his refusal to convert to Islam. The entire life of Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1666-1708 CE) was spent in fighting Islamic bigotry; he sacrificed his 4 sons in the process but did not yield to Aurangzeb. This is what our Muslims intellectuals need to acknowledge, not deny!

SRINAGAR CITY REDUCED TO ELEVEN HOUSEHOLDS....1323 CE (Painting by Pt Ravi Dhar)

Persian chronicle “Baharistan-i-Shahi” tells us that a cruel Mongol Chieftain Zulqadar Khan or Zulchu, reduced Srinagar to mere 11 households through wanton killings, loot and plunder.

Incidentally, such acts of vandalism, in the name of Islam, have not been witnessed in India alone – wherever the flaming Sword of Islam went, it brought about death and destruction. Arab invasion of Europe (711 CE) led not only to conquest of large tracts of land but also to wholesale conversion of Churches to Mosques. Hagia Sophia, the Christian Cathedral built in 537 CE at Constantinople (now Istanbul) was converted into a Mosque in 1453. It was declared a National Museum by the revolutionary and reformist statesman Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1935 as a symbol of ‘secular’ Turkey. The decision was reversed in July 2020 and the Museum again got converted to a Mosque, in step with the Islamist policy of current regime. Likewise, destruction of Zoroastrian Temples of Fire in Iran started with

the Muslim conquest of Persia(633–654 AD). Interesting to note that the High Priest of Jihadi Islam, Mohammad Iqbal has praised these acts of vandalism in his iconic poem ‘Shikwa’ and I quote:

Thay Hameen Aik Teray Ma'ar K Aaraoon Mein,
Khushkiyoon Mein Kabhi Lartay, Kabhi Daryaaon Mein

Dee Azanein Kabhi Europe K Kaleesaoon Mein
Kabhi Afreeqa K Taptay Hoay Sehraon Mein
Shaan Aankhon Mein Na Jajti Thi Jahandaaron Ki
Kalima Parhtay Thay Hum Chaaon Mein Talwaaron Ki

Qaum Apni Jozaro Maal Jahan Per Marti, But-Farooshi Ke Iwaz But-Shikni Kiyoon Karti! (Reference is to Mehmood of Ghazni who was requested by locals and Pandits not to desecrate Somnath Temple and take gold instead but he preferred to be an idol-breaker)!

Tu He Keh Day K Ukhara Dar Khyber Kiss Nai
Shehr E Qaiser Ka Jo Tha Is Ko Kiya Sir Kiss Nai?
Toray Makhlooq Khudaoon K Paiker Kiss Nai?
Kaat Ker Rakh Diyeah Kuffar K Lashkar Kiss Nai?
Kiss Nai Thanda Kia Aatish Kada E Iran Ko?

Loosely translated:
We alone were the marshals of Thy troops! We were fighting on land as well as on the seas (for you); We offered Namaz in the Cathedrals of Europe and in the scorching African deserts. We never cared for the grandeur of monarchs but recited ‘Kalmah’ in the shade of swords. If we (Muslims) had been greedy of worldly wealth, we would have become idol sellers, not idol breakers! Tell us (O Allah), who uprooted the gates of Khaibar (mountain pass that led to undivided India from Afghanistan)? Who conquered the city of Qaisar (Caeser)? Who destroyed the images/ idols of false gods? Who slaughtered the armies of Kafirs(infidels)? Who extinguished the Fire Temples of Iran?

While the poem is in an expression of grievances (against Allah), it is a telling comment on the mindset and thought process of Islam and Jihad. It justifies destruction of the 6th century statutes of Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan by Taliban (2001). Or what happened in Anantnag (Kashmir) in 1986 and the Ethnic cleansing of Kafir Hindus in Kashmir Valley in 1990. It has happened in Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan, South-East Asia – wherever Islam rode in. It is happening in Kenya, Nigeria, France, Belgium, the UK, Horn of Africa, Somalia etc. even today!

Add to this the sense of hurt amongst Hindus & Sikhs due to partition of the country on religious lines. Muslim League led by Aga Khan, Iqbal and later Jinnah first demanded a separate electorate for Muslims and later, creation of a separate country for Muslims. Partition resulted in massive transfer of populations (16 million?) and large-scale communal killings (two million?) mostly in Punjab and Bengal. Hindus and Sikhs migrated from areas given to the newly formed Pakistan while a segment of Muslims left India for the new country. Hindus and Sikhs of Punjab and Bengal were bitter at the loss of their homes and hearths, for no fault of theirs. Violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion between the communities involved as well as between India and Pakistan that affects their relationship to this day. But the worst part is that not all Muslims from India moved to the ‘new’ Land of Islam for the Pure! The portion that did not move to Pakistan in 1947 has grown to almost 18% of population today and, is now demanding special privileges and exclusive laws (a repeat of pre-partition era?). They are asking for exemptions and immunity from civil norms (wearing Hijab in schools, education in Madrasas etc), not adhering to laws passed by the Indian Parliament (CAA, Triple Talaq etc) and even not accepting decisions of various courts (Ram Janmabhoomi, Kashi Vishwanath etc). Needless to say, such obduracy not only hurts the State but creates ill-will amongst different sections of society.

Way Forward:
The only way forward, the way to reconciliation between two communities that have, for over last ten centuries been living as neighbours, would demand maturity from both sides of the communal divide. To my mind, the following steps can help:

Truth and Reconciliation Commission: We have the classical example of Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, set up in 1995 to help heal the country and bring about a reconciliation of its people by uncovering the truth about human rights violations that had occurred during the period of apartheid. Its emphasis was on gathering evidence and uncovering information—from both victims and perpetrators—and not on prosecuting individuals for past crimes, which is how the commission mainly differed from the Nürnberg trials that prosecuted Nazis after World War II. In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu,” The South African TRC represented a major departure from the approach taken at the Nürnberg trials. It was hailed as an innovative model for building peace and justice and for holding accountable those guilty of human rights violations. At the same time, it laid the foundation for building reconciliation among all South Africans. Many other countries dealing with post conflict issues have instituted similar methodologies for such commissions, although not always with the same mandate. The South African TRC has provided the world with another tool in the struggle against impunity and the search for justice and peace.”

While past can’t be undone, acceptance of past mistakes is often the first step towards a solution. Today’s Muslims can’t be directly held responsible for sins of Aurangzeb or Mehmood of Gazhni or other tyrants – but simultaneously, these characters need not be eulogized as heroes by certain sections of Muslims. What can serve as salve for Hindus is acceptance by Muslims that invaders and bigots, who ruled India in the name of Islam - they committed innumerable sins of torture, of destruction in India and, specifically, on Hindus and Sikhs. There is no reason to glorify Aurangzeb, the destroyer of many, many of Hinduism’s most glorious symbols. There are serious historical proofs that indict Aurangzeb for destroying temples at Varanasi and Mathura. Why defend those acts? Why live in denial?

Other measures that can be discussed for long term social peace are:

1. Allow reconstruction of two remaining(main) temples at Varanasi and Mathura. There is to be no unnecessary and contentious litigation on these two sites from Muslim side.
2. In turn, Hindus shall assure Muslims that no more cases of destruction of Temples/ Gurudwaras shall be raked up. A legal frame work shall need to be built in, making the terms binding for all communities. Hindu Sant Samaj and the RSS have been saying that since 1964.
3. The new law or agreement shall not apply to acts of wanton destruction of Hindu Temples and other properties in Kashmir.
4. An agreement that Muslims shall agree to being treated at par with any other citizen of India, without any separate or exclusive laws. This means that the Article 44 of the Constitution, enshrining the Spirit of the Constitution shall prevail over personal laws of different communities.
5. Any religious community that constitutes up to 5% of India’s total population shall qualify as a Minority under the constitution. This definition alone can get justice for the genuine minorities like the Parsis (0.006%), Jains (0.4%), Buddhists (0.7%), Sikhs (1.7%) and Christians (2.3%).

It is very important for academics and opinion leaders to accept that most of the Muslim population in Indian subcontinent has Hindu roots; invaders did not bring their women along – they married local women after converting them since they were the victors. Muslims shall have to accept that they are Indians first and foremost; that religion is personal and the romantic notion of Iqbal’s Muslim Umma stands rejected by the 57 members of Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). Today’s realpolitik and diplomacy work on the concept of Nation-states; commonality of religion, political philosophy or language may not always work. Disintegration of Pakistan (1971) and USSR (1991) are classical examples. Today, Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim country, does not want to accept Rohingya refugees, even though they are Muslim!

In 1910, Iqbal very romantically wrote:

Chīn o-ʿArab hamārā, Hindūstāṉ hamārā, Muslim haiṉ ham, wat̤an hai, sārā jahāṉ hamārā
China and Arabia are ours; Hindustan is ours; we are Muslims, the whole world is ours

The sooner this romantic notion is given a burial by Muslims in India, that much quickly doors of their acceptance by other communities shall open. Once they accept their identity as Indians and not the pan-Islamic victors’ who ruled India for 1000 years, their socio-economic emancipation shall start, as part of mainstream India. That the concept of 1910 poem runs in face of Iqbal’s own poem of 1904 ‘Saare Jahan se achha’ only reflects the fickleness of a poet. Muslims of India need to realize that their fates are linked to the fate of 130 Crore Indians!