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I am a Muslim of the Indian subcontinent. Let me tell you a story. This is the story of my life.

A fine but important distinction between asking for religious freedom and asking for a 'free rein to convert'.

But getting past that, even this nonsense from US International Religious Freedom commission, if true, is totally unwarranted and India has rightly told them to take a hike.

How anti-India USCIRF pushes and promotes Christianity in the name of religious freedom

In almost 25 years of its existence, USCIRF has had about 65 commissioners, of which the overwhelming majority exhibited hard-core Christian roots being associated as they were with some form of missionary activities or the other
jesus.jpg



Indians have a typical way of looking at the West, including its approvals, recognitions and awards. If they don’t get them — in the season of the Academy awards, let’s talk about Oscars, for instance — then they would say while making a ‘what’s-the-big-deal’ expression: “It’s time Indians should stop being enamoured by such awards!” And if they somehow get one, even if in a minor category, then all hell would break loose. The feat is celebrated in such a grand, over-the-top manner that one often wonders if it’s worth such celebrations!


The same trend is seen when Western institutions either praise (however little it may be) or revile (which is normally the case) India and the Indian state of affairs. The publication of the annual United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report is one such occasion, given its mostly slanderous utterances vis-à-vis India: The USCIRF report of 2022, for instance, clubbed democratic India with communist China, Islamist Pakistan, autocratic North Korea, fundamentalist Saudi Arabia, and terror-infested Syria and Afghanistan. Even more ironically, Iraq, Cuba, Nicaragua, Malaysia, etc, found themselves better placed than India!

This week, USCIRF was again in the news — this time for targeting India in the name of the anti-conversion laws promulgated by various state governments. As per the report, the anti-conversion laws in 12 Indian states are found to be grossly violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The writers of USCIRF remind us how Article 18 of the UDHR provides that everyone has the right to freedom of religion or belief including “freedom to change” their religious beliefs. And Article 18(1) of ICCPR provides that everyone has the “freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief” of their choice.

The report then goes on to say that “India’s state-level anti-conversion laws prohibit conversions under circumstances that go beyond coercion, using broad and vague language that can be used to target voluntary religious conversions”. Ironically, it fails to give one specific example to bolster its claims. All it does is to, for example, remind us about Section 3 of Uttar Pradesh’s Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 which provides that “no person shall convert or attempt to convert” another individual, directly or otherwise, by “misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means”. It adds, “Violations of section three are punishable by prison terms between one and five years and a fine of at least 15,000 Indian rupees ($180).” One wonders how a law that stops “force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means” can be cited to paint India and its democracy in dark hues. One witnesses the same pattern when the USCIRF report cites legislations in other states.

The report, at best, highlights two issues that can bring some sympathies, but only among those who don’t know the ground realities of conversion in India: One, 10 state-level anti-conversion laws require individuals intending to convert, individuals involved in the conversion plans of another individual, or both, to notify the government. These states are Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. And two, seven states provide that individuals accused of violating an anti-conversion law must prove their innocence. Those states are Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

But, what the makers of this report have failed to acknowledge, deliberately or otherwise, is that the people who are mostly being converted are extremely backward, illiterate and poor. And they are face to face with missionaries backed by some of the most powerful people and institutions in the world. In this lopsided battle between the Davids and the Goliaths, the Government of India has to stand with those fighting desperately to save their tradition, culture and even religion. What the report fails to say is that these acts are reactive in nature — they are aimed at self-preservation of the old Indic way of life which is facing an existential crisis at the hands of missionaries and the Church. The irony is that the ‘liberal’ West is invoking secularism to protect the Church, against whom the very idea of secularism first germinated in Europe in the late medieval era.

A Christian, anti-India project

Let’s look at the three facts emerging out of USCIRF and its reports: One, USCIRF reports have largely been anti-India, because some of its prominent members, especially in the past years, have had pro-Pakistan tilt. Two, USCIRF has traditionally been a Christian project; it’s largely about safeguarding the interests of Christians, followed by those of Jews and Muslims. Hindus, along with other indigenous religions across the world, for that matter, don’t seem to matter, with even a single religious leader representing them finding a place in the organisation. Finally, these reports are a testimony to the fact that the West, especially its establishment, including the Deep State, still carries a deep anti-India baggage. Little has changed on ground in the past three decades which saw India make a giant stride forward from being a Soviet ally to a country that is today seen as a natural ally of the West.

Last year, the USCIRF report gained a lot of interest, especially in India. The writers of that report, as it became clear later, had deep and obvious Pakistani connections. Nadine Maenza, then a USCIRF Commissioner, had in the past worked with Rick Santorum, an American politician who, as per Foreign Affairs, wanted the United States “to continue foreign aid to Pakistan and maintain good relations with the nuclear-armed country”. Maenza was also in touch with other anti-India players and institutions — the most prominent being Shaik Ubaid and his rabidly anti-India outfit, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC). Then there was one Anurima Bhargava, again a commissioner of USCIRF till 2022, who was closely associated with the Open Society Foundation, founded by George Soros. It’s difficult these days to have any anti-India activity without a Soros connection!

This year, USCIRF seems to have avoided having people with obvious and direct Pakistan connections. But then the anti-India, anti-Hindu bias remains as strong as ever. Imagine the Modi government setting up a religious freedom body mostly comprising religious Hindus, with no space for Muslims and Christians. It would have garnered universal condemnation. But the USCIRF, unabashedly and unapologetically, remains a Christian project. Of the nine commissioners currently at work, at least five of them have deep Christian roots, one each has a Muslim and a Jewish link respectively, while one is a rights activist fighting for the Uyghur cause, and the last one is a geostrategic expert with strong conservative credentials.

In almost 25 years of its existence, USCIRF has had about 65 commissioners, of which the overwhelming majority exhibited hard-core Christian roots being associated as they were with some form of missionary activities or the other. Of the remaining commissioners, most of them were Muslims (at least 10 as per my tentative list), followed by Jews, Buddhists, and a Bahai. In contrast, Hindus, despite being almost a sixth of the world population, never found genuine representation. USCIRF could get only two Hindu commissioners — Preeta Bansal and Anurima Bhargava — and they too had nothing but utter disdain for Hinduism.

How can an institution that prepares a religious freedom report work without a credible Hindu presence? Why have so many Christians with missionary past given such a coveted position in USCIRF? Is it therefore any surprise that the report takes the side of the Church and the missionaries even when there are countless examples of wrongful means of conversion being pursued and practised, especially in the tribal regions of India?

This brings us to the Western hypocrisy on secularism. While the West pushes for an absolute and non-compromising form of secularism in the non-Western world, especially India, it never denies its own Christian roots. The US President, for instance, upholds the Christian characteristics of America when he takes an oath on the Bible. Likewise, the UK has its own Church — the Church of England — whose bishops actually sit in the House of Lords, a position no other religion enjoys in that country. Parliamentary proceedings, invariably and unapologetically, begin with a Christian prayer. And the British monarch proudly holds the title of being the ‘Defender of the Faith’. Let’s for a second imagine the uproar if a Prime Minister in India takes oath on the Bhagavad Gita or if Hindu monks find an officially designated place in a house of Parliament!

Last but not least, the West patronises and promotes institutions like USCIRF to target India because this way, it believes, the latter can be kept on some sort of tight leash. The West is no doubt concerned about China’s rise, but it is equally uneasy with India’s growth. It is this discomfort for new India that is manifest in the articles/reports of the Western mainstream media, the academia, the entrenched bureaucracy, and even institutions like USCIRF. In the long term, India will have to stop looking Westward and build its own institutions to gauge global parameters. And in the short term, especially till we remain enamoured by the West, let’s call the hoax each time USCIRF and its ilk come up with an India report.

 
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When will you realize that its not just that commission that is the problem ?

isn't that all over the place ?
somebody asks me out of the blue about Christian missionary / conversions
now you come up with this concern abt woke lib ambassador

EVERY ambassador has some agenda. Whether it be Wisner or Moynihan or any of the later ones. We have to deal with it. Just like America has to deal with the ambassadors India appoints.

Jaishankar and Modi are right now at an advantage quite frankly due to the weaklings Biden is saddled with
 
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isn't that all over the place ?
somebody asks me out of the blue about Christian missionary / conversions
now you come up with this concern abt woke lib ambassador

EVERY ambassador has some agenda. Whether it be Wisner or Moynihan or any of the later ones. We have to deal with it. Just like America has to deal with the ambassadors India appoints.

Jaishankar and Modi are right now at an advantage quite frankly due to the weaklings Biden is saddled with

Nope, its not all over the place because all this is connected.

Do you really think US ambassador runs a "personal agenda" ? :lol: Seriously ? They run the state dept. agenda.

This is the US ambassador Eric Garcetti appointment hearing in the senate and he is openly saying he will interfere in internal maters of India and he got selected by the senate.


This is the US state agenda. Why are you in denial when the proof is staring at you right in the face ?
 
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Do you think it's shameful to convert out of monkey worship? Lingam worship? Do you think it's a matter of pride to worship steppe gods?



How many of our families practiced the Dasyufied subaltern Hinduism of today? I'm not insulting anyone from my line when I mock your regressive and insane practices. The "Aryas" of Ganga slums excommunicated the people from Punjab for eating beef and now I'm told I am insulting my ancestors poking fun at your reverence for gau mata.
You disowning your ancestors because you’re ashamed that of something is your problem; cope.
Monkey Camel Pig Cow - who cares what you worship or not ? It is all a matter of faith. Muslims worship the formless allah , throw stones at a mountain with some belief. Hindus worship animals trees, and many others - that is their belief:
You are too insignificant to question Muslims Hindus or anyother belief systems
 
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LOOKING BACK AT MY DISTANT PAST
By Khalid Umar

I am a Muslim of the Indian subcontinent. Let me tell you a story. This is the story of my life.

I am 1,300 years old. I live in India, which has now one of the largest communities of Muslims in the world. I also provide intellectual leadership to Islam. I am also home of great scholars and Sufi tradition of Islam. And yes, I am proud of who I am now; a Muslim who worships Allah and believes in Muhammad & Quran. I live and die for Islam. I even divided the land called India for Islam with the help of foreign rulers and I am ready to do it again if opportunity arises.

But I was not always a Muslim. About 1450 years ago there were actually no Muslims in this world. I was a follower of Hinduism which is the oldest religion of mankind. I had been like this for generations. If human civilization is 10,000 years old, then I was a Hindu for 10,000 years. If human civilization is 100,000 years old, I was a Hindu for 100,000 years.

But then something changed.

I rejected everything that I had been following for thousands or even million years. This change did not come easy. Habits are not easy to form and it was my dharma; the story of my lineage for centuries. It was a life of exquisite stories, mythology, colours, rituals, dances, music, mantras and food, infused in my blood. It was the most difficult transition which took many generations of hardship to accomplish. But, Al-hamdolillah, I became a Muslim, dheeray dheeray, slowly, albiet surely.

I have some vague memories in my hereditary DNA how it all started. My forefathers were peaceful and spiritual people who lived in harmony with nature. They had no expansionist desires. We were a vast land from the world’s tallest peaks to the longest rivers and deserts. Herds of Arab, Afghan and Mongol armies of looters started ransacking my land, about 1000 years ago. The came & came in droves. They killed my fathers and brothers. They dishonoured my mothers and sisters. My mother was one who was enslaved and sold in the bazars of Baghdad. The mountain pass in Afghanistan looking at the Indian plains was named Hindu-kush, so much was the blood strewn of my brethren. They massacred my people and continued to do so for centuries. I died and lived as well, to pass on my genetic lineage and expand my tribe of Islam that in 1941 census we were 24.3% or 95 million in 1230 years of coercion & conversion (712-1941).

I dishonoured my foundations due to fear initially. Slowly generations who followed forgot the sacrifices of my parents, sisters and brothers. I became a diehard Muslim. I reassured myself that it was time for a change and may be that was the only way my family could live in peace and without disgrace of slavery. It was the most tragic, bloody, dangerous, sad and painful compromise in my life’s story of 10 centuries.

The effect was so brutal that I refused to look back at my history, lest my old wounds begin to fester again. When I am told by Will Durant that “The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within,” no tears or remorse touches my heart.

I am suffering from historical amnesia. I have forgotten my entire history. Today, when someone reminds me of these painful experiences, I refuse to pay attention to them. I dismiss them as stories concocted by anti-Islamic elements and dismiss the facts of history and archaeology. I don’t question the ruins of Nalanda, Gyanvapi mosque or Somnath temple.

I forgot the high principles taught to me by nature. I forgot the lessons of my relationship with the Cosmos. I forgot that Brahman lives inside me; indeed, I am the Brahma, the eternal God. I externalised my God as Allah, perched somewhere in a far corner of the Universe. I relegated myself from being the God to an entity without any knowledge of relationship with the reality. My paradise became a brothel house of 72 virgins, food, fruit and booze, owned and managed by Allah. I killed many of my brethren for the lust of that brothel house. It was the scare of hell which overtook my sanity. I forgot my scriptures. I lost my relationship with Upanishads & yogic traditions. I lost dharma as well as karma.

Now sometimes if the memory of my blood-soaked past emerges in my dreams, my eyes no longer ooze out tears of blood, my heart no longer misses a beat. I retaliate by clinging more fiercely with my faith group.

I know I have lost so much. I have lost connection with the land of my ancestors. I have sacrificed a lot to become a Muslim. Islam was not handed to me on a platter. No prophet spoke to me in my language. No angel descended from heavens. I adopted a revealation which was not meant for me. I believed the hearsay and destroyed everything that had always been my foundation; the history in which my ancestors were the heroes. The stories which were part of my intellectual and cultural heritage. I rejected all just to become a Muslim. I bet no one in human history has made such a sacrifice. I destroyed myself and the land l belonged to.

I am an unfortunate member of the lost tribe of Hinduism. I live with those who are related to me in blood and history. But I can’t love them or go back to their fold, due to the gruesome memories of blood inflicted on my soul, via generations of blind faith on scriptures, holy in name only. To me my own blood brethren are Kafirs!

I am an indoctrinated lost soul. I am an (unfortunate) Muslim of the Indian subcontinent.


Sir, this is KFC
 
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You disowning your ancestors because you’re ashamed that of something is your problem; cope.
Monkey Camel Pig Cow - who cares what you worship or not ? It is all a matter of faith. Muslims worship the formless allah , throw stones at a mountain with some belief. Hindus worship animals trees, and many others - that is their belief:
You are too insignificant to question Muslims Hindus or anyother belief systems

We are not ashamed, we are disgusted,
nothing more freaky then Hinduism. Gave us nothing whatsoever
 
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We are not ashamed, we are disgusted,
nothing more freaky then Hinduism. Gave us nothing whatsoever
That’s even worse, to be disgusted of your ancestors than being merely ashamed. Remember they were to be pitied than censured.
 
. . .
LOOKING BACK AT MY DISTANT PAST
By Khalid Umar

I am a Muslim of the Indian subcontinent. Let me tell you a story. This is the story of my life.

I am 1,300 years old. I live in India, which has now one of the largest communities of Muslims in the world. I also provide intellectual leadership to Islam. I am also home of great scholars and Sufi tradition of Islam. And yes, I am proud of who I am now; a Muslim who worships Allah and believes in Muhammad & Quran. I live and die for Islam. I even divided the land called India for Islam with the help of foreign rulers and I am ready to do it again if opportunity arises.

But I was not always a Muslim. About 1450 years ago there were actually no Muslims in this world. I was a follower of Hinduism which is the oldest religion of mankind. I had been like this for generations. If human civilization is 10,000 years old, then I was a Hindu for 10,000 years. If human civilization is 100,000 years old, I was a Hindu for 100,000 years.

But then something changed.

I rejected everything that I had been following for thousands or even million years. This change did not come easy. Habits are not easy to form and it was my dharma; the story of my lineage for centuries. It was a life of exquisite stories, mythology, colours, rituals, dances, music, mantras and food, infused in my blood. It was the most difficult transition which took many generations of hardship to accomplish. But, Al-hamdolillah, I became a Muslim, dheeray dheeray, slowly, albiet surely.

I have some vague memories in my hereditary DNA how it all started. My forefathers were peaceful and spiritual people who lived in harmony with nature. They had no expansionist desires. We were a vast land from the world’s tallest peaks to the longest rivers and deserts. Herds of Arab, Afghan and Mongol armies of looters started ransacking my land, about 1000 years ago. The came & came in droves. They killed my fathers and brothers. They dishonoured my mothers and sisters. My mother was one who was enslaved and sold in the bazars of Baghdad. The mountain pass in Afghanistan looking at the Indian plains was named Hindu-kush, so much was the blood strewn of my brethren. They massacred my people and continued to do so for centuries. I died and lived as well, to pass on my genetic lineage and expand my tribe of Islam that in 1941 census we were 24.3% or 95 million in 1230 years of coercion & conversion (712-1941).

I dishonoured my foundations due to fear initially. Slowly generations who followed forgot the sacrifices of my parents, sisters and brothers. I became a diehard Muslim. I reassured myself that it was time for a change and may be that was the only way my family could live in peace and without disgrace of slavery. It was the most tragic, bloody, dangerous, sad and painful compromise in my life’s story of 10 centuries.

The effect was so brutal that I refused to look back at my history, lest my old wounds begin to fester again. When I am told by Will Durant that “The Mohammedan Conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precarious thing, whose delicate complex of order and liberty, culture and peace may at any time be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within,” no tears or remorse touches my heart.

I am suffering from historical amnesia. I have forgotten my entire history. Today, when someone reminds me of these painful experiences, I refuse to pay attention to them. I dismiss them as stories concocted by anti-Islamic elements and dismiss the facts of history and archaeology. I don’t question the ruins of Nalanda, Gyanvapi mosque or Somnath temple.

I forgot the high principles taught to me by nature. I forgot the lessons of my relationship with the Cosmos. I forgot that Brahman lives inside me; indeed, I am the Brahma, the eternal God. I externalised my God as Allah, perched somewhere in a far corner of the Universe. I relegated myself from being the God to an entity without any knowledge of relationship with the reality. My paradise became a brothel house of 72 virgins, food, fruit and booze, owned and managed by Allah. I killed many of my brethren for the lust of that brothel house. It was the scare of hell which overtook my sanity. I forgot my scriptures. I lost my relationship with Upanishads & yogic traditions. I lost dharma as well as karma.

Now sometimes if the memory of my blood-soaked past emerges in my dreams, my eyes no longer ooze out tears of blood, my heart no longer misses a beat. I retaliate by clinging more fiercely with my faith group.

I know I have lost so much. I have lost connection with the land of my ancestors. I have sacrificed a lot to become a Muslim. Islam was not handed to me on a platter. No prophet spoke to me in my language. No angel descended from heavens. I adopted a revealation which was not meant for me. I believed the hearsay and destroyed everything that had always been my foundation; the history in which my ancestors were the heroes. The stories which were part of my intellectual and cultural heritage. I rejected all just to become a Muslim. I bet no one in human history has made such a sacrifice. I destroyed myself and the land l belonged to.

I am an unfortunate member of the lost tribe of Hinduism. I live with those who are related to me in blood and history. But I can’t love them or go back to their fold, due to the gruesome memories of blood inflicted on my soul, via generations of blind faith on scriptures, holy in name only. To me my own blood brethren are Kafirs!

I am an indoctrinated lost soul. I am an (unfortunate) Muslim of the Indian subcontinent.



that is one load of horse shit...

no really muslim will ever refer to things like "mohammadians"
 
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that is one load of horse shit...

no really muslim will ever refer to things like "mohammadians"
He's probably one of those "ex-muslims" who doesn't know how many rakats there are in surah al fatiha
 
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You disowning your ancestors because you’re ashamed that of something is your problem; cope.
Monkey Camel Pig Cow - who cares what you worship or not ? It is all a matter of faith. Muslims worship the formless allah , throw stones at a mountain with some belief. Hindus worship animals trees, and many others - that is their belief:
You are too insignificant to question Muslims Hindus or anyother belief systems

You must live in an echo chamber. I don't think you understand how revolting your customs are to the outside world. God's commandments are clear, you want to carry on then go ahead there will be spiritual implications. Find Jesus and save yourself if Islam isn't your thing. Anything but paganism or atheism.
 
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