A stone inscription in the historic Balaji or Vishnu Temple, located north of Chitrakut Balaghat, still shows that it was commissioned by the Emperor himself. The proof of Aurangzeb's land grant for famous Hindu religious sites in Kasi, Varanasi can easily be verified from the deed records extant at those sites. The same textbook reads: "During the fifty year reign of Aurangzeb, not a single Hindu was forced to embrace Islam. He did not interfere with any Hindu religious activities." (p. 138) Alexander Hamilton, a British historian, toured India towards the end of Aurangzeb's fifty year reign and observed that every one was free to serve and worship God in his own way.
Interestingly, the 1946 edition of the history textbook Etihash Parichaya (Introduction to History) used in Bengal for the 5th and 6th graders states: "If Aurangzeb had the intention of demolishing temples to make way for mosques, there would not have been a single temple standing erect in India. On the contrary, Aurangzeb donated huge estates for use as Temple sites and support thereof in Benares, Kashmir and elsewhere. The official documentations for these land grants are still extant."
Some of the Hindu historians have accused Aurangzeb of demolishing Hindu Temples. How factual is this accusation against a man, who has been known to be a saintly man, a strict adherent of Islam? The Qur'an prohibits any Muslim to impose his will on a non-Muslim by stating that "There is no compulsion in religion." (surah al-Baqarah 2:256). The surah al-Kafirun clearly states: "To you is your religion and to me is mine." It would be totally unbecoming of a learned scholar of Islam of his caliber, as Aurangzeb was known to be, to do things that are contrary to the dictates of the Qur'an.
Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from 712 to 1857 CE, probably no one has received as much condemnation from Western and Hindu writers as Aurangzeb. He has been castigated as a religious Muslim who was anti-Hindu, who taxed them, who tried to convert them, who discriminated against them in awarding high administrative positions, and who interfered in their religious matters. This view has been heavily promoted in the government approved textbooks in schools and colleges across post-partition India (i.e., after 1947). These are fabrications against one of the best rulers of India who was pious, scholarly, saintly, un-biased, liberal, magnanimous, tolerant, competent, and far-sighted.
RE:PLIGHT OF INDIA UNDER BRAHMINOCRACY...SOME DV REPORTINGS
by chaitanya kumar on Mar 21, 2007 08:44 PM Permalink
you must know that most of the non muslims persecuted, raped and converted or murdered in Bangladesh are Dalits.
RE:RE:RE:PLIGHT OF INDIA UNDER BRAHMINOCRACY...SOME DV REPORTINGS
by chaitanya kumar on Mar 21, 2007 08:53 PM Permalink
it really doesn't matter. I don't pride in my caste. You can see me as a dalit if you wish. I can live with it.
RE:RE:RE:PLIGHT OF INDIA UNDER BRAHMINOCRACY...SOME DV REPORTINGS
by chaitanya kumar on Mar 21, 2007 08:55 PM Permalink
Mike Gandhi, what about mental treatment btw. Why don't you see a doctor man instead of posting like a insane guy. It's never too late.
RE:RE:RE:PLIGHT OF INDIA UNDER BRAHMINOCRACY...SOME DV REPORTINGS
by Ekalavyan on Mar 21, 2007 09:00 PM Permalink
yes i am a dalit activist. wish to know your id
RE:RE:RE:RE:PLIGHT OF INDIA UNDER BRAHMINOCRACY...SOME DV REPORTINGS
by chaitanya kumar on Mar 21, 2007 09:02 PM Permalink
for what reason? I am not into Hinduism bashing, so i don't know how will i be of any use to your cause.
RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:PLIGHT OF INDIA UNDER BRAHMINOCRACY...SOME DV REPORTINGS
by chaitanya kumar on Mar 21, 2007 09:06 PM Permalink
but i am not against dalit activism against upper caste hegemony. But it shouldn't be exaggerated. Nor do i see any logic in dalits siding with muslims. You should know that all non-muslim groups are illtreated and their rights beseiged in a muslim dominated region or a nation. There are no exceptions. If nothing, Sunnis suppress the shia whereever they form majority.
RE:RE:PLIGHT OF INDIA UNDER BRAHMINOCRACY...SOME DV REPORTINGS
by chaitanya kumar on Mar 21, 2007 08:51 PM Permalink
you talk of 200 million phone connections with contempt. But you must know that there were less than 10 million just few years ago. Where do you guys make up this foolish propaganda. Really funny crap they write. "Brahmanical"!!!! reminds me of how all the ills of tamil nadu were blamed on Brahmins there and were exterminated in large numbers from there. This when Brahmins never ruled that place and still persecutions of dalits going on there from others who are not brahmins. Brahmanism eh.
Dr Pande heard a leading Hindu Mahasabha politician and religious leader, Mahant Digvijaynath, telling an election meeting that it is written in the Qur'an that killing a Hindu was an act of goodness (thawab). Dr Pande called upon the Mahant (High Priest) and told him that he had read the Qur'an a few times but didn't find such a statement in it, and he had, therefore, brought with him several English, Urdu and Hindi translations of the Qur'an; so would he kindly point to him where exactly did the statement occur in the Qur'an?
Isn't it written there? said the Mahant. I haven't found it; if you have, please tell me, replied Dr Pande. Then what does it say? It speaks about love and brotherhood, about the oneness of mankind. What's jihad then? What is jizyah? How then India got partitioned? The Mahant went on asking, and Dr Pande kept on explaining, hoping the Mahant would correct himself. However, the Mahant's ideas were fixed, in prejudice and in ignorance.
