{"id":16045,"date":"2012-03-10T14:03:08","date_gmt":"2012-03-10T14:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drishtikone.com\/?p=16045"},"modified":"2012-03-10T14:03:08","modified_gmt":"2012-03-10T14:03:08","slug":"the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Only Temple Left in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
Makeshift Asha Mayi Temple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A great deal is made by Muslims about the discrimination they face in non-Muslim majority countries, say India or US. \u00a0But none of them compares that to the complete\u00a0annihilation of others done with a vengeance in the Muslim majority countries.<\/p>\n

The stories in Bangladesh and Pakistan are very similar in that such a large percentage of the Hindus and Sikhs were reduced to almost nothing. \u00a0Afghanistan is worse. \u00a0The Taliban rule left hardly any Hindu or Sikh presence.<\/p>\n

Amitav Ghosh explains<\/a> how Kabul now has only one last temple left \u2013 even that is a makeshift one \u2013 the Asha Mayi Mandir. \u00a0True to its name, it has kept the hopes and love of the few remaining Hindus alive. \u00a0There was a time when this temple and a Sikh Gurudwara were in the Center of Kabul. \u00a0No more.<\/p>\n

For centuries, Hindus and Sikhs have been living in Afghanistan and completely integrated into the Pashtun culture. \u00a0In fact in Mahabharat, Shakuni the Uncle of Kauravas was from Gandhar. \u00a0Afghanistan was Gandhar of Mahabharat. \u00a0It is only when the hordes of barbaric Islamic warriors and plunderers came all the way to India, that the demography of this land changed for the worse. \u00a0A demography which has now culminated in complete annihilation of any other hue than a single ideological one.<\/p>\n

Sadly, when the Hindus and Sikhs left the city and that country, very few could even sell their properties. \u00a0Most had their properties either seized or people just encroached upon them. \u00a0The very same happened in Kashmir as well!<\/p>\n

If diversity of thought and ideas is the hallmark and the lifeblood of a vibrant and alive Civilization, then entry of Islam in whatever way, renders that society as a Civilizational Desert. \u00a0Afghanistan is a living example. \u00a0For most part, Pakistan and Bangladesh are much of the way there as well.<\/p>\n

In the Asha Mayi Temple, the caretakers have often had to conceal the murtis when the Taliban came in to Kabul. \u00a0The author narrates an incident which is self explanatory:<\/p>\n

One time, there was a jagaran and all the remaining members of the community were present in the temple. This attracted the notice of the Taliban who forced their way into the inner sanctum. \u201cThere were thirty of them squeezed into that little space. They looked here and there, expecting to see our murtis, but we had hidden them all. Only one nishana remained, the most important one, and it was right in front of them. But still they did not see it. The Devi had closed their eyes.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But this generation of Hindus and Sikhs \u2013 handful of them left in Kabul, won\u2019t remain for long. \u00a0Their cremation grounds have been taken over by squatters and the encroachers are just not willing to leave.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A great deal is made by Muslims about the discrimination they face in non-Muslim majority countries, say India or US. \u00a0But none of them compares that to the complete\u00a0annihilation of others done with a vengeance in the Muslim majority countries. The stories in Bangladesh and Pakistan are very similar in that such a large percentage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1517,"featured_media":16047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","category-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Only Temple Left in Afghanistan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A great deal is made by Muslims about the discrimination they face in non-Muslim majority countries, say India or US. \u00a0But none of them compares that to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Only Temple Left in Afghanistan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A great deal is made by Muslims about the discrimination they face in non-Muslim majority countries, say India or US. \u00a0But none of them compares that to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Drishtikone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-10T14:03:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Desh Kapoor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Desh Kapoor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/\",\"name\":\"The Only Temple Left in Afghanistan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-10T14:03:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-03-10T14:03:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/e24bcebf9da3425dd595b71543245311\"},\"description\":\"A great deal is made by Muslims about the discrimination they face in non-Muslim majority countries, say India or US. \u00a0But none of them compares that to\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/2012\/03\/the-only-temple-left-in-afghanistan\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Only Temple Left in Afghanistan\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/\",\"name\":\"Drishtikone\",\"description\":\"Perspective on Life and World from Hindu and Indian standpoints\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/e24bcebf9da3425dd595b71543245311\",\"name\":\"Desh Kapoor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/drishtikone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3cc132f0b1d11236e6dc28b12e598a23?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3cc132f0b1d11236e6dc28b12e598a23?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Desh Kapoor\"},\"description\":\"Making sense of the world via the perspective of Dharma and Hinduism. 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