Ever since the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan to Muhammad Ghori in 1192, and the installation of the Slave dynasty on the throne of Delhi in the form of Quṭb ud-Dīn Aibak in 1206 -the founder of Delhi Sultanate– until 1857, with the exit of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last ruler of the Mughal dynasty, the decimation of Hindus has been through brutally implemented official policies. It was practiced in equal measures by all, from the Sultans to Aurangzeb, the last powerful Mughal ruler. And because the population in this part of the world has always been large the Hindus could still survive in some good numbers. Before partition of India, in 1947, there were about 68% Hindus. Muslims comprised about 25% and all other religion followers put together formed the rest. After partition, since many Muslims migrated to Pakistan, the demographic distribution has changed in favour of Hindus.

There was a steady but non-uniform decline in the social standing of Hindus across all parts of the land from Hindukush Mountain bordering Afghanistan to the borders of Myanmar in the East and up to the end of the Indian peninsula in South. So much so that the Hindus lost any pride in their identity as a religion group. The wealthy and the influential among them, mostly Vaishyas, Brahmins and the Kshatriyas, pandered to their own egos and kept themselves busy by lording over the Dalits and the peasants. Although Hindus never considered themselves inferior to Muslims – on the contrary the traditional and orthodox Hindus even now detest Muslims and term them as Malechha, a pejorative expression- Hindus accepted their subservience to the Muslims. Hindus, in fact, have surrendered themselves always to other religions whenever it came to their fight for survival.

Perhaps, it is also a part of the Hindu ethos that they do not, by default, adopt an antagonistic stand against non-Hindus and permit their assimilation within the larger Hindu society. The settlement of Parsis in Gujarat is a very good example for that. Also because of the diversity among Hindus and the absence of straitjacket dogmas someone even if radically different was never interpreted as a threat to the Hindus survival.

Things, however, changed for the bad, and the good, for the Hindus after the European traders landed in India the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Christian missionaries that came along with the traders had a different strategy for proselytization. Unlike Muslims, the missionaries did not use force. They rather played on the psychology of the Hindus. They picked up the oppressed – Dalits and the peasants- among the lot since they were the obvious targets for conversion. They exploited the Dalits’ inferiority complex and the deep resentment (and very rightly so) against the more powerful upper caste Hindus. That the Dalits shall be “Upgraded in their social standing”, if and once they accept Christ as their Lord and savior was the obvious bait used. It had to work and it did.

The missionaries never targeted the Muslims; they knew against Muslims they stand no chance. The Friday congregation in the Mosques, which is mandatory for Muslims to attend, lends itself a fertile ground for political discourse and forces Muslims to think in terms of one large political group and vote bank apart from being a distinct religious identity. The Muslims are forever sensitive to any political thought that can be couched as a threat to their survival. “Threat to Islam” is the standard slogan used to quickly ring fence Muslims against any attempt to breach their religious identity.

The converse is equally true. The Muslims make no attempt to convert Christians. Every Christian is a member of some Church within their locality. This membership lends an institutional character to the practice of faith which also protects the member from any attempt at their identity.

Hindus, alas a divided lot, are bereft of any pride in their identity. In any case the basic tenets and the teachings of the Vedic religion were too complicated to be comprehended by the increasingly poorly educated ordinary Hindu. This was compounded by the tradition of passing knowledge through verbal means and the Brahmins making it their sole preserve. Having nothing to protect them from any onslaught; the less privileged Hindus were an easy prey to forced conversion from Muslims, and the induced type from Christian missionaries. Hindus were thought to be like a freely available raw material who have been waiting to be delivered from their ignorance, either by the sword of Islam or by the evangelism of the Christian missionaries.

But the advent of European colonization changed something for the better too for the Hindus. Especially after 1857 war of Independence. This war had many flavors to it. One, of course, was the revolt of the Indian princely states against the hegemony of the English company rule. The other was the fight between the Christians, represented by the English, and the Muslims, represented by Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal. The English suffered enormous losses but somehow won the war. Both, the princely states and the Muslims were defeated.

It was then clear to the English that they may not be so lucky next time if the Hindus and Muslims were to get together and wage a similar war again. Muslims also having lost their prestige and power realized their time of unhindered power was over and they have to make friends with the English.

With the Muslim hegemony over and with the English education policy implemented by Lord Macaulay Hindus were introduced to the concept of democracy and other egalitarian social values. From that point onwards, perhaps, started for the Hindus the best period after 1206. This was one of the unintended benefits of the English rule. The good time for the Hindus continued to such an extent that Jinnah, fearing the hegemony of the majority Hindus in the Independent India, successfully got a Muslim majority, Pakistan, carved out of the parent nation.

Therefore, although the good time for the Hindus started it was not because Hindus had fought for it. In fact, it was far from it. They got their liberty served to them on a platter because the circumstances were in their favour. In 1947, for the first time after 1192, there was a Hindu sitting on the seat of power at Delhi. Hindus got it free and have yet not realized the value of their new found liberty. Remember they got it because they lost the war. If English had lost the 1857 war it would have meant the continuation of the Islamic rule.

Over time the resurgence of Islamism is visible once again and the Hindus seem to be ignoring it as if this is something happening on some other planet in some other galaxy. The Islamic forces have driven out close to five lakh Hindus from their homes in Kashmir in the last 20 years and there is not even a whimper of protest by the Hindus in other parts of India. That the West Bengal and Kerala will be the next Kashmir in next 10-15 years is something written on the wall. Countless Hindus have died in the communal wars and acts of terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. Those interested in history, will know the massacre of Hindus in Calcutta and Noakhali that started on Aug 16, 1946 – the Direct Action Day- by Muslim league. By rough count more than 50 thousand perished under the collusive silence of the British India government. This is the only instance of a riot being planned and announced more than a month in advance in a press conference. It was done by Jinnah in Bombay. This was to terrorise Congress and Hindus in a “direct way” what the Islamic forces would do if Pakistan is opposed. But Hindus are oblivious to all of that. They will only remember the Gujarat 2002 riots.

For some Hindus self-flagellation is a sign of their intellectual arrival. Protests against the hanging of the conspirators of the Mumbai bomb blast and parliament attack draws more Hindus than in support of genuine government action against the terrorists. Those avowing the breakup of India aspire to be leaders and are funded to travel around the country to propagate their ideas. This impervious attitude of the Hindus is actually a motivation and encouragement to the anti-India, and anti-Hindu, Islamic forces within and around the country. For Islamic forces, the decimation of India, and the annihilation of Hindus, continues to be the unfinished agenda. It was the 190 years of the English rule put a break to their agenda.

In the recent times, relations between the India and Pakistan are gradually declining ever since the attack on the camp of Indian army jawans at Uri, Kashmir, and the surgical strike by the Indian army in retaliation, on the terrorists’ training camps, and launching pads, inflicting severe damage and large number of casualties on the Pakistan side. The smoothness and ease with which Indian army carried out the surgical strike deep inside Pakistan territory, with no casualty at all on them, has made a laughing stock of the Pakistan army. Further, it also established that in a conventional war, Pakistan army is no match to Indian army.

Post the surgical strike there have been many a cross border firing with damages on both sides. There have been talks suggesting that these skirmishes could escalate into a full scale war among the two nuclear powered nations. On the diplomatic front too there have been accusations by both that the High Commissions are being used by the other side for spying activities. The weak and timid on the Indian side have already started shitting in their pants advising restraint and blaming the Modi government of war mongering.

All this portends to a dark scenario of a full scale war. And should that were to happen, the Pakistan army will not hesitate to press the nuclear button once it starts facing defeat in the hands of well trained and disciplined Indian army. A nuclear bomb dropped on either Mumbai or Delhi is inevitable in that situation. However, we all know that there is be no chance of a second bomb from Pakistan as the retaliation from India will clearly wipe out Pakistan from the face of the earth without any trace left.

We are perhaps moving in that direction. Should India/Hindus therefore surrender to the Islamic forces and allow its civilians and the army men to keep dying under a proxy war? Or it should call the bluff of Pakistan, once and for all, and clean the humanity off the virus of Islamism.

The BJP government under Modi appears to be prepared for facing the reality. And what is the reality? The reality is the “The unfinished agenda” of the Islamic forces. The Islamic forces shall stop at nothing. Self-destruction is no deterrent for them. They relish the prospects of enjoying the 72 virgins in the afterworld. Many believe Modi is destined to do that.

Next war with Pakistan will be the bloodiest war ever. But it is inevitable. It will be one last chance for India to avenge the ignominy suffered in the last 800 years. Indians too will suffer a lot. It’s a heavy price to pay for liberty and freedom, but they to pay it for the sake of posterity. Don’t expect US or Russia to come to the rescue of Indian (basically Hindus) in their act of survival. Hindus will have to fight their own war if they have to live peacefully. Time has come for Hindus to pay the price of their liberty. It is long overdue. Nothing good comes for free.