All the writers who have written in Dalit Voice and other Dalit and Muslim journals on the fall of Budhism in India insist that only Hindus are the destroyers. Is this true? So far I too was thinking on the same line. But when I read Dr. Ambedkar’s, book Vol.3, chapter 9, “The decline and fall of Budhism in India”, I came to know that Muslims also contributed to the fall of Budhism.
I don’t know why writers in DV and other journals are concealing the Muslim part. May be they think that it will damage Dalit-Muslim unity which has suffered a serious ’ setback after the Gujarat genocide of Muslims perpetrated by Dalits.
MUSLIM INVASION
Anyway, the role of Muslims in the fall of Budhism cannot be hidden from history. That is why Babasaheb says that there can be no doubt the fall of Budhism in India was due to the invasion of the Musalamans (W&S Vol.3, p.229). It is well known that the Hindus destroyed Budhism only in India because Hinduism is confined to only India.
But Muslims destroyed Budhism wherever they went: Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhar and Chinese Turkestan etc. Budhism was the religion of whole of Asia. But Muslims mercilessly destroyed it. Dr. Ambedkar quotes Vincent Smith from his book, Early History of India.
He says:
“The Musalman invaders sacked the Budhist universities of Nalanda, Vikramasila, Jagaddala, Odantapuri to name only a few. They razed to the ground Budhist monasteries with which the country was studded. The monks fled away in thousands to Nepal, Tibet and other places outside India. A very large number were killed outright by the Muslim commanders”. (p. 232)
We know that no religion can be without its priestly class. The sword of Islam fell heavily upon the Budhist priestly class. The word Bihar, derived from the Pali word Vihar, is related to Budha Vihar. But today in Bihar there are no Budhists because of Muslims. Some might have converted to Islam to escape from the sword of Islam.
DALIT CULTURE DESTROYED
Series of articles have appeared in DV and other Dalit and Muslim journals about the destruction of our culture by the Hindu nazis but nobody has written anywhere about the involvement of the Muslims. Through the destruction of Budhism the Muslims also annihilated our Dalit culture.
The destruction of the Budha statue in Afghanistan by the Taliban Govt, has received worldwide publicity. Afghanistan was a Budhist country. But today there are no Budhists. Why the Muslims destroyed Budhism wherever they went? Dr. Ambedkar says:
“Islam came out as the enemy of the but. The word but as everybody knows is an Arabic word and. means an idol. Not many people however know what the derivation of the word but is but is the Arabic corruption of Buddha. Thus the origin of the word indicates that in the Moslem mind idol worship had come to be identified with the religion of the Buddha. To the Muslims, they were one and the same thing. The mission to break the idols thus became the mission to destroy Buddhism.” (Vol.3 p. 229-30).
We can understand the Muslim complaint that Hindus are idol worsbipers and their culture is oppressive. The Muslims can justify their attack on Hinduism. But did the Budhists have any such oppressive culture? Did they oppress anybody? Were they idol worshippers? That does not mean I am a hater of Muslims. I have written two articles in DV criticising Muslims. (DV Sept.16, 1995: “Elite Muslims indifference to hinduisation of Dalits” and DV Jan.16, 1997: “Savarna Muslims of Kerala get hinduised & become deadly enemies of Islam”). We hate only the Hindu-minded Muslims. Some writers think that criticising Muslims may damage Dalit-Muslim unity which is not taking place despite the best efforts of our Editor.
HINDU HATRED
Elite Muslims still consider us Untouchables and the oppressed Muslims follow the elite Muslims. I am a reader of Madhyamam (Malayalam) daily of the Jamate- Islami. For this I am being dubbed communalist, terrorist, traitor, antinational and a Muslim agent etc. because the Madhyamam belongs to Muslims. A non-Muslim reading a Muslim paper is held in suspicion. When such is the intensity of hatred against a non-Muslim, you can imagine the Hindu nazi hatred of a Muslim.
The Muslims must understand all these things. They have little or no knowledge of the Indian society, its social structure and the caste contradictions. Because of this ignorance, the Muslims run after Hindu-Muslim unity instead of Dalit- Muslim unity. I hope at least after the latest genocide of Muslims in Gujarat the Muslims will wake up and study the Indian social reality and get closer to Dalits and make Dalit-Muslim unity a reality.
