History Strikes Back

 

There is a timeless tide that subterraneously links disparate events with genetic memory, intermittently spouting through fissures created by seismic shifts in the segueing of civilisations. The reasons for these outbreaks are found in the cultural genomes of a people, and create icons and demons.

A R Rahman is a national treasure. When he sings Vande Mataram, the sheer emotion in his voice transforms it into a choreography of patriotism. Only the most retarded of bigots can issue a fatwa against him. The VHP’s invitation of ghar wapsi to Rahman, however, and the suggestion that he converted only for commercial reasons are unsophisticated expressions of nationalism.

‘Jai ho’ has nothing to do with banning meat either, using the Jain festival, Paryushan, as an excuse. In fact, during that period, Jains don’t consume even green vegetables. Someone missed that point. The meat ban and renaming of Aurangzeb Road became judicial issues and nearly polarised communities. Cancelling the Eid holiday in Rajasthan, which the state government later denied, was some babu’s misguided idea of currying favour. Secularists are ruining their vocal chords over incidents like these, but do not bother to turn back the pages of history to understand the reasons why they occur.

Millennia before Newton, action and reaction has been the essence of Hindu knowledge. It established karma as a diminishing return and that the aim of a soul is to become one with the Supreme. Almost all major religions wait for Judgment Day. In Hinduism, there is only salvation.

This spiritual code of ancient Hindus was violated, and the seeds of provocation and polarisation were sown in 636 CE, when the Umayid Uthman Abul As Al Sakifi, the governor of Bahrain and Oman, sent his navy to attack Thane, near Mumbai. In 724 AD, Junaid b. Abd Al Rahman Al Marri killed Raja Jai Singh in battle, attacked Southern Punjab and the Kangra valley. He was the first to destroy the Somnath Temple. Starting in 1001, Mahmud Ghazni despoiled temples in Varanasi, Mathura, Ujjain, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, Somnath and Dwarka. He massacred the defenders of Somnath Temple which he looted and destroyed. Then came the Delhi Sultanate, the Mamluks, the Lodis, Timur who razed Delhi, which lay uninhabited for decades after the pogrom, and the Mughals. Each one of them imposed Islam violently on India, converting Hindus through bribes and threats, mercilessly killing those who refused. Millions perished. The invaders murdered Sikh gurus. Rajput women committed sati rather than fall into their hands. Aurangzeb and Shah Jehan were among the worst, wiping out temples, imposing religious taxes and changing food habits. The British were maestros of communal polarisation. The Congress wooed Muslims with sops and created vote banks. Regional parties and the Communists too did the same.

The cumulative force of historical memory breached these fragile banks of time in May 2014. For the first time, there was an unambiguous democratic Hindu mandate to rule India. It may be wise to argue that times have changed, and development is the only valid mantra. But history has a long memory. It is a difficult dragon to ride and Narendra Modi’s biggest challenge is to hold its reins in place, until swachh Bharat becomes a global industrial and military power. Till then, history will keep retaliating against the past at the cost of the future.

ravi@newindianexpress.com