<<<are athiests and maybe communists.>>>
They will be winners finally!
mm
From: umesh sharma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Himendra Thakur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, SP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC: J Kalita <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Assam] Himendra's reply to Saurav
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 16:57:06 +0000 (GMT)
thats an interesting set of arguments. Whats wrong with being a Hindu or Muslim or Christain or Jewish or Sikh "sentimentalist" - though this the first time I have heard this phrase. Does it mean that anyone who loves the main tenets of his faith (or is "sentimental" about it) is bad.It would mean those who dislike such "sentimentalists" (if I got the meaning of the phrase right) are athiests and maybe communists.UmeshHimendra-da wrote:"At this point, I must be allowed to clarify that I am NOT ainvite delegates from Bangladesh and
Hindu-sentimentalist (as accused by Jugal Kalita) and/or I am NOT connected
to Hindutwa people (as accused by Chandan Mahanta.) In fact, I have been
attacked by the Hindutwa group because I am working to stop dowry &
bride-burning which they want to hide. Talking about sentimentalism, in the
dowry & bride-burning conferences, we
Pakistan and discuss how the lives of Muslim brides can be saved. Human
beings are the same everywhere, we can give them love without any
segregation."
Himendra Thakur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:Dear Saurav,
I never mentioned that the attack in Saraighat was made by Muslims. Please
check it out carefully. Please also find out why you missed this very vital
point.
I was very definite to point out that the attack was made by Invaders . the
same invaders who attacked India in 1193 (& again in 1526.) These were
Islamic invaders from outside India. Nothing is "muddled up" in this
statement.
After the 1193 attack, the invaders, having the advantage of excellent
cavalry equipped with Arab horses, spread over the Indo-Gangetic plains at a
very high speed. Defeating all local rulers, they arrived in Bihar by 1200
AD (about 1400 miles in 7 years, @ 200 miles per year) and, after beheading
the Buddhist scholars, they burnt down Nalanda University. They proceeded
further to the East. They occupied Bengal in 1205. They were stopped in
Assam. These are historical records.
Under the early Islamic rule, a new custom, called Jawhar-Vrata, got started
in the Indo-Gangetic plains: groups of Hindu women would jump into a bonfire
to evade molestation. The historical record of Jawhar Vrata ( not present in
pre-Islamic India) proves the degree of atrocity by the Islamic invaders.
What I wrote above are historical facts. I am now going make an assumption
that, under the early Islamic rule in Indo-Gangetic plains, if a Hindu
family had five brothers, two would convert to Islam to protect the
remaining three. That was how the Indian Muslims started. They protected the
Hindus on one hand, and cooled down the ruthlessness of the Invaders on the
other hand.
The above assumption is based on the fact that, unlike Persia, land of
Zoroastrian population, which became completely Islamized, Hindus survived
in India, thanks to their Muslim brothers. Another historical fact is that,
in the later years, the Invaders softened to a great extent.
However, the Hindus could survive under Islamic Rule only by playing a
double standard: one opinion inside the house, and a very different opinion
outside. Another survival skill was the capacity to change the meaning of a
spoken word: if a Hindu said something against the Sultan and was challenged
by a Sultan's katwal, the Hindu must be able to change the meaning of what
he said, just to save his neck. Running for several centuries, these habits
have become second-nature of the people of the Indo-Gangetic plains, which
can be observed even today. Hindus were definitely living a life of
second-class citizen under Islamic rule. No wonder such a situation gave
rise to quislings and petains and pierre lavals who prospered by exploiting
their fellow countrymen.
At one point in your rebuttal, you've accused me with a phrase "you probably
consider
"natives" .. I never used the word "natives" in my article, I don't know
where you found that word, and what is the basis of your assumption.
You have also used terms like you seem to suggest . I never "seem to
suggest" anything in my article. I make clear statements.
Your observation that
one of the descendents of the "alien" aurangzeb wrote in rangoon pinning for
his country:
hai kitana badanasiib zafar dafn ke liye
do gaz zamiin bhii na milii kU-e-yaar me.n
was totally nullified by another great admirer of Aurangzeb, Mahammad Ali
Jinnah, who partitioned India over the dead-body of one million innocent
victims to create Pakistan, on the ground that Islam was not compatible with
the rest of India. I have great respect for Islam and Quran, but Mahammad
Ali Jinnah took it away to Pakistan.
I insist that Islam and Muslim are not synonymous. The spellings are
different, the meanings are different. Islam is a faith, a Muslim is a human
being. It is my strong conviction that, in India, Muslims and Hindus are
brothers, lost in the hurricane of history. When the hurricane will be over,
the two brothers will shake off their differences and unite.
At this point, I must be allowed to clarify that I am NOT a
Hindu-sentimentalist (as accused by Jugal Kalita) and/or I am NOT connected
to Hindutwa people (as accused by Chandan Mahanta.) In fact, I have been
attacked by the Hindutwa group because I am working to stop dowry &
bride-burning which they want to hide. Talking about sentimentalism, in the
dowry & bride-burning conferences, we invite delegates from Bangladesh and
Pakistan and discuss how the lives of Muslim brides can be saved. Human
beings are the same everywhere, we can give them love without any
segregation.
My great anxiety is the danger that Assamese people are facing due to the
huge number of Bangladeshi infiltrators. The anxiety is based on
geopolitical forces. My great fear is that the landmass of Assam will become
like Kashmir or Chittagong Hill District. My great fear is that Assamese
people will become like Kashmiri refugees now living in the streets of Delhi
or Lucknow, or Chakma refugees who are being driven out from place to place.
The problem can be stopped by stopping infiltration and by promoting
birth-control measures . but that poses as a big fight due to political
interests.
To fight this battle, I was urging my countrymen to draw strength from
Saraighat and build a memorial to Atan Buragohain which will inspire people.
That was the main purpose of the article that you are criticizing. It is
very sad that you did not even mention about the ATAN BURAGOHAIN SAKO : A
Bridge Across Three Centuries.
With love to everybody,
Himendra
----- Original Message -----
From: "SP"
To: ;
Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 9:24 PM
Subject: atan burhagohain xako
> dear himendra-da,
>
> i read with interest your article on atan burhagohain sako.
> though it is well written, and quite illuminating in parts,
> i think you have muddled up some general issues.
>
> for example, you seem to suggest that the attack by the
> mughals was an attack from someone alien to india because
> they were muslims, and that the participation of ram singh
> in saraighat was an abberation, promptly corrected by ram
> singh's mother. i find this view amusing because a clean
> hindu-muslim dichotomy of medieval india is not possible.
>
> the commander of the mughal forces in saraighat, ram singh, was
> the son of mirza raja jai singh, who defeated shivaji after
> the maratha tiger had badly mauled shaistha khan. the cunning
> jai singh, a hindu, succeeded in running shivaji down and
> presenting him at aurangzeb's court. though shivaji is the symbol
> of hinduism to many, yet he employed muslim troops in his army.
>
> soon after the death of the illustrious jai singh his son
> ram singh was made the king and his first assignment was assam.
> like you, i too would be interested in reading the letter he
> received from his mother, to find out how the widow of a valorous
> rajput counselled her son on his first but failing campaign.
>
> i will forego some of the heroic acts by muslims (eg bagh hazarika)
> at saraighat for lachit borphukan, because they are well known.
> about a decade earlier, mir jhumla's chroniclers damned the
> muslims settled in assam because they were "more assamese than
> muslims". in medieval india, just as we find hindus fighting
> against hindus for their muslim masters, we find muslims
> fighting against muslims for their hindu masters too, as in
> the case of shivaji.
>
> anyway, ram singh went back to being a noble in aurangzeb's court.
> when aurangzeb's son muhammed akbar rebelled against his father
> and tried to form an alliance with the rajputs and the marathas,
> ram singh was one of the many hindu kings who went in pursuit.
> akbar failed in getting help from those who you probably consider
> "natives" and finally left for persia where he died. one of the
> descendents of the "alien" aurangzeb wrote in rangoon pinning for
> his country:
>
> hai kitana badanasiib zafar dafn ke liye
> do gaz zamiin bhii na milii kU-e-yaar me.n
>
> medieval india was neither hindu nor muslim. it was a composite
> entity, culturally and politically. there were tensions between the
> hindus and muslims, undoubtedly. as there were tensions between
> different castes and other socials formations.
>
> if you are looking for either ideological or religious purity
> in history, you will be disappointed. the assamese did not have to
> fear the second attack of ram singh and thank his mother for taking
> him away. lachit's own brother and successor, laluk sola borphukan,
> gifted away a hard earned guwahati to the mughals within a few years
> of saraighat, during the time of aurangzeb itself, and left for
> gargaon to try and become a king himself.
>
> lest we forget, the only lesson history teaches us consistently
> is irony.
>
> --
> saurav
>
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Umesh Sharma
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1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
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