Hate Begets Hate

As far as my experience goes, I believe hate begets hate, and love begets love barring some exceptions.

 

Dear Mam,
I am reposting my answers to your earlier FB for the benefit of all.

beautifullife30 said
Hi OP,

I like your title. 'Hate begets Hate'. Its true almost everytime. I believe one of the reasons why Gandhi got the title Mahatma is because, he believed in this ideology and went that extra mile to show love instead. He tried uniting everyone under one umbrella. Secularism played the main role here to ensure everyone is happy in their places and no enemity between people. It helped our country then. But is it helping now?

( Please allow me to thank you for acknowledging that Gandhi's ideology helped our country. Some call him the cause of all ills we have today.)

Does Love beget Love?

If so, then why are Aamir Khan's movie peddling a select narrative where Hindu gods and scriptures are continuously insulted and disrespected? Hasn't the country shown nothing but love for Aamir Khan? Why is he complaining of intolerance when this country has shown him nothing but tolerance for all the nonsense movies he makes and throws on a majority Hindu nation and still complains that he feels threatened and intolerant.

(Love does beget Love just as Respect begets Respects. These are age-old tested maxims. I hold no brief for Aamir Khan and think he may have his reasons as we all have, this way or that way. Our country is not yet ready to accept a word against our Gods. Movies have been made debunking Gods by atheists. The movie was passed by the censor board and that is the end of it.)

Actually i feel the reason why people are now against Gandhi is not for his ideology of standing together but for his actions of making only one community show their patience and tolerance while not holding any other communities accountable for their actions! Ideally shouldn't secularism be a two-way street? Why is only one community asked to show tolerance? Why is only one community's sone modified? Why are only one community people asked to sacrifice while everyone else enjoys the benefit of the sacrifice!

(I think, the majority, be it religious or color has the additional responsibility to maintain peace. Besides law has to be unbiased and punish the culprit. No one has the right to take the law into their hands.)

I am a Hindu. I have a Bible and a Quran in my house. I encourage my children to read all these books. And i know a lot of Hindus who are like this and have bible and Quran and treat everything equally.

But will I find a single Geeta in the other population's house? If so how many?

( Keeping or not keeping religious books at home does not make anyone theist or atheist. It is good to have knowledge about all regions but that is for self-improvement. I had a Muslim friend who used to wake up with Hari Om. There are thousands of Hindus and Muslims who do not visit their religious places or practice the rituals. They are not less humans. They don't want to be hated for this.)

We all saw how Hanumanji holding a book on his thigh placed by that community person caused the riots to erupt in Bangladesh.
( This is another form of mischief. It has nothing to do with general people.)

My grandfather studied at Christ King Matriculation, my mother at St. Theresa's and i studied at St.Francis. My grandfather talks highly of his school and he was not shown any discrimination. My mom says her school taught her songs on Saraswathi Devi. My college got people from the West (US) who were dressed in Salwar Kameez and told me that they were doing a research on culture and asked me a few questions and in the end told me to convert to Christianity so i dont go to hell. Is this secularism? Is this what a college is supposed to do?
(Missionaries do that. Some fall for that but most of them are from disadvantaged strata of our society -poor, Dalits, untouchables. The onus lies on us to give them a better life.)

My husband's colleagues at Dell specially the muslims formed their own group and he tells me how at every match that is played, they support Pakistan. They watch only Pakistani serials and talk out loud about hating India. They live in India, enjoy the minority benefits and talk bad about the country.
( So is the case of India supporters. They take the benefits because they are Indians and live in India. They pay taxes and get what is due to them.)

Yes, i watched those debates which you call as Hate mongering. Are they really telling us to hate or are they desparately trying to set the record straight?

( My take is that all spokespersons sitting on the debates are paid mongers and will change sides for better remunerations or positions.)

I know people are now asking why talk about History when the future is to be looked at. But isnt history which gives us the direction in which the future is to follow? My children don't know the meaning of true sacrifice, the effort it takes to achieve independence, are living in a world where the country they are born in is spoken badly about. Ask anyone what their dream destination is, it is always either US, Europe or Australia. Why not India, the country they are born in. Where is the respect for India if i am continuously made to read a wrong narrative, wrong ideology about what my country stands for! If this is how things are going to progress, then why shouldn't we correct the history?

Have my children learnt about the rich and the diverse history of how our civilisation started and eventually arrived at the later colonial exploits, maybe it would have made sense. But the current structure and the present society are outright making my children feel bad for being a Hindu Brahmin.

Our people specially the Hindus are made to feel apologetic for no mistake of theirs. My children are made to feel that being a brahmin is bad due to some deliberately misconstrued and twisted narrative set by the colonial rulers that Brahmins are bad. Is that the truth? I just have to watch a Tamil channel to know how people talk about Brahminism or how the temples are bad, or how Hindu is not a religion at all, or how being a devout Hindu is being looked down upon.

My uncle who works in a government organisation doesnt talk to his colleagues about the discourses he goes to or his love for temples....reason he says he will be looked down upon. Is a Christian made to feel apologetic about going to Church every Sunday? Is a muslim made to feel about praying 5 times a day? If no, then why should a Hindu be made to feel bad about going to a temple or enjoying a discourse?

My unofficially Chisristian converted Hindu friend, who enjoys the Quota/ reservation system benefits but loves only the Church questions me every time before eating my lunch if the coconut chutney i made is made out of prasad coconut or a non-prasad coconut. Is this what secularism is? Is this what they should be taught at Church? And just go through the below article once.

Roads are secular; they should be used by people of all religions: Madras high court | Chennai News - Times of India

As a Hindu and a citizen of India, if i am not allowed freedom to express my views without being mocked at, and do what i want without being objected, where else can i claim that right?

Yes, Hate begets hate. But on the other hand, love doesnt beget love. Love and tolerance is misunderstood as incapability and cowardice in this nation currently!

Saadhu mirandal kaadu kolladhu! and Porumaikkum oru ellai undu!
(It is a very interesting subject and I will close before both of us banded as urban Nexlites.)

 

(That is what I have been trying to say all along.)


BTW what OP stand for?

 

Whatever is happening in Bangladesh or Mynamar or China or Afghanistan or Pakistan or India is WRONG. We have to ask ourselves and find a solution. There is no possibility of dividing the world on the basis of religion. The only answer is co-existence and respect for each other.

 

It will happen if, may God forgive me if someone in the Bachchan family gets involved in a similar case. Media gets TRP and money, people get high without drugs. You know religion is the opium of the masses.
I beg to differ on the point that Shah Rukh Khan was made a superstar by Hindus. He became a superstar of his own acting abilities, good stories, good direction, and so on. Some of his movies flopped. And as you must be knowing, success begets success.

 

Dear Shri Viswa,
Thank you for putting the subject in the right perspective. In India, if it is caste or religion, it is color in America where I also live. And the common factor is the vote bank. History is screwed to suit their viewpoint.
It is true that there have been injustices in the past but taking revenge for them in the present will only paint the future.
There will always be two differences of opinion for and against and counselors. Eye for an eye, as Gandhi said, will blind the world.