In her post, Selma Carvalho asks me: "Do we really want to be mired in the past forever?" I do not think anyone sensible would only answer the question as NO. However, the past should not be sanitised to suit any purpose, and truth should always be told. In this respect, I am told that Rev George Soares-Prabhu wrote: "Whether mediaeval as distinct from modern Hinduism was 'exclusivist' or not, it was certainly not intolerant in the way that Christianity and Islam were. Hindu sects may have thought of themselves as superior to other sects, in that they possessed the 'true' interpretation of the Vedas, but (unlike Christianity and Islam) they rarely felt the need to eliminate them! There is nothing in the history of Hinduism or Buddhism to compare with the obsessive ferocity of Christianity and Islam in their persecution of other religions or of dissident groups within their own religious tradition."
In this respect, the question of secular wars and communal wars come into picture. The invasion of Alexander of Macedonia would be considered to be a secular war. While the Portuguese, and most followers of Islam, were indulging in communal wars. Alexander's interests were territorial, while the interests of these others were primarily religious. The issues that HJS is taking are not rooted in the past. The issue of ethnic cleansing of the Kashimiri Pandits is within the last twenty years. The issue of conversions by some of the churches is of the recent past. Could the HJS have taken up the issues in a 'dignified' manner? Perhaps. But for this to happen, we should not disucss only the manner in which the discussions are taken, but also the content. For example, on the Kashmiri Pandit, even today they are saying that the various governmentes, including the NDA, have badly let them down. I have read in the papers that many Kashmiri Pandits have been killed over the last twenty years - but not a single person has been prosecuted for the crimes. Sachin Phadte. _________________________________________________________________ No Harvard, No Oxford. We are here. Find out !! http://ss1.richmedia.in/recurl.asp?pid=500
