RSS-backed magazine targets Ashoka: ‘He was reason for India’s decline… (but) worshipped as great’
Mahim Pratap Singh | The Indian Express |July 1, 2016
While the article recognises Ashoka’s greatness as a world leader before his conversion to Buddhism, it quickly moves past that to note that after his conversion he started over-promoting some principles related to ahimsa. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)
After Mughal Emperor Akbar, the Sangh Parivar has now raised questions about the legacy of Emperor Ashoka. A publication backed by the RSS has claimed that Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism and his promotion of ahimsa opened India’s borders to foreign invaders.
It has also accused followers of Buddhism under Ashoka of having played a seditious role by assisting Greek invaders thinking they would destroy “Vedic religion” and pave the way for dominance of Buddhism.
The article was published in the May issue of the mouthpiece of the Rajasthan Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad.
The RVKP is affiliated to the Sangh Parivar as a part of the RSS’s tribal wing, the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which is headquartered in Chhattisgarh.
While the article recognises Ashoka’s greatness as a world leader before his conversion to Buddhism, it quickly moves past that to note that after his conversion he started over-promoting some principles related to ahimsa.
“It was India’s misfortune that the same Emperor Ashoka, who became the reason for India’s decline…we worshiped him as great…It would have been better if, like Bhagwan Buddha, Emperor Ashoka too, would give up his kingdom, become a monk and promote Buddhism…(then) India would not have had to face such a mountain of hardship,” noted the article published in the magazine, Bappa Raval.
It further added that “instead, he (Ashoka) turned the entire empire into a giant monastery for promoting Buddhism. It was because of the Buddhist leaders of Magadha that Greek invaders returned to conquer India…Buddhist monks propagated seditious, senseless, anti-India ideas among their disciples that Buddhism did not believe in caste or nation. Whenever foreign invaders sympathetic to Buddhism attacked India, these Buddhists colluded with them, instead of fighting them bravely.”
The article is part of “Bharat: Kal, Aaj, Aur Kal (Bharat: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow)”, a series of essays on India’s history that is featured regularly in the magazine. RVKP office bearer and magazine editor Dr. Radhika Ladha, who authored the article, said she did not mean to accuse Buddhists or Emperor Ashoka of anything.
“All I wanted to say was that although our ancestors were great luminaries, our country has had to face so much due to certain small mistakes on their part. I never called Buddhists seditious…it was only meant to convey their poor understanding during that period,” Ladha told The Indian Express.
“My perspective was that we should learn from our mistakes and lead the country on to a path of prosperity and development,” she added.
The RVKP, established in 1978, works with six Scheduled Tribes in Rajasthan across 3000 tribal villages. It operates residential schools, hospitals and sports training centres in scheduled areas.
Emperor Asoka's Mauryan empire was at it height during his reign.
It did not ended until fifty years after his death. The last emperor of the Mauryan empire was assassinated by his Brahmin general who founded the Shunga dynasty.
It was the after the fall of the Mauryan empire that Indo-Greeks invaded India. It could be as easily been said that a Brahminic dynasty allowed the foreign invasion into the sub continent!
One of the famous Indo-greek King was King Menander, or King Milinda and Nagasena's fame.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Maurya_Empire
Anyway,Emperor Asoka was no fool, although embracing Buddhism, he knew his statecraft, he wisely kept a huge standing army. His successors are not so capable though.
Thus the accusation is unwarranted, and by insinuation on Buddhism is unwarranted also.
this article is quite nonsensical lol
India as the monolithic country we know today have never really existed until independence from the British Raj.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers_in_India
As a sub continent, it is actually a amalgam of different nations. India has officially 23 languages including English. Unlike China, which was unified as a single country with one official written and official spoken language very early on.
Ancient Indian sub continent was somewhat shielded by the Hindu Kush. The earliest invaders were supposedly the Aryans of the Vedic culture. Then the most famous is Alexander the Great.
The largest extant of the Chinese empire was during the Tang dynasty. Just imagine the famous Tang poet Li Bai was born in Chinese ruled Kyrgyzstan.
However, China was also fragmented and reunified couple of times.
Even the today the Indian continent has three nations, namely: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Then, there is Sri Lanka and Maldives as part of South Asia.
And perhaps the writer has forgotten about Khalistan Liberation Force, a Sikh Independence movement not long ago?! Or that the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in the aftermath of Amritsar Golden Temple?!
Anyway, "India" and "Hindu" is also of foreign coinage too!
http://www.shraddhananda.com/Meaning_and_Origin_Of_The_Word_Hindu.html