In his book Pakistan or the Partition of India, Babasaheb Ambedkar drew a graphic depiction of the Hindu genocide and temple destruction under Mughal control. Numerous Hindus perished in vile and horrific attacks. Hindus in India regard the Vishwanath Temple in Kashi to be the holiest of them all. Nandi Devan continues to wait for Kashi Vishwanath, causing millions of Hindus to shed tears. Let us examine Ambedkar’s description of this shameful scorching fact.
Even in the reign of Shah Jahan, we read of the destruction of the temples that the Hindus had started to rebuild, and the account of this direct attack on the piety of the Hindus is thus solemnly recorded in the Badshah-Namah :
“It had been brought to the notice of His Majesty, says the historian, that during the late reign (of Akbar), many idol temples had been begun but remained unfinished at Benares, the great stronghold of infidelity. The infidels were now desirous of completing them. His Majesty, the defender of the faith, gave orders that at Benares and throughout all his dominions in every place, all temples that had been begun should be cast down. It was reported from the Province of Allahabad that 76 temples had been destroyed in the district of Benares.”
It was left to Aurangzeb to make a final attempt to overthrow idolatry. The author of ‘Ma’athir-i-Alamgiri dilates upon his efforts to put down Hindu teaching and his destruction of temples in the following terms:
“In April, A. D. 1669, Aurangzib learned that in the provinces of Thatta, Multan, and Benares, but especially in the latter, foolish Brahmins were in the habit of expounding frivolous books in their schools and that learners, Muslims as well as Hindus, went there from long distances. . . .The ‘Director of the Faith’ consequently issued orders to all the governors of provinces to destroy with a willing hand the schools and temples of the infidels, and they were enjoined to put an entire stop to the teaching and practising of idolatrous worship. . . .Later it was reported to his religious Majesty that the Government officers had destroyed the temple of Bishnath at Benares.”
As Dr Titus observes
“Such invaders as Muhammad and Timur seem to have been more concerned with iconoclasm, the collection of booty, the enslaving of captives, and the sending of infidels to hell with the ‘proselytizing sword’ than they were with the conversion of them even by force. But when rulers have permanently established, the winning of converts became a matter of supreme urgency. It was a part of the state policy to establish Islam as the religion of the whole land.
Chapter-4; Break-up of unity: Pakistan or the Partition of India
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