Hidden Hindus

Re: Slink

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

Thank you for an intelligent, empathetic and a bitter-sweet article.

You have aptly show cased the plight of the Pakistani minorities by asking that question if the minorities love Pakistan, then why does not Pakistan love its minorities?

Ciao!

ummmm...hideous hindus!

i think the friday times is an exceptional publication.

regards

aakar patel

All rational Hindus and Muslims in Pakistan could move to India in exchange we will send the the Saffron brigade to party with the Taleban oriented Pakistanis till they all see the light.

To shandana,

A really great article, I admire your knowledge of hinduism, I rarely feel humbled, this is one instance.

A minor technicality, `brahman` is the formless into which everything merge, `Brahma` is the creator god.

regards

Jay.

Assalamalaikum

Oh, how Positive :) You always beautifully extract karelas out of everything.

Actually you write very well.

``Pakistan doesn`t love its minorities back`` is a gross generalization. Our flag has a place for them and though it may not be bridged that well to practice, things may not be that bad. The maasi of our neighbor was a Hindu and I was very curious to know of how they live, so I found out pretty interesting things. They have well organized communities, they have a dish and TV at home, she knew of all the latest Indian movies and from the standards of lower class, I thought she and most of her community members lived comfortably. I asked her if she feels ok here and she said, ``Baji yey hamara ghar hey, haa nahito`` BTW, her name was Mafia :)

Though we need to do a lot more for them and their rights, we should ensure we don`t do with them what India did or still does with its minorities. We shouldn`t mingle religious practices into the political sphere to the extent of choking the minorities. I have come across a lot of articles and protests regarding this, though sometimes it gets to me as another propaganda by those who ``love`` Pakistan`s welfare and sometimes all seems to blow out of proportion. All countries have their share of violations against minorities. I am not justifying ours but, please don`t look at things through articles and media hypes, the real thing is not as bad.

Wassalam.

Aisha

Slink,

A good one! Some of my initial reactions:

1. Something like this is a rarity in the Pak media. Rarer still are such obseravations by a Muslim. You yourself being a minority member, are able to be more forthright, factual, devoid of your own judgemental qualifications, YKWIM!

2. Hopefully, all those who try to liberate the minorities from the oppressions accross the Border will begin at home.

3. Does anyone have any reliable(!) statistics as to the Hindu, Parsi, Sikhs, and Christian population before the Partition in Pakistan in general, and in the major cities like Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, etc!

4. Just curious. Have you, Shandana, visited India or any other country and observed the life-style of these minority communities. Just wondered how you would relate it to the one in Pakistan!

Kant......

Good writing slink, as usual. :)

Not to belittle the minority status of Hindus in Pakistan, but don`t all ``different`` people face similar hardships?

``The parents say he gets into fights because he is constantly provoked with taunts of ``Hindu %#%`` and ``Hindu &&

Thank you.

Sorry, I found the article disjointed and without focus. Some parts of it, especially ones describing Hindu festivals, looked like a cut-paste job. The author asks `What is it like?` at least a dozen times which is irritating. Finally where is the analysis? There is no analysis, no insights, just a few references to Hindu citizens in Pakistan strung together. Altogether, the article was quite disappointing.

Since I`m from what you call ``Tamil South India`` I couldn`t understand those hindi/urdu/punjabi? phrases. A translation would have helped.

Also, the South should have been classified as Dravidian, if at all. Tamil is only one of the four major languages there--along with the Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, not counting the lesser tongues/dialects such as Konkini, Coorgi, etc.

Dear Shandana,

Thanks for sharing this article with us at the Chowk. I hope you wouldnt mind if I borrow your space to thank a gentleman who has a profound effect on the life of many people.

Mr. Ranomal S. Hirani was my teacher and the Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Karachi. Mr. Hirani is considered as the pioneer of Industrial Engineering and he was also one of the main driving force behind the introduction of this descipline of Engineering in Pakistan. It was not possible without his relentless and selfless efforts to take this discipline through the gauntlet of Pakistani bureaucracy.

It is not just me, all of the senior students who studied in the earlier batches are grateful for his affection and personal attention. Most of his students are serving in all kinds of industry, education, research and development, and defence industry in Pakistan and abroad.

Thank you Mr. Hirani for your contribution in the development of technology in Pakistan. You are our hero.

Shan:

Read this earlier. Sent a comment to TFT. They are allergic to pseudonyms. And I....

As Mahajirzadeh lamented we should try to become ‘insaan’ first before bowing down to our gods of Religion and Nationalism.

There is something I posted on Harish’s board. It has greater ‘relevance’ here. So dear Shandy, if you don’t mind I will reproduce it here.

love,

t
__________________________________________________


CONFESSION

(This must appear today. Since I have three or four articles already in the pipeline I think it will be unfair to ask the Editor [She is smiling, and nodding appreciatively, I can feel it;)] to let this supersede them. Besides this needs some whipping up to shape it into a decent article. Hence I seek forgivance in advance from all, specially Harish for using this space.)

DURGA PUJA

(reproduced and condensed from several sites on the net)

Origin of Durga - the mythology

In the ancient times, a demon called `Mahishasura` earned the favour of `Lord Shiva` after a long meditation. Shiva, pleased with the devotion of the demon, blessed him with a boon that no man or Deity would be able to kill him. Empowered with the boon, Mahishasura started his reign of terror over the World. People were killed mercilessly and even the Gods were driven out from heaven.

The Gods scared and unable to combat him, requested Lord Shiva, Lord Bramha, Lord Vishnu to stop Mahishasura`s tyranny. In answer, the three Gods combined their devine energy and summoned up a feminine form so brilliantly glaring that it illuminated the heavens. From the glow emerged Devi Durga, a beautiful yellow woman with ten arms riding a lion. Despite her grace she bore a menancing expression, for Durga was born to kill. Fully grown and beautiful Durga was immediately armed by the gods and sent forth against Mahishasura bearing in each of her ten hands, symbols of their divine power. Vishnu`s discus; Shiva`s trident; Varuna`s conchshell; Agni`s flaming dart; Vayu`s bow; Surya`s quiver and arrow; Yama`s iron rod; Indra`s thunderbolt; Kubera`s club and a garland of snakes from Shesha and a lion as a charger from Himalayas.

Riding a lion, she attacked Mahishasura. After a fierce battle, Durga transformed into Devi Chandika, the most ferocious form of the Goddess, and beheaded Mahishasura.

Bengalis worship Durga as the mother goddess, the epitome of `Shakti`(divine power), to deliver us from the evil and bring peace and prosperity in our lives. But the most interesting part of Durga Puja is that, instead of placing Durga on a high alter and worshipping her from a distance the Bengalis embrace her in their hearts and make her an inseperable member of the family. We welcome Durga to the earth as our daughter who comes at her parents` home for her annual visits. Durga stays for four days-Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Nabami along with her children, Ganesha, Laxmi, Kartik and Saraswati and sets for her husband`s abode on Vijaya Dashami.
______________________________

Why this intro about Durga Puja?

Well, it is the most important festival for Bengalis. And the beginning of this festival is also the birthday of my sister M, whom I met a second time through Chowk. (How did we meet? That’s another long story!)

It seems the letter M has acquired an undue significance in my personal life.

Today is the first day of Durga Puja, an auspicious occasion according to M. She was born this day. I wish her peace, health and happiness. (A and R, take good care of her. Love you all.)
Dear fellow Chowkies, since you have allowed me this intrusion, let me share one related thought. May I?

On other boards we are bludgeoning each other to death over seemingly meaningless and irreconcilable differences. Who is a Muslim who is not one. Who is a greater leader who isn’t. All the while the poor live in denial of basic necessities of life. Roti, Kapra, Makaan and DIGNITY.

I find these pissing matches distasteful and generally avoid them But lately I have found fresh infusion of concerned thinking here. Inter-actors who advocate doing something anything positive to alleviate the conditions --- be they environmental or people related. More power to you, folks.

And a Happy Birthay, dear M, once again. And Happy Durga Puja.

May our gods bless us all with health and inner happiness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I am sure that some muslims in India, especially in Kashmir, feel suffocated

the same way as the hindus in Pakistan. Why cant we have a voluntary excahnge

of such people? There should be a ministry for religious repatriation in each

country. Allthe religious minorites who feel oppressed can sell their belongings either in the open market or to the govt and move to their preferred country.

This can mean a new, fulfilling life for millions of people in the subcontinent

who are trapped in a uncaring society for no fault of theirs. It might even reduce

hostilities in Kashmir and elsewhere.

The other alternative of carving your own kingdom from big countries like

India and Pakistan wont work. It is just too futile and people are wasting their precious lives trying it. Assuming that they achieve it somehow, the job is not

still done. To have better life standard than before, it has to be managed well. People who are good fighting for their own country may not be good at managing it.

One need to only look at Pakistan as proof of that:)

sarwari #6:

``.. we should ensure we don`t do with them what India did or still does with its minorities.``

What kind of self righteous bullshit is that. Wake up and smell the coffee you Ms. Pakistani chauvinist. Dont forget you belong to Pakistan.

* A country with a State religion

*A country where there are two classes of people, Muslim and Non Muslim.

*A country which thinks its its business to declare a particular community (Ahmedis) Non Muslim.

*A country that stamps the religion of its nationals on their passports.

*A country which had 35-40% minority population at partition or just before it has now a less than 5% minority population.

*A country that REFUSES to honor ITS ONLY NOBEL LAUREATE Abdus Salam, ONLY because he was an Ahmedi.

*A country that teaches K for Kafir with the picture of a Hindu and Z for Zaalim with picutre of a Sikh to its toddlers in Urdu classes.

*A country where one of the ESSENTIAL things a 5th grader must know is the difference between Hindus and Muslims, Hindu treachery and the JUSTIFICATION OF PARTITION which is ofcourse Hindu perfidy and treachery.

*A country where supposedly presitigious newspapers like DAWN make daily references to Hindus, Banias, treacherous Banias, Cunning Hindus and Shrewd Indians and use all the terms interchangeably.

* A country which obviously doesnt care for its Hindu citizens with ALL newspapers somewhere or the other commenting on Hindu treachery, Hindu perfidy, Hindi nature of Munh pe Raam, baghal mein Chhuri.

*A country which had destroyed a lot of its beautiful temples even before a derelict mosque was destroyed in India and many more after that incident.

*A country in which the insignificant Hindu population still feels threatened enough to adopt Christian names or flee to India.

*A country which can count its minority achievers/celebrities on finger tips though the 5% minorities amount to 7 million people (This article is a glaring example).

* A country where history starts with Mohammad Bin Kasim`s invasion of Sindh. Where all Hindu rulers of past are either ignored or vilified (Raja Dahir was ofcourse a tyrant: You dont need to justify Kasim`s invasion, people). Where the entire the pre-Islamic GLORIOUS past was Buddhist (Ofcourse how can anything good be Hindu?). SO Ashik can be reluctantly accepted a hero (he converted to Buddhism ) but the founder of his dynasty Chandragupta is not. Why? Because he was a Hindu for most of his life and then became a Jain monk.

* A country that has a blasphemy law only for Islam. Makes sesne, because if the law were applied to blasphemers of say of Hinduism, half the population would have to be put under bars.

*A country where a 6year old kid calls a visitor from India, Hindu kutta. Abusing Hindus and calling them names is so common apparently, that the kid doesnt think twice before blurting out something that is routinely spoken at home and other places. This is from a column in Dawn, where the author makes reference to this incident.

Now here is what India did/does to its minorities.

1. Everyone equal under the constitution

2. No state religion

3. All official posts open to any citizen irrespective of faith (Two Presidents, countless ministers, atleast a couple dozen chief ministers of various states have been Muslims until now)

4. No marking of religion on passports

5. No discriminatory blasphemy law

6. No one`s religion determined by the State

Wake up, and before you make other such arrogant and chauvinistic statements do some introspection. If you really care about the minorities of your country, stop comparing to India. Compare yourself to Iran because India is far better even with Babri masjid, even with Graham Staines and everything else, than you guys, and with your TNT justifications you will never reach India`s level in that respect.

Satyavadi

Temporal #re 13

After reading this article I thought I would not respond to it. It is sad that we treat human beings based solely on their gods. I do not believe in ultimate truth(brahman) or only truth(allah). Religions and Gods are experiences of Men and they can take us only that far; further it is only our travails and our believes...regardless of any symbolism we indulge in. Religion, I have felt is all commmon sense with lot of annexures.

And if your post #13 is from the heart then it is too good.

Your Durga Puja wishes was a very warm gesture.

Have a good day...{biscuit.. :) }

great work shandana...

Pullu