 |
| Image from News18 |
They graduated from wayside
lynching to the bulldozer. It was also a shift from crimes committed by
apparent rogues to acts of state terrorism. The shift was rather quick. And the
progress isn’t going to stop with the bulldozer. Agnipath is the next step.
None of these
is meant for the resolution of any conflict. They are all convenient and
effective tools wielded by certain leaders to gain political mileage. The
bulldozer is used apparently for targeting lawbreakers. The lynchers also
claimed that they were targeting lawbreakers. What the Agniveers, when released
countrywide after the stipulated four years, will do is anybody’s guess and
this post will articulate that guess in a little while.
The targets
of lynching and the bulldozer have mostly been Muslims. Muslims are perceived
as the ultimate enemies of proposed Hindu Rashtra. The Hindu vengeance against
Muslims has been accruing for centuries. The Hindu battle cry is against Babur
and Aurangzeb as much as it is against a plebian Pehlu Khan or a Mazlum Ansari
on the street today. The vindictive feelings are deep-rooted. And its
sustaining force lies in a mythical period, the Treta Yuga.
The vengeance
won’t stop with lynching and bulldozing, of course. As said earlier, these are
only convenient tools for achieving a larger political goal. Mosques will be
brought down, one by one, one by one. With rapidly increasing acceleration.
Even Muslim monuments will be pulled down. In 2017, soon after Adityanath
became the Chief Minister of UP, the Taj Mahal was removed from the state’s
tourist brochures. Now they want to bring down the world-famous mausoleum
altogether claiming that it was a Hindu temple, Tejo Mahalaya. Adityanath is
being celebrated in YouTube as the Bulldozer Baba. The bulldozer is acquiring
divine proportions.
If you think
it’s only the Muslims who are being targeted, you are deluded. Christians
are also enemies of the Hindu Rashtra. When Narendra Modi became the
country’s Prime Minister, Christian churches and institutions were attacked in
many places. In 2014-2016, about 250 Christian places of worship were
vandalised, according to official statistics. The Evangelical Fellowship of
India and All India Christian Council enumerated 147 assaults on priests in
2014, 177 in 2015, 441 in 2016, and 410 in 2017. [Statistics from Christophe
Jaffrelot’s book, Modi’s India] There have been numerous other
assaults too many of which are not even recorded.
No less a
personality than Julio Ribeiro, former Police Commissioner of Mumbai and a man
of great repute and integrity, said, “I, for one, am preparing for the Hindu
Rashtra…. I should be prepared for second class citizenship that denies jobs
(to non-Hindus). What I will not accept is being falsely accused of being
antinational and pilloried on that count.” Every non-Hindu can be prepared just
for that: being accused of sedition and lynched or bulldozed or imprisoned for
that.
It is alarming to note that the BJP has infiltrated the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC) too. Something called ‘NEP Conclave’ was held in Kochi recently (19 May, to be precise). It was meant to explain the New Education Policy to the heads of all the Catholic education institutions in Kerala. The invitation was sent out by KCBC. But the “conclave” was organised by the BJP at a posh 5-star hotel. The whole exercise was meant not for explaining the NEP to anyone but for drawing the Catholics of Kerala closer to the BJP. Now the question is: Why does the BJP want to establish such close ties with the Catholics of Kerala when the BJP’s ultimate goal is to establish a Hindu Rashtra where Christians have no legitimate place? One Catholic intellectual compared this conclave to the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Are the Catholics falling prey to yet another divisive game that comes naturally to the BJP?
Not only
Muslims and Christians but Dalits too
Christopher
Jaffrelot’s book mentioned above argues that the Modi government will decimate the
Dalits too. Very many of his policies are anti-Dalit. The funds earmarked for
Dalit education in the budget have been reduced by the Modi government. The
first Modi government cut down the allocation from 16.6% to 6.5% and about 5
million Dalit students were affected adversely by this. The reservation system
was tampered with resulting in a steady decrease in the number of jobs occupied
by Dalits in the reservations framework. By bringing people with annual income
of Rs 8 lakh in the economically weaker sections, jobs were stolen from SCs/STs/OBCs.
Even in Lok Sabha representation, the BJP gives priority to the upper castes,
especially Brahmins and Rajputs. When Modi speaks about the welfare of the
Dalits and the other poor, it is only words. The deeds are just the opposite,
says Jaffrelot.
What about
the latest experiment called Agnipath? There is every chance that it is
another strategy to infiltrate the armed forces of India with RSS members. It
could also be that thousands of youth are to be prepared for doing what the
Hitler Youth did in Nazi Germany. Let us recall what Mohan Bhagwat said not
long ago that the RSS men could take on a war faster than the Indian Army
could.
PS. Inspired by Indispire Edition 414: Bulldozer as India's new
Judiciary. State-sponsored terrorism? #BulldozerIndia
It is really sad to note these negative developments. Sometimes there are inter community conflicts too. The Catholic churches in Tamil Nadu have targeted a minority community called Sourashtras. They were successful in converting hundreds of weaver lower middle class families and and set up Sourashtra Catholic Church in their areas. I for one like any other Sourashtra people was shocked to learn that this church was set up more than 30 years ago. Personally, I couldn't digest it. And npw to add fuel to the fire, they have brought out Bible in Sourashtra recently in April which was opposed by non violent agitation from our community. Sourashtras have long been known for their deference to involving in any kind of public violence. I am only of the opinion that people of different religions can coexist peacefully without trying to coerce their faith on other community people. When we understand each other, no government can easily instigate hatred and violence among people of different religions. The problem lies with the public and the politicians use it to their advantage. DnD
ReplyDeleteReligious conversion is a dicey issue. I, an atheist, find it absolutely funny that people are bothered with gods at all in spite of all the cruelties and perversions perpetrated in the names of those gods. But I understand that religion brings certain benefits to people, both psychedelic and monetary. I don’t grudge the benefits and hence I have no issues with the conversions.
DeleteWe live in a country in which a political party that enjoys brutal (literally so!) majority and in spite of that goes horse trading for politicians. Crores of rupees from the exchequer are spent to buy MLAs in various states. People’s mandates are toppled with no concern for any morality. In such a country, where millions of gods are mute spectators, why can’t people be allowed to trade in gods? My view is that religions should be allowed to sell their gods to people who need them. Put gods on sale openly just like our MLAs are on sale openly though in luxurious resorts. Set prices like: Lord Rama, one crore; Lord Jesus, Rs1000; and so on. Let people choose. It will be interesting. All this nonsense about religious conversion will stop. And who knows, I might start believing in a god, the one with the highest price.