islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic Imperialism in Indiaimpossible to live in peace with the Muslims in their midst. This becomes abundantly clear from a statementreleased by Sikh leaders against the illegitimate Sikh violence in East Punjab, which read: 593‘We do not desire friendship of the Muslims and we never may befriend them. We may have tofight again but we shall fight a clean fight—man killing man. This killing of women and childrenand those who seek asylum must cease at once… There should be no attacks on refugee trains,convoys and caravans. We ask you to do so in the interest of your own communities, reputations,character and tradition than to save the Muslims.’In this oddly-worded appeal for calm, there was also a call to fight only if the Muslim men take it up, withoutharming the women and children, and those seeking refuge. Evidently, there was, in this appeal, an underlyingangst against Muslims, in which the historical persecution of the Sikhs by Muslim invaders and rulers and theongoing Muslim brutality of Sikhs had played their part.Muslims also suffered heavy casualties and ethnic cleansing in the princely states of Alwar andBharatpur, which were outside of British control. The ethnic Muslims, called Meos, lived in these fiefdoms inlarge numbers. The Hindu violence, according to an estimation of Ian Copland, killed 30,000 Meos and droveabout 100,000 of them out. However, this violence in Rajasthan took place at a later stage. The Hinduviolence was provoked, they claimed, for ‘The killings of Hindus at Noakhali and Punjab had to be avenged,’notes Copland. Who instigated the violence is not known as Copland writes: ‘Separating "aggressors" from"victims" in this context is difficult, perhaps even pointless. Both sides were culpable.’ 594 The aggressiveviolence unleashed by Meos on Hindu villages in the outskirts of Delhi had likely instigated the violence inneighboring Alwar. According to Khosla, ‘In some villages (of Delhi), trouble was started by the Meoresidents. Hindu villages were attacked and burnt down. The Meos were ultimately driven out and many ofthem were wiped out in the neighboring State of Alwar.’ 595 There was also a separatist movement among theMeos; they wanted to create an independent Muslim state, called Meostan, in the heart of Rajasthan.In the course of the Partition, estimated 600,000 to two million people died; about a hundredthousand predominantly Hindu and Sikh women were raped; a similar number were enslaved and carriedaway. Likely a few million Hindus and Sikhs were converted to Islam on the pain of death, some 95 percentof the 400,000 Hindus in Noakhali alone. Of the casualties, the numbers were roughly evened out betweenMuslims and non-Muslims. The heavy casualties Muslims suffered were mainly in East Punjab. The Partitionalso led to displacement of an estimated nineteen million people across the borders. Based on the 1951Census of displaced persons, some 14.5 million people crossed the border on the Punjab side of the Partition.Of them, 7,226,000 Muslims went to Pakistan from India, while 7,249,000 Hindus and Sikhs moved to Indiafrom Pakistan immediately after the Partition. On the Bengal side of the Partition, 3.5 million Hindus movedfrom East Pakistan to India, while only 700,000 Muslims migrated in the opposite direction. 596 It should beunderstood that the Muslim migration was generally of more willing nature since they overwhelminglywanted a separate Muslim homeland, and that migration to a Muslim land from the infidel-dominated Dar al-Harb (e.g., Hindu India) was widely promoted by Muslim organizations in their separatist campaign.In terms of property, the Hindu and Sikh loss much surpassed that of Muslims. The Hindus andSikhs all over India were wealthy communities particularly in business and industrial establishments. TheHindus in East Bengal prior to the Partition, although a minority, possessed 80 percent of the national wealth.According to Kamra, ‘The majority of the buildings and properties in each town of East Bengal, in some593. Ibid, p. 288594. Copland I (1998) The Further Shore of Partition: Ethnic Cleansing in Rajasthan 1947, Past and Present, Oxford,160, p. 203–39595. Khosla, p. 284596. Partition of India, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India184