The Moghul Saint of Insanity

Book excerpt: The Moghul Saint of Insanity depicts the life of Aurangzeb, the sixth emperor of India. His reign of tyranny tore the fabric of the Moghul Empire into shreds. Learning too late of his follies of hatred and bigotry, he prayed fervently for forgiveness on his deathbed. The gist of this book can be summed up in his last letter to one of his sons: Soul of my soul! Now I am going alone. I grieve for your helplessness. But what is the use? Every torment I have inflicted, every sin I have committed, every wrong I have done, I carry the consequence with me. Strange that I came with nothing into this world, and now am going away with this stupendous caravan of sins. Wherever I look I see only God. I have greatly sinned and I know not what torment awaits me! With fundamentalism on the rise, this book will serve as a warning for the would-be-suicide-bombers that their zeal and violence would only serve the annihilation of their own factions if they continue their practices of hate, brutality and intolerance. It also offers a learning tool for these young victims – educated by hateful mullahs and hypocrites – to glean truth out of lies and to dispel ignorance. As such, this book promotes and nurtures the gifts of compassion, learning and understanding.