[Reader-list] Ah, good old tolerance! by Shyam Kaul

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Pawan,

Thank you for your mail. Actually my usage of the name "Islamabad'  
was influenced by my memory of having read the text that I had  
mentioned (Nivedita's journal of the travel with Vivekananda through  
kashmir). You might find it interesting to know that even  
Vivekananda, for whom, you no doubt have some regard, and Sister  
Nivedita, refer to the town that you call as Anantnag, as Islamabad.  
And in fact, yes, when they mention the temple located at the site  
known as Shankaracharya hill, in Srinagar, they refer to it as 'Takht  
- e - Suleiman'. When a place gets more than one name attached to it,  
I see no problem by calling it by either one, or both names. A place- 
name, is ultimately a convention used to identify and mark a site on  
a particular topography. If that marking is facilitated by more than  
one name, I see no reason to insist on one over the other.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Internet is a true Pandora's Box,  
and those who persist in their curiosities are rewarded. After I  
wrote the last mail, just to be certain that my memory was not  
playing tricks on me,  I ran a google search with the words  
Vivekananda, Nivedita and Amarnath,  and at the same time, a friendly  
soul sent me a mail with a link, having read my earlier mail, and I  
came across the entire text of the book, online, at -

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/ 
Volume_9/Excerpts_from_Sister_Nivedita%27s_Book

Since this page is very neatly and systematically chapterized, all  
you need to do is to follow the links to the chapters.

here are, a few excerpts from the Vivekananda/Nivedita account, that  
I had mentioned earlier, Here is the entry dated, June 29, a fragment  
from Chapter VII, titled, 'Life at Srinagar'

"JUNE 29.

Another day we went off quietly by ourselves and visited the Takt-i- 
Suleiman, a little temple very massively built on the summit of a  
small mountain two or three thousand feet high. It was peaceful and  
beautiful, and the famous Floating Gardens could be seen below us for  
miles around. The Takt-i-Suleiman was one of the great illustrations  
of the Swami's argument when he would take up the subject of the  
Hindu love of nature as shown in the choice of sites for temples and  
architectural monuments. As he had declared, in London, that the  
saints lived on the hill-tops in order to enjoy the scenery, so now  
he pointed out — citing one example after another — that our Indian  
people always consecrated places of peculiar beauty and importance by  
making there their altars of worship. And there was no denying that  
the little Takt, crowning the hill that dominated the whole valley,  
was a case in point."


Here is another for August 8, in chapter X, titled, interstingly,  
'The Shrine at Amarnath'


AUGUST 8.

"We started for Islamabad next day, and on Monday morning as we sat  
at breakfast, we were towed safely into Srinagar."

There are several other examples, in the pages of this account, where  
the words Islamabad are used, to mean the site that is marked as  
Anantnag today. I can cite them if it would satisfy your curiosity

Clearly, in the year 1898, when this journey was undertaken, people  
like Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita saw no reason to use names  
other than 'Takht-e-Suliman' and 'Islamabad'.

Would you like to add their names to the list of 'intellectuals' you  
are compiling, who should be calumnized, together with Arundhati Roy?



best

Shuddha


On 21-Aug-08, at 3:50 PM, Pawan Durani wrote:

> On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 3:16 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta  
> <shuddha at sarai.net>
>  wrote:>>>>>>>>>>> Vivekananda and Nivedita (and their other  
> companions)
> travel through Srinagar, Islamabad (currently called Anantnag)  
> through the
> traditional along the Lidder river route to Amarnath,  
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
>
> It is interesting to note that Shuddha prefers to call Anantnaag as
> "Islamabad". Next Shankracharya temple would be called "Takht E  
> Suleiman"
> and Hari Parbat as "Koh E Maraan"......and scores of lanes which  
> have been
> named as Abu-Bakar lane , Abu -Hamza Lane and Al - Fateh lane etc.
>
> This is quite possible with "intellectuals" who fall in the same  
> category as
> Aran Dhat Teri Ki Roy types.
>
> Regards
>
> Pawan Durani
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 3:16 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta  
> <shuddha at sarai.net>wrote:
>
>> Dear Rashneek,
>>
>> thank your for this post, it does come as a breath of fresh air, and
>> points to the histories of cultural accommodation, exchange and
>> reciprocity that have been as much a part of the history of Kashmir
>> as has been division and intolerance. In this case, I think that all
>> of us have a lot to learn from the histories of exchange in Kashmir,
>> and I am grateful that Rashneek has given us these examples by
>> forwarding this text by Shyam Kaul. And I mean this sincerely.
>>
>>  I especially agree with the sentiments at the end, that a piece of
>> land, especially one that has been a part of the commons, should not
>> be seen as 'property' by any person, persons, communities or
>> entities. It is not, as Shyam Kaul says, 'yours' or 'mine'. This
>> means that the hundred acres in question (that lie at the core of the
>> Amarnath controversy) should neither belong to the SASB, and nor
>> should any pilgrims and shepherds be prevented from camping and
>> accessing the commons as they have done for centuries. In fact all
>> hospitality (commensurate with the sensible ecological custordianship
>> of the space) should be made available to pilgrims and wanderers who
>> pass through this space. We need to note, that this year (in the just
>> concluded pilgrimage season) has seen a record number of pilgrims
>> travel to Amarnath, despite the current situation in Jammu & Kashmir,
>> who have all been cared for and assisted by local inhabitants, as has
>> always been the case.
>>
>> Had this attitude prevailed, on all sides, then, many precious lives
>> would not have been lost.
>>
>> Perhaps this can help us think about the ways in which it can become
>> possible (and not only in Kashmir) to approach the higher reachers of
>> pastures, foothills and slopes of mountains, forests, grazing routes,
>> passes and meadows that constitute a kind of commons as being
>> territories that do not 'belong' to anyone, neither to Shrine Boards,
>> nor to Government Departments, nor to Forest Departments (which are
>> often responsible for their wholesale destruction)  nor as Private
>> Property, but as territories that are accessible to all to inhabit,
>> use,  and pass through, sensibly, respectfully and sustainably, and
>> over whom the custody of the traditional users, inhabitants and
>> custodians of these lands, (shepherds, nomads, transhumant
>> communities and forest dwellers, many of whom predate the artificial
>> constructs and boundaries of nation states) is to be seen as
>> paramount. In the Amarnath case, this would mean restoring the
>> primacy of the Gujjar communities that have traditionally acted as
>> guides and hosts of the pilgrims to Amarnath in all affairs to do
>> with the space and ecosphere around and on the way to the shrine.
>> This would also be in keeping with the spirit of accommodation,
>> exchange and partnership that have been pointed to in the text by
>> Shyam Kaul. Anything else, including the handing over of the land to
>> the modern institution of a State mandated Shrine Board with a
>> governor at its head would be a betrayal of the tradition of Kashmir.
>> (This also applies to the intrusion of the state in Waqf boards and
>> in the management of trusteeship of traditional Islamic and Buddhist
>> institutions).
>>
>> Incidentally, there is an excellent and very evocatively written
>> account of Vivekananda's pilgrimage to Amarnath, in the late
>> nineteenth century, by his travelling companion, his Irish woman
>> friend Margaret Noble who took the name Sister Nivedita. Vivekananda
>> and Nivedita (and their other companions) travel through Srinagar,
>> Islamabad (currently called Anantnag) through the traditional along
>> the Lidder river route to Amarnath, En route, they are assisted and
>> kept company by Muslim Gujjar guides, naked Sadhus and boatmen, with
>> whom they share their rations, stories and long walks . Vivekananda
>> plays with a young Muslim girl child and worships her as an
>> incarnation of Uma. They have long conversations on comparative
>> religion, the merits and demerits of celibacy and conjugal love, the
>> meaning of 'Azaadi' in America, (they even have an impromptu July the
>> 4th tea party with an improvised American flag) and architecture, and
>> Vivekananda is caught between criticising the tradition that demands
>> ardurous pilgrimages of the faithful and revelling in the sheer joy
>> of the journey. There is no Shree Amarnath Shrine Board at this time,
>> and I think someone as adventurous and open-spirited as Vivekananda
>> would have blanched at the idea of taking the assistance of the state
>> in the undertaking of what for him was a personal spiritual quest. As
>> someone who has deeply enjoyed walking in the Himalays, in Kashmir
>> and elsewhere, myself, I was very drawn to this account, and what it
>> can mean, especially in times such as these.
>>
>> Should anyone want to read it, it is (if I recall correctly) in
>> Volume 9 of the Collected Works of Swami Vivekananda, in a journal of
>> a journey through Kashmir kept by Sister Nivedita.
>>
>> regards,
>>
>>
>> Shuddha
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 21-Aug-08, at 12:13 PM, rashneek kher wrote:
>>
>>> From ancient times the people of Kashmir have enjoyed the
>>> reputation of
>>> being liberal, tolerant and open-minded. History tells us that in
>>> the matter
>>> of religious faith and belief, the ancient Kashmiris were not only
>>> tolerant,
>>> but also accepted other people's freedom, including that of their
>>> adversaries, to hold their religious and other views and propagate
>>> them.
>>> This trait of ancient Kashmiris manifests itself time and again
>>> during the
>>> early eras. When, for instance, Naga worship, gave place to early
>>> Brahminical faith, there was nothing like an ill-feeling, leave
>>> alone any
>>> violence. Then again, when Buddhism, which held sway over the
>>> valley, was
>>> supplanted by Brahminical religion, it happened imperceptibly and
>>> peacefully. In all matters, including religious faiths, Kashmiris  
>>> have
>>> always been vociferous debators, but they would never come to
>>> blows, nor
>>> would ever look for weapons to drive home their point.
>>> Throughout, Kashmir's early history we see kings, queens and  
>>> ministers
>>> building houses of worship for the people of other faiths. That was
>>> how Hindu
>>> temples and Buddhist Viharas mushroomed together in the valley, and
>>> flourished for ages, as is still testified by ancient ruins.
>>> When Islam entered the valley, it faced no resistance nor any  
>>> violent
>>> opposition from the population here, which was entirely Hindu. This
>>> is a
>>> characteristic strikingly peculiar to Hinduism, not only here in
>>> Kashmir.
>>> Inspite of many ups and downs of Kashmir history, and some of its
>>> agonising
>>> spells, with painful, deadly and persecutory turns and twists, we  
>>> find
>>> Hinduism and Islam interweaving constantly, and producing a  
>>> composite
>>> culture, the like of which one does not come across anywhere else.
>>> This
>>> still continues to be true, if not wholly but symboilically, even
>>> though the
>>> turbulent times since 1989-90 have turned the Kashmiri ethos topsy
>>> turvey.
>>> History also tells us that even after Kashmir came under Muslim
>>> rule from
>>> early fourteenth century, it was the traditional Brahmin class that
>>> managed
>>> and ran the administration, with Sanskrit as the court language for
>>> as long
>>> as two hundred years.
>>> Sultan Shihabuddin (1354-73) had a passion for military campaigns,
>>> and most
>>> of his ministers, commanders and other high officials were  
>>> Hindus. The
>>> chronicler of the day, Jonaraja, relates and interesting anecdote,
>>> that has
>>> a lesson for leaders and rulers of today also. Jonaraja records
>>> that the
>>> Sultan, whose treasury would often run empty due to his
>>> expeditions, once
>>> fell short of money. One of his ministers, Udaya Shri, suggested
>>> that a huge
>>> brass image of Buddha be melted for the coinage. The Sultan reacted
>>> with
>>> disgust, telling his minister that the past generations had created
>>> images
>>> to obtain fame and earn merit. How, he asked, could Udayashri  
>>> think of
>>> melting the image? "How great is the enormity of such a deed?" he
>>> remarked
>>> indignantly.
>>> Of Sultan Qutub-U-Din (1373-89) it is recorded that he and his  
>>> Muslim
>>> subjects used to pay regular visits to the famous Hindu temple at
>>> Allaudinpura in Srinagar.
>>> Sultan Zainul Abidin Bud Shah (1420-70) is indisputably
>>> acknowledged as the
>>> real model of religious tolerance and harmony. Jonaraja and his
>>> contemporary, Srivara, record, that among the host of measures the
>>> Sultan
>>> took to alleviate the plight and sufferings of the Hindus,  
>>> ruthlessly
>>> persecuted during the preceding regime, was the building of two
>>> temples near
>>> Ishbar and grant of rent free lands for their maintenance. Bud Shah
>>> made
>>> strict rules against cow slaughter and abstained from eating meat
>>> on holy
>>> Hindu festivals. He ordered the rebuilding of a number of temples,
>>> destroyed
>>> during the earlier regime. He forbade killing of fish in several
>>> springs,
>>> sacred for Hindus, a practice which, more or less, continues till
>>> this day.
>>> Jonaraja records that Bud Shah paid a visit to the "sacred site" of
>>> Amarnath
>>> while he was the Sultan.
>>> In deference to the religious faith of his Hindu subjects, Bud
>>> Shah's noble
>>> deeds of rebuilding destroyed temples and building new ones, and
>>> granting
>>> rent free land to them, inevitably and instantly brings one closer
>>> to the
>>> turbulent scenario today here at home. Agitation, violence and
>>> killings have
>>> turned our state into a live volcano. The issue at the root of the
>>> prolonged
>>> tumult, is just a stretch of land, perhaps not larger in area than
>>> a large
>>> cricket stadium. On paper the land was transferred to Shri Amarnath
>>> Shrine
>>> Board for putting up temporary structures, for two months in a
>>> year, for the
>>> convenience of Amarnath pilgrims. The order on paper threw a
>>> section of
>>> Kashmiri leaders into tantrums of ire, sparking off a widespread
>>> and violent
>>> agitation, that unnerved the government, which had already bungled
>>> the issue
>>> right from the beginning, forcing it to revoke the order. The
>>> revocation, in
>>> turn, led to an upsurge in Jammu, and now again in Kashmir,  
>>> creating a
>>> deadlock that seems to have no way of getting unlocked.
>>> Amarnath pilgrimage has an ancient origin, perhaps being one of the
>>> most
>>> ancient pilgrimage centres in India. We find its mention, though  
>>> very
>>> briefly, in Nilamata Purana, which was composed in sixth or seventh
>>> century
>>> AD. Evidently the shrine, mentioned as Amaresvara, must have
>>> already been a
>>> pilgrimage destination long before that. The shrine and the  
>>> stages of
>>> pilgrimage to reach it, have also been elaborately explained in the
>>> Mahatmaya literature of 12th and 13th centuries.
>>> Amarnath finds mention during the Mughal rule over Kashmir, when
>>> Aurangzeb
>>> was the emperor in Delhi. One of his subedars in Kashmir, Iftikhar
>>> Khan
>>> (1671-75) had unleaded tyranny against the Brahmins, asking them to
>>> convert
>>> to Islam. About 500 Brahmins assembled at Amarnath, under the
>>> leadership of
>>> one Kirpa Ram Datt of Mattan and decided to approach the ninth Sikh
>>> Guru,
>>> Guru Teg Bahadur. They travelled to Anandpur in Punjab and sought
>>> the Guru's
>>> intervention with the emperor to end their sufferings. The Guru
>>> obliged but
>>> this ultimately led to his martyrdom, and subsequently to the
>>> conversion of
>>> the Sikh community into a fighting force, renamed Khalsa, under the
>>> leadership of his illustrious son, Guru Gobind Singh.
>>> During the Afghan rule in Kashmir, characterised by ruthless
>>> persecution of
>>> Hindus, and sometimes of Shias also, the Amarnath yatra practically
>>> ceased
>>> with the rulers imposing restrictions on it, and partly also
>>> because the
>>> Pandits did not want to risk their lives. The Afghan rule lasted
>>> for 67
>>> years, till 1819. Out of this period there was no Amarnath yatra
>>> for forty
>>> years and the mountain track fell in disuse and wast lost. It was  
>>> only
>>> during the early years of Dogra rule over Kashmir, commencing in
>>> 1847, when
>>> a Malik shepherd of Batakot, while grazing his flock high up in the
>>> mountain
>>> meadows came upon the holy cave of Amarnath, thus "rediscovering"
>>> it. From
>>> then onwards the yatra has been going on every year without
>>> hinderance.
>>> With the advent of Sikh rule over Kashmir in 1919, an overzealous
>>> commander,
>>> Phula Singh, decided to demolish the Shah Hamadan mosque in
>>> Srinagar arguing
>>> that a famous temple at the site had been pulled down to build a
>>> mosque
>>> there. A deputation of Muslims, led by Sayyid Hasan Shah Khanyari,
>>> sought
>>> the intervention of the influential Pandit noble, Birbal Dhar, who
>>> moved
>>> promptly to dissuade the commander, and thus saved the mosque for  
>>> the
>>> posterity. It was during the Sikh rule that a benevolent governor,
>>> Gulam
>>> Mohiuddin, repaired the Shiva temple atop Shankaracharya hill, that
>>> had
>>> suffered neglect and dilapidation during the earlier regimes. He  
>>> also
>>> installed a new Lingam in the temple.
>>> Amarnath is among the most revered shrines of Jammu and Kashmir. It
>>> is our
>>> common spiritual heritage, as Muslims have not only been actively
>>> associated
>>> with it for ages, but have been serving as a perfect complement to
>>> it, by
>>> taking care of most of the needs of the pilgrims.
>>> Normally, one would, therefore, have expected that in keeping  
>>> with the
>>> spirit of this ancient legacy, the majority community and its
>>> leaders would
>>> come forward, on their own to help in providing a stretch of land  
>>> for
>>> putting up a temporary facility centre for the pilgrims, only for a
>>> brief
>>> period of two months in a year. But alas, it has not happened.
>>> Instead we
>>> are caught up in agitations, violence and killings on an issue
>>> connected
>>> with a secluded, harmless religious and spiritual destination, high
>>> up on
>>> freezing heights, and far away from the din and bustle of the
>>> mundane world.
>>> Kashmir will never have another Budshah. But we have the immortal
>>> words of
>>> our great saints, like Lal Ded and Nund Rishi, always reminding us
>>> of our
>>> heritage of tolerance, peace and brotherhood of man.
>>> Didn't Nund Rishi say:
>>> We belong to the same parents.
>>> Then why this difference?
>>> Let Hindus and Muslims (together) workship God alone.
>>> We came to his world like partners.
>>> We should have shared our joys and sorrows together.
>>> But here we are, holding on to our trivial prejudices and refusing
>>> to behave
>>> like "partners" and "share our joys and sorrows" together. And all
>>> these
>>> distressing goings-on regarding a stretch of land, sought to be
>>> used for
>>> temporary facilities for pilgrims, of a heritage shrine of our  
>>> land of
>>> birth. The piece of land is neither yours nor mine. It is of God's
>>> good
>>> earth and its use for a godly pilgrimage should have been
>>> ungrudginly made
>>> possible. It was not, and look how we have dragged down ourselves
>>> into an
>>> intractable muddle.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Rashneek Kher
>>> Wandhama Massacre-The Forgotten Human Tragedy
>>> http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
>>> http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com
>>> _________________________________________
>>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>>> Critiques & Collaborations
>>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>>> subscribe in the subject header.
>>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>>> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>>
>> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
>> The Sarai Programme at CSDS
>> Raqs Media Collective
>> shuddha at sarai.net
>> www.sarai.net
>> www.raqsmediacollective.net
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________
>> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
>> Critiques & Collaborations
>> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
>> subscribe in the subject header.
>> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
>> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with  
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>

Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net