Counting Communally

I would start with my first confession today, and this has been triggered by what happened yesterday – bomb blast at Dargah of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer in Rajasthan. Two people died in the blast and several others were injured. Police has rounded up some people for interrogation today. Politicians and some religious leaders are calling it an attack on communal harmony of India as the Dargah is revered by both Hindus and Muslims.

As I read the news, so many thoughts crossed my mind. Some of my initial reactions were –

All these Dargahs are were just a ploy to convert Hindus to Islam, to rob us of our identity slowly and deceitfully. An attack on Dargah is just a reaction to Islamic terrorism and doublespeak.

Look at them, when police arrived at scene to help them, they started pelting stones at them. Have you ever seen Hindus doing so when they are killed in market places and temples? These Muslims consider Indian civic and administrative system as inimical. By nature, these guys are violent and secessionist.

Good! Finally Muslims are also getting to know how it is to be at the receiving end of religious terrorism. They have to be paid back in their own coins. But only two dead…

I would pick up from the last point and my first confession would be regarding that point – only two dead…

Yeah, I count communally, and I count both living and dead people.

Yeah, I count people for their religions. I count the decreasing population of Hindus in Indian subcontinent since Abrahamic religions embarked upon to harvest faith. I count the disappearing Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh and North Eastern states in India. I count the number of Hindu girls who accept Islam under romantic delusions. I count people who became non-Hindus and then anti-Hindus.

And I count dead people too, for their religions. I count the Hindus who were killed by Jinnah’s direct action. I count the Kashmiri Pandits who were massacred by Jehadis in Jammu & Kashmir. I count those Hindu youths who were killed when they tried to venture into the Muslim ghettos. I count Hindus dying in terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Delhi, Coimbatore, Godhra, Ahmedabad, Benaras, et al.

And I try to balance the above counted numbers when bomb blasts like those in Malegaon, Jama Masjid, or Ajmer take place. But only two this time…

I don’t know who’s behind the blasts. The preliminary investigation by police shows that maybe some Muslim organization based in Bangladesh could be behind it. And I’m least concerned who’s behind the blasts – Hindus or Muslims – for me, it’s just about counting. And I’m counting…

I count Muslims killed by earthquake in Iran, Pakistan or Indonesia. And I balance them with landslides in Himanchal Pradesh or earthquake of Maharashtra (I know that some of those killed were Muslims too, but for ballpark calculation, I ignore that number).

I count Muslims killed in Karachi, Palestine, Iraq or Bosnia, and try to balance them with Hindus losing their lives in inter-caste bloodbath in Bihar or in Naxal attacks in Andhra Pradesh.

I wait for a Haj stampede if a bus full of Hindu Pilgrims falls in a gorge.

Life and death is often reduced to numbers by me, and I keep counting…

Maybe by now you are already filled with disgust with my thoughts, with my confessions. Maybe you deem me to be a diseased person unfit for a civil society. But I would still advise you to have patience. This blog will reveal more of my self and maybe you can find a cure for my disease then.

XYZ says that perhaps I have pushed myself into a state of mind where I’m always in war mode. I’m on a chessboard where my opponent must lose similar and equal number of chessmen as I lose. I’m not living a life, but fighting a battle. Something they call jehadi mindset?

And why do people go into war mode? Why have the wars been fought in history? I think there were three main reasons –

• A battle to satisfy ego or personal whims and fancies of Kings
• A campaign to become more powerful or richer (by King or by the society)
• A preemptive strike to counter anticipated threats to a society

Well, no Muslim has backstabbed me or made my personal life hell. I don’t have a personal enemy who is Muslim. I have not been heartbroken due to any inter-religious love affair. I guess the first point is ruled out. And I’m the King of myself, that’s my assumption.

So am I on a campaign? Hinduism is not a proselytizing religion. You are born a Hindu. There are hardly converted Hindus (unfortunately). But that word ‘unfortunately’ in bracket hints that perhaps this element is present in my mindset. I want to see Hinduism growing stronger, like Muslims pride themselves on Islam being the fastest growing religion, or Christians pride themselves as Christianity having the largest number of followers in this world. Hmmm, so I might be on this campaign.

And any threats to Hinduism from other religion? Hell yeah! Of course, there are so many things… That’s why I’m writing this blog, to help understand those ‘threats’ better…

So in my first confession, I admit that I’m on warpath…