Invaders or Insiders?
I have been hearing for most of my 66 years, people blaming Muslim and British invaders for our ills. But my question as to why we have failed to set matters right even after 66 years of independence have fallen on deaf years, and so have my questions as to how places like Malaysia, Singapore, Korea etc forged ahead though they too had their share of invaders. In our persistent efforts to find scapegoats we have overlooked the role of insiders in our past.
Take Ramayana for instance. It was Kaikeyi prodden on by her maid Mandara – both of them insiders - who forced Dasarath to send Ram into the forests. But the insiders are forgotten as we focus on Ravan the invader and he is blamed for causing the war. It was Laxman who chopped off Soorpanaka's nose and ears who forced Ravan to abduct Sita. But Laxman the insider too becomes a Hero at the expense of Ravan the invader.
Later on comes the Mahabharath. Here they are insiders all the way who are pitted against each other. Later on we see Buddhists and Jains and Sikhs – all of them insiders - pitted against Brahmanism and the Vedas. Even now we see Dravidans and Dalits and Maoists pitted against Brahmanism though again outsiders like Christian Missionaries and Muslim are often targeted as the villains of the piece.
In the bible we see less of these problems from insiders in the beginning for the simple reason that the Jews were a wandering tribe for most of their history and the problems from without overshadowed the strife within . But here again we see King David pitted against his son Absalom. But later on Christianity gains the upper hand and we see Christian Rome pitted against Christian Constantinople leading to the first schism in Christianity into the Western and Eastern churches. Later on we see different sects of the fragmented Catholic Church – such a Protestants, Anglicans and a few hundred others – shedding at each other's blood. Now there are some 40000 sects in Christianity pitted against each other. Though there is no more bloodshed, they look on each other with suspicion even as they preach love of neighbour.
In Islam things go even further. Right away after Muhammad's death all hell breaks loose with erstwhile colleagues baying for each other's blood for succession to Muhammad's throne. The outcome was three of the first four successors to Mohammad's throne – the four Kalifs all of whom under Mohammad – were stabbed or poisoned to death by Muslim insiders. Still later on Muhammad's two sons Hassan and Hussein, were killed by none other than invaders – Hassan was beaten like a dog to his death and Hussein was poisoned. We also see Mohammad's wife Ayesha going to war against Ali, Mohammad's cousin and son-in-law. Even now Muslims terrorists kill more Muslims than outsiders. But this fratricidal violence between insiders is hushed up as Muslims the world over paint the US and the West as the ultimate devil.
I don't have any problem with any Chinese for the simple reason I do not know any Chinese. The same goes for any foreigner. My problems are with people I meet in my daily life – my associates, my relations, my friends etc. The highest incidence of violence in the world is accounted for by domestic violence where spouse is pitted against spouse, children against parents, sibling against sibling, in-laws against in-laws and so on. So our penchant for blaming invaders and outsiders for our problems is ridiculous as most of our problems are due to insiders, people whom we trust. In fact all or most of our problems come from trusting. Thus no one can defraud us unless we trust others. Without trust there cannot be deception at least at the personal level.
If India lags behind it is mainly due to the all-pervading corruption in which we Indians leach and parasite on each other with no pity or qualms. Unless and until we set our own house in order, there is no point in blaming invaders and foreigners and capitalists for our problems.
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Regards
Xavier William
"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." Hitchens
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