Hindu India's Cock-And- Bull Stories

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 5 June 2023 Recently, I read two news items: SC stays Allahabad HC order to determine 'Manglik' status of rape victim (Rediff news) and ISRO chief S Somnath believes that Vedas birthed modern science which reached Europe via Arab Peninsula! What a primitive country! Let me quote the opening paras of my article, “When Tenzing And Hillary Defied Astrology" (May 26, 2017, TOI, Speaking Tree): “There’s a very inspiring anecdote in ‘The Tiger of the Snows’, the autobiography of Tenzing with James Ramsey Ullman, 1955. Before the Everest expedition, Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand's Edmund Hillary went to meet the head priest of the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu for an astrological consultation. They went there just for a lark. The head priest read their palms and categorically told them that neither of them would surmount Sagarmatha (Nepali word for the Everest) and he further 'predicted' that one of them would die during the gruelling expedition. The duo didn't pay heed to the seer's 'prediction' and went on to become the first men to stand atop the world's highest mountain on May 29, 1953. When young Zahiruddin Babar was getting ready for the first Battle of Panipat in 1526, his Nujoomi -- Arabic for a soothsayer -- warned him that he would lose the battle and might even die. Babar won that decisive battle to establish the Mughal Empire on the sub-continent that continued with all its glory till 1857, when Bahadur Shah Zafar was defeated by the English and banished to Rangoon in Burma." When Ahmad Shah Abdali massacred Marathas in the 3rd Battle of Panipat in 1761, Abdali's General Mubarak Durrani observed that Marathas were busy in checking the 'auspicious' date to launch an attack on Abdali's army. They had a retinue of 11 (an auspicious number in Hinduism!) famous Brahmin astrologers from Poona and Kolhapur. Marathas would consult these pot-bellied astrologers before doing anything. Before they could decide an auspicious day and date, Abdali's army simply decimated the Marathas! Ye Sochte Hi Rahe Aur Bahaar Khatm Hui/ Kahan Chaman Mein Aashiyaan Bane, Kahaan Na Bane (Spring arrived and came to an end/ But we remained undecided on building an abode in the garden). Muslims are condemned for being steeped in superstitions and obscurantist practices, but Hindus are equally superstitious. A very big actor, known as Big B, tried all tricks and remedies to make his daughter-in-law Aishwarya free of Mangal Dosh as his the then superstitious friend and Chamcha Amar Singh made Bachchan family do all sorts of silly things for the removal of Manglik tag from the natal chart of Aishwarya! This is new India. Now the Sanatanis, including a space scientist, believe that Vedas contain the wisdom of the world. Why doesn't ISRO develop a rocket or missile based on the formulae mentioned in the Vedas? Alas, ancient India had the knowledge of the whole world but the marauding Muslims and Firangs invaded and took away everything. What an alibi! One feels sorry to have heard these cock and bull stories concocted by today's Hindu India. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/hindu-india-cock-bull-stories/d/129923 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism