Look At Your Own Religion
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
15 May 2023
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not
bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is
worthless."
James 1:26
This refers
to a reader's nudge to Dr Anburaj that instead of criticizing Islam or other
faiths, he should look at the anomalies his own religion (read Hinduism) is
fraught with. So very true. In 1988, a British sociologist K S Gilbert came to
Calcutta to study the abominable caste system and now-prohibited practice of
Sati (also written Suttee) in Hinduism.
It's
worthwhile to mention that when an 18-yr-old Roop Kanwar was burned alive (the
poor girl tried to run away but was caught and burned!) with her deceased husband
at Deorala in Rajasthan on September 4, 1987, the whole world condemned India
and Hinduism. Gilbert wanted to delve into the minds of Hindus and know how
even in this modern age, such obnoxious practices were still not only prevalent
but was tacitly extolled even by the 'educated' Hindus.
In fact,
Hinduism not only encouraged such horrific practices but institutionalized
them. Even a man of M K Gandhi's compassion and understanding, tried to justify
Chatur Varna (Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra), thus angering Dr
Ambedkar. Had Hinduism been considerate and compassionate towards Dalits or
downtrodden and the Dalits would have been treated on a par with the upper
caste, many of them would never have embraced Islam and Christianity. Have you
ever thought as to why scores of (converted) Muslims in the sub-continent have
so much hatred for Hindus (and vice versa)?
Thompson
and Claire's psychological study of the effects of deep-seated anger would
explain this. A big chunk of today's converted Muslims had Hindu ancestors
belonging to Dalit stratum of the society. Having been marginalised and
humiliated by the Hindus for centuries, those helpless Dalits accepted Islam
and Christianity. That the sub-continental Islam and Christianity also
discriminate on the basis of a convert's earlier caste (!) is different.
The point
is, if your Hinduism was so liberal and all-encompassing, why did it treat
Dalits so badly for millenniums? Why did it burn widows for centuries? Why
didn't your social reformers like Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramhansa
condemn it openly and vocally? Vivekananda did criticise Sati Pratha, albeit
tepidly. In fact, had the Muslim and Christian 'invaders' not come to India and
abolished Sati, the Hindus would still have been burning young women along with
their departed hubbies.
We can see
a tiny particle in the eyes of a person, but a rod in our own eyes remains
invisible to us. All religions are bogus, including Dr Anburaj's Hinduism.
Here, I'm not a spokesman of Islam. I've no fascination or fondness for any
damn faith. I'm just stating the facts in an unvarnished manner.
-----
A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/religion-hinduism-sati/d/129778
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