Gauhati, in Assam is where the initial pushback began, (and is also where the bloodletting has been the fiercest): spreading on to the Capital, then to West Bengal; and now, has fireballed throughout the Republic.
The Citizenship Amendment Act has put the Republic at the top of the list on GenocideWatch; it has also garnered this statement on the 12th of December from the US State Department, (which is the equivalent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within a Commonwealth Nation).
“We are closely following developments regarding the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law are fundamental principles of our two democracies. The United States urges India to protect the rights of its religious minorities in keeping with India’s Constitution and democratic values.”
The Human Rights Office of the UN then went on to tweet the following statement; “We are concerned that the new #CitizenshipAmendmentAct is fundamentally discriminatory in nature. Goal of protecting persecuted groups is welcomed, but the new law does not extend protection to Muslims, incl. minority sects”.
All of this has taken Modi by surprise and he seems stunned by the level of antipathy to the creed of the RSS and Hindutva that he seeks to subsume the Republic under.
What the majority of those outside the Republic (and perhaps even Modi himself) will not appreciate is the vast diversity of the Republic and, (on that note), I would like to take you through a small tour of my part of the world, on the Eastern Seaboard, specifically within the vast city of Kolkata and show you a few things that Modi himself may be unaware of.
Let me first take you to the oldest Synagogue in ALL of Asia, the Neveh Shalom built in 1825. The recorded history of Jewish presence in Kolkata dates back nearly 250 years to around 1798, although their contribution and presence within Indian Republic dates back nearly 400 years. The first Jews to settle in the city were from Aleppo and they spoke Arabic and maintained their distinctive dress.
As the people began to prosper and gradually enlarge in number, (as well as becoming fully integrated within Kolkata), they built the second Synagogue. Below is the Beth El Synagogue, which is the largest in Asia and was built in 1856.
Finally, in 1884, we have the Magen Daved Synagogue. By this time the presence of Baghdadi Jews began to outnumber those from Aleppo. There is now adoption of European dress and English is the spoken language. You will notice the Italian Renaissance style of the interior and the use of Belgian stained glass for the large and proud windows and the ornate crystal chandeliers.
The 10 Commandments inscribed along the arch, which in Hebrew is called the Misvah. Behind the curtains are where the Torah, or Old Testament, is kept and only the Rabbi can enter.
The picture below is of the caretaker of the Magen Daved. Can you guess his religion? The caretakers of all the Synagogues are Bengali Muslims.
In the picture below, the man on the right is a friend who took me there, as the Synagogues are within Central Kolkata and are difficult to find, unless you have a guide. On the left is the caretaker of the Neveh Shalom. What is remarkable about this picture is that you have a Hindu and a Muslim within a Jewish Synagogue in the heart of Kolkata, in the Indian Republic.
Not too far away, along Armenian Street, I would like to take you around the First Armenian Church in Asia, built in 1707.
Below is the entrance door to the Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth.
As you enter past the door, this is what you would see; the actual Church itself. Built in 1724 and is the Heart, Soul and Centre of the Armenian People of Kolkata.
Within the grounds of the Church is a Cemetery with the commemorative plaques in the Armenian language. The commemoration in the picture below is from 1807.
Below is the grave of Reza Bibi. 1630. It is the oldest Armenian grave in the entirety of South Asia. The engraved slab in English was added later on top of the original, where you can see that the original inscription is in Armenian.
Although the Jewish people of Kolkata came from Baghdad; and prior to that from Aleppo, the Armenians came from Northern Iran. They came along the Old Silk Road that stretched from Aleppo through Syria and through what are now the nation states of Iraq, Armenia, Iran, Georgia, Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan and finally into China. The Armenians came 500 years ago to India along with the Mughals from the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan and their presence within the Republic is older than that of the Jewish people.
What may also surprise you is that Armenia was the very first State to adopt Christianity as a State Religion.
The picture below would also perhaps leave you intrigued. He is a 10th Generation Armenian Citizen of the Indian Republic. He has no other Nationality and has never been to Armenia, in fact he has hardly ever left Kolkata. To question his loyalty to the Republic would be both an insult and a crime. It would a crime on commonsense on your part and an insult to the man himself.
What about this guy? If you were to ask him, he would reply straight back at you that he is a Citizen of the Indian Republic first, of Armenian descent from 11 Generations past and the last thing he would mention is his Orthodox Christian Faith. He is a Bengali-Armenian as much as a I am a Bengali-Hindu.
The Synagogues and the Armenian Church that I have shown you are maintained by the Archaeological Society of India and are not Museums or Tourist Attractions, where you would take a selfie of yourself to post later. They are fully functioning places of worship and are in use everyday of the week.
Below is the Roman Catholic Church of St Teresa of Avalon built in 1889. (It has nothing to do with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, which came much later to Kolkata in the 1950s).
When I went, the Church was being painted and thus is the reason for the scaffolding around the exterior. Christianity’s presence and influence within the Republic dates back to almost the time of Isa (or Jesus). In fact, Christian Philosophy was thriving in India for a thousand years, long before it reached the shores of the British Isles, which adopted Christianity a thousand years later. Something that gets lost amongst the Propaganda of European Revisionists is that Christianity is a Guiding Light that was a Gift to the darkened minds of Asian Savages from European Colonists. It is a historical fact that the Religious Philosophy went from Asia to Europe, and not what the Colonial Imperialists would have you believe. Christian Thought and Belief is a Gift from Asia as Isa came from the East, (primarily the Levant).
The Youth of the Indian Republic, 4 young Bengali-Roman Catholics, looking forward to the future with hope and pride. The girl on the left is of Chinese descent from the ancient, vast and deeply well settled Chinese Diaspora of Kolkata. All of them speak, read and write Bengali as their first language and identify themselves as Indian and nothing else.
Across the road from the Church of St Teresa is the Shia Masjid of Nakhoda. The prevalence of Islam in Eastern India is predominantly Shia as Bengal was the extreme end of the Mughal Empire, who were themselves Shia and always open to the world. The Nakhoda is the largest Masjid in Kolkata. To appreciate what I am going to say, you may need to enlarge the image, which would perhaps best be done on a smartphone and to focus your attention on the design beneath the minarets on the left of the image. What looks at odds with the straight lines of the main design are these formless shapes. They are actually a depiction of snakes or in this case cobras, upon whose head Shiva is said to rest. What this epitomises is that the essence of the higher aspirations that the Masjid represents, in that, it sits upon the same snake head upon which Shiva is said to rest. It is saying to you that Shia Islam has grown from the same soil and is totally intertwined and embedded into the land. It acknowledges the foundation of Hindu Thought as the basis for its Philosophy. It is absolutely remarkable when you realise, yet few people even care to know this. The spikes on the domes are themselves of Buddhist influence.
The future of India, two young men from the North East of the Republic. On the left from Mizoram and on the right from Manipur, as Indian as Modi, (if not even more so). Both, looking forward to not only their future but to the future of the Republic with pride and hope.
Would this man below somehow be considered not a citizen of the Indian Republic? In the mind of Modi and this devotees, everything is a mystery. Mohamed Farheen from Karnataka and an Officer within the Border Security Forces at Petrapole, proudly representing his country and looking to the future with hope and honesty.
This below is Petrapole, which is the largest crossing point between the Indian Republic and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. This is where Modi hopes to flood with millions of people in his dream of a having re-incarnated himself as some sort of mythical Arjuna.
What you are seeing is common land between the two nations where the flag-lowering ceremony which occurs every dusk at about 5pm.
On the left are the Bangladesh Rifles and Bangladesh behind them, on the right the Indian Border Security Forces, both in formal, ceremonial dress.
What I would like to show you now is something that you will find utterly remarkable. This is in Bishnupur and is about 4 hours drive north of Kolkata. What you are seeing is a “Place of Worship”. The bottom arches are of Shia Islamic design, the middle is what is called “Bengali Huts” and the top is a Buddhist Pagoda. Hinduism, as practised in Bengal is not the same as Modi’s Hindutva or the Hinduism that fills his life with daily joy. It has huge tribal or Adivasi roots and many of the rituals and philosophy are not Brahmanic or Indo-Aryan but more of an Austric Nature. It also has deep embedded Buddhist and Shia influence. That is what is captured here in Bishnupur. This is neither a Temple, Shrine or Masjid but as I said a “Place of Worship” devoid of religious significance. It was built and designed to be a pavilion during festivals.
A closer look at the design of the archways and pillars where you can see the clear Shia influence in the construction.
Finally, something more to amaze you. Within the Shia influenced archway supports, are engravings from the Ramayan, especially the story of Ram and Sita. This links back to Modi as it was at Ayodha that RSS and other assorted devotees razed a 500 year old Masjid to the ground on the assumption that it was built on the mythical birthplace of a mythical Ram.
The Eastern part of the Indian Republic is also the home of Buddhism, which upon Gautam’s demise was totally uprooted from the land by the re-energised Brahmanical Cult. Buddhist Thought however flourished in China, Burma and the Indo-Chinese regions of Laos, Cambodia, VietNam and as far as the Korean Peninsula, Japan and Indonesia; and ofcourse Sri Lanka, yet within the confines of the land from which it emerged, nearly all traces have been systematically erased by the Brahman Doctrine.
Below is a carved inscription in Pali, (which you can see in the Bankura District of West Bengal very close to Bishnupur); which is an Indo-European language with deep Burmese influence and is found only in the Eastern parts of the Republic. It is the sacred language of Therevada Buddhism and all their main literature and religious instructions are written in Pali.
So there you have it. As I said in the beginning of this small tour through my part of the world, this is not the India that Modi sees, nor the India that the devotees of the RSS ideologists even recognise. The Indian Republic will NEVER turn into a Hindutva Nation, it is just historically and factually impossible.
Modi needs to get with the programme and do the job that, albeit only 36% of the voters, have elected him for; which is to govern the Republic, provide economic stability and prosperity, hope for the future and not rip the Republic apart.
A well-researched article that should be widely circulated.
Thank you Sumanta. This vast city and its deep, rich and proud history needs to be understood more widely. The RSS is projecting an image of the Indian Republic which is not true. Please let more people know of the depth of the history of the East of the Republic.
https://skbarman.home.blog/2019/12/19/not-the-india-of-modi/