Murad Ali Baig - 80 Questions to Understand India

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Published by Jaico Publishing House
A-2 Jash Chambers, 7-A Sir Phirozshah Mehta Road
Fort, Mumbai - 400 001
www.jaicobooks.com

2010, Murad Ali Baig, All rights reserved.

First published by Tara Press, New Delhi.

Created from the original Hard cover edition.

Illustrations courtesy Dipankar Bhattacharya

80 QUESTIONS TO UNDERSTAND INDIA
ISBN 978-81-8495-285-8

First Jaico Impression: 2011

No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in

any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any

information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the publishers.

Printed by

Repro India Limited

Plot No. 50/2, T.T.C. MIDC Industrial Area

Mahape, Navi Mumbai - 400 710

A BOOK TO STIMULATE
INQUISITIVE MINDS

"Eighty provocative questions and answers
covering many interesting topics"

* Who were India's original people? * Primitive religious practices * Harappans * Who were the Aryans? * Decline of the Vedic gods and evolution of Hindu deities. * Origin of Jat tribes * Emergence of castes * India's ancient languages and scripts * Meat and beef in ancient India * Evolution of Indian philosophies. * The importance of south India * The historic basis of the Ramayana and Mahabharat. * Influence of Buddhism and Jainism * How did the word Hindu evolve to become a religion? * The impact of Islam * Why have religions become so intolerant? * Has communalism ever been successful? ... and many more thought provoking subjects.

In Praise of Murad's 80 Questions

You must have wondered why religions as they are practiced today are so completely different from what their founders had hoped to make them. The founders had preached love, understanding and respect for people of other faith; their followers... why they look down upon and even wage wars against those who do not worship their gods. Many theories have been propounded to explain the degradation of religion but one of the latest and most perceptive that I have come across is Murad Ali Baig's Reflections in a Sacred Pond.

Khushwant Singh
Column in The Tribune, Deccan Herald and others

A liberal's testament. Not many would dare to write a book nowadays on a topic like this one... However Murad Ali Baig does step out like a knight in the shining armour of a liberal knight... and then proceeds to demolish many cherished myths that have accumulated like cobwebs in the minds of educated Indians in the last few years... he does not spare anyone - jousts against Brahminical prejudices, Wahabi distortions (of Islam) and Sikh deviation. He spears through nationalist prejudices as well. He refutes the common belief that foreigners are responsible for the poverty in India. We may not agree with all his views, but it is a good read and provokes you to engage in a dialogue.

Parsa Venketashwar Rao Jr. Swagat flight magazine.

80 questions to reach the bottom of murky waters of the origin of faith and religious systems in India. Who were India's original people? What were their early religious practices? How did Hinduism evolve to become a religion? What was the influence of Buddhism on Indian thought...What was the impact of Islam in India? Do all religions borrow ideas from each other? To find the answers plunge deep into the middle of historical and archaeological facts and stay off the shores of professional priests and propagandists. The author's efforts... succeeds in serving gulps of information... the thirst remains unquenched. However interesting bits of trivia and info keeps concentration afloat.

First City

Are the Bhils and Gonds Hindus? How did the British manage to defeat the Mughals? The author tries to encapsulate India's history, mythology and religion into the answers to 80 questions. The text could be interpreted as history by some, hearsay by others and heresy by the 'faithful'. It does provide 80 topics for argument and introspection.

The Week

Spiritual lessons. It is a difficult (and thankless) mission that Murad Ali Baig has taken up in this book. in the sense that it surveys the Indian history and presents comments on well known sensitive issues in a way as to easily invite adverse reactions from all sections of society. What impresses us here is the authors daring - some would say reckless - treatment of the facts dealing with anthropological, geographical, political, economic, mythological and metaphysical issues.

Arun Gaur. The Tribune

This is a thought provoking book. The author has explored our past and questioned popular beliefs and opinions... that have led to the beliefs and superstitions that we harbour today.

Lakshmi Pillai. Jetwings flight magazine

Provocative, informative. a book of questions you had always wanted to ask about India. with eighty answers to argue about.

Gita Mehta

If people can learn how to find the glory of this spirit within themselves they will be freed from the bondage of sacrifices, penances and rituals. It will be the triumph of inner spirituality and the end of raucous religiosity.

Excerpt in The Times of India

This book is billed as a voyage through the ages to the present through a provocative series of 80 questions and answers reflecting and informing readers about Indian mythology and religion from a historical perspective. Baig does not question the importance of faith but outlines how religions have been altered by vested interests, professional priests, rulers and the rich and the impact on Indian polity.

Business Standard

Murad Ali Baig showed how mythology and history do not gel... Baig brought out how myths associated with different religions to highlight the need for any discerning person to embark on a journey of exploration, to consider the possibility of tales one has grown up listening to being far removed from reality... The Ramayana could have happened anywhere. One should not rule out the possibilities of history. Questioning the origin of the scriptures Baig asked "Who wrote the Quran?" Even in Christianity the messages of Christ would have died down but for Peter and Paul. Buddhism would not have been a religion but for Ashoka. Baig never claimed that the possibilities he threw up were the final answers. But he emphasized the need for everyone to probe the possibilities.

P. Anima 'The Hindu'

"What Reflections in a Sacred Pond doesas much by its method as by its contentis to quietly and persuasively facilitate the path of rational and open dialogue on some of the most demanding issues of our time".

P.Gopinath, World Commission on Globalization

Journey of The
80 Questions

It has been three exciting years since The Sacred Pond was first launched in early 2007. Its underlying theme of how the idea of God had been hijacked by the professional priests of all religions attracted a wide range of responses ranging from disbelief to approval. As I had been even handed to all religions and written with genuine respect and regard about all the prophets and founders of religion I fortunately attracted no Fatwas or dire threats from those whose long held religious opinions I might have challenged. Every religion has its bigots and wider knowledge about the real foundations of faiths is the only way that religious extremism can be countered.

I was asked to speak on this theme and to twenty-three audiences ranging from 20 to 250 people and thus addressed over a thousand people provoking such keen debate that many of the talks intended for 45 minutes lasted for over three hours. I was deeply flattered that my approach to this subject had the rapt attention of all the listeners who asked many very serious questions and seemed satisfied with my answers concerning a number of very controversial topics.

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