RAJARAM EPISODE

[nanda chandran]

schrieb RZ :

>Perhaps that overwhelming Hindu majority could consider returning all the
>Jaina and Buddhist structures to their erstwhile owners first, before
>raving
>about what the Muslims later did to brahminical structures? Why such a
>partisan attitude? (Sorry if the desire for 'truth and integrity' in some
>of us,
>which you expressly say not to believe in, asks such questions.)

Though others have already commented on such ridiculous questions, I too
would like to point out a few things.

Yes, I observe that whenever the tolerant nature of the Hindu religion is
brought up RZ without fail will raise these questions -"Thirujnaanasambandar
killed a lot of JainAs" etc.  Why is this? How many such instances are there
when Hindus "destroyed" JainA temples or defaced JainA idols? Yes, there was
rivalry and OCCASIONALLY it went beyond the boundaries of civility - but the
JainAs were no means the only people on the receiving end. When the king was
a JainA, Hindus too were persecuted. Anyway such instances, which are
totally
incompatible with the fundemental teachings of both religions, were
exceptions rather than the norm.

And why is there this attempt to identify JainAs and Buddhists as entities
apart from the Hindus. It was Hindus who created both religions - it was
Hindus who became followers of these religions - it was Hindus who sometimes
left these religins and went back to their original fold - and JainAs even
today use brahmins for certain ceremonies and also inter-marry with Hindus.
The same is the case with the original Buddhists (not the Ambedkarite
version which is more political in nature). Without Hindus, especially
brahmins who brought in their moral, spiritual and intellectual background
into these
religions and sustained them after the demise of the founders, it is
doubtful whether both the religions would have survived, developed and
matured into the force that they are today.

This is common knowledge, for anybody with even a decent bit of knowledge
about the history of the Indian religions.

And even in today's political scenario, the affluent JainA merchant class is
amongst the most generous contributors to the BJP kitty. For along with the
Hindus, they too identify with the BJPs ideals of a resurgent India, knowing
fully well that "Hindu" includes them too.

So why is a JainA scholar ignoring all these facts and taking pot-shots at
Hinduism? What is his agenda?

>You should know perfectly well that your attitudes are not representative
>of the whole of Hindudom - fortunately not. We know enough about India to
>know that this kind of noisy polemic is insulting to a good many persons
>who
>consider themselves Hindu. It is also insulting to our intelligence.

Well, if numbers be the judge, the BJP is the single biggest political party
in the country.

>If you wish to be taken seriously, please stop this kind of writing.

As always, the feeling is mutual. And like others, I too would like to
request more civility in future exchanges.
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