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You are here: Home / Archives for Dadri

Undermining Constitution – Hindu Nationalist Agenda

November 21, 2015 by Ram Puniyani

Hindutva

With Modi Sarkar coming to power in the centre (May 2014), the picture of the country has changed drastically for the worse. (1) On one hand nation is witnessing the increasing unrestricted control of Corporate on our economy and on the other the sectarian divides are on the rise. This government had come to power standing on two pillars; one was the corporate world and other the solid support of RSS. Modi promised Acche din and danga mukt bharat (violence free society). The things have been totally in the opposite direction to the promises. (2) The big corporate are shining with expansions as per their liking and labor reforms have been brought in to please them. That, the land reforms envisaged by them could not be cleared that’s another matter. The policies of the state have been so changed as to undermine the importance of the social welfare schemes and all the right based schemes related to employment, health, nutrition and education have been put on the margins.

Despite the falling prices of crude oil globally; the prices are on the rise with the prices of routines commodities like dal (pulses), onions, tomatoes; shooting the sky. The much promised employment creation is nowhere in sight and youth are writhing in the pangs promise betrayed, promise of millions of jobs. The prime goal of the ‘guardian’ state is nowhere in sight. The economic scenario is abysmal for the average person in the society.

As far as the social-communal harmony is concerned the last year and a half has seen a very poor record. The social atmosphere has been so created where the rationalists thinkers like Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi were killed brutally. (3) The low intensity; below the radar violence; has dominated the scene and issues like mosque, church in different places have been used to divide the society. Surely the large scale violence of the type of Mumbai 92-93 or Gujarat 2002 or Kandhmal 2008 have not been, but increase in scattered acts of violence have been tormenting the society. The ruling outfit and its affiliates have been the protectors of the ground level divisive activities.

Hate Speech

During the first year of Modi Sarkar the Hate speech went up to horrendous limits. One recalls that even before Modi Sarkar assumed the seat of power the divisive activities of ‘BJP associates’ in the form of propaganda of love jihad and Ghar Vapasi were on, and they continued without any respite. Soon after this Government came to power; in Pune; Mohsin Sheikh, a person working in IT was hacked to death by activists of Hindu Jagran Sena. The attack on Churches was very glaring and the process which was dominant in Delhi and Haryana was also witnessed in places like Panvel near Mumbai, Agra in UP amongst other places.(4)

Sakshi Maharaj not only said that Godse was a patriot; he also went on to say that Hindu women should produce four children, as Muslims are overtaking the population. Sadhvi Prachi went to prescribe eight children for Hindu women. She also gave a call that the Muslim film actors, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan should be boycotted. Pravin Togadia has been the leading person in making hate speeches; he has the highest number of cases regarding hate speech against him. Yogi Adityanath, BJP’s MP keeps making very derogatory remarks, He said that in ‘love jihad’ if one Hindu girl is converted then 100 Muslim girls should be converted to Hinduism.

As such one realizes that ‘Hate speech’ is the outcome of the politics of divisiveness, it is the concentrated expression of the ‘social common sense’ prevailing in the society, it is the forth right and blunt way of putting things, which communal parties propagate anyway. It is not out of the blue that these formulations suddenly crop up, their infrastructure, the base of these has already been made by a section of political outfits.

Growing Intolerance

When Dr. Dabholkar, Com Pansare and then Prof Kalburgi were killed over a period of months, the danger signals started being perceived but still it took the beef lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri (5) to give a message that something has drastically changed in the society, and the spate of returning of Sahiya Academy, National and state, awards followed in quick succession. (6) Their protest was against the rising intolerance in the society. The incidents that followed and ran parallel to these ‘award-returns’ were equally horrific. The killing of a trucker on the assumption that he is carrying cows for slaughter; beating of a MLA in Kashmir Assembly by BJP legislatures and the scattered incidents of attacks on Muslims on the ground of beef consumption are too striking. The killing of dalits while they were skinning the dead cow; rings the bell of times to come.

The viciousness of atmosphere is not lost on the social perceptions. The insecurity of minorities has gone up by leaps and bounds. One knows that since the present NDA regime came to power all those ‘spewing hate’ are working overtime. For one Akbaruddudin Owaisi there is an army of Sakshi Mahraj, Sadhvis, Yogis and what have you.

Even after the awards started being returned the BJP leadership looked down upon the writers/scholars and overlooked the phenomenon which has lead to returning of awards. Disturbed by what is going on, the President Pranab Mukherjee on number of occasions urged the nation to uphold, pluralism, the core civilizational value of the country and to uphold tolerance. (7) The Vice President Haamid Ansari reminded the Government that it is the duty of the state to uphold the ‘right to life’ of citizens. The index of the changing social atmosphere is reflected by the statements of two outstanding citizens of the country. Julio Reibero, the top cop, expressed his pain and anguish by saying that “as a Christian suddenly I feel stranger in my own country.” (8) And the renowned actor Naseeruddin Shah had to point out that “Have never been aware of my identity as a Muslim until now.”(9)

These are not ordinary times. The values of pluralism and tolerance have been pushed to the margins. With this Government in power all the wings of communal politics, the RSS affiliates, have unleashed themselves in full blast. Communalism is not just the number of deaths due to violence, it is much more. The foundation of this violence begins with the manufacture of perceptions about the religious minorities. These perceptions based on history and some selective aspects of present society are given an anti human tilt and interpretation. This is used to create hatred for the minorities and that’s where the communal elements can unleash violence either as a massive violence like the one’s of Gujarat or Mumbai or Bhagalpur or Muzzafarnagar or the targeted one in Dadri. This creates the divides in society which over a period of time is converted into polarization. And polarization is the foundation of electoral strength of party wanting a nation in the name of religion. As per Yale study, the communal violence is the vehicle which strengthens BJP at electoral level. (10)

Qualitative change in Hate Politics

Many prominent entrepreneurs like Narayan Murthi and Kiran Majumdar Shaw have shown their concern over growing intolerance. In the same boat of those calling for preserving values of pluralism are people like Raghuram Rajan, the RBI Governor. (11) The ruling dispensation, the BJP leaders labeled the whole process as ‘manufactured rebellion’ as put by Arun Jaitley. It has been alleged that those returning awards are the leftists or those who were recipients of privileges from the state when Congress was the ruling party and now with BJP coming to power from last one year, they are baffled and so the protests. It has been alleged that these people are trying to derail the ‘development story’ being written by the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi. Jaitley even goes to say that Narendra Modi is the victim of intolerance by these people returning their awards. (12)

Why the Awards were returned?

As such what has happened is neither a law and order problem nor the one related to loss of patronage; it is related to the much broader phenomenon related to intense communalization of society. This time the degree of communalization has crossed the civil limits. The jibe that these people did not return their awards at the time of emergency, anti Sikh violence, migration of Kashmiri Pundits and at the time of Mumbai blasts of 1993 is a very superficial way of dealing with the social response to the phenomenon of growing intolerance and its degree. As the awards which have been returned and the statements put out by different groups do give the reasons for the same and these reasons pertains to the cumulative process and not this or that event. The present scenario is in a way a type of climax of divisive politics. All these incidents mentioned by Jaitley and company have been a tragic part of recent Indian history. Many a writers did protest against most of these incidents, many of them had not even been awarded at that time. (13)

The present times cannot be compared with the tragic incidents of the past for various reasons. Take the case of emergency for example. It was a dark chapter of Indian history, still it was the authoritarianism imposed mostly from the top. What is most disturbing in the current times is the vast network of organizations related to the ruling party whose followers either they themselves create hatred in the society or they mobilize the social sectors through hate speech; the result of which is violence. Currently there is a twin attack on the values of tolerance and liberal space. From the top the ruling dispensation has people like Yogi Adiyanath- Sakshi Maharaj, Giriraj Singh, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti who keep spreading sectarian message while basking in the glory of power and at the societal level divisive statements prevail.

This is just one case in point. The major factor leading to present atmosphere lies in the qualitative transformation of ‘hate for others’. The stereotyping of minorities which began with Hindu nationalism has assumed horrendous proportions where the likes of Gulzar have to say that now people ask your religion before your name! So while the Jaitleys will keep undermining the steps taken by these people and while the Rajnath Singhs’ will keep dubbing it as a law and order problem, the dissatisfaction amongst those standing for democracy is growing, liberal space and tolerance is shrinking. We will have to keep thinking of more ways to draw the attention of larger sections of society towards the threat looming large on our democratic society, the threat of sectarian propaganda and politics leading to stifling of democratic space. And in these times, the divisive process has assumed menacing proportions.

State Institutions

The major initiative of this government has been to change the heads and composition at the top level of public institutions. Since its assuming power it went for major appointments in the institutions of National importance. Most of these appointments are based on the ideological proclivities of the people rather than their professional competence. In Film and Television Institute of India the appointment of Gajendra Singh Chauhan as the Chairman came up with big opposition from the students of the institutes and also forms the major figures of the film World. (14) The governing board of this and other institutes are being filled with RSS sympathizers. The tampering in other institutes like IITs has led to the resignation of Anil Kakodkar as the chairman of Governing board of IIT Mumbai and of Prof Shevgaokar from the directorship of IIT Delhi. Prof Amartya Sen had to resign from the Chancellorship of Nalanda University. The NBT has also got a Hindutva ideologue, former Panchjanya editor Baldev Sharma as its chief. In the case of ICHR one Prof Y.S. Rao has been appointed as the chairperson. He has no peer reviewed publications and has contributed blogs in the name of History research. He holds that Indian mythology is History and attempts have begun to support research in that direction. As per him the caste system was not bad, its rigidities and evils were introduced after the coming of Muslim kings. Zafar Sareshwala, a businessman close to Narendra Modi, has been given the Chancellorship of Maulana Azad Urdu University in Hydrabad.

Education

Even before this government has come to power many attempts to make the education in confiormity with the RSS, Hindutva world view were being pushed through. In Delhi University A. K. Ramanujan’s classic essay on Ramayana (Three Hundred Ramayanas) was withdrawn under the pressure of ABVP, the RSS affiliate. (15) Dinanath Batra of RSS had been instrumental in getting the academic book by Wendy Doniger ‘The Hindus: An Alternative History’ getting pulped. (16) Batra’s books have already been introduced in the schools of Gujarat. RSS has floated Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti to promote its views through school books. These ideologues from RSS are the major advisors for reviewing curriculum in the states. Rational thinking has been opposed, as exhibited by the murders of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi. RSS affiliated organizations like Vidya Bharati are focusing on Bhartiyakaran of education. They assert that Indian education is not suitable for India and propose to bring in changes aimed to promote Hindutva icons and values. They are trying to appropriate Ambedkar through their efforts. (17)

In the previous NDA regime (1998), the major changes were brought in the field of education which brought in Astrology, Paurohitya and Karmakand as part of the courses. Sanskrit is being introduced at different levels to the extent of replacing German as an additional language at places. This time around RSS seems to be preparing for a total Hindutvisation of education, the samples of which were there in the previous NDA regime with Murli Manohar Joshi doing what came to be known as saffronization of education. (18)

Agenda: Hindu Nationalism

RSS is working for Hindu nationalism, a nationalism which stands in polar opposition to Indian nationalism, as inherent in the values of freedom movement and later in the Constitution of India, the values of Liberty; Equality and Fraternity. The goal of India as ‘a nation in the making’, the plural diverse nation with multiple cultures supplementing each other and enriching the society is opposed by for this organization. They have adopted Hindutva as their politics and Hindu nation as their goal. As per them we have been a Hindu nation from times immemorial and the wisdom of ancient Indian society has all the ingredients for the growth of the nation. This political agenda regards secularism and democracy as the Western concepts which should be done away with. It is in pursuance of this agenda that it kept aloof from freedom movement. It has been propagating a view of history where Muslims and Christians are aliens, foreigners. It attributes the ills of society like caste system to the influence of invading foreigners. (19)

For them the major thing is Hindu unity at societal level. This; they have been doing through their shakha baudhiks and by floating many organizations for this purpose. These organizations like Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Bajrang Dal, Akhil Bhartiya Vidarthi Parishad are doing the propagation of this work through their work in the society. The present degree of communalization-polarization is due to the ceaseless anti minority propaganda. The issues they take are related to identity, like Ram Temple earlier and currently Holy Cow. The issues like love Jihad and Ghar Wapasi also are strong tools in their hands.

The second aspect of Hindu nationalist project has been to infiltrate in bureaucracy, police and other organizations of state. Their trained swayamsevaks join these services and influence the policies. This work as such is in progress but when BJP is in power, this type of work of RSS becomes very intense. Now with BJP having majority in the centre on its own it is moving fast to communalize the state apparatus. This has gone up in intensity in the current times.

When Lal Krishna Advani became the Information and broadcasting minister in Janata Party Government he ensured that most of the media agencies helped by state are taken over by Hindutva volunteers. Currently not only media but also culture, education and science are all being taken over. With this Government the control over institutions of national excellence is going on at a fast pace. (20)

Resistance: Struggle for Democratic Society

The rise of Hindutva politics has been going on from close to a century. This was mainly through RSS shakha baudhiks (intellectual sessions), through education and media apart from the role played by other Hindutva nationalists. This has brought us to a pass where the hate for other community is manifesting as intolerance. This has been strengthened by the use of identity issues, temple, and cow being the major ones, and the proganda related to love jihad, ghar wapasi and terrorist violence. The pyramid of communal politics stands on the ‘hate other’ and the consequent communal violence.

The efforts to save and pluralism and diversity have to be the foundation for all social groups wanting to preserve democratic space. The programmatic unity of these groups on issues related to violation of human rights of weaker section of society is need of the hour. The targeting of religious minorities has to be opposed and their sense of security has to be restored by social and legal struggles for ‘right to life’ as enshrined in our constitution. A multi-layered social platform for defense and nurturing of democratic and human rights is of utmost importance. Here the minor differences between different social political groups have to be overlooked for a broader program based unity, this effort is long overdue.

 

References

1. http://twocircles.net/2015jun18/1434651430.html#.Vk2aUl6V7IU

2. http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani080814.htm

3. http://www.newslaundry.com/2015/09/14/the-death-of-rationalism-who-killed-dabholkar-pansare-and-kalburgi/

4. http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani150515.htm

5. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/next-door-to-delhi-mob-kills-50-year-old-injures-son-over-rumours-they-ate-beef/

6. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/next-door-to-delhi-mob-kills-50-year-old-injures-son-over-rumours-they-ate-beef/

7. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/multiplicity-plural-character-of-india-must-be-preserved-president-mukherjee/

8. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/i-feel-i-am-on-a-hit-list/

9. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/talking-of-pakistan-doesnt-make-me-anti-india-naseeruddin-shah/1/499074.html

10. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/bjp-gains-in-polls-after-every-riot-says-yale-study/articleshow/45378840.cms

11. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tolerance-essential-for-progress-Raghuram-Rajan-says/articleshow/49606677.cms

12. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/is-pm-modi-the-victim-of-intolerance/1/514542.html

13. https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Anand+Patwardhan+why+I+returned+award&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=dJ5NVsWsL8GjugTSjoTQDw

14. http://peoplesvoice.in/2015/06/16/undermining-national-institutions-to-create-regimented-minds/

15. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/there-are-300-versions-of-the-ramayana-abvp/article2568550.ece

16. https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Wendy+Doniger+The+Hindus+Batra&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=259NVsXbG8XmuQTZobCYDg

17. http://www.catchnews.com/politics-news/project-bharatiyakaran-rss-8-point-guide-to-saffronise-education-1442033693.html

18. https://www.saddahaq.com/political-ideology-and-interpretation-of-history

19. http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani240713.htm

20. http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/rss-infiltration-into-state-apparatus-concerns-digvijay/754118

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: Beef, Dadri, Hindutva, RSS

Dadri lynching was premeditated, moral policing spreading fast: Minorities panel

October 22, 2015 by Nasheman

Dadri

New Delhi: The lynching of man in Dadri last month strongly appeared to be the result of “pre-meditated planning” under which people were incited using a temple, the National Minorities Commission has said.

In its report, the minority panel also described as “disturbing” the “irreponsible comments” by politicians to make “capital” out of it

In an obvious reference to statements made by Union Minister Mahesh Sharma and some other BJP leaders following the lyching of Mohammed Iqlakh over rumours of beef eating that triggered a nation-wide outrage, the NCM said it will be “quite an understatement” to say the killing was merely an “accident as has been claimed even by some persons in authority”

A three-member team of the Commission headed by its chairman Naseem Ahmad had visited Bishada village near Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and interacted with family members of the victim, the concerned authorities and locals

“The team feels that a crowd of large numbers appearing within minutes of an announcement from temple’s loudspeaker and at a time when most villagers claimed they were asleep seems to point to some pre-meditated planning

“The facts as reported to the NCM team point strongly that the whole episode was the result of a planning in which a sacred place like temple was used for exhorting people of one community to attack a hapless family,” the report said

Quoting district officials, the NCM noted that two more attempts had been made to “incite” people by spreading a rumour that a cow had been killed but police responded instantly and did not allow the situation to escalate

50-year-old Iqlakh was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son Danish was critically injured by a 200-strong mob on September 28 following rumours that the family had consumed and stored beef

In an apparent criticism of BJP leaders who made controversial comments after the incident, the NCM said such statements further “vitiate” the relations between different communities and this should be stopped at all cost or “things will go out of hand”

What is more “disturbing”, the report said, is that “responsible persons converge at the place of any such incident and make irresponsible statements that further vitiates the relations between communities”

“All the political establishments need to counsel their cadres and sympathisers to desist from making irresponsible statements and making capital out of such outrages,” it said

The malaise of moral policing was spreading fast, especially in Western UP, it said and sought vigilance and curb on the use of social media as it was being extensively used to flare up communal passions.

(PTI)

Filed Under: India, Indian Muslims Tagged With: Beef, BJP, Dadri, Mohammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Iqlakh, National Minorities Commission

Lynching, killing cannot damage Hindu culture: Mohan Bhagwat

October 22, 2015 by Nasheman

Mohan Bhagwat

Nagpur: With Dadri-like incidents triggering outrage, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said such “small episodes” cannot damage “Hindu culture” and praised the Modi government for ushering in hope and confidence in the country and enhancing India’s standing abroad.

 

In his annual Dussehra address at RSS headquarters here, Bhagwat hailed Dalit ikon B R Ambedkar for making provisions in Constitution to remove social and economic inequality faced by the weaker sections, a reference to the quota system, whose review he had recently suggested that pushed BJP on the backfoot in Bihar polls.

In his 55-minute speech, telecast live by Doordarshan for the second consecutive year, he also called for a holistic discussion on population, saying its continuous rise becomes a burden.

“Small episodes happen. They get exaggerated and presented in a big way… Small incidents keep happening but it does not distort Indian culture, Hindu culture. Since time immemorial, it respects diversity, coordinates among diversities to establish unity… This is Hindutva,” he said.

“Our country has stood as one and will stand as one. The Sangh has been doing the work of keeping the nation one on the basis of Hindutva for the last 90 years,” he said.

Bhagwat, however, refrained from making any direct reference to recent incidents of communal and caste tensions.

With several fringe Hindutva elements repeatedly demanding a curb on Muslim population, Bhagwat, without naming any community, favoured a “uniform population policy which is applicable to all”.

He deplored that no holistic discussion has taken place in the country on controlling population.

“With rise in population, the burden on the country will grow. Population growth can be an asset too. If we have more mouths to feed, we will also have more hands to work. We have to plan for 50 years hence. How to provide for the education and health of the people,” he said.

Praising the Centre, he said it had brought about hope and confidence among people that had hit rock bottom under the previous government and spoke about the pet schemes of the Modi government like Jan Dhan, Swachh Bharat and Mudra bank.

(Agencies)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: BJP, Caste, Caste System, Dadri, Dalits, Faridabad, Hindutva, Mohan Bhagwat, RSS, Vijayadashami

I do not recognise India of the present time, says writer Anita Desai

October 21, 2015 by Nasheman

Image by  Ramin Talaie/Corbis

Image by Ramin Talaie/Corbis

London: Noted novelist Anita Desai has said she will return her Sahitya Award if the Akademi does not make it clear that it is not a government body but an independent one that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent.

Her comments came after at least 34 writers, over the past weeks, handed over their Sahitya Akademi awards in the aftermath of the killing of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and Dadri lynching incident, among other issues.

“If it is not able to declare and pursue such a policy, I will be obliged, in solidarity with my fellow writers, to renounce my membership of the Akademi and the award it gave me when I was a young writer in more hopeful times,” Desai said in a statement distributed by PEN International here.

The 78-year-old author who received a Sahitya Award in 1978 for her novel “Fire on the Mountain” said she was born in an India that enshrined democracy, pluralism and the freedom of speech in its constitution.

“I do not recognise India of the present time where, under the banner of ‘Hindutva,’ intimidation and bigotry seek to silence writers, scholars and all who believe in secular and rational thought,” she said.

The author said in an atmosphere where there is no security or support for those who voice dissent, criticism or rational thought, there can be no intellectual or artistic work of any worth.

“It saddens me that the august body of the Sahitya Akademi has not been able to support and protect writers from the intimidation and violence, verbal and physical, watched publishers withdraw books, universities delete texts from syllabi, distort and manipulate history, and silently witnessed institutions like the National Book Trust, the Nehru Museum and Library, and the University of Nalanda replace distinguished scholars,” Desai said.

“At this crucial moment I appeal to the Sahitya Akademi to make clear that it does not represent any government or its policies, but is an independent body that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent, in short what the constitution of the country promised us,” she said.

Desai, who was shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize was in 2007, was elected as a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, one of the highest honour conferred by the literary body on a writer.

Recently, writers from 150 countries expressed solidarity with Indian authors and artistes who returned their prestigious awards in protest against “rising intolerance” in the country and have asked the BJP government to provide better protection and safeguard free speech.

The president of 1921 founded body PEN International had earlier in a letter to the President, the Prime Minister and the Sahitya Akedemi, urged them to take “immediate steps” to protect the rights of everyone, including writers and artists.

Desai is among many writers including noted writers Nayantar Seghal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Shashi Deshpande and Ganesh Devy who have spoken out against the rising intolerance in the country.

(PTI)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Anita Desai, Dadri, M M Kalburgi, PEN International, Sahitya Akademi Award

RSS justifies Dadri lynching, says Vedas encourage killing

October 19, 2015 by Nasheman

rss-dadri

New Delhi: Justifying the brutal lynching of 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri over false beef rumours, the RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya recently carried a cover story stating that the Vedas permit the killing of “sinners” who slaughter cows.

In the article titled ‘Is Utpat ke Us paar’, writer Tufail Chaturvedi alias Vinay Krishna Chaturvedi slammed the writers for returning their awards and stated that while they expressed their resentment over the death of Akhlaq, they completely ignored that the latter had killed a cow.

The writer deliberately hid the fact that the assailants had falsely accused Akhlaq of killing a cow and storing beef in his home. Probe and laboratory tests had proved that it was not beef.

Citing several instances of Vedas that prohibit cow slaughter, Chaturvedi expressed that ‘cow slaughter is an issue of honour for Hindus and for social harmony it is important that we respect faiths of each other.’

The article also refrained from mentioning the fact that in several instances prominent Hindu religious scriptures including Vedas and Upanishads allowed and encouraged beef consumption.

People who kill the ‘sinners’ (one who slaughter cows) will be glorified and remembered by the society, claims the article.

The article also vouches that all the Muslims, including Akhlaq, were Hindus until a few generations ago.

(Agencies)

 

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Cow Slaughter, Dadri, Mohammad Iqlakh, Panchjanya, RSS, Tufail Chaturvedi, Vedas, Vinay Krishna Chaturvedi

Growing intolerance: A letter to the president of India by creative and academic community of West Bengal

October 17, 2015 by Nasheman

pranab-mukherjee

To Sri Pranab Mukherjee

The President of India

Your Excellency,

As citizens of a democratic country, we are deeply concerned about the growing culture of murderous intolerance and the brazen assault on the fundamental right to life of those who maintain the core values of diversity, plurality and tolerance of which you yourself have recently reminded us. The targeting of innocents like the recent killing of Muhammad Akhlaq in Dadri and the series of attacks against rationalists and freethinkers including the gruesomely casual killing of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi has made us strangers in our own country. We are horrified at the callous lack of support and apathy of the state in finding and bringing the culprits to justice. The stifling atmosphere of fear and uncertainty is fatal to the freedom of expression that is at the heart of our shared lives, and it is for the restoration of this common fabric that we urge you to intervene.

On behalf of the freethinking, creative minds of India – indeed, on behalf of every citizen of India – we urge you, the guardian of the Constitution of India, to ensure that those who have infringed upon this founding document of the State with impunity, whether overtly or by silent complicity, be brought to justice. Throttling the right to free thought and expression threatens the very existence of our plural society. We demand your active intervention in protecting the basic freedom which is the right of all Indian citizens without discrimination by religion, caste, class or gender. We appeal to you to take firm and immediate steps to combat this well-planned conspiracy to endanger Indian democracy.

From the creative and academic community of West Bengal,

  • Nabaneeta Dev Sen
  • Nirendranath Chakraborty
  • Ashok Mitra
  • Shankha Ghosh
  • Alokranjan Dasgupta
  • Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
  • Pabitra Sarkar
  • Ipshita Chanda
  • Samaresh Majumder
  • Amiya Bagchi
  • Bibhash Chakraborty
  • Rudraprasad Sengupta
  • Swatilekha Sengupta
  • Bani Basu
  • Subodh Sarkar
  • Antara Dev Sen
  • Pratik Kanjilal
  • Nandana Dev Sen
  • Wasim Kapoor
  • Dipali Bhattacharya
  • Srijato
  • Sohini Sengupta
  • Emanul Haque
  • Bikashranjan Bhattacharya
  • Chitra Sen
  • Kaushik Sen
  • Reshmi Sen
  • Srikanta Acharya
  • Bijaya Mukhopadhyay
  • Sarat Mukhopadyay
  • Gargi Roychoudhury
  • Arna Sheel
  • Ujjwal Chattopadhyay
  • Meghnad Bhattacharya
  • Kishor Sengupta
  • Subrata Gangopadhyay
  • Samir Aich
  • Srabasti Basu
  • All Members of P.E.N International, India, West Bengal Branch
  • Krishna Bose
  • Ranjan Gupta
  • Shyamal Mukhopadhyay
  • Sugata Choudhuri
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Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: Dadri, Pranab Mukherjee, West Bengal

Muslims can stay but must give up beef, says Haryana chief minister Khattar

October 16, 2015 by Nasheman

ml-khattar

Chandigarh: At a time when the ruling BJP is being criticized for incendiary statements by some of its leaders after the mob killing in Dadri of a Muslim man over beef rumours, Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar has hit another jarring note.

In an interview, Mr Khattar has said that Muslims in the country must give up beef.

“Muslim rahein, magar is desh mein beef khaana chhodna hi hoga unko. Yahan ki manyata hai gau (Muslims can stay, but in this country they will have to give up eating beef. The cow is an article of faith here),” Mr Khattar said.

The 61-year-old, who took charge of the BJP’s first government in Haryana a year ago, is a veteran member of the party’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

He described the Dadri killing as the “result of a misunderstanding” in which both sides had been wrong. “It should not have happened…from both sides,” he said.

On September 28 in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri, Mohammad Akhlaq, a 52-year-old blacksmith, was dragged out of his home by a mob of about 100 and beaten to death after a public announcement was made from a temple that a calf had been killed.

Mr Khattar alleged that Akhlaq had made a “halki tippani (loose comment)” about the cow which hurt the sentiment of those who attacked him. He said the mob acted like a man would “after seeing his mother being killed or his sister getting molested,” his rage getting the better of him.

Asked whether stopping people from eating food of their choice violates a constitutional right, the Chief Minister said while India is democratic, there are boundaries.

“Freedom of one person is only to the extent that it is not hurting another person. Eating beef hurts the sentiments of another community, even constitutionally you cannot do this.” he said, adding: “They can be Muslim even if they stop eating beef, can’t they? It is written nowhere that Muslims have to eat beef, or Christians have to eat beef.”

Mr Khattar’s government enacted a law in March that prescribes 10 years in jail for killing cows and five years for beef-eating.

(Agencies)

Filed Under: India, Indian Muslims Tagged With: Beef, BJP, Dadri, Haryana, M L Khattar

Shiv Sena reacts to Modi’s Dadri remark; says ‘we respect him for Godhra’

October 14, 2015 by Nasheman

modi

Mumbai: Just hours after the Prime Minister termed the Dadri lynching incident and cancellation of Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai as ‘unfortunate’, its alliance partner in Maharashtra-Shiv Sena has retaliated that the statements have come from the ‘Prime Minister’ and not ‘dear Modiji’.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut reacting to Modi’s comments raked up the 2002 Gujarat riots and said, “PM Modi got worldwide recognition because of Godhra and Ahmedabad incidents and we also respect him because of that, but if he has made such comments on Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and Ghulam Ali then it is unfortunate.”

Shiv Sena had earlier forced the cancellation of Pakistan ghazal singer Ghulam Ali’s concert in Mumbai. Columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni was also attacked with black paint by Shiv Sena activists protesting former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri’s book launch on Monday.

Earlier, in the day Modi while speaking to a newspaper had stressed that the BJP was opposed to pseudo-secularism.

On his party’s stand (on such incidents), Modi said, “The BJP never supported such kind of incidents. The opposition is raising the bogey of communalism against the BJP bringing those incidents but are they themselves not doing politics of polarisation”.

He said, “Such debate has taken place in the past. The BJP always opposed pseudo-secularism. Now again this debate is taking place in the face of unfortunate social malaise”.

“This debate can be resolved through dialogue and discussion,” he said.

Modi claimed that this a was merely vote bank politics and those parties resorting to such propaganda did not want the development of minorities.

(Agencies)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Beef, BJP, Dadri, Ghulam Ali, Godhra, Mohammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Iqlakh, Narendra Modi, Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena

Dadri lynching and banning Pakistan singer regrettable; but don’t blame us: Modi

October 14, 2015 by Nasheman

Narendra_Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an interview to Kolkata-based Bangla language newspaper Anand Bazaar Patrika, termed the Dadri incident ‘dukhad’ (unfortunate) and questioned the logic behind blaming the Central government for the incident.

He said the Dadri incident and the banning of Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali’s concerts were regrettable, but asked if it “is it fair to blame the Centre?”

Mohammad Akhlaq was beaten to death by a mob which suspected him of having stored and consumed beef. Several members of the BJP are among the suspects in the case.

‘Always practiced secularism’

The Prime Minister said that the “BJP had always practiced secularism in any situation where there have been differences; the party has never supported anyone involved in such incidents.”

He took on the Opposition too, saying that by accusing the BJP of communalism and polarising communities, “isn’t the Opposition itself guilty of polarising the atmosphere?”

(Agencies)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Beef, BJP, Dadri, Ghulam Ali, Mohammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Iqlakh, Narendra Modi

Lynching a man to death is small issue, says cop-turned-BJP MP

October 14, 2015 by Nasheman

Satyapal Singh

New Delhi: Police officer turned BJP MP Satyapal Singh today kicked up a row with his remarks calling Dadri lynching a “small incident”, evoking strong reactions from Opposition parties, which said it was a reflection of the party’s “polarisation” strategy.

“As far as a small incident like Dadri is concerned, our country’s democratic atmosphere is fully competent to handle. Our country is full competent to handle such incidents,” said Singh, who is the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai.

The BJP MP from Baghpat also said Government needs to take a view on the plight of Muslims as well as followers of other religion.

Reacting sharply to Singh’s comments on Dadri, Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said it is a reflection of what the BJP was trying to do.

“I am absolutely dismayed at the remarks of the BJP MP, who was also a former Police Commissioner of Mumbai,” he said, alleging that such remarks reflect the “strategy” of BJP to “usurp” power by “polarising” communities.

SP leader Rajiv Rai demanded an apology from the BJP and alleged that it was aiming at “communal polarisation”, which would be seen more as Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled in 2017 comes closer.

He wondered if Dadri is a minor incident, what else is a big incident. “They should apologise. I am disgusted that this statement comes from an MP, who was a former police commissioner.”

50-year-old Iqlakh was dragged out of his home by a 200-strong mob and beaten to death after a public announcement from the local temple that the family had slaughtered a calf and eaten its meat in Uttar Pradesh’s Bishada village in Dadri.

The Uttar Pradesh government has submitted a report to the Centre on the issue.

Concerned over communal incidents in Dadri and other places, the Centre had last week asked all states to take strictest action against those who attempt to weaken the secular fabric by exploiting religious emotions.

The incident has triggered a nationwide outrage with a number of eminent authors deciding to return their awards.

(Agencies)

Filed Under: India Tagged With: Beef, BJP, Dadri, Mohammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Iqlakh, Satyapal Singh

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