Kalpana Bora
(kalpana.bora@gmail.com)
On April 22, 26 tourists and innocent civilians were killed in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in one of the most horrendous, heart-wrenching terrorist attacks. Before shooting and killing, terrorists asked their religion. They didn’t ask their “Caste”. If the tourist was Hindu, he was shot dead, except for one Muslim who got killed because he was trying to oppose the terrorists. Some of them were just married and came for their honeymoon; some were defence personnel, businessmen or professionals. It appeared to be a very well-planned terrorist attack that couldn’t have been executed without the support of some local people of extremist/radical mindsets. Sindoors of women are wiped out, fathers of small children taken away from them forever, and young sons of mothers taken away. They would never come back. These widows, these fatherless children, these mothers, would have to cry whole of their lifetimes. No amount of compensation can bring to them what they have lost! And what is their fault? They are Hindus.
The whole country is shocked and anguished. Today, citizens of Bharat of all religions are protesting against this terrorist attack and are united, and the sentiment in the whole of Bharat is that Pakistan should be taught a lesson for sponsoring this ruthless act of terrorism in Pahalgam.
The timing of this heinous attack on humanity has some coincidences, which cannot be ignored. Our PM was visiting Saudi Arabia, and the US Vice President was visiting India, while a political leader of the opposition of Indian politics was in the USA. A meeting of some extremist group in PoK shouting foul about our Kashmir before the attack should also be noted. And now Pakistan is giving military protection to the terrorists thought to be responsible for this attack. Pakistan has also been violating the ceasefire on the border ever since the attack. Clearly, this exposes the ugly face of Pakistan’s state-based terrorism, which is supported by radical-Islamist ideology.
A couple of days ago, we witnessed barbaric attacks on Hindus and their temples and business establishments in Murshidabad in West Bengal in the name of the recently enacted Waqf Act. Several Hindus were killed in this targeted violence, which was also backed by radical forces. Go backward in time: several hundreds of Hindus were killed in Manipur in conflicts between Meitei and Kuki communities that erupted in August 2023. This is another example of cross-border terrorism that has affected so many children who are not able to go to schools regularly. Hundreds of families have been displaced who are not able to indulge in their regular activities. Youth have been affected, as their business establishments and other economic affairs have been disrupted. Women are suffering from all sorts of violations. People are not able to do cultivation properly. All this is due to terrorism supported by radical forces, again religion-based. Not to speak of Hindu genocide in Bangladesh occurring since August 2024 in the name of student protest!
Be it Wandhama 1998, Sangrampora 1997, Prankote 1998, Chamba 1998, Doda 1998, Kishtwar 2001, Amarnath Yatra massacre 2001, Doda massacre 2001, Qasim Nagar massacre 2002, Amarnath Yatra massacre 2002, Nadimarg 2003, Rajouri massacre 2003, Sambhal, Shahin Bagh, Kerala and many more – lakhs of Hindus have lost their lives or migrated because of religion-based terrorism during the last years. And the bottom line of the story remains the same!
In 1805, Afghanistan’s prime minister was Pandit Nand Ram Tikku; now no one is left there to chant the name of Bhagwan Ram in Afghanistan. Lakhs of Hindus have been wiped out in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Hindus ran away (migrated) from the Hindukush region about 500 years ago, ran away from Afghanistan about 400 years ago, ran away from Pakistan 77 years ago, ran away from Bangladesh 54 years ago, and ran away from Kashmir 35 years ago. Today Hindus are running away from West Bengal. After that, from where and to where will you run away? How long will this continue? This will continue until we all Bharatiyas awake, arise, unite, and fight against terrorism backed by radical forces to win this war against our Bharat and Sanskriti.
From the above examples, it is clear that the religious terrorism is backed by radical ideology which believes that people who don’t belong to their religion have no right to live, and they should either be converted or killed. It is time that we all understand this philosophy of terrorism supported from across the borders, in whose support now there is enough evidence. We all must unite against this war against humanity, which is being propagated to create differences among people of different religions living in Bharat. Such radical forces are trying in vain to destabilise and break Bharat – we must understand these conspiracies. And contemplate. And act.
To combat terrorism, one has to understand it first. As per the AI (Artificial Intelligence) generated definition, terrorism is the calculated use of violence, or the threat of violence, to instill fear and coerce a government or population into taking or not taking certain actions, often to advance a political, ideological, or religious cause. Such inhuman activities are hindrances to peace, progress and development, must be condemned in the harshest of words, and must be stopped immediately.
On the other hand, our Sanatan Dharma speaks of unity in diversity; our Itihas is a testimony that we have always accommodated outsiders of all religions; we have always respected other religions. Sanatan Dharma is based on three pillars of “Nyaya, Daan, Satya”. We worship our trees, the sun, rivers, animals, Mother Earth, hills, ancestors, gurus and parents. In our scriptures, there are examples when two enemy animals, like snake and frog, also live happily together. We believe in the peaceful coexistence of all together. We always pray for peace for the whole world as told in the Shanti Mantra – Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina, Sarve Santu Niramaya, Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, Ma Kashchid Dukh Bhagbhaved.
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
Means – may all be happy, may all be healthy, may all see the good, may peace prevail everywhere. This is what Sanatan or Hindu Dharma is all about, though thousands of pages can be written about our Hindu philosophy. Moreover, we never say that only our Bhagwan can lead to Moksha and hence never ask people of other religions to convert forcefully to our Hindu Dharma.
Bharat has a rich heritage of culture and Dharma that dates back several thousands of years. Ramayan happened at least about 7,000 years ago; Agastya Muni’s time around 5100 BC matches with the time of Valmiki Ramayana (through visibility of Canopus from Vindhyas, as per research work by A K Bhatnagar of the Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas, presented at the International Seminar on Determining Cultural Continuity since Vedic and Epic Eras, New Delhi, 23-24 February, 2014), and also supported by research work published in Nature Scientific Reports on March 27, 2020 (Anshika Srivastava, Gyaneshwar Chaubey & others, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61941-z), based on genetic and linguistic studies of Kol, Bhil and Gond tribes. These tribes are mentioned in Valmiki Ramayan and are still found in Bharat even today. In spite of so many invasions by the Portuguese, Turks, Mughals, British, etc., Bharat is still standing strong with her Dharma and culture, and no terrorism can ever break us.
We were taught wrongly, once upon a time, that “Ahimsa paramo dharama”h” means non-violence is our utmost Dharma. But they very tactfully omitted its following part from the narratives and our memories, which says –
Dharmah hinsa tathaiv cha – means violence to protect Dharma is not Adharma.
So, as obedient followers, remembering only the first part, we started becoming cowards, not protecting ourselves. And we got used to it. We forget that.
“We must be non-violent, but to protect ourselves is also Dharma.”
We must not forget that on one hand all our gods bless, and on the other hand, they have some or the other Shastra to destroy the Adharmis and to protect the Dharma. Baudh, Sikh, and Jain Dharma got created here itself in this Bharatbhumi. We embraced them all and accommodated them into our hearts, culture and spaces. Our Sanatan Dharma gives absolute freedom to all to observe and exercise their religious faith and practices; it has been continuing for thousands of years. This was also the dream of Swaraj of Shivaji Maharaj in the 17th century.
We will have to identify these radical forces that are enemies of humanity. Let all of us awake, arise, unite and fight against such forces that are eating our Bharat like white ants. Bitter medicine is needed to cure the disease. We have to do what Bhagwan Krishna taught to Arjuna during the Mahabharata – fight against Adharma, so that peace and Dharma prevail. It’s high time we became courageous in all dimensions, like earlier – mentally, morally, culturally, spiritually and physically courageous. Governments alone cannot do everything. Citizens must care not only about their rights but also about their duties and responsibilities towards the Dharma and nation too. “Live and let others live” needs to be followed by all for the civilization to survive.