Mumbai Train Blasts and shape of things to come

17.07.06 [This is an e-mail I sent to my friend to Dubai. But I was not sure she would be pleased to be thinking on my lines. Not surprising, you are in Dubai and not just free expression, even free thoughts might be perilous there!] I delayed sending this e-mail to you in response to your e-mail on the Mumbai blasts. I shall give the reason at the end. 1. The only question, following the serial blasts in the Western Line, is: will such incidents stop or will they continue, maybe getting worse in the form of communal riots and all that. 2. While nobody can predict the future, and we would want to hope for the best, I think it would be sensible to prepare for the worst. The situation would seem to be hopeless if an unbridgeable divide on communal lines occur, but we should not be deterred. We should be boldly determined to do what we have to do. 3. What we have to do is to first understand that there is no way to avert a communal divide (unless Hindus want to become second class citizens) for the simple reason that the Muslim psyche is not just a religious one, but it is also a political one. 4. Islam, alone among all the religions of the world, seeks not only to teach it’s adherents about things concerning God and all that, but it has also the aim, right from the days of Mohammad, to dominate the world politically. They have 51 countries under their belt, and now they are going high gear by trying to set up ‘pure states’ like they had in the Taliban government in Afghanistan, Sudan, and now Somalia. 5. This is not true of Hinduism because Hinduism is the only culture that has allowed multiple forms and ways of worship and methods to reach God. Hinduism is not a religious culture that seeks control from outside but one that teaches freedom from within. 6. Having said that Islam has political ambitions, the only solution, if the Hindu culture is to be protected, is to ensure that India remains a secular country. By secular here I mean a state (government) that permits varieties of religious experience and itself (the state) does not favour one religion over another. 7. But today’s secularism, perfected by Congress, is a fraud. It is openly favouring the Muslims in the name of minority rights. And the Congress supports conversions (particularly by Christians), thereby agreeing with the Christian Church that Christianity is the only true religion. 8. Therefore as Indian citizens, it is our duty to ensure that the politicians whom we vote for are not appeasers of Muslims (like Laloo Prasad Yadvav, Arjun Singh, V.P. Singh, Mulayalam Singh Yadav and suchlike). More than that, we must strengthen organizations that understand the importance of the Hindu culture not only for India but also for the whole world, particularly at a time when religious terrorism is leading to a clash of civilizations. Only the broad-minded Hindu culture can teach the world the lessons of its own vision of acceptance of varieties of religious beliefs. And more important, it has the history of having defeated Islam once in its history. (Where is the great Mughal empire now?) In conclusion, we can prevent Muslim attacks upon Hindus only if the Hindu asserts the greatness of his culture and becomes proud to say that he is a Hindu. There is no other way to stop Islamic terrorism from bombing more trains and temples. The reason why I delayed my reply to you was because I wondered if you might find my line of thought a wee bit dangerous as you are now staying in an Islamic country. If you think I should not put down such thoughts when writing to you, please inform. I shall be more discreet in future. On the other hand, if you find my line of thought stimulating, I shall only be pleased to write to you more on this line.