On Sunday, as the world celebrated the birth of Prabhu Shree Ram, radical Islamists staged a series of coordinated attacks on Hindu processions in many states simply for openly and unapologetically worshipping their gods. In stark contrast, the iconic Varanda Vir Maharaj Mandir hosted Iftar and invited hundreds of Muslims to break their Ramzan fast. The old and historical Hindu temple of Dalvana village welcomed Muslims to break their fast during the ongoing holy month of Ramzan, but what they received in return for their secular ideology was religiously motivated violence against Hindus. To sum up this note, I quote Dr. Ambedkar, who said, “The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is the brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation.”
On the occasion of Ram Navami, Hindu processions in Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh witnessed heavy stone-pelting, arson, and even attempts to attack Hindu houses by radical Muslims. In fact, Islamists also ransacked a temple and desecrated idols in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. In West Bengal, a procession organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was hurled with stones near Fazir Bazar, Howrah. However, instead of taking stringent action against the stone pelters, the West Bengal police lathi-charged the devotees.
For obvious “secular” reasons, we have neither witnessed media coverage nor strict police action as expected. Even Gujarat has been witnessing a surge in Islamist violence, something unprecedented for the state, while Karnataka continues to suffer from a sorry state of affairs thanks to heightened Islamist activities. The much-vaunted Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)-being the infamous den for anti-India congregations and activities-also witnessed violent attacks on Hindu students performing Navratri Pooja, which was conveniently covered up with the vegetarian/non-vegetarian food debate.
By no means are these disturbing and deadly patterns of attacks a coincidence, but rather an attempt to normalise violence and terror against Hindus or “infidels” whom they believe are violating the sanctity of their faith. And none of these hate crimes were committed in the moment of heat. They were well planned and coordinated to traumatise Hindus on one of their biggest festivals, just like in the case of Jihadi terror attacks on shrines like Vaishnodevi and Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir post the seventh Kashmiri Hindu genocide in the 1990s. Hinduphobia has always been present in all landscapes-intellectual, social, and political, but it is now beginning to bleed us.
Earlier this year, NASA interns Pratima and Puja Roy had to endure xenophobic and bigoted reviles simply for posing in a picture with their gods, which are considered pagans in the Christian dominant state. In a recent case, Kishan Bharvad was brutally murdered for posting a video in which Lord Jesus and Mohammed claimed to be God’s son and messenger, respectively, and Shri Krishna claimed to be God himself, claiming “blasphemy”.
Most recently, Murtaza, an IIT graduate, charged at a Hindu temple, chanting the religious slogan “Allahu Akbar,” injuring two constables with a sharp-edged weapon, proving that illiteracy isn’t responsible for fundamentalism; fundamentals are. Thus, the constant obfuscation of prejudices against “non-believers”, that is, Kafir, and “idol-worshippers”, that is, Musheek, must be tackled with seriousness through school education and sensitisation efforts. The question remains: if this was considered blasphemous, isn’t this tantamount to what Muslims preach when they chant, “La illaha illalah” (there’s no God but Allah)? That too, five times a day through loudspeakers, imposing Islamic religious supremacy! While the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi insists on sheltering the persecuted minorities in our neighbouring countries through the Citizenship Amendment Act (2019), we really need to ask if India– the indigenous land of Hindus-is free from wanton religious discrimination and Islamic fundamentalism.
The real Islamophobes fear discussing Islam and making public the words of the holy book of the Quran because they fear being called illiberal. In fact, to escape this, leftists rely largely on euphemisms. They never want anyone to see the real, indiscriminate hatred towards “non-believers” and the deep-seated prejudices against “idol worshippers” because if leftists knew what these euphemisms entail, they would be ashamed and appalled. An environment that trivialises violence and normalises prejudices against Hindus must be tackled. For seven decades, the anti-Hindu genocidal stance has been cloaked and condoned under the charade of secularism, but it is high time that we introspect as a nation. Let’s get a glimpse of the book that inspired these actions of barbarian brutality on unsuspecting Hindus.
The holy book of the Quran calls for the complete destruction and annihilation of Kafirs and polytheists (40:70), with Hindus being called the worst of creatures (98:6), with Hindus forbidden from marrying (2:21), and disbelievers threatened with eternal roasting (4:56). No other deity has to be worshipped other than Allah (40:62), which is being followed faithfully and preached by Muslims everywhere since these are the commandments of their God. To reiterate, you will realise that there is no such thing as “radical Islam” if you were to read the translated version of the Quran yourself. All we see, no matter if it is the intellectual cover from non-practising and allegedly atheist Muslims to ISIS, all work in a well-orchestrated tandem, which points to why Islam is at the helm of every religious-frictional hegemony globally.
It is noteworthy that no incidents of violence against Hindu processions on Ram Navmi were recorded in UP itself. All the respective state governments must be put on notice to adopt CM Yogi Adityanath’s zero-tolerance policy toward religious violence for the cardinal reason for Adityanath’s stumping victory was the “law and order situation” of the state. It is worthy to note that once the epicentre of riots-Uttar Pradesh, has seen zero communal violence in CM Yogi’s “Uttam Pradesh”. In fact, almost 51 criminals surrendered days after CM Yogi Adityanath, fondly called “Bulldozer Baba”, came to power; what better example than this to back CM Yogi Adityanath’s UP model of governance?
Following suit is the timely and decisive action taken by MP CM Shivraj Chauhan’s government against the unfortunate religiously driven bigotry on the part of the Muslims involved. What conspicuously seems to rub them the wrong way and irate them is the rising consciousness among the Hindus, coupled with Modi 2.0 and Yogi 2.0. For the first time, Hindus feel emboldened to use democratic means to achieve emancipation and are no longer afraid to ignore the concerted attacks through the deep network of Islamic and Jihadi organisations that target Hindus. The rising Hindu consolidation can be witnessed by the prodigious support received by the movie The Kashmir Files, which surpassed Rs 250 crore at the box office.
Rabindranath Tagore once remarked, “Christianity and Islam have distinct enmity against all other religions. They are not satisfied with observing their own religions but are determined to destroy all other religions. The only way to make peace with them is to embrace their religions.”
Yuvraj Pokharna is a Surat-based educator, columnist, and social activist. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Read all the Latest Opinion News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment