--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Cliff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> I never contested man's inhumanity to man (and woman), but the
> very large number you presented still seems high.
>
> I agree that the monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity,
and
> Islam) are all incredibly bloodthirsty and have killed off
millions of
> humans.
You can add up all the millions allegedly killed off in the name of
religion over the ages.
That number would be a speck, however, compared to the number killed
off in the name of atheism, the state religion of communism: 150
million killed just in the space of about 40 years in the 20th
century.
>
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > On 9/7/05 10:16 PM, "Cliff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > > You disapoint me, Vaj, with the transparency of your
fabrication. I thought
> > > you had more integrity than that. It would have been
completely
> > > acceptable to me if you'd said you had heard these figures,
but really
> > > had nothing to back them up. It's clear you're just
bullshitting now.
> > >
> > > As I said, disappointing...
> >
> >
> > Hi Cliff:
> >
> > Here is one of the articles I had read.
> >
> > -V.
> >
> >
> >
> > Was There an Islamic "Genocide" of Hindus?
> > by Dr. Koenraad Elst
> >
> >
> > "The Partition Holocaust": the term is frequently used in Hindu
pamphlets
> > concerning Islam and the birth of its modern political
embodiment in the
> > Subcontinent, the state of Pakistan. Is such language warranted,
or is it a
> > ridicule-inviting exaggeration?
> >
> > To give an idea of the context of this question, we must note
that the term
> > "genocide" is used very loosely these days. One of the charges
by a Spanish
> > judge against Chilean ex-dictator Pinochet, so as to get him
extradited from
> > Great Britain in autumn 1998, was "genocide". This was his way
of making
> > Pinochet internationally accountable for having killed a few
Spanish
> > citizens: alleging a crime serious enough to overrule normal
constraints
> > based on diplomatic immunity and national sovereignty. Yet,
whatever
> > Pinochet's crimes, it is simply ridiculous to charge that he
ever intended
> > to exterminate the Spanish nation. In the current competition
for victim
> > status, all kinds of interest groups are blatantly overbidding
in order to
> > get their piece of the entitlement to attention and solidarity.
> >
> > The Nazi Holocaust killed the majority of European Jewry (an
estimated 5.1
> > million according to Raul Hilberg, 5.27 million according to the
> > Munich-based Institut für Zeitgeschichte) and about 30% of the
Jewish people
> > worldwide. How many victim groups can say as much? The Partition
pogroms
> > killed hardly 0.3% of the Hindus, and though it annihilated the
Hindu
> > presence in all the provinces of Pakistan except for parts of
Sindh and East
> > Bengal, it did so mostly by putting the Hindus to flight (at
least seven
> > million) rather than by killing them (probably half a million).
Likewise,
> > the ethnic cleansing of a quarter million Hindus from Kashmir in
1990
> > followed the strategy of "killing one to expel a hundred", which
is not the
> > same thing as killing them all; in practice, about 1,500 were
killed.
> > Partition featured some local massacres of genocidal type, with
the Sikhs as
> > the most wanted victims, but in relative as well as absolute
figures, this
> > does not match the Holocaust.
> >
> > Among genocides, the Holocaust was a very special case (e.g.
the attempt to
> > carry it out in secrecy is unique), and it serves no good
purpose to blur
> > that specificity by extending the term to all genocides in
general. The term
> > ³Holocaust², though first used in a genocidal sense to describe
the Armenian
> > genocide of 1915, is now in effect synonymous with the
specifically Jewish
> > experience at the hands of the Nazis in 1941-45. But does even
the more
> > general term "genocide" apply to what Hinduism suffered at the
hands of
> > Islam?
> >
> >
> > Complete genocide
> >
> > "Genocide" means the intentional attempt to destroy an ethnic
community, or
> > by extension any community constituted by bonds of kinship, of
common
> > religion or ideology, of common socio-economic position, or of
common race.
> > The pure form is the complete extermination of every man, woman
and child of
> > the group. Examples include the complete extermination of the
native
> > Tasmanians and many Amerindian nations from Patagonia to Canada
by European
> > settlers in the 16th-19th century. The most notorious attempt
was the Nazi
> > "final solution of the Jewish question" in 1941-45. In April-May
1994, Hutu
> > militias in Rwanda went about slaughtering the Tutsi minority,
killing ca.
> > 800,000, in anticipation of the conquest of their country by a
Uganda-based
> > Tutsi army. Though improvised and executed with primitive
weapons, the
> > Rwandan genocide made more victims per day than the Holocaust.
> >
> > Hindus suffered such attempted extermination in East Bengal in
1971, when
> > the Pakistani Army killed 1 to 3 million people, with Hindus as
their most
> > wanted target. This fact is strictly ignored in most writing
about
> > Hindu-Muslim relations, in spite (or rather because) of its
serious
> > implication that even the lowest estimate of the Hindu death
toll in 1971
> > makes Hindus by far the most numerous victims of Hindu-Muslim
violence in
> > the post-colonial period. It is significant that no serious
count or
> > religion-wise breakdown of the death toll has been attempted:
the Indian,
> > Pakistani and Bangladeshi ruling classes all agree that this
would feed
> > Hindu grievances against Muslims.
> >
> > Nandan Vyas ("Hindu Genocide in East Pakistan", Young India,
January 1995)
> > has argued convincingly that the number of Hindu victims in the
1971
> > genocide was approximately 2.4 million, or about 80%. In
comparing the
> > population figures for 1961 and 1971, and taking the observed
natural growth
> > rhythm into account, Vyas finds that the Hindu population has
remained
> > stable at 9.5 million when it should have increased to nearly 13
million
> > (13.23 million if the same growth rhythm were assumed for Hindus
as for
> > Muslims). Of the missing 3.5 million people (if not more), 1.1
million can
> > be explained: it is the number of Hindu refugees settled in
India prior to
> > the genocide. The Hindu refugees at the time of the genocide,
about 8
> > million, all went back after the ordeal, partly because the
Indian
> > government forced them to it, partly because the new state of
Bangladesh was
> > conceived as a secular state; the trickle of Hindu refugees into
India only
> > resumed in 1974, when the first steps towards islamization of
the polity
> > were taken. This leaves 2.4 million missing Hindus to be
explained. Taking
> > into account a number of Hindu children born to refugees in
India rather
> > than in Bangladesh, and a possible settlement of 1971 refugees
in India, it
> > is fair to estimate the disappeared Hindus at about 2 million.
> >
> > While India-watchers wax indignant about communal riots in
India killing up
> > to 20,000 people since 1948, allegedly in a proportion of three
Muslims to
> > one Hindu, the best-kept secret of the post-Independence Hindu-
Muslim
> > conflict is that in the subcontinent as a whole, the
overwhelming majority
> > of the victims have been Hindus. Even apart from the 1971
genocide,
> > "ordinary" pogroms in East Pakistan in 1950 alone killed more
Hindus than
> > the total number of riot victims in India since 1948.
> >
> >
> > Selective genocide
> >
> > A second, less extreme type of genocide consists in killing a
sufficient
> > number who form the backbone of the group's collective identity,
and
> > assimilating the leaderless masses into the dominant community.
This has
> > been the Chinese policy in Tibet, killing over a million
Tibetans while
> > assimilating the survivors into Chinese culture by flooding
their country
> > with Chinese settlers. It was also Stalin's policy in eastern
Poland and the
> > Baltic states after they fell into his hands under the 1939
Hitler-Stalin
> > Pact, exemplified by the massacre of thousands of Polish army
officers in
> > Katyn. Stalin's policies combining murder of the elites,
deportation of
> > entire ethnic groups and ruthless oppression of the survivors
was prefigured
> > in antiquity by the Assyrians, whose deportation of the ten
northern (now
> > "lost") tribes of Israel is attested in the Bible.
> >
> > During the Islamic conquests in India, it was a typical policy
to single
> > out the Brahmins for slaughter, after the Hindu warrior class
had been bled
> > on the battlefield. Even the Portuguese in Malabar and Goa
followed this
> > policy in the 16th century, as can be deduced from Hindu-
Portuguese treaty
> > clauses prohibiting the Portuguese from killing Brahmins.
> >
> > In antiquity, such partial genocide typically targeted the men
for
> > slaughter and the women and children for slavery or concubinage.
Thus, in
> > 416 BCE, the Athenians were angered at the Melians' reluctance
to join the
> > war against Sparta, and to set an example for other client
states, Athens
> > had Melos repopulated with Athenian colonists after killing its
men and
> > enslaving its women. Another example would be the slaughter of
the Jews of
> > Medina by Mohammed in 626 CE: after expelling two Jewish tribes,
the third
> > one, the Banu Quraiza, were exterminated: all the ca. 700 men
were beheaded,
> > while the women and children were sold into slavery, with the
Prophet
> > keeping the most beautiful woman as his concubine (she refused
to marry
> > him).
> >
> > Hindus too experienced this treatment at the hands of Islamic
conquerors,
> > e.g. when Mohammed bin Qasim conquered the lower Indus basin in
712 CE.
> > Thus, in Multan, according to the Chach-Nama, "six thousand
warriors were
> > put to death, and all their relations and dependents were taken
as slaves".
> > This is why Rajput women committed mass suicide to save their
honour in the
> > face of the imminent entry of victorious Muslim armies, e.g.
8,000 women
> > immolated themselves during Akbar's capture of Chittorgarh in
1568 (where
> > this most enlightened ruler also killed 30,000 non-combatants).
During the
> > Partition pogroms and the East Bengali genocide, mass rape of
Hindu women
> > after the slaughter of their fathers and husbands was a frequent
event.
> >
> > At this point, however, we should not overlook a puzzling
episode in Hindu
> > legend which describes a similar behaviour by a Hindu conqueror:
> > Parashurama, deified as the 6th incarnation of Vishnu, killed
all the adult
> > male Kshatriyas for several generations, until only women were
left, and
> > then had Brahmins father a new generation upon them. Just a
story, or
> > reference to a historic genocide?
> >
> >
> > Genocide in the Bible
> >
> > For full-blooded genocide, however, the book to consult is the
Bible, which
> > describes cases of both partial and complete genocide. The first
modest
> > attempt was the killing by Jacob's sons of all the males in the
Canaanite
> > tribe of Shekhem, the fiancé of their own sister Dina. The
motive was pride
> > of pedigree: having immigrated from the civilizational centre of
Ur in
> > Mesopotamia, Abraham's tribe refused all intermarriage with the
native
> > people of Canaan (thus, Rebecca favoured Jacob over Esau because
Jacob
> > married his nieces while Esau married local women).
> >
> > Full-scale genocide was ordered by God, and executed by his
faithful,
> > during the conquest of Canaan by Moses and Joshua. In the
defeated cities
> > outside the Promised Land, they had to kill all the men but keep
the women
> > as slaves or concubines. Inside the Promised Land, by contrast,
the
> > conquerors were ordered to kill every single man, woman and
child. All the
> > Canaanites and Amalekites were killed. Here, the stated reason
was that God
> > wanted to prevent the coexistence of His people with Pagans,
which would
> > result in religious syncretism and the restoration of polytheism.
> >
> > As we only have a literary record of this genocide, liberal
theologians
> > uncomfortable with a genocidal God have argued that this
Canaanite genocide
> > was only fiction. To be sure, genocide fiction exists, e.g. the
Biblical
> > story that the Egyptians had all newborn male Israelites killed
is
> > inconsistent with all other data in the Biblical narrative
itself (as well
> > as unattested in the numerous and detailed Egyptian
inscriptions), and
> > apparently only served to underpin the story of Moses' arrival
in the
> > Pharaoh's court in a basket on the river, a story modelled on the
> > then-popular life story of Sargon of Akkad. Yet, the narrative
of the
> > conquest of Canaan is full of military detail uncommon in
fiction; unlike
> > other parts of the Bible, it is almost without any miracles,
factual through
> > and through.
> >
> > And even if we suppose that the story is fictional, what would
it say about
> > the editors that they attributed genocidal intentions and
injunctions to
> > their God? If He was non-genocidal and good in reality, why turn
him into a
> > genocidal and prima facie evil Being? On balance, it is slightly
more
> > comforting to accept that the Bible editors described a genocide
because
> > they wanted to be truthful and relate real events. After all,
the great and
> > outstanding thing about the Bible narrative is its realism, its
refusal to
> > idealize its heroes. We get to see Jacob deceiving Isaac and
Esau, then
> > Laban deceiving Jacob; David's heroism and ingenuity in battle,
but also his
> > treachery in making Bathseba his own, and later his descent into
senility;
> > Salomon's palace intrigues in the war of succession along with
his pearls of
> > wisdom. Against that background, it would be inconsistent to
censor the
> > Canaanite genocide as merely a fictional interpolation.
> >
> > Indirect genocide
> >
> > A third type of genocide consists in preventing procreation
among a
> > targeted population. Till recently, it was US policy to promote
> > sterilization among Native American women, even applying it
secretly during
> > postnatal care or other operations. The Tibetans too have been
subjected to
> > this treatment. In the Muslim world, male slaves were often
castrated, which
> > partly explains why Iraq has no Black population even though it
once had
> > hundreds of thousands of Black slaves. The practice also existed
in India on
> > a smaller scale, though the much-maligned Moghul emperor
Aurangzeb tried to
> > put an end to it, mainly because eunuchs brought endless
corruption in the
> > court. The hijra community is a left-over of this Islamic
institution (in
> > ancient India, harems were tended by old men or naturally
napunsak/impotent
> > men, tested by having to spend the night with a prostitute
without showing
> > signs of virile excitement).
> >
> > A fourth type of genocide is when mass killing takes place
unintentionally,
> > as collateral damage of foolish policies, e.g. Chairman Mao's
Great Leap
> > Forward inducing the greatest man-made mass starvation killing
20 million or
> > more, or the British war requisitions causing the Bengal famine
of 1943
> > killing some 3 million; or as collateral damage of other forms of
> > oppression. Unlike the deliberate genocide of Native Americans
in parts of
> > the USA or Argentina, the death of millions of Natives in
Central America
> > after the first Spanish conquests was at least partly the
unintended
> > side-effect of the hardships of forced labour and the contact
with new
> > diseases brought by the Europeans. In contrast with Nazi and
Soviet work
> > camps, where forced labour had the dual purpose of economic
profit and a
> > slow but sure death of the inmates, there is no evidence that
the Spanish
> > wanted their Native labourers to die. After all, their
replacement with
> > African slaves required a large extra investment.
> >
> > The Atlantic slave trade itself caused mass death among the
transported
> > slaves, just as in the already long-standing Arab slave trade,
but it is
> > obvious that purely for the sake of profit, the slave-traders
preferred as
> > many slaves as possible to arrive at the slave markets alive.
Likewise, the
> > Christian c.q. Islamic contempt for Pagans made them rather
careless with
> > the lives of Native Americans, Africans or Hindus, so that
millions of them
> > were killed, and yet this was not deliberate genocide. Of course
they wanted
> > to annihilate Pagan religions like Hinduism, but in principle,
the
> > missionary religions wished to convert the unbelievers, and
preferred not to
> > kill them unless this was necessary for establishing the power
of the True
> > Faith.
> >
> > That is why the mass killing of Hindus by Muslims rarely took
place in
> > peacetime, but typically in the fervour immediately following
military
> > victories, e.g. the fall of the metropolis of Vijayanagar in
1565 was
> > "celebrated" with a general massacre and arson. Once Muslim
power was
> > established, Muslim rulers sought to exploit and humiliate
rather than kill
> > the Hindus, and discourage rebellion by making some sort of
compromise. Not
> > that peacetime was all that peaceful, for as Fernand Braudel
wrote in A
> > History of Civilizations (Penguin 1988/1963, p.232-236), Islamic
rule in
> > India as a "colonial experiment" was "extremely violent",
and "the Muslims
> > could not rule the country except by systematic terror. Cruelty
was the norm
> > -- burnings, summary executions, crucifixions or impalements,
inventive
> > tortures. Hindu temples were destroyed to make way for mosques.
On occasion
> > there were forced conversions. If ever there were an uprising,
it was
> > instantly and savagely repressed: houses were burned, the
countryside was
> > laid waste, men were slaughtered and women were taken as slaves."
> >
> > Though all these small acts of terror added up to a death toll
of genocidal
> > proportions, no organized genocide of the Holocaust type took
place. One
> > constraint on Muslim zeal for Holy War was the endemic inter-
Muslim warfare
> > and intrigue (no history of a royal house was bloodier than that
of the
> > Delhi Sultanate 1206-1525), another the prevalence of the
Hanifite school of
> > Islamic law in India. This is the only one among the four law
schools in
> > Sunni Islam which allows Pagans to subsist as zimmis, dis-
empowered
> > third-class citizens paying a special tax for the favour of
being tolerated;
> > the other three schools of jurisprudence ruled that Pagans, as
opposed to
> > Christians and Jews, had to be given a choice between Islam and
death.
> >
> > Staggering numbers also died as collateral damage of the
deliberate
> > impoverishment by Sultans like Alauddin Khilji and Jahangir. As
Braudel put
> > it: "The levies it had to pay were so crushing that one
catastrophic harvest
> > was enough to unleash famines and epidemics capable of killing a
million
> > people at a time. Appalling poverty was the constant counterpart
of the
> > conquerors' opulence."
> >
> >
> > Genocide by any other name
> >
> > In some cases, terminological purists object to mass murder
being described
> > as "genocide", viz. when it targets groups defined by other
criteria than
> > ethnicity. Stalin's "genocide" through organized famine in
Ukraine killed
> > some 7 million people (lowest estimate is 4 million) in 1931-33,
the
> > largest-ever deliberate mass murder in peacetime, but its
victims were
> > targeted because of their economic and political positions, not
because of
> > their nationhood. Though it makes no difference to the victims,
this was not
> > strictly genocide or "nation murder", but "class murder".
Likewise, the
> > killing of perhaps two million Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge was
not an
> > attempt to destroy the Cambodian nation; it was rather an
attempt to
> > "purify" the nation of its bourgeois class.
> >
> > The killing of large groups of ideological dissenters is a
constant in the
> > history of the monotheistic faiths, of which Marxism has been
termed a
> > modern offshoot, starting with the killing of some polytheistic
priests by
> > Pharaoh Akhenaton and, shortly after, the treacherous killing of
3,000
> > worshippers of the Golden Calf by Moses (they had been
encouraged to come
> > out in the open by Moses' brother Aaron, not unlike Chairman
Mao's "hundred
> > flowers" campaign which encouraged dissenters to speak freely,
all the
> > better to eliminate them later). Mass killing accompanied the
> > christianization of Saxony by Charlemagne (ca. 800 CE) and of
East Prussia
> > by the Teutonic Knights (13th century). In 1209-29, French
Catholics
> > massacred the heretical Cathars. Wars between Muslims and
Christians, and
> > between Catholics and Protestants, killed millions both in
deliberate
> > massacres and as collateral damage, e.g. seven million Germans
in 1618-48.
> > Though the Turkish government which ordered the killing of a
million
> > Armenians in 1915 was motivated by a mixture of purely military,
> > secular-nationalistic and Islamic considerations, the fervour
with which the
> > local Turks and Kurds participated in the slaughter was clearly
due to their
> > Islamic conditioning of hatred against non-Muslims.
> >
> > This ideological killing could be distinguished from genocide
in the strict
> > sense, because ethnicity was not the reason for the slaughter.
While this
> > caution may complicate matters for the Ukrainians or Cambodians,
it does not
> > apply to the case of Hinduism: like the Jews, the Hindus have
historically
> > been both a religion and a nation (or at least, casteists might
argue, a
> > conglomerate of nations). Attempts to kill all Hindus of a given
region may
> > legitimately be termed genocide.
> >
> > For its sheer magnitude in scope and death toll, coupled with
its
> > occasional (though not continuous) intention to exterminate
entire Hindu
> > communities, the Islamic campaign against Hinduism, which was
never fully
> > called off since the first naval invasion in 636 CE, can without
> > exaggeration be termed genocide. To quote Will Durant's famous
line: "The
> > Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in
history. It is
> > a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization
is a
> > precious good, whose delicate complex of order and freedom,
culture and
> > peace, can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading
from without
> > or multiplying within." (Story of Civilization, vol.1, Our
Oriental
> > Heritage, New York 1972, p.459)
> >
> >
> >
> > Hinduism's losses
> >
> > There is no official estimate of the total death toll of Hindus
at the
> > hands of Islam. A first glance at important testimonies by Muslim
> > chroniclers suggests that, over 13 centuries and a territory as
vast as the
> > Subcontinent, Muslim Holy Warriors easily killed more Hindus
than the 6
> > million of the Holocaust. Ferishtha lists several occasions when
the Bahmani
> > sultans in central India (1347-1528) killed a hundred thousand
Hindus, which
> > they set as a minimum goal whenever they felt like "punishing"
the Hindus;
> > and they were only a third-rank provincial dynasty. The biggest
slaughters
> > took place during the raids of Mahmud Ghaznavi (ca. 1000 CE);
during the
> > actual conquest of North India by Mohammed Ghori and his
lieutenants (1192
> > ff.); and under the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526). The Moghuls
(1526-1857),
> > even Babar and Aurangzeb, were fairly restrained tyrants by
comparison.
> > Prof. K.S. Lal once estimated that the Indian population
declined by 50
> > million under the Sultanate, but that would be hard to
substantiate;
> > research into the magnitude of the damage Islam did to India is
yet to start
> > in right earnest.
> >
> > Note that attempts are made to deny this history. In Indian
schoolbooks and
> > the media, an idyllic picture of Hindu-Muslim harmony in the pre-
British
> > period is propagated in outright contradiction with the
testimony of the
> > primary sources. Like Holocaust denial, this propaganda can be
called
> > negationism. The really daring negationists don't just deny the
crimes
> > against Hindus, they invert the picture and blame the Hindus
themselves.
> > Thus, it is routinely alleged that Hindus persecuted and
destroyed Buddhism;
> > in reality, Buddhist monasteries and universities flourished
under Hindu
> > rule, but their thousands of monks were killed by Ghori and his
lieutenants.
> >
> > Apart from actual killing, millions of Hindus disappeared by
way of
> > enslavement. After every conquest by a Muslim invader, slave
markets in
> > Bagdad and Samarkand were flooded with Hindus. Slaves were
likely to die of
> > hardship, e.g. the mountain range Hindu Koh, "Indian mountain",
was renamed
> > Hindu Kush, "Hindu-killer", when one cold night in the reign of
Timur Lenk
> > (1398-99), a hundred thousand Hindu slaves died there while on
transport to
> > Central Asia. Though Timur conquered Delhi from another Muslim
ruler, he
> > recorded in his journal that he made sure his pillaging soldiers
spared the
> > Muslim quarter, while in the Hindu areas, they took "twenty
slaves each".
> > Hindu slaves were converted to Islam, and when their descendants
gained
> > their freedom, they swelled the numbers of the Muslim community.
It is a
> > cruel twist of history that the Muslims who forced Partition on
India were
> > partly the progeny of Hindus enslaved by Islam.
> >
> >
> > Karma
> >
> > The Hindu notion of Karma has come under fire from Christian
and secularist
> > polemicists as part of the current backlash against New Age
thinking.
> > Allegedly, the doctrine of Karma implies that the victims of the
Holocaust
> > and other massacres had deserved their fate. A naive
understanding of Karma,
> > divorced from its Hindu context, could indeed lead to such
ideas. Worse, it
> > could be said that the Jews as a nation had incurred genocidal
karma by the
> > genocide which their ancestors committed on the Canaanites.
Likewise, it
> > could be argued that the Native Americans had it coming: recent
research (by
> > Walter Neves from Brazil as well as by US scientists) has shown
that in ca.
> > 8000 BC, the Mongoloid Native American populations replaced an
earlier
> > American population closely resembling the Australian
Aborigines -- the
> > first American genocide?
> >
> > More generally, if Karma explains suffering and "apparent"
injustice as a
> > profound form of justice, a way of reaping the karmic rewards of
one's own
> > actions, are we not perversely justifying every injustice? These
questions
> > should not be taken lightly. However, the Hindu understanding of
> > reincarnation militates against the doctrine of genocidal "group
karma"
> > outlined above. An individual can incarnate in any community,
even in other
> > species, and need not be reborn among his own progeny. If
Canaanites killed
> > by the Israelites have indeed reincarnated, some may have been
Nazi camp
> > guards and others Jewish Holocaust victims. There is no reason
to assume
> > that the members of today's victim group are the reincarnated
souls of the
> > bullies of yesteryear, returning to suffer their due punishment.
That is the
> > difference between karma and genetics: karma is taken along by
the
> > individual soul, not passed on in the family line.
> >
> > More fundamentally, we should outgrow this childish (and in
this case,
> > downright embarrassing) view of karma as a matter of reward and
punishment.
> > Does the killer of a million people return a million times as a
murder
> > victim to suffer the full measure of his deserved punishment?
Rather, karma
> > is a law of conservation: you are reborn with the basic pattern
of desires
> > and conditionings which characterized you when you died last
time around.
> > The concrete experiences and actions which shaped that pattern,
however, are
> > history: they only survive insofar as they have shaped your
psychic karma
> > pattern, not as a precise account of merits and demerits to be
paid off by
> > corresponding amounts of suffering and pleasure.
> >
> > One lesson to be learned from genocide history pertains to
Karma, the law
> > of cause and effect, in a more down-to-earth sense: suffering
genocide is
> > the karmic reward of weakness. That is one conclusion which the
Jews have
> > drawn from their genocide experience: they created a modern and
militarily
> > strong state. Even more importantly, they helped foster an
awareness of the
> > history of their persecution among their former persecutors, the
Christians,
> > which makes it unlikely that Christians will target them again.
In this
> > respect, the Hindus have so far failed completely. With numerous
Holocaust
> > memorials already functioning, one more memorial is being built
in Berlin by
> > the heirs of the perpetrators of the Holocaust; but there is not
even one
> > memorial to the Hindu genocide, because even the victim
community doesn't
> > bother, let alone the perpetrators.
> >
> > This different treatment of the past has implications for the
future. Thus,
> > Israel's nuclear programme is accepted as a matter of course,
justified by
> > the country's genuine security concerns; but when India, which
has equally
> > legitimate security concerns, conducted nuclear tests, it
provoked American
> > sanctions. If the world ignores Hindu security concerns, one of
the reasons
> > is that Hindus have never bothered to tell the world how many
Hindus have
> > been killed already.
> >
> >
> > Healing
> >
> > What should Hindus say to Muslims when they consider the record
of Islam in
> > Hindu lands? It is first of all very important not to allot
guilt wrongly.
> > Notions of collective or hereditary guilt should be avoided.
Today's Muslims
> > cannot help it that other Muslims did certain things in 712 or
1565 or 1971.
> > One thing they can do, however, is to critically reread their
scripture to
> > discern the doctrinal factors of Muslim violence against Hindus
and
> > Hinduism. Of course, even without scriptural injunction, people
get violent
> > and wage wars; if Mahmud Ghaznavi hadn't come, some of the
people he killed
> > would have died in other, non-religious conflicts. But the basic
Quranic
> > doctrine of hatred against the unbelievers has also encouraged
many
> > good-natured and pious people to take up the sword against
Hindus and other
> > Pagans, not because they couldn't control their aggressive
instincts, but
> > because they had been told that killing unbelievers was a
meritorious act.
> > Good people have perpetrated evil because religious authorities
had depicted
> > it as good.
> >
> > This is material for a no-nonsense dialogue between Hindus and
Muslims. But
> > before Hindus address Muslims about this, it is imperative that
they inform
> > themselves about this painful history. Apart from unreflected
grievances,
> > Hindus have so far not developed a serious critique of Islam's
doctrine and
> > historical record. Often practising very sentimental, un-
philosophical
> > varieties of their own religion, most Hindus have very sketchy
and distorted
> > images of rival religions. Thus, they say that Mohammed was an
Avatar of
> > Vishnu, and then think that they have cleverly solved the Hindu-
Muslim
> > conflict by flattering the Prophet (in fact, it is an insult to
basic Muslim
> > beliefs, which reject divine incarnation, apart from indirectly
associating
> > the Prophet with Vishnu's incarnation as a pig). Instead of the
silly sop
> > stories which pass as conducive to secularism, Hindus should
acquaint
> > themselves with real history and real religious doctrines.
> >
> > Another thing which we should not forget is that Islam is
ultimately rooted
> > in human nature. We need not believe the Muslim claim that the
Quran is of
> > divine origin; but then it is not of diabolical origin either,
it is a human
> > document. The Quran is in all respects the product of a 7th-
century Arab
> > businessman vaguely acquainted with Judeo-Christian notions of
monotheism
> > and prophetism, and the good and evil elements in it are very
human. Even
> > its negative elements appealed to human instincts, e.g. when
Mohammed
> > promised a share in the booty of the caravans he robbed,
numerous Arab
> > Pagans took the bait and joined him. The undesirable elements in
Islamic
> > doctrine stem from human nature, and can in essence be found
elsewhere as
> > well. Keeping that in mind, it should be possible to make a fair
evaluation
> > of Islam's career in India on the basis of factual history.
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