“There seems to be a definite pattern, if not a well-planned design, to weaken and dent the minority community to such an extent that they don’t react or even raise their voice.”
Humra QuraishiThe communally surcharged atmosphere has only worsened, with shots and visuals depicting Hindutva mobs attacking Muslim properties, chanting provocative slogans in front of mosques, and raising saffron flags atop mosques and churches. To compound this frightful situation, the blatantly communal comments of right-wing politicians stand out. Seemingly, no action is taken against any of them, as they are part of the ruling brigade aiming to instill fear in the minority community.
The situation can be termed alarming, given that though communal unleashing by Hindutva mobs was witnessed and reported in several locales of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Bihar, there has been not a word of condemnation from any ruling politician. Why?
As these Hindutva brigades seem to grow in size, dimension, and outreach, and also in their brazen unleashing, one wants to know: Who is funding their upkeep? Which Hindutva outfits are recruiting these youngsters and training them to attack and kill? Who are the young men in these outfits? Why are these outfits not termed terror brigades, as they go about terrorising and assaulting the minority community to such an extent that last week, many Muslim families did not step out of their homes and also postponed, if not canceled, long and short commutes.
Looming large is the big question in the backdrop of the larger picture – in this atmosphere where hate and violence are getting whipped up to such an extent that Muslims in North India are sitting all too apprehensive and fearful, what lies ahead? The dismal fact is that most Muslims have accepted their second-class status, as right-wing terrorising tactics seem to be mounting. Many Muslims can be heard mumbling, “Ab unki sarkar hai…woh jo chahein karva saktai hain…kya karein!” (It’s their government; they can do anything…what else!)
Yes, Muslims are not just feeling utterly dejected but also as though doomed, very worried about their future survival as discriminations and destruction mount. There seems to be a definite pattern, if not a well-planned design, to weaken and dent the minority community to such an extent that they don’t react or even raise their voice. Subdued, they survive as second or third-class citizens, if their very citizenship is not snatched away by any of the new rulings of this government!
Of course, 1992 has been the turning point in the recent history of the country, when LK Advani’s Rath Yatra paved the seeds of divisions and utter anarchy all across the northern states of the country. The last ten years, from 2014 when the right-wing government came center stage, have only brought along grim facts of rising unemployment, poverty, crime, and malnutrition deaths.
SURANYA AIYAR WENT ON A THREE-DAY FAST
Last weekend, diplomat-politician Mani Shankar Aiyar’s eldest daughter, Suranya, went on a three-day fast, accompanied by a detailed statement.
Due to space constraints, quoting only partially: “With the forthcoming event in Ayodhya on January 22, the atmosphere here in Delhi, already famous for being polluted in a material sense, has thickened to a spiritually poisonous and unbreathable concentrate of Hindu chauvinism, malice, and bullying. I am deeply anguished by all this as an Indian and as a Hindu. After thinking hard about what I can do, I have decided to go on a fast, starting Saturday the 20th and ending on Tuesday the 23rd, a day after the January 22nd production at Ayodhya… I am doing this first and foremost as an expression of my love and sorrow to my Muslim fellow citizens of India. I cannot let this moment pass without saying as loud as I can to my Muslim brothers and sisters that I love you and that I condemn and repudiate what is being done in the name of Hinduism and nationalism in Ayodhya… I am also doing this as an expression of my love for my Mughal heritage. This is not only about feeling protective towards someone else. It is about my culture and my ethos…”
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Ending this week’s column with Suranya Aiyar’s verse:
“We shall cajole the sullen earth
We shall win back the lost rain clouds
Showers of love will return
Pouring down on our Beloved Nation
As of yore
The garden of friendship will flower afresh
From the winter of our despair
Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Issai
Will one day
One Sweet Day
Emerge into that lost, blooming spring
Where the gentle Sun shines equally on each once again
In this place
Which will always be
Our very own.”
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