What would Akbar say?

I have been reading news from back home in disbelief at the amount of violence that one crazy preacher in Florida has caused. It seems that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have decided to go back to curfews and violence and what not. The issues in that mountainous part of the world are exceedingly complex, but this much is clear: whatever illusions anyone had of peace and prosperity and improvements that were supposed to happen... cannot quell the underlying sense of anger that seems to exist there. 

I feel sad reading about it. As a child, I remember listening to the news and wondering what these terrorists were; in Punjab, in Jammu and Kashmir, in Sri Lanka. So much violence. They used to rattle out how many paramilitary forces and militants were killed on a daily basis. I don't think it ever dawned on me that these were people... they were just forgettable numbers to me. They were these odd beings, these terrorist creatures... they died a lot. 

Also as a child, I remember hearing about Fatehpur Sikri in history class. It is probably one of my regrets in life to not pay enough attention to the history of India and the world in class. I think I spent more time counting the number of times that teacher said the words 'Now see...' than anything else. Sad as it is, there are things I should have learned then. I guess its never too late to learn. At Fatehpur Sikri, there lies a gate called the Buland Darwaza, this giant gate that keeps the mosque on the other side of the gate. The city was built by emperor Akbar. He (we assume it was him) thought it right to put the following quote (in Persian) on his gate:

"Jesus, Son of Mary (on whom be peace) said: 'The world is a Bridge, pass over it, but build no houses upon it. He who hopes for a day, may hope for eternity; but the World endures but an hour. Spend it in prayer for the rest is unseen.'"

That an emperor of a powerful Islamic empire saw it fit to put a quote attributed to the Christian son of god (and prophet to Islam, peace be upon him) speaks volumes to me of what Islam in the subcontinent is about. It may have come (at least in the North) by the sword, but it stayed and became our own. I am sure that the many millions who celebrated Eid ul-Fitr in the subcontinent did so with their non-Muslim brethren in peace. 

I realise that my hope for peace probably makes no difference, but here's my plea to all sides and crazies out there. If the great emperor Akbar saw it fit to quote Jesus Christ on his grand door to his mosque in Persian no less, surely, in the 21st century, we can try and live in peace? When the average person outside of India thinks of India, they probably think of the Taj Mahal... something built by an Indian emperor as a tribute to his wife whom he dearly loved. Oh he was a Muslim too. But so what? Is the Taj Mahal any less Indian because of that? I am guessing not. So how is it that we can so easily throw stones and fire bullets at one another in the name of religion because some preacher half a world away talked about buring the holy Koran? How is it that we can so easily separate ourselves into various buckets; Muslims, Hindus, terrorists, nationalists? There has got to be a better way. 

If we managed to get freedom from the British (and carve what was then India into 3)... why can't we all just live in peace, play cricket, build the next google and generally have a good time?