Hindu Holocaust: A Thorn by any Other Name…

11.09.06 | 29 Comments | Filed Under Commentary

Preface

This article by Francois Gautier generated quite an interesting discussion on a mailing list I’m part of. As related reading, I’d like to link to a similar article by the same author.

Gautier’s assertion is straightforward: based on available historical evidence, it is sufficient to conclude that a Hindu Holocaust has occurred.

Never Forget…

It takes but a moment to place these–only two–powerful words, a grim reminder of the Holocaust. According to the Wikipedia definition

The Holocaust… is the name applied to the genocide of minority groups of Europe and North Africa during World War II by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. [.] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was first used to describe Hitler’s treatment of the Jews from as early as 1942, though it did not become a standard reference until the 1950s. By the late 1970s, however, the conventional meaning of the word became the Nazi genocide. The term is also used by many in a narrower sense, to refer specifically to the unprecedented destruction of European Jews in particular.

The Holocaust evokes horror due to these important reasons:

  • The colossal scale of killing
  • Its short time span
  • Its assembly-line like method
  • The ideology that motivated it

Hindu Holocaust

The Holocaust is a fairly recent event, and thanks to the efforts of millions of Jews, its memory has been kept fairly alive. A few generations in future, it’ll only be a distant memory. At most, it will evoke pity sans the intensity of experience. The chill of experiencing horror first hand/having lived in those times doesn’t have the same shock value a 100 years or so down in time.

Highly simplified, this has happened in the case of Hindu genocide over more than 1000 years as we shall see.

Barring the sheer numbers of Jews exterminated in a specific historical period, the other features apply equally to the Hindu genocide over the centuries. There’s yet another crucial distinguishing factor. Hindu genocide was at least, threefold:

  • Physical: Millions of Hindus were killed because they were Hindus.
  • Cultural: Those that weren’t killed were spared because they agreed to convert to Islam. This is cultural genocide.
  • Economic: Those that were allowed to live as Hindus still, were subject to the dreaded Jiyza tax system forcing them to perpetual penury=economic genocide.

The Holocaust definition given earlier specifically uses the term “genocide” but applies it to a specific group/race. Fundamentally, Holocaust=genocide. Which is a certainty as far as Hindus are concerned. Aside, the term is rather apt to describe the Hindu genocide because the root meaning of Holocaust is “burn.” Islam’s violent history in India is a bloody record of burnt idols, temples, libraries, and entire cities.

Contemporary Evidence

Gautier’s article quotes K.S. Lal,

…who writes that according to his calculations, the Hindu population decreased by 8O MILLION between the year 1000 and 1525.

It is certainly normal to find this figure overwhelming and therefore, incredible. However, it is fallacious to conclude simply on this basis that we cannot apply the term “Holocaust” to the Hindu genocide. The truth is the genocide happened.

And there’s also the question of evidence.

The Hindu genocide unlike the Jewish Holocaust, happened in instalments. Playing the numbers game, the total number of Hindus killed adds up to several millions, perhaps not 80 million…ah! I’m falling into the numbers-game trap but you get the idea. Why, an estimated 200000 Kashmiri Pandits were ethnically cleansed from the Valley, a mere 15 or so years ago.

As for evidence, here’s a sample:

…the conquest of Afghanistan in the year 1000, was followed by the annihilation of the entire Hindu population there; indeed, the region is still called Hindu Kush, ‘Hindu slaughter’. The Bahmani sultans in central India, made it a rule to kill 100.000 Hindus a year. In 1399, Teimur killed 100.000 Hindus in a single day, and many more on other occasions.

More here: all primary sources, written by court poets/royal historians of emperors of the order of Mahmud Ghaznavid, Iltamush, Muhammad bin Qâsim, Nadir Shah et al.

Conclusion

It is tragic that thousands of educated and intelligent people seek to negate the Hindu Holocaust–mostly unwittingly. That is partly the result of reading fabricated history right from childhood, and partly for being politically correct. A nation cannot be built on a foundation of half truths and outright lies about its own history. It leads to mistrust among its own people, as is very evident today. There’s nothing shameful in admitting Islam’s destructive role in medieval India. On the contrary, it should, like the Holocaust museum, serve as a reminder of what should not be repeated. Ever.

Finally, does it really matter what you call it? Holocaust, annihilation, liquidation, extermination, jihad, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, final solution, genocide, crime against humanity…all facets of the same ideology of imperialism. There’s little difference between Hitler and Aurangzeb.

Cross-posted on Desicritics

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