How and why we behave so differently!

These journalists, none of them Muslim, are, like every other compassionate person, were deeply worried about the death, destruction and more permanent divide between the Shias and Sunnis. This regional warfare is more likely to spread in other countries causing more agony and pain.
At one stage a journalist asked me what was happening within the Hindu community, both in Britain and abroad especially in India in view of several gods and goddesses in the Hindu faith. The average understanding of the intricacies of the Hindu philosophy, rituals and how the adherents follow the faith in their day to day life is surely confusing for most non hindus. I am not a religious scholar and my knowledge of my own faith is very limited indeed.
I told these journalists that befitting one of the oldest, if not the oldest, continuous faith tradition, Hinduism has evolved over a long time. For a very long time there is no internal violence within the various Hindu sects and the credit goes to the teachings and the cardinal message of the Sanatan Dharma (universal faith) what is commonly known as Hinduism.
I told these friends that I was attending an important gathering of Hindus at the Neasden Swaminarayan Temple that evening to celebrate the birthday of Lord Rama as well as that of the founder of the Swaminarayan movement (please see report page 14).
I also referred to some simple but profound important quotes from the Hindu scriptures: ‘Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti’. These five words from Adhya Sankaracharya simply mean ‘Truth is one, wise man and sages call it by various names’.
There are a number of sects in Hinduism and there has never been a religious conflict amongst them. This most secular (plural) outlook forms the very core of Hindu thinking. With such religious upbringing and extreme tolerance, even agnostics and atheists have been accepted into the Hindu fold. Hindus, thus, can never be fundamentalists.
The second quote I used was: ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niramayah, Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, Ma Kashci-Duhkha-Bhag-Bhavet’. Simply put: ‘let all be happy, let all be healthy, let all be free from afflictions and achieve all round welfare and never experience sorrow’. Such values imbibe the greatness and glory of the Hindu thought.
India, a country of 1.25 billion, includes some 170 million Muslims and 20% of them are Shiates and the others are Sunnis. My journalist friends wondered how the Shias and Sunnis coexisted so peacefully in India whereas in neighbouring Pakistan the story is much more tragic and becoming more so day by day.
As a Hindu, I can only assume that Indian Muslims, not only have their roots in Hinduism but over such a long period they have observed and perhaps are inspired by the tolerance amongst various sects of Hindusim.
I genuinely believe that the Indian Independence struggle was, by and large, based on Gandhian principles of non-violence. It has ingrained the importance of non-violence and coexistence within the minds of an average Indian both at home in india, as well as abroad.
I also told these journalist friends that amongst 1.5 million British Indians there is substantial number of followers of Islam. I believe that very seldom do we hear about an Indian Muslim being involved in extremism or violence in Britain. Why? Muslims are all Muslims. Why are some Muslims more involved in hatred and violence? I am not qualified to comment more than this but the quintessential Indian culture is surely playing some part in this positive situation.
My friends and I thought how America and its western allies can condone these aggressions by powerful Sunni states on predominantly Shia Muslims. It is easy to start a war but the important problem is when and how it could end. Afghanistan and Iraq should have taught us simple lessons.
The morality also is of crucial importance. The means and end have a definite relationship. We really were pained that America and its allies are giving logistic and other support to the aggression in the middle east. Where it will lead?
Later on I saw the play - Dara - at the National Theatre in London. It is a captivating experience.
Based in 1659 Mughal India the play is centred around the imperial court, a place of opulence and excess; music, drugs, eunuchs and harems. Two brothers, whose mother’s death inspired the building of the Taj Mahal, are heirs to this Muslim empire. Now they fight ferociously for succession. Dara, the crown prince, has the love of the people – and of his emperor father – but younger brother Aurangzeb holds a different vision for India’s future. Islam inspires poetry within Dara whilst puritanical rigour rules in Aurangzeb. Can Jahanara, their beloved sister, assuage Aurangzeb’s resolve to seize the Peacock Throne and purge the empire? Tanya Ronder’s adaptation of Shahid Nadeem’s Dara spans the princes’ lives from cradle to grave. An intense domestic drama of global consequence – for India then and for our world now. (See page 14 for a full review.)
It is deeply worrying to look back at the history of the Mughal empire as well as the Muslim Sultans in Delhi where siblings not only quarrel for power but torture and kill their own brothers or sisters and even their fathers. This play was written by a Pakistani Muslim and was originally performed by the Ajoka Theatre in Pakistan. I wonder what lessons or messages the audience there or elsewhere received out of this historical fact.
Later on after two such sessions of painful reminiscencing I spent some three hours at the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden (see page 14 for full report). I did my darshan, met some sadhus, watched some inspiring childrens programme, listened to beautiful bhajans and coming back by public transport nearer to midnight I really felt relieved that I belong to a faith tradition which is so inclusive, so peaceful and so much to be proud of.