This is with reference to the pamphlet �Time For Stock Taking: A Swayamsevak Speaks� published by Voice of India. Myself and many others who read it are appalled to learn that R.S.S. leaders have floated a �Sarva Panth Samãdar Manch� which includes, in the definition of panth, religions other than the Sanatan Dharma sects, such as Islam and Christianity, whose fundamentalist and regimented beliefs are diametrically opposed to the spiritual democracy of Hindu Dharma. It is all the more shocking for a person like me who has been a devoted Swayamsevak since 1943 and has boldly faced the adverse situations even at the risk of my job etc. during the Emergency. Departure from the basic principles of the Sangh has come as a bolt from the blue.
I joined the R.S.S. in 1943 after thoroughly studying the book �We or Our Nationhood Defined� by Swargiya Guruji Shri M.S. Golwalkar, wherein he has defined Dharma to be an essential constituent of a nation. It has been ingrained in our psychology through the R.S.S. teaching that �Hindustan (undivided) belongs to Hindus even if a single Hindu is there�.
The distinction between �liberal Muslims� and �fundamentalist Muslims� is imaginary. One has to believe in the Quran and the Hadis without any question or reasoning, otherwise one is a kafir to be condemned to death and consigned to hellfire in perpetuity. As per tenets of Islam, there can be no friendship and coexistence with kafirs (except for strategic reasons). This is what the teachings of the Quran and the Hadis and the life of the prophet Mohammed contain. The prayer call (azan) given from all mosques on loud speakers five times a day is, in fact, a repeated announcement of war to be unleashed on other religions. In his prayer (namaz) five times a day, every Muslim vows not to have relations with the non-Muslims and prays for perpetration of atrocities on them.
The Hindu Samaj has been looking forward to the R.S.S. for inspiration and guidance to steer the Samaj out of its difficulties and to prepare it for facing and defeating the adverse and hostile forces. For secularism and the spirit of co-existence to be meaningful, genuine and a matter of principle rather than a matter of expedient policy and tactics, it is essential to have interaction and free debate with these religions. To achieve this purpose, it is imperative to have a thorough knowledge of the teaching of the Quran and the Hadis, the life of prophet Mohammed, Islamic history since the inception of Islam throughout the globe, and the behavioural psychology of Muslims vis-à-vis non Muslims. Some of the contrasting features of Sanatan Dharma on the one hand and Islam on the other hand are as under:
1. Sanatan Dharma. Believes in the worship of the idols of gods and goddesses.
Islam. Mandatory and pious duty of Muslims to break the idols and destroy temples. (Even if Muslims call themselves Mohammadi Hindus, their attitude towards Sanatan Dharma is not going to change.)2. Sanatan. India is worshipped as a mother.
Islam. Non-Muslim state is a Dar-ul Harb.3. Sanatan. India is a sacred land.
Islam. India is Bhog Bhoomi till converted to Dar-ul-Islam and all traces of kufr and jahaliya prior to the advent of Islam are removed.4. Sanatan. Everybody accepts that another man�s wife is like a mother.
Islam. �We have made lawful unto thee whom thy right hand possessesth of those whom Allah hath given thee as spoil of war� (Quran, 33:50)(Sarva Panth Samãdar will mean equal respect for a son-in-law and a rapist.)
5. Sanatan. Essence of Dharma is truth, rationalism and reasoning. Hindus are tolerant because of it.
Islam. Essence of Dîn is belief. Reasoning or questioning the revelations is kufr.6. Sanatan. Believes in �live and let live� and in harmony with nature. The Earth is the mother.
Islam Believes in �live, but do not let live�. All nature and animal world is for the consumption of momins.7. Sanatan. Believes in �vasudhaiva kutumbakam�.
Islam. Muslims alone are the inheritors of the whole world. Do not trust and make friends with non-Muslims.8. Sanatan. Bharat is a nation since times immemorial.
Islam. Does not believe in confining Muslims to any national boundary.9. Sanatan. Considers foreign invaders as enemies.
Islam. Muslim invaders are welcome. They are heroes and liberators.10. Sanatan. It is inhuman and barbarous to convert people of other faiths by the sword.
Islam. It is the God-ordained duty of Muslims to convert others by the sword. They are grateful to those who put their ancestors to the sword or converted them to Islam � �making them men from the worst of animals�.11. Sanatan. All languages with a national base are national languages.
Islam. Only a language with an Arabic or Persian base and written in Arabic or Persian script is acceptable.12. Sanatan. The prayer is �sarve bhavantu sukhinah�.
Islam. Namaz is for Moking atrocities on non-Muslims and vows not to co-exist with them.
The real
service to the Hindu Samaj is to prepare it to defeat Islam which is bent
upon annihilating Sanatan Dharma. First step will be to identify the danger,
the enemy, his ideology, inspiration, strategy, history, and his behaviour
pattern. For this a vast literature is required. Hindu writers and intellectuals
should be honoured, supported and protected. It is heartening that Voice
of India is championing this cause. If this literature reaches every
Hindu, it will automatically infuse a spirit of sacrifice and unity in
the Samaj. The knowledge of a common danger is a great uniting force. Hindu
Samaj should blunt the aggressiveness of the bully through ideological
war so that he can be made to recoil, and becomes defensive and apologetic.
In my considered opinion, Hindu organisations should take up this cause.
Footnotes:
The
writer is a retired Superintending Engineer from the Irrigation Department,
Rajasthan, and a Swayamsevak of the RSS since 1943. He lives in NOIDA near
Delhi.
