Murthy - Puppets of faith : theory of communal strife

Puppets of Faith: Theory ofcommunal strife

BS Murthy

ISBN81-901911-1-X

Copyright 2003 BSMurthy

Revised e-book edition 2013 BS Murthy

Cover design by GDC creativeadvertising (p) ltd., Hyderabad 500 080

F-9, Nandini Mansion, 1-10-234,

Ashok Nagar, Hyderabad 500 020

Other books of BSMurthy -

Benign Flame Saga ofLove

Jewel-less Crown - Saga ofLife

Crossing the Mirage Passingthrough youth

Glaring Shadow (A Novel)

Onto the Stage - Slighted Soulsand other stage and radio plays

Prey on the Prowl (A CrimeNovel)

Onto the Stage Slighted Souls and other stage andradio plays

Bhagvad-Gita: Treatise of self help (A translationin verse)

Sundara Knda - HanumansOdyssey (A translation inverse)

Chapter Headings

1. Preface of Strife

3. Gods quid pro Quo

4. Pyramids of Wisdom

5. Ascent to Descent

6. The Zero People

7. Coming of the Christ

8. Legacy of Prophecy

9. War of Words

10. Czar of Medina

11. Angels of War

12. Privates of theGod

13. Playing to theGallery

14. Perils of History

15. Pitfalls of Faith

16. Blinkers of Belief

17. Shackles of Sharia

18. Anatomy of Islam

19. Fight for the Souls

20. India in Coma

21. Double Jeopardy

22. Paradise ofParasites

23. The Number Game

24. Winds of Change

25. Ant Grows Wings

26. ConstitutionalAmnesia

27. The Stymied State

28. The Wages of God

29. Delusions of Grandeur

30. Ways of the Bigots

31. The Rift Within

32. The Way Around

33. The Hindu Rebound

34. Wait for the Savant

Dedicated to -

All those men, women andchildren, who ever suffered at the hands of bigots

on account of the dogma oftheir faith, and to those sacrificial animals

that become victims of religioussuperstition.

Preface of Strife

The lava of the volcano onwhich the world sits is the disaffection the Musalmans nurse towards the kafirs . Its chemistryworld over is the Islamic religious rigidity, compounded in Indiaby the Hindu historical hurt that is catalyzed with the expediencyof the political class. The Indian landscape is dotted with many ofits earlier eruptions, but the one in Godhra affected everyone asnever before. That a fanatical band of Musalmans should dare torchtheir Ram Sevaks in a railway coach seemed to the Sangh Parivar like Saladin crossingthe Lakshman Rekha. Of course, that the neighborhood Hindus joined the hystericalmobs to burn their persons and property was beyond belief to theghettoed Mohammedans.

While the prospect of thenew Hindu reality spoiling their party was something galling to thepseudo-secular politicians, for the media world all this seemedgodsend breaking news. Thus the ill-informed columnists as wellas the dull-witted idiotbox-wallahs began scoring a Brownie point or two into theIndian pseudo-secular goal. But, the half-red intellectuals, shy asever to stare at the problem straight in its face, have chosen topush it all under the carpet. Well, given the cyclic character ofthe Hindu-Muslim riots, wont they repeat the lament at the nextturn? And the politicians of all hues, alive as they are to everyopportunity that presents itself to consolidate their constituency,wouldnt let this pass. They seem to be in no hurry to leave thescene, and continue to stoke the communal fires to keep theelectorate warm.

The problem with a problemis that until one admits that it exists, one cannot address it, andunless it is addressed, it persists. Make no mistake there isthis Musalman-kafir problem for the world to contend with, and the Hindu-Muslimdisaffection is but its Indian edition. The pseudo-secularsophistry has it that when it comes to the basic tenets, allreligions carry a premium on peace making and all the believersseek social harmony but for a few misguided fanatical elements oneither side of the communal divide.

But, sadly, the groundreality is that to the average Hindu, it seems as if the Musalmans suffer fromthe symptoms of Islamic fever caused by a diseased mind-setafflicted by the sharia fervor. The Muslim compliment to the Hindu is thecontemptuous kafir, destined for hell, and all that goes with it. In deed, it isbut owing to our glossing over these entrenched misgivings that welet the communal lava erupt periodically.

This book seeks to outlinethe background of the Musalman-kafir animosity on onehand, and the HinduMuslim communal divide on the other. It wouldseem that these are the products of one or more of the scripturalnotions, religious dogma, medieval history and modern politics, orall put together. As one cannot understand man unless heunderstands his religion, all must be abreast of the basicreligious tenets of the competing or conflicting faiths. Then, itwould be revealing how the religious scriptures per se contribute to social discordand communal disaffection, and/or both. In the strife torn world ofours, its our grasp of this canvas of conflict that mighteventually enable us to paint the picture of peacefulcoexistence.

Thus, the social evolution as well as thespiritual ethos of Hinduism and Buddhism on one hand and that ofthe Judaism, Christianity and Islam on the other are sketched here.Also, since man carries the historical deadwood, in spite ofhimself, the history that connects and disconnects the Semiticreligions and that which divides the Hindu-Muslim emotions isrecalled to appreciate the background to the continuing strife.

After all, there is moreto religion than that meets the eye, and that is the overridingfaith and feeling of the believers. Besides, as the Islamic creedis more so a product of Muhammads persona, the influence of hischaracter in shaping the ethos of the Musalmans has been analyzed. Wontthe Musalmans themselves concede that their endeavor would be to follow thestraight path of Islam as earnestly as they could, as others, anyway, have strayed onto the satanic path? And it is this mind-setthat makes the Musalmans apart in the religious sense. How this couldpossibly govern the Muslim psyche is scanned with Im Ok YoureOk, the famous work of Thomas A. Harris, with their religiouscreed from Roland E Millers Muslim FriendsTheir Faith andFeeling, as the probe.

All this might not onlyenable the the others to appreciate the Muslim constraints butalso understand their own aberrations. Likewise, it could be hopedthat the Musalmans too would ponder over the apprehensions of the the othersas well as their own afflictions that are behind the Musalman-kafir confrontation.

Advent ofDharma

As opposed to thepurported revelation of the Gods chosen path to man through somemessiah, which forms the basis of the Semitic faiths, the essenceof Hinduism has been for one to adhere to his dharma , supposedly sanctified byGods in communion with the seers. And dharma, though varies from man toman, per se isthe common course for the salvation of the souls. It is thissalient feature of its religious character that gives Hinduism itstheological variety and philosophical edge, sorely lacking in theSemitic faiths, each molded in the persona of itsprophet.

Well, in the Semitic religions, the essenceof the faith is the implicit obedience to the Almighty, and thestrict compliance with the dogma enunciated by the messiah,ostensibly received from the Creator. Moreover, it is incumbentupon the faithful to treat that the God showed the right path toHis prophet for the believers to unquestioningly follow. Besides,it is the unique feature of the Semitic religious dogma in that themessiah is believed to be endowed with the power of intercession onbehalf of the faithful on the Day of Judgment. If anything, thisprecept seems more pronounced in the Christianity and Islam than inthe Judaism. This unmistakably led to the Semitic habit of thefaithful looking up to the messiah to help them attain salvation,or reach the paradise as the case may be. Intended or otherwise,the messiah became the fulcrum of the faith as well as the icon ofthe Semitic religious ethos. In the process, as it were, the Lordof the religion gets relegated to the background.