Pariyatra Parvat or Hindu Kush range
Like an arm of Himalayan chain,
Stretching towards Arabian sea,
With vast plains on its east and west,
And lovely vales in its lap:
An edifice tall, dumb and mute,
A helpless witness through the ages,
To degeneration of simple folk to savagery.
In the millennium before Christ
Vedic Hindu and Budhist faiths
Free from the scourge of religious hate
Pervaded the terrains on its either side
When recitation of sacred hymns
With chime of bells and honk of shells
reverberated far and wide;
But half a millennium after Christ
A new faith was born on its western side
From beyond the tinkle of temple bells
And chants of hymns and honk of shells
Rose the blare of this faith:
'Kafir' it branded followers of ancient faith,
Urging its faithfuls to spread its message,
Punishing those defying acceptance,
Silencing the chants of sacred hymns,
banishing resonant temple bells,
Fanatic savagery swept the western terrain,
Thousands and thousands were then slain.
Struck by the terror some embraced this faith
Some fleeing, in terror, farther west escaped:
Where homeless wanderers life they led.
Its then that the name of this mountain
From Pariyatra Parvat to Hindu- Kush became;
Yes Hindu- Kush
Murderer of Hindus, so it means.
Came the second millennium after Christ
When brigands of plunderers and robbers
Flocked and embraced this faith,
Arson and murder as it sanctified.
Through the millennium time and again
These marauders raided eastern terrain
Looting and murdering innocents
Raping and abducting women folk,
Destroying temples, constructing mosques in their stead
Trampling statues of gods at mosques footsteps,
Invariably expressing great glee and pride,
Often did they raise towers of skulls;
Small kids in brick walls were strewn alive,
Scalps being shaved off and men fried alive;
No preacher of this faith did ever denounce
this savagery, nor any 'Fatwa'was ever decreed:
And me thought compassion was the bedrock
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - of any faith.
How very wrong, woefully wrong am I
You say terror has no creed,
But facts of history state otherwise.
My land, birth place of most tolerant creeds,
Victim of perpetual and brutal genocide,
Savagery of thisfaith does testify.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A stunning episode of history! This is the first time, I understand the meaning of the word/ name 'Hindu Kush' and its historical origin! How a group of people who once occupied the fertile plains of a mountain range and lived in love, peace and harmony were ousted by a group of callous invaders who subdued them and subjected them to endless torture and agony. When people become tolerant, it is mistaken to be weakness! This happens even now. Seeing many of the latest developments in religion and faith, we discern that compassion is never the bedrock of faith, but bigotry and fanaticism! A very illuminating write, shedding much light into one of the dark pages of History! A 10
Thanks, Valsa. Encyclopedia Britannica also refers to Hindu Kush to be meaning murderer of Hindus, that is the inference being drawn from the historical fact of religious cleansing that took place in the areas which now constitute Afghanistan which towards the close of last millennium was part of a kingdom with its capital in West Punjab [now in Pakistan] Ibn Batuta, a Morrocan traveller is stated to have referred to this mountain range as Hindu Kush for , probably, the first time.