Dr. Ram Puniyani is an active member in a group of NGOs that collectively work for communal harmony in India. In order to achieve communal harmony, Dr. Puniyani sometimes deliberately or ignorantly distorts some
historical facts.
Recently Dr. Puniyani's article put some light on
Assam violence and role of state. He argues that "
communal violence is a multilayered phenomenon". This phenomena initiates with general perception of minority (Muslims in present context) . i.e.
- "They are invaders"
- "more loyal to Pakistan"
- "beef-eaters"
- "they convert by force, fraud, or allurement"
- "they are infiltrators"
etc that, according to Dr. Puniyani, "many firmly believe these to be true".
It is true to an extent that Islam came to India with Arab
traders. However, spread of Islam did not occur until Muslims militarily
invaded. First in the list, of series of Islamic invasions, was Mohammad-bin-Qasim. In his military campaign, whichever "
towns he took, like Alor,
Nirun, Debul and Multan, in them he established mosques, appointed Muslim
governors, and propagated the Muhammadan religion" (from Chachnama,
trs. in H.M. Elliot and J. Dowson, cited in Ch. 1, Indian Muslims who are they by K. S. Lal). Rest is a long history, described in great detail by Dr. K. S. Lal. Religious zeal, among Muslim rulers, might be deliberately kept hidden for various socio-political reasons by Marxist historians in India. Thus, general perception among Hindus, as Dr. Puniyani opines: "
They are invaders", is a historical fact.
Beef eating is not new phenomenon among Muslims. Therefore they are natural "
Beef eaters" in Hindu psyche. The cow, or animals in general, has been made "sacred" by Hindus to provide immunity from slaughter. Dr. Puniyani, quoting scholarly work of Dr. D N Jha, opines that "
Wealth was equated with the ownership of the cattle" in the ancient India. If this is true, it is bizarre to argue that Hindus were killing/eating their own wealth (beef) and destroy it. Nevertheless, he vigorously argues that animal sacrifice was a normal practice in ancient India to please their gods. The inference, that Hindu "
gods such as Indra and Agni are described as having special
preferences for different types of flesh", was derived from Brahminical literature called "Vedas". Early historians attributed "
Vedas" to "
Aryans", a nomadic tribe, for whom "
animal sacrifice was a dominant feature till the emergence of
settled agriculture". Using modern genome techniques, it has been proven beyond doubt that "
Aryans" as described in "Vedas" never existed. In fact, "Arya", a Sanskrit word meaning "Learned and well mannered person", was made out to be a racial term "Aryan". Therefore, misinterpretation of "Vedas" is plausible.
In a non-scholarly work of Internet age, learned #InternetHindu Agniveer argues that
cruelty against animals is strictly prohibited in Vedas and related ancient literature. Ancient text on laws of Manu says: "
Those who permit slaying of animals; those who bring animals for
slaughter; those who slaughter; those who sell meat; those who purchase
meat; those who prepare dish out of it; those who serve that meat and those who eat are all murderers" (
Manusmriti 5.51,
cited in "No beef in vedas" by Agniveer). It should be noted that Manusmriti is not written by "God". Hindu philosophers devised these rules to prosper in biodiversity and live with natural harmony. With such a strict rules of living, it is not surprising that orthodox
(strict followers of Laws of Manu) Hindus do not touch/eat meat and
liberal Hindus avoid eating meat even today. On the contrary, without quoting Manusmriti, Dr. Puniyani claims that even "
Manusmriti did not prohibit the consumption of beef".
Muslims have enormous affinity to their religion. This passion also is a reason among Muslims of India to
love Pakistan. It is not hidden and Muslims feel proud that
Islam is fastest growing religion. One of the factors is religious conversion by force or volunteerism. Forced conversion of
non-muslim women Rinkle Kumari has recently surfaced in the media. However, it is claimed, by forcing the victim to declare, that the religious
conversion is not forced. In Muslim majority society, it is practically impossible to deliver justice to other religious minorities as judiciary feels "
a great deal of pressure" from armed personals supporting Islamic cause. The abductions of non-muslim women and forced marriage to her abductors, does not restrict with one case of Rinkel kumari. This is a slow and opportunistic but
continuous phenomenon. Therefore, it is true in several cases that "
they convert by force, fraud, or allurement". This kind of predatory conversion of women to Islam is termed "
Love Jihad".
In Assam, there can not be apparent growth of Muslim population just by natural multiplication, argues
Nath et al.
Authors proposed a method to estimate undocumented migrants in the north-east region of India. The peer reviewed numerical study reveals "
growth especially shows remarkable among religious groups of Muslims and among linguistic groups of Bengali speaking population". This disproportionate growth of
Muslims in Assam can not be explained without considering infiltration
from Bangladesh, concludes the study. Therefore, there "
are infiltrators", has some truth
in it.
It is now understandable that Dr. Puniyani, allegedly described as "prejudice" of Hindus against Muslims, in reality, portrays his secularist communality favoring specif religious group ignoring others. In order to avoid communal tensions, Dr. Puniyani indirectly advises, Hindus should not protect their "wealth" (Cow) in their own homeland where Cow enjoyed protection for thousands of years.
How does this Secularist communalism work?
Very recently so called communal mass movement led by Baba Ramdev in Delhi and Secular mass movement organized by Raza Academy in Mumbai was observed. Volume of the gathering in these two mass movements can be seen from the following picture.
 |
| Source: @kiranks |
|
|
|
The picture clearly shows
the difference in two mass protests. Swami Ramdev's protest was entirely peaceful and no undesired incidences observed. The picture shows nation is standing behind Baba Ramdev against corruption.
On the other hand, agitated Muslim group
(left) very soon turned violent and damaged
public property. Proposed peaceful demonstration in Mumbai, against persecution of Muslims in Assam and Burma, appeared to be a well crafted method to
destroy peace and tranquility of Mumbai. Needless to say secular press did not give importance to this senseless demonstrations in which
2 lives lost and several police officers injured. This wave of demonstration began after a muslim parliamentarian threatend the government inside parliament house of
muslim retaliation against the state (see the pic below).
 |
| Source: @mediacrooks |
How people reacted to this violence? Please have a
quicktake.
