Reading 10 :-Aavarana- The Veil by S.L. Bhyrappa- A Review!!

I remember, every time, I tell to my friends that I love reading history- their standard response would be- “Oh! Its such a boring subject. Dates, facts and events that relate to past, what would I do, knowing about the past events.”

And, how I wish, I could make them understand one simple thing- “It’s only our past events that shape our present and define our future.” History is all about learning from past and building our future, by avoiding events which have been committed in the past.”

But, I have always failed myself in taking them beyond dates, beyond facts to a world that is full of  interesting stories- stories that relate to us, stories that we ought to know, stories that open the hidden doors which have been neglected so often.

At the same time, it's so important that these stories are narrated the way it has happened without any re-making or hiding anything.

And this book- “Aavarana by SL Bhyrappa”, exactly attempts to reveal the truth the way it is. “History is a quest for truth”. And it reveals the truth which I have never known till now from our standard NCERT history textbooks and few others which I have read.

It was painful to read how, in the name of Islam, in the name of Allah- destruction has taken place, how inhumane acts like castration, jaziya, slave-trading, selling of women and children have taken place only because Allah is Supreme God and one who doesn’t agree to convert to Islam, is bound to face jihad because that is the way to reach heaven. Wow!! Does this even sound plausible ??

Oh! these barbaric acts mentioned in here -

“If a Muslim coughed loudly with a “khaakh” sound before spitting, the zimmi(Hindus) had to respectfully open his mouth and allow the Muslim to spit into it and swallow the spittle without showing a trace of discomfort or disgust on his face.”

What kind of victory is this? If you cut the head of person who opposes Islam, Allah would grant you a fine place in heaven. !!

I see- You create hell on earth in the name of Islam and your Allah would grant you peace in heaven. What kind of religion is this, where there is no scope of tolerance and love for humanity following other methods of attaining truth?

I was shocked for a moment when I came to know that it was the mission of Tipu Sultan to convert all non-Muslims to Islam and Islamize all non-Islamic nations. I was even more shocked because whatever I have read about Tipu till now was about his innovation skills, his brave military skills, Tipu- the tiger of Mysore and I felt so cheated when all these books have not revealed the other side of Sultan.

And, the heartbreaking narration for me, in the entire series of events , was the destruction of Kashi Vishwanath temple. It was heartbreaking because this place has been of immense significance in our life since ancient times. And its destruction by Aurangzeb and many other Muslim kings of – around 30 thousand temples and construction of mosques using the pillars and bricks of temple is something that is not acceptable. 

It was beyond my imagination, the plight, which every person has gone through during Mughal rule and their mission of destroying the temples and wiping out the entire nation of any other religion except Islam.

I got troubled reading all this but then, when I tried to relate it to present times wherein the destruction of Babri Masjid, Gyanvapi mosque case coming up- I didn’t find it apt too. I felt is the same thing being repeated, the fire of revenge, is this the solution to get back our temples?? Whether it’s the era of Mughal rule or today- riots and destruction are happening in the name of religion even today. And, it is painful too. History is being repeated, we still have not learnt to achieve communal harmony. We still are far away learning from the mistakes committed in history.

Koran and its certain principles- of talaq, polygamy, conversion to Islam during marriage, jihad, Allah is the only Supreme God – all this is completely unacceptable to me and I think even followers of Islam should be given the right to reject. It seems every rule is being forced upon. And may be- it’s the religion and its principles only that becomes an obstacle for the all round development of our Muslim sisters and brothers. And I wish- they be given the choice to move beyond Islam & Koran and look and question everything in an unbiased manner.

There is so much in this book that I find unable to pour everything in a review. It’s such a well researched, and written with an intent to show the history the way it is, rather than coloring it with false facts or hiding the facts.

I think -Bharat has seen destruction of its culture, of its knowledge, wisdom since ages by invaders. Let it be wiping off Buddhism, Jainism, ancient universities, temples, crafts and others. Let it be Mughals, Britishers, Turks or any other invader. And instead of hiding these atrocities, our textbooks should reveal these so that we all can accept our mistakes and not commit them again.

I completely agree with S.L. Bhyrappa when he says- “We are not responsible for the mistakes committed by our previous generations. However, if we equate ourselves with them and regard ourselves as their heirs, we must then be ready to also share the responsibility for their mistakes. We won’t attain maturity unless we cultivate the wisdom to discriminate which deeds of our ancestors we need to reject and which achievements we need to take inspiration from. If learning lessons from history is a mark of enlightenment, so is breaking free from it. This applies equally to every religion, caste, creed and group.

And I truly want our politicians to be directed with this intent and not be selfish motives of vote bank and communal divide.

I would read this book again and again, only to remind myself that I want to visit so many places like Hampi, Mathura, Nalanda and above all- Kashi- I don’t want to lose my longing for Kashi. I want this longing be there.

I would read it again so as to remind myself that I love reading history and there is so much more to know, so much to explore about medieval history and places existing but unknown to me. Let the exploration to new world of history begins.

A must read and re-read!

Source- Google

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Thanks much for reading!!:)