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When Muslim, Sikh and Hindu soldiers fought together (WWII)

EjazR

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FEATURE-"Untold" story of WW2 stirs Muslim youth pride | Reuters

By William Maclean

BIRMINGHAM, England, July 3 (Reuters) - Taunted by racists as a "****" and "terrorist", Haroon bin Khaled spent his teenaged years feeling rejected by mainstream Britain and increasingly drawn to al Qaeda extremism.

But the young Muslim of Pakistani descent found an unexpected answer to his alienation the day he heard the story of how Muslim soldiers, many from what is now Pakistan, fought and died alongside Britons against the Nazis in World War Two.

Almost at a stroke, the jobless young man with an unpromising future felt a sense of belonging. As he examined the facts, he began to shed his belief Britain despised him or that fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan was a worthwhile idea.

"Truthfully, it touched me," said the former gang member, now 21 and with a prison stretch for fraud behind him.

"If that could be shown to other youths it could make a big difference."

That "difference" could be better community relations, hurt in the years after the Sept.11, 2001 attacks on the United States and especially after four young British Islamists carried out suicide bombings in London in July 2005, killing 52 people.

It could also help security by dissuading Muslim men from joining the Taliban war against Western forces in Afghanistan, or from taking part in attacks at home such as the London bombings or attacks in Madrid in 2004 that killed 191 people.



"WE USED TO ADMIRE THE TALIBAN"

Bin Khaled is one of dozens of youths of Pakistani descent in the industrial second city of Birmingham to have attended a workshop by academic Jahan Mahmood that uses the Muslim role in the war to wean young men away from extremism and alienation.

Jahan says his presentation is intended to counter the notion of perennial confrontation between Christians and Muslims that al Qaeda seeks to present as an immutable fact of history.

Another attendee was Sabeel Saddique, 19, who used to watch videos of al Qaeda beheadings on his mobile phone for kicks and still feels Britain does not fully accept him.

"I've always thought that we were on our own," the burly former gang member said in an interview in the largely immigrant Sparkbrook district, a drab district renowned for drug dealing.

"We used to think, 'Taliban - yeah!' We admired them, we just wanted to be like them because everyone was always on about 'Muslims are terrorists' and it just used to make us angry."

Saddique said when New York's World Trade Center was attacked "we all thought it was cool ... But now I see it in a different way. That's all just wrong. It's killing innocents."

He still opposes Western armed action in Muslim countries. But he says his sense of belonging to Britain and his distaste for al Qaeda is real and stems from Jahan's lecture, which showed "what our grandparents have done for the country".

He just wishes white Britons knew that history as well.

"We are part of this country no matter what, because we did fight. You just don't feel like it, because the people don't know about it, and they don't treat us like we're part of it," he added.

Bash Arat Najib, a youth counsellor in the nearby town of West Bromwich, said Jahan's workshop got a "very, very positive" reaction among the alienated young men he works with, many of whom are of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin. Many often ask why they weren't taught this information about the war at school.

"The vision they had from school was Germany on one side, Britain on the other, and the Americans coming in at the end," he said.

"They have no affinity with Britain though they may be born here. But the soldiers' story gives them a sense of belonging. It gives the missing ingredient of affection for the country."

The workshop tells how soldiers volunteered in the army of Britain's then Indian colony and fought in north Africa and Italy.

India's army grew from 200,000 in 1939 to 2.5 million in 1945, with Muslims making up about a third of the numbers at any one time. Most Muslim recruits came from what is now Pakistan.



"A SENSE OF PRIDE"

In all, 87,000 Indian army soldiers were killed in the war, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Jahan's study, which focuses on 5,500 Indian army deaths in Italy, fascinates its audiences because it breaks down Muslim casualties according to recruitment areas within British India, and then traces links between today's British Pakistani communities and the areas where recruitment took place.

Young Muslims specially identify with Jahan's finding that of the 122 deaths of soldiers under 18 in Italy, 90 were Muslim. Among them were three 15-year-olds -- Amir Khan, from Attock, Gulab Khan, from Rawalpindi, and Mian Khan, from Kohat.

In a lecture at Oxford University in April, Jahan spoke of a "a pressing need to restore a sense of identity and self esteem for young British Muslims today".

"If more was known about the contribution of so many Muslim soldiers of the British Indian Army, it would help to restore a sense of pride, cement the social bonds of different communities in British society, and turn the idea of a shared heritage into a meaningful weapon against prejudice," he said.

The workshop was funded by a state programme called "Positive Futures" which supports local initiatives to help disengaged and vulnerable young people.
 
The same Sikhs and Hindus slaughtered Muslims during migration of 1947. The same Hindus slaughtered Sikhs in Golden Temple. The same Sikhs killed the PM of India. And Muslims (Pakistanis) are enemies of Indians.

This is near past, WWII is older past, new thing is that they are each others enemies.

KIT Over n Out.:cheers:
 
The same Sikhs and Hindus slaughtered Muslims during migration of 1947.

Why do you forget ...Same Muslims Killed Hindus and Sikhs in 1947...

Muslim league declared August 16th 1946 to be observed as Direct Action Day, where all muslims were asked to show the support for Pakistan by rioting. Explaining the implications of Direct Action Day threat, Liaqat Ali Khan, general secretary of Muslim league said "Direct action means resort to non-constitutional methods that can take any form which many suit the conditions under which we live. We cannot eliminate any methods. Direct Action means any action against the law." Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar spoke in more forthright terms: "Pakistan can be achieved through shedding blood of others. Muslims are no believers in ahimsa.
The decree of violence and jingoism was enthusiastically embraced by the Muslim masses. The Muslim league created a private army called Muslim National Guards. Arms were being secretely amassed, petrol stored and lethel weapons laid in. Muslim league volunteers were especially trained in the skills of stabbing and fire-raising. Simultaneously, a chorus of hate and inflammatory exhortation flowed from the League pulpiteers and newspapers.
 
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Why do you forget ...Same Muslims Killed Hindus and Sikhs in 1947...

Muslim league declared August 16th 1946 to be observed as Direct Action Day, where all muslims were asked to show the support for Pakistan by rioting. Explaining the implications of Direct Action Day threat, Liaqat Ali Khan, general secretary of Muslim league said "Direct action means resort to non-constitutional methods that can take any form which many suit the conditions under which we live. We cannot eliminate any methods. Direct Action means any action against the law." Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar spoke in more forthright terms: "Pakistan can be achieved through shedding blood of others. Muslims are no believers in ahimsa.
The decree of violence and jingoism was enthusiastically embraced by the Muslim masses. The Muslim league created a private army called Muslim National Guards. Arms were being secretely amassed, petrol stored and lethel weapons laid in. Muslim league volunteers were especially trained in the skills of stabbing and fire-raising. Simultaneously, a chorus of hate and inflammatory exhortation flowed from the League pulpiteers and newspapers.

sikhs and hindu started and in some areas muslims did this too, but not at that large scale as the hindus and sikhs did it
 
@Coolyo regardless of wether these soldiers were fighting under the British crown, they were fighting for freedom and against the unjust and oppressive regimens of the then Germany and Italy.

And in the war of Independance of 1857, it was the caste Hindus from UP and Bengal who took part as well alongwith the Muslims of that region, who all acknowldged Bahadur Shah Zafar (a Mughal) as their King! The Hindu Brahmin - Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi fought under the suzeranity of this very "muslim" king.

Infact it was the soldiers from the present day Punjab(Muslims, sikhs and Hindus), NWFP and Balochistan who were brought in to quell the uprising. Punjab province was rewarded for being loyal to the British with a huge network of canals for irrigation and a larger recruitment into the Army (i.e. the martial race theory)

The fact that they fought together demolishes the myth that religion can only divide people. The real fact is that there are many more things in history that unites the people of the subcontinent than divides them. But in the present day and age, one needs to get out of their comfort zone to do that. This applies to all parties.

And Muslims (Pakistanis) are enemies of Indians.

This is near past, WWII is older past, new thing is that they are each others enemies.

Are all Pakistanis muslims? What about the Hindu and Sikh Pakistanis? And ofcourse there are 150-160 million Indian muslims.
 
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Are all Pakistanis muslims? What about the Hindu and Sikh Pakistanis? And ofcourse there are 150-160 million Indian muslims.

Hindu and Sikh Pakistanis make less than 2% of Pakistan's population and Muslim Indians make only 13.5% of India's population. The vast majority of Pakistanis are Muslims and the vast majority of Indians are Hindus.

I've noticed in this forum, you're always trying to bring Pakistanis and Indians as one, give it up dude the last thing we Pakistanis want to be is Indians.

Take your Akhand Bharat garbage somewhere else.
 
Hindu and Sikh Pakistanis make less than 2% of Pakistan's population and Muslim Indians make only 13.5% of India's population. The vast majority of Pakistanis are Muslims and the vast majority of Indians are Hindus.

I've noticed in this forum, you're always trying to bring Pakistanis and Indians as one, give it up dude the last thing we Pakistanis want to be is Indians.

Take your Akhand Bharat garbage somewhere else.

I have read the Akhand Bharat Crap only in Posts made by Pakistnai friends....No Indian talks about Akhand bharat....... until and unless he is a fanatic.....
 
I have read the Akhand Bharat Crap only in Posts made by Pakistnai friends....No Indian talks about Akhand bharat....... until and unless he is a fanatic.....

And Pakistanis reject Akhand Bharat and we strongly believe in the TWO NATION THEORY so respect our Ideology.
 
And Pakistanis reject Akhand Bharat and we strongly believe in the TWO NATION THEORY so respect our Ideology.

The two nation theory was supported by Late M.A.Jinnah...and Akhand Bharat was supported by Sardar Patel and to some extent Mahatma Gandhi (Though he was not a hardliner)...in 1946 and 1947....

No one even bothers about this theory in todays scenario(May be some fanatics) .....so you can enjoy your theory and live your life dividing countries and world based on religion...
 
^
The Two-Nation Theory was the basis for the Partition of India in 1947. It stated that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations by every definition, and therefore Muslims should have an autonomous homeland in the Muslim majority areas of British India for the safeguard of their political, cultural, and social rights, within or without a United India. The Two nation theory is now called The Ideology of Pakistan.

Two-Nation Theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


SO RESPECT OUR IDEOLOGY!
 
^
The Two-Nation Theory was the basis for the Partition of India in 1947. It stated that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations by every definition, and therefore Muslims should have an autonomous homeland in the Muslim majority areas of British India for the safeguard of their political, cultural, and social rights, within or without a United India. The Two nation theory is now called The Ideology of Pakistan.

Two-Nation Theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


SO RESPECT OUR IDEOLOGY!

So....you have the land....and you have it for Past 6 Decades......go on enjoy it......

Who is stopping you from doing that.......:hitwall:
 
I have read the Akhand Bharat Crap only in Posts made by Pakistnai friends....No Indian talks about Akhand bharat....... until and unless he is a fanatic.....

Indian and Pakistanis should learn to respect each other ,we should learn mistakes of past, still many hindu visit Ajmeer Sareef, all religions teaches us brotherhood, this the key of success.
 

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