Indians are psychologically damaged people who preserve the monuments
of invaders with more care than their own, and proudly show them off to
tourists or even visiting heads of state. When was the last time you saw any
visiting prime minister or president posing before any monument other than the
Taj Mahal?
Sadly, our present nationalist PM also cannot break this
ghastly tradition.
Is Sidi Sayyed mosque the only thing to show to the Japanese
PM, Mr Modi, after all the money spent on Vibrant Gujarat and Gujarat Tourism
ads which say “Kucch din to guzariye Gujarat mein”, showing a glimpse of what
the state has to offer?
You could have chosen a few more places in Gujarat to show
to Mr Abe.
Like,
The most ornately carved sub terranean stepwell , an example
of the industriousness of ancient India in conserving water during the harsh ,
called Rani ki Vaav (Queen’s Well) , which goes more than five floors
underground, is situated in Patan, about 120 km from Ahmedabad.
The carvings , numbering more than 800, for more than seven
galleries, the central theme being dashavataras (ten incarnations of Vishnu).
Not secular enough surely.
Or one of the only two major sun temples surviving in India ,
somewhat intact.
Built by Bhima I of Chalukya (Solanki) dynasty in 1026,
looking magnificient even after being desecrated by Khilji’s hordes.
Or why not a two day
safari to Gir, the last remaining abode in the world for the Asiatic lion? It
would have sent such a good message to the international community about
India’s efforts to conserve an endangered species and a publicity for India’s
biodiversity. Isn’t Gir a great symbol of vibrant, alive Gujarat?
Lets have a look at the Sidi Sayyid Mosque.
How is this in any way more beautiful than the three
examples shown above? The famed ‘jaali’ wouldn’t even be in public eye had it
not been on IIM Ahmedabad’s logo. Ahmedabad surely is the business capital of
Gujarat, but it simply cannot be the cultural capital. It was founded as a
garrison town by an invader tyrant and this mosque itself is the sign of a
dying dynasty, having being built by one of its generals in the last year of
the sultanate’s existence.
Mr Modi, by promoting this monument as your pride, you will
promote a dynasty (better known as Muzzafarid dynasty) which had murderers from Ahmed Shah to Mehmud
Begada ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat_Sultanate
) who were no less a disaster for this country and its people than the Delhi
Sultanate, Deccan Sultanates or the Mughals, and who spared no efforts to wipe
out anything resembling beauty or culture from the land they had usurped.
For
example:-
One can only imagine what grand structure it must have been.
But like any politically incorrect
structure, it lies as a silent symbol of what this country has faced for eight
centuries which has been carefully whitewashed by secularism.
If we don’t respect our culture, then who will?
And the irony is that the mosques built from the material of
the destroyed temples are hailed as the hallmark of ‘composite culture’.
How long will the BJP keep on antagonizing its core voters,
and why have you joined that bandwagon,
Mr Modi? If we show neglect and disdain for our culture and heritage,
then those ancient monuments are nothing more than ruins where fools carve
“Raju loves Tina” kind of heart and arrow shaped masterpieces on their walls.
Maybe after your guide role play in Siddi Sayyed mosque,
your next stop with Mr Abe will be Sabarmati ashram where you will have a
couple of hundred pics of you together with charkha (Just like you did with Mr
Xinping, for which he gave a non violent reply in Doklam. What a masterstroke
by you, indeed) to drive home the message that we are peaceful, please love us,
we are very non violent and we tolerate every kind of treason and perversion
under the sun, that we never attack anyone and we turn the other cheek when
slapped.
This attitude is not very different than the curtailing of
the history of the brave people in this country to a single page in some stupid
school history book, of denial that anything was ever great in this country
before the copy paste constitution was made, of giving silent approval that it
was central asian hordes and Europeans who brought culture into this country.
And that wont win you any new fans Mr Modi. That will cause
you infact to lose your existing ones. Dont flush their goodwill in some Swacch
Bharat toilet.
