Of late, I have been hearing too many Sangh Parivar followers, BJP-sympathizers and self-appointed-Hindu-rakshaks talk about how Muslim invaders and Islam have destroyed our country and Hindu culture. How they systematically killed millions of Hindus and ensured that Hinduism crumbled under their tyranny.
There is no denying that Mahmud Ghazni, Qutub-ud-din-Aibak, Balban, Alauddin-Khilji, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, Feroze Shah, Babar, and God-only-knows-who-else, were tyrants of the worst order. That part is recorded in history, which is being quoted by the safe-keepers of Hinduism. But they forget that such wars and plunders are the history of not just India, but of the entire world. And they are not just of Muslim warriors... historically even Indian Hindu kings were forever fighting wars and killing one-another and annexing lands, men and very shamefully 'women of the palaces'.
Even Emperor Ashoka (who's better known as Ashoka the Great) is guilty of spreading his kingdom through mass-slaughter of many Hindu Kings and their Hindu warriors. He conquered Kalinga, which none of his ancestors (starting from Chandragupta Maurya) had done. The battle of Kalinga resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations, and it was only when he was walking through the grounds of Kalinga after his conquest, rejoicing in his victory, he was moved by the number of bodies strewn there and the wails of the kith and kin of the dead. Sorrowed, he embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. So, just saying that Muslims killed Hindus is showing a very selective part of the history, in my opinion.
Let us talk about the Hindu India that so many are dreaming about, and what is the contribution of current day Muslims to the glory of India.
- India's foremost scientist (and an ex-President) - APJ Abdul Kalam
- India's foremost actor - take your pick from SRK, Aamir, Salman or Yusuf Khan
- India's foremost dialogue and song-writer - Javed Akhtar
- India's foremost music composer - A.R. Rehman
- India's foremost female tennis player - Sania Mirza
- India's foremost film director, actor, singer, et al - Farhan Akhtar
- India's foremost tabla maestro - Ustad Zakir Hussain
- India's foremost sarod maestro - Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
- India's foremost shahnai vadak - Ustad Bismillah Khan
- India's foremost painter - M.F. Hussein
- India's foremost author - Salman Rushdie
- India's foremost fashion designer and first to display at Harrod's - Abu Jani
- India's 3rd richest business tycoon, twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by TIME Magazine, and the donor of $2 billion of personal funds for improving school education in India - Azim Premji. Azim Premji has become the first Indian to sign up for 'Giving Pledge', a campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, to encourage the wealthiest people to make a commitment to give most of their wealth to philanthropic causes. He is just the third non-American after Richard Branson and David Sainsbury to join this philanthropy club. As of April 2013, he had already given more than 25% of his personal wealth to charity. Now, show me a Hindu who has done so much for Indians?
Without a doubt, there are many fields where Hindus are at the forefront, and this is not a debate about whose contribution is greater - of the Hindus or of the Muslims? This is just an attempt to show the complete truth. Given that what I have stated above are indisputable facts, I have a very small question of those seeking a Hindu India... "Is it truly a Hindu India? And is such a Hindu India the one that we must crave for?"
