Author: A Surya Prakash
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 22, 2008
Aided by an administration that is of late
making anti-Hinduism an important component of state policy, a small group
of Muslim bigots in Chennai disrupted an exhibition on Aurangzeb, the despotic
ruler who destroyed hundreds of Hindu temples in the 17th century, including
the most sacred shrines at Banaras and Mathura.
The story of the horrors perpetrated by this
ruler in the name of Islam had been put together through pictures and drawings
by the Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT). The man behind this
initiative is François Gautier, a noted journalist and a trustee of
FACT who is committed to salvaging truths about India's ancient and medieval
history from the garbage that is palmed off as history by a small group of
pseudo-secular historians who subsist on the patronage of the Nehru-Gandhis
and the Communists. The exhibition, which has 40 paintings, show cases Akhbarats
(edicts) issued by Aurangzeb. It has been viewed by over 100,000 people in
other cities before it went to Chennai. The organisers were, therefore, shocked
when Chennai Police forcibly closed the exhibition at the instance of a handful
of protesters.
The exhibition was based on the work of eminent
historians. The history of the reign of Aurangzeb, including the story of
his cruel and oppressive conduct vis-a-vis the Hindus and the Sikhs, was first
put together after a life-time of research into the edicts passed by him by
Jadunath Sarkar, one of India's greatest historians. Sarkar's work on the
Mughals -- and thereafter the four volumes he wrote, especially on Aurangzeb
-- is considered the most definitive account of events of that time. Sarkar
translated Masir-i-Alamgiri -- a history of the reign of Aurangzeb -- by Saqi
Mustad Khan. Khan's narration was based on orders passed by Aurangzeb and
material available in state archives in 1710. Sarkar also translated Akhbarats,
which were essentially reports on the orders passed by Aurangzeb. In addition,
there are other accounts like Mirat-i-Alam and Alamgir-Nama written by persons
employed by Aurangzeb. Eliot and Dawson's History of India as told by its
own historians aggregates much of the work done by these historians.
There have been several other accounts, including
the much-acclaimed series titled The History and Culture of the Indian People
edited by the eminent historian RC Mazumdar and published by the Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan, and the monumental series on civilisation by Will Durant.
A common thread that runs through all these
accounts is the zeal displayed by Aurangzeb to promote Islam and to crush
other faiths. Here is a list of the atrocities committed by him, as narrated
by historians employed by him: Aurangzeb issued an order on April 9, 1669
to the governors of the provinces, directing them "to demolish the schools
and temples of the infidels and put down their teaching and religious practices
strongly. Besides innumerable temples throughout the empire, even the famous
Hindu temples of Visvanath at Banaras, of Keshav Dev at Mathura, and Somnath
at Patan were destroyed. Even the loyal state of Jaipur was not spared, and
sixty-six temples were razed to the ground at Amber". Ten years later,
on April 2, 1679, he imposed jizya on Hindus. This was an oppressive, commutation
tax that had to be paid by Hindus in order to be allowed to continue to practice
their faith.
According to Sarkar, jizya was imposed by
Aurangzeb "with the object of spreading Islam and overthrowing infidel
practices". Mazumdar says, "He felt gratified when many Hindus,
unable to pay it, embraced Islam." But, destruction of temples and jizya
were just the tip of the iceberg. Various other measures were adopted to force
Hindus to convert to Islam. Here is a list provided by Mazumdar in his series:
In April 1665, Aurangzeb fixed Customs duty on goods imported into his kingdom
at 2.5 per cent for Muslim merchants and five per cent for Hindu merchants.
He offered Government jobs and commutation of prison terms for those who converted
to Islam. In 1668, Aurangzeb prohibited all Hindu religious fairs. In 1671,
he passed an order dismissing all Hindu head-clerks and accountants and hiring
Muslims in their place.
In March 1695, he prohibited all Hindus, except
Rajputs, from riding in palanquins or on elephants and also forbade them from
carrying arms. Aurangzeb also went after the Sikhs with a vengeance. He ordered
the destruction of Sikh places of worship and the expulsion of the Sikh Guru's
representatives from the cities. He imprisoned Guru Tegh Bahadur and killed
him after torturing him for several days because he refused to convert to
Islam. The attack on Sikhism continued during the tenure of the next Guru,
Guru Govind Singh. His headquarters in Anandpur were attacked several times
and his four sons were slain. On Mathura, Masir-i-Alamgiri says, "During
the month of Ramzan, the Emperor... issued for the demolition of the temple
in Mathura. In a short time... the destruction of this strong foundation of
infidelity was accomplished, and on its site a lofty mosque was built... The
idols, large and small, set with costly jewels which had been set up in the
temple were brought to Agra, and buried under the steps of the mosque of the
Begum Sahib, in order to be continually trodden upon. The name of Mathura
was changed to Islamabad."
In recent times, a bunch of pseudo-secular
or Marxist historians has been trying to bury these historical truths just
as Aurangzeb buried the idols of Hindu gods at the entrances to the mosques
that he built. They have also been attempting fraudulent and criminal misinterpretation
of facts in order to paint even persons like Aurangzeb, who launched monstrous
attacks on Hinduism and Sikhism, as "secular" beings. Some Muslim
groups in the country have been abetting this pseudo-secular enterprise. The
attack on FACT's exhibition in Chennai is the latest manifestation of this
phenomenon -- which is nothing but a renewed assault on truth and on Hinduism.
The only answer to this is to take this exhibition to every nook and corner
of the country and to publicise the Akhbarats of Aurangzeb's time in every
way possible. We cannot promote secularism by turning a blind eye to truth.
We must freely discuss the communal agenda of rulers like Aurangzeb if only
to show how barbaric the state can become when it is wedded to theocracy.
That is how the citizens of India in the post-independence era will appreciate
the value of democracy and genuine secularism and the basic structure of our
Constitution.
