In an interview with Samaa TV, the former Pakistan cricketer Akhtar said, "It is written in our scriptures that Ghazwa-e-Hind will take place, we will first capture Kashmir and then invade India from all sides. The river in Attock will be colored red twice with blood. Forces from Afghanistan will reach Attock. After those forces will rise from Shamal Mashriq, different contingents will arrive from Uzbekistan, etc. All of this refers to Khorasan, a historical region which extended till Lahore." In Arabic, Ghazwa means a war that is led by faith and not materialistic or territorial gains and is credited to Islamic concept derived from the Hadiths — a set of sayings by Prophet Mohammad. The phrase is used to refer to Muslim warriors conquering the Indian subcontinent.
This comment by Shoaib Akhtar comes in the backdrop of a Hindu temple being vandalised by an angry mob in northwest Pakistan last Wednesday. The incident took place in Terri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak district. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan however termed the attack on the temple as "an unfortunate incident." Hindus form the biggest minority community in Pakistan. According to official estimates, 75 lakh Hindus live in Pakistan. However, according to the community, over 90 lakh Hindus are living in the country. The majority of Pakistan's Hindu population is settled in Sindh province where they share culture, traditions and language with Muslim residents. They often complain of harassment by the extremists.
According to many historians and scholars, this mostly refer to rule of the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, most notably emperor Aurangzeb's reign. The final battle starts in Syria and the troops march forward from Jerusalem to Hindustan (India). The warriors destroy the land of Hind; possess its treasures, then the King of Jerusalem uses those treasures for the décor of Jerusalem. The troops bring the Indian kings in front of the King of Jerusalem. His warriors, by King's order, would conquer all the area between East & West.
Later, the Antichrist (Al-Masih ad-Dajjal) will appear in India and try to rule the world. Isa ibn Maryam, that is, will kill him and save the world. Armies carrying black flags will come from Khurasan. India would become part of Khursan and no power will be able to stop them and they and later India would become fully Islamic state. Later Allah would grant success to those warriors, as far as they would bring their kings by dragging them in chains. And Allah would forgive those warriors (by the Blessing of this Great War). And when those Muslims would return, they would find Isa Ibn Maryam [Jesus] in Syria.
Many Muslim scholars believe that if indeed it is a hadith, then that also has happened long ago in 600-700 CE when Mohammad bin Qasim attacked India. After that there have been a number of attacks on India from Central Asia by Muslim rulers, and India was under Muslim rule for a long time. Khurasan Hadith had been cited to mobilize Muslim soldiers. Sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad were often transmitted orally; formal, written compilations did not emerge until more than a century after his death.
Other Indian Muslim clerics have offered alternative explanations of the Hadith. Maulana Abdul Hamid Numani of the Jamiat ul-Ulema-i Hind (Society of Indian Islamic Scholars) says that this Hadith was fulfilled at the time of the Four Righteous Caliphs, when several companions of the Prophet came to India in order to spread Islam. Mufti Sajid Qasmi, professor at Dar ul-Uloom Deoband, believes that the Hadith might also refer to the invasion of Sindh by Arabs under Muhammad bin Qasim in the eighth century. In the expedition of Ibn Qasim there is a pious general Attiya Awfi who was involved in a relationship like that between Plato and Alexander.
On the other hand, Maulana Mufti Mushtaq Tijarvi of Jamaat-i Islami India has suggested that the hadith is not genuine at all and it is just a fabrication intended to justify Qasim's invasion of the Indian subcontinent. Whatever the truth, Shoaib Akhtar’s statement shows the deep psyche within the Pakistani elite. As I have said umpteen times earlier, no threat by an enemy should be taken lightly and we should take every threat issued by the enemy seriously. So how can India safeguard Hinduism and maintain its democratic and pluralistic polity?
MARTIAL TRAINING MUST FOR ALL INDIANS: Irrespective of religion, region or castes, martial training must be made compulsory for all Indian youths in the age group 18-24. Compulsory conscription in the military, paramilitary, police for 1-2 years should be made mandatory and they should be given a certificate by the President of India for completing this conscription. Further for availing social benefits, this certificate must be made mandatory. Youth must be given training in close quarter hand-to-hand combat with nan chakus, knives and lathis and the use of small firearms.
KEEP THE MORALE OF DEFENCE PERSONNEL HIGH: It is imperative that India maintains a lean and mean fighting machine. The issue of one rank one pension must be settled in favour of the army personnel, acquisition and modernisation of weapon systems must be given a high priority, India must immediately raise 4-5 mountain strike divisions of the army to guard and launch offensive operation across the LoC, LAC and the MacMohan Line. Further more, a warrior and a fighter’s spirit must be ingrained in all Indians.
INDIA BELONGS TO ALL INDIANS: Just as much as India belongs to the ruling party the BJP, the NDA and its constituents and its leaders, voters and supporters, it also equally belongs to the Congress, the UPA constituents, its voters, supporters and its leaders. It is very immature to raise slogans like ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ or ‘Smash the RSS’. Both are playing an important role. India is large enough to have space for all Indians irrespective of religion, language, region, caste or culture. Both the NDA and the UPA wish India well---though their ideologies and paths may be different.
INDIANS' ATTITUDE IS THE BIGGEST WEAKNESS: It has been observed umpteen number of times that Indians cannot work as a team and one Indian does not come to the rescue of another stricken Indian. Further, a Indian in high office would apportion all the credit to himself for the good work being done by his colleagues. Forget about encouraging and acknowledging the contributions being made by other team members, a Indian leader would muzzle, suppress and intimidate the other team members with the view to maintaining his aura. This applies more in case of Hindus.
ATROCITIES AGAINST RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN PAK: India must take and monitor incidents of atrocities against religious minorities (especially Hindus) in Pakistan and other Islamic nations and raise the issue at the appropriate international fora. India's Intelligence Directorate should keep a close tab on what is happening in hostile neighbouring countries by closely monitoring their media and what their elected representatives say. But before that, India must put its own house in order first and ensure security for all minorities within India.
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