Sir, I thank you not for the facts in the above statements, which will anyways be denied by your countrymen, but to the courage to travel the least travelled path. It often takes a person a lot of will power to oppose the thought flow of the society around.
Hon Sir,
If you would like to know the facts about ethnic and communal riots in the subcontinent ask an old man like me who has seen it all. Here it is:
To be fair one has to admit that crimes of ethnic cleansing were committed on both sides. In fact Hindus Mahasabha, RSS and Sikh Akali Dal, were one of the first sectarian parties to indulge in murder of Muslims simply because of their faith. Most the ethnic parties were formed between 1915 and 1925. Mahasabha was the first political group to oppose Gandhi/Congress principle of nonviolence and secularism and promoted the idea of Hindu Rashtra or Hunduvta and was against holding the dialogues with Muslim League.
On the Muslim side Majlis e Ahrar was the Deobandi sectarian party and mostly against fellow Muslims whom they considered kafir. Ahrars opposed Muslim League (probably) because the Quaid was a Shia and also because Sir Mohammed Zafarulah Khan was a Qadiani and the Ahmadis were supporting Muslim League.
First major communal riots actually started in Calcutta on 16th August 1946 when general strike was called by the Muslim League and opposed by the Akhand Hindustan shouting Hindus. It is difficult to put the blame as who started the killings but it said that about 4,000 persons lost their live the very first day.
Apparently the decision of Unionist leader Khizar Hayat Tiwana to step down as Chief Minister of united Punjab and because Sikh leader Tara Singh fanned the hatred between Muslims and Sikhs along with the death of Sikh constable, was the spark that started a spree of pillage, arson and looting against Hindu and Sikhs in Lahore.
It is said that stabbing of a Muslim taxi driver by Sikh was the start of communal riots in Amritsar, where thousands of Muslims were massacred by the Sikhs.
It must be said that violence of the kind that was witness during the partition was unprecedented in the subcontinent history. Millions lost their lives just because of accident if birth in a different religion. There is absolutely be no justification for such kind behaviour by human beings.
Regret to say that neither Indians nor Pakistanis have learned to curb their inherent bestial instinct. Indian has witnessed mass killing of Sikhs in Delhi when Indra was killed by her Sikh body guard. Everyone is aware of the Gujarat massacre of Muslims following Babri Masjid incident. There have been communal riots in Jabalpur in 1960. There were riots in Moradabad in 1980. Caste riots are still prevalent in rural northern India.
In Pakistan, since there were no more Hindus/Sikhs left, communalism changed to sectarianism/ethnic riots. Anti Qadiani riots broke out in Punjab in Feb 1953 and Martial had to be imposed to bring peace. Again Deobandi/Wahabi parties such as JI & MaJlis Ahrar were mainly responsible. There have been language riots in Sindh in 1972. Who can forget 1971 events in East Pakistan?
With rise of Khomeini in Iran, Saudi financed Wahhabi organizations such as SSP and now TTP have sparked Shia killings. This goes on to this day with the target killing of Hazaras in Quetta and also of Shias in Kurram agency and in Gilgit. Iran financed Shia organizations that are targeting SSP leaders and bombing Sunni mosques.
No matter how objectively I try to look at the senseless killings of innocents in the subcontinent, and indeed the world over such as Nazi atrocities, Northern Ireland, many countries in Africa and massacre of Chinese in Indonesia, ethnic cleansing following the break- up of Yugoslavia; I realize that despite the fact human beings have been to the moon and back; a lot of them remain jungle dwelling savages underneath. More so if the hatred is fanned by the religious/ethnic bigots. Nearly all religions teach tolerance, but somehow I find that more outwardly religious the people are; more hard-line and ruthless their actions.
Can’t comment on other religions but being a Muslim I find it very painful when I see Muslims engaging is atrocities. Islam is supposed to be religion of peace but some of its followers have turned into a vindictive hateful creed. I am therefore inclined more and more towards Sufi Islam which is based on love and tolerance. Unfortunately, Ibne Timmiyya, Imam of the Wahabis, Salafin & Takfiris was dead against Ibne Arabi (Imam of the Sufis) and considered him a heretic. I would probably be killed by some Wahhabi/Deobandi/Taliban fanatic for my views.
