Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
The spread of Islamic radicalism has resulted in the migration of
native communities from their motherland on multiple occasions in the
past.
The departure of Parsis, or Zoroastrians, from Persia to other
areas of the world as a result of the expansion of Islam in the 7th
century AD is one such instance. We shall cover the entire history of
the Religion with reference to the infamous events of religious
persecution as we delve deeper into the exodus of Zoroastrians as a
result of Islamic invasions and their migration to India.
The Parsis are an ethnoreligious minority currently residing in the
Indian subcontinent. Following the invasion of Sassanid Iran by Arab
Muslims under the Rashidun Caliphate
in the 7th century AD, their ancestors moved to India. Parsis adhere to
Zoroastrianism, also known as Mazdayasna in its original form, one of
the world’s oldest religions.
Until the middle of the seventh century,
Persia (modern-day Iran) was a politically independent state with a
Zoroastrian majority. For about 1000 years, until the Sassanian Empire,
Zoroastrianism was the recognised official religion of the state.
