"Qurbani" as the most loving, most precious sacrifice of an animal or even a human being, was discussed on the phone. As it happens, this "Qurbani" topic was being discussed around the 20th anniversary of when Kashmiri Hindus/Sikhs became refugees in their own homeland.

On Jan 19, 1990 morning, Hindu and Sikh families found posters on their doors asking them to leave the Kashmir Valley, leaving behind their young women, or face death, or covert to Islam. These warnings had been posted by the so-called militant Muslims.

More than 2 million families left their homes in Kashmir (of which their forebears had been the first inhabitants), moved to the south and started living in tents, become refugees in their own country. The Government of India failed to protect minority Hindus in their own native land against fanatic Muslims.

In reality, Kashmiri Muslims are 100 per cent converts from Kashmiri Hindus. Their last names are still the same as those of Hindus. Even some aristocratic Muslim families still use their last name as "Pandit."

Twenty years on, Kashmiri Hindus are still living in temporary shelters in India, in such poor conditions that Canadian Indian Reserves are much better than their Indian namesakes.

Some 400 years ago, fanatic Mughal/Muslim rulers in Delhi started forced conversions of Hindus in Kashmir. Any refusal invited slaughter. It was then that Guru Tegh Bahadur's "Qurbani" was the first rebellion against Islamization. (He was done to death/sacrificed by the Mughals in Delhi.)

The Kashmir problem is still ongoing. Terrorists and the paramilitary are ruling the Valley. The Valley, which was known as "Heaven on Earth," has become the Valley of Death. In the last 20 years, 60,000 civilians and paramilitary forces have died, most of whom have been sacrificed for no fault of theirs.

Kashmiri Hindus have become pawns in the hands of politicians of all hues. Terrorists of all stripes (Taleban, Al Qaeda, LeTor, or any other fancy names) have no value for human life. For them Allah is higher than God: using the word God instead of Allah is insulting and degrading to them, and is punishable. The Malaysian Prime Minister also thinks so. One can convert to Islam from any other religion, but one cannot reconvert to another religion. Such a case, again that of a Malaysian woman, was in the news. Otherwise, a "Fatwa" will be announced for his/her death.

Had Guru Tegh Bahadur not offered his "Qurbani", present-day northern India would have come to be known as "Mughalistan." Surprisingly, all "Sufi Muslim" intellectuals/philosophers/saints from Persia (modern-day Iran) to Punjab (including Pakistani part of Punjab) were followers of Guru Nanak, or vice versa. It is interesting that all have one "Allah" and one "Quran," but "Shia" and "Sunni" will not go to each other's Mosque. The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam has been declared non-Muslim by mainstream Muslims, who will not allow an "Ahmadi Mosque" in their neighbourhood. And all these will not visit a "Sufi Mosque," an "Agha Khani Mosque" or a "Mujahideen Mosque." There are even fatal attacks and counter-attacks amongst them.

When it comes to terrorism, not all Muslims are terrorists - but most known terrorists today are Muslims. "One Allah," "One Quran" is the same as the Hindus' "Vasudev Kutumbakam" ("World is One Family"). Another Hindu prayer is "Sarbo Sukhina Bhawantu ("Let Every Being Be Happy"). That is why several religious institutions are collecting funds for Haiti, irrespective of religion or creed. The world being one family, their suffering is everyone's suffering.

I hope one day soon terrorists will follow the dictum: One Allah/God, World is One Family. Sarbo Sukhina Bhawantu.

- Rajinder Chadha, Brampton