Don’t narrow your band width to a bitter and hate ridden version of Hinduism as appropriated by the RSS, Mahesh Bhatt, award winning film maker exhorts the young Indian film maker in this Special Interview with Teesta Setalvad on Communalism Combat and Hillele TV; and use the creative medium to express dissent.
Communal poison in Delhi’s air: Open Mahapanchayat against Muharram procession in Bawana
Provocative posters and speeches in Bawana have raised fears of a communal flare-up
by Ayushi Rawat, India Resists
Today some of us reached Bawana on getting the news of possible communal tension since a Mahapanchayat had been called by some Hindu right wing groups to incite against the Muharram (Tajiya) procession yet to happen on the 4th of November. This was a part of the on-going tension that started at the time of Eid this year.
Listening to the Mahapanchayat was a horrific experience but even more crushing was the vulgar State-Hindutva nexus that was being displayed on stage. The right wing leaders along with the BJP MLA Gugan Singh Ranga present on stage and the ACP attending the tamasha. The meeting was basically called as a show of power as well as a part of the larger fear generating and hate instigating mechanism of the fascist forces. Every speaker on the stage came and aggressively spoke about why the Tajiya should not be allowed to enter the Bawana village area and that the Muslim community should restrict itself to taking out the procession “only in their area”; they went to the extent of saying that they have collected over 3500 signatures for the same and informed the administration and openly warned in public that if this demand was not accepted, the consequences would be dire, “Agar Tajiya yahan se nikla toh jo bhi maar-kaat hogi uske liye hum zimmedaar nahi honge” (If the procession moves from here, then whatever violence happens, we will not be responsible for that).
With statements like, “Tajiya nahi niklega, hum khuli chunauti dete hain.. Hum yahan ke moolnivaasi hain… Hum sankalp lete hain ki hum hamare gharon ke saamne se Tajiya nahi nikalne denge.. Hum kamzor nahi hain…” (The procession will not go from here, we are giving an open challenge… We are the original inhabitants… We pledge that we will not let the procession go from in front of our houses… We are not weak…) There were repeated appeals to the close to 1000 yuva, the youth (which implies young macho-muscular adrenaline-infused boys) to instigate violence and be ready to oppose the procession’s entry strongly, with whatever means that they would find fit. The number of hate speeches was endless, references to words like talwaar and petrol were endless, the threats were endless, the voice was always aggressive, and the references to the legitimacy that “Modi Sarkar” now gives to these Mahapanchayats and ensuing riots were blatant. Towards the end, there was an open in public announcement that, “Sabhi bhai apne phone numbers yahan par likh dein.. Taaki hum gopniya tareeke se aap logon ko bata sake ki 4 taarikh ko kya karna hai.. Aap 4 taarikh ko tayyar rahein, Tajiya sham ko niklega…” (All the brothers should write down their phone numbers here… So that we can secretly inform you that what is to be done on the 4th of November… All of you be ready on the 4th, the Muharram procession would be in the evening…)
What is this if not an open instigation for a pogrom? It is only after we went and interacted with some people in the J.J. Colony, which is where the Muslim population mainly resides, that we got to know that the decision for not taking out the Tajiya in the Bawana village area was already deliberately taken by the Muslim community on 28th of October after the ACP appealed to them to do so. Some leaders in the community said that they did not want to incite violence, they did not want any tension to further deepen and that is why they decided to do so. Then what is the meaning of this show of power and Mahapanchayat, asked some of the young people in J.J. Colony. The youth seemed very hurt by the rise in such incidences after the new government came to power. One of the young boys said, “Hum Diwali bhi manate hain, Holi jab hoti hai toh wo bhi manate hain, hum musalmaan hain phir bhi hum sochte hain ki hum respect karte hain.. Ye desh jitna hinduon ka hai utna hi musalmaano ka bhi hai.. Phir hamare tyohaaron pe ye is tarah se kyun kar rahe hain?” (We celebrate Diwali, we also celebrate Holi, we are Muslims yet we respect… This country belongs to Muslims as much as it belongs to Hindus, then why such discrimination towards our festivals.) They also reported that there was no such feelings of communal hatred among the Hindus and Muslims residing in J.J. Colony, and that all those 1000 young men attending the Mahapanchayat mostly were not locals and were called from outside.
But this, the State does not find wrongful, this they do not find criminal, this they do not find threatening, this they think is something that they can enjoy with cups of chai and samosas without blinking a bloody eye! Shame on the Indian State!
CPI-ML booklet outlines western UP’s communal scene
Lucknow: The Communist Party of India-ML Saturday released an exhaustive report as a 32-page booklet on the communal situation in western Uttar Pradesh.
The booklet titled “Paschimi Uttar Pradesh: Sampradayik Fasivaad ki nayi Prayogshala CPI(ML) ki tathyatmak padtaal” (Western UP: the new laboratory of communal fascism — a factual account) accuses the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of inciting communal passions in western UP in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.
Releasing the booklet at the UP Press Club, senior Left leader and CPI-M politburo member Mohd. Salim said the BJP was trying to foment similar passions “with renewed energy” in wake of its Mission 2017 when assembly polls will be held.
He accused the BJP of inciting people over small rumours and frivilous incidents and giving them a communal tinge.
Salim said: “The BJP under directions from the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh is out in a planned way to destroy the social fabric of the country and state, as a result of which communal hatred is making serious inroads in western UP.”
Citing “Love Jihad” and religious conversions as examples of the BJP agenda, the Left leader added that after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government took over in Delhi, communal incidents have gone up in many parts of the country.
He said that the CPI-ML had undertaken a detailed fact-finding mission in western UP to get to the bottom of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots that killed 63 and displaced several thousands.
Salim said he himself, All India Kisan Mahasabha state president Jay Prakash Narain and state committee member Ramayan Ram were tasked to carry out the scrutiny.
The booklet, he added, was a product of this probe. Earlier the CPI-ML had also released a booklet based on the criminal and political conspiracy behind the Muzaffarnagar riots.
(IANS)
Modi Sarkar: Politics through Culture
The change in the ruling dispensation (May 2014) has more than one aspect which is likely to affect the very social-cultural-political map of India. Narendra Modi won the last elections with an electoral success, 282 seats for BJP, with 31% of votes polled, which is a landmark for a party. There was a meticulous planning to come to power and there were many factors bringing them to power. One was the communal polarization carried forward from the Gujarat carnage of 2002, to the one witnessed in Muzzafarnagar in 2013. The unrestrained support of Corporate World was another, as Modi had given all the facilities to the Corporate World. Corporate in 2007 declared that they will like to see Modi as the future Prime Minister of India. The backbone of the campaign was seven lakh RSS volunteers, who acted as the steel frame of the campaign. The projected factors helping BJP win was the myth of Gujarat’s development. The media management and the discrediting of the ruling Congress was the effective tool for swinging the votes in BJP’s favor. RSS-BJP-Modi want to bring in Hindu nation trampling upon the values of Indian Constitution., which have laid the foundation of democratic ethos, which have provided the ground for social transformation of caste-gender.
Pattern of Power
The previous time, 1999, BJP came to power at the head of a NDA it did not have the simple majority so it suspended its “Hindutva’ agenda. Hindutva agenda stands for abolition of article 370, Uniform Civil Codes and building of Ram Temple on the site where Babri Masjid stood. Now with the majority in parliament, the march towards this Hindutva agenda has been unleashed. Modi has already instilled the authoritarian streak in the new Government. Secretaries of different departments have been asked to directly report to him, and he has not permitted the meeting of the Cabinet in his absence, which was the norm with previous Governments. Though there is a Cabinet, the major power is being centralized around the prime minister.
Acche Din
The major plank of winning the elections was the slogan of Acche din (Good Times). The people at large, who are victims of the rising prices and inflation, were sold the dream of better days in the offing with victory of Modi. The relentless rise of prices despite Modi coming to power has created a sense of disillusion amongst the people, as high hopes were created through propaganda. Some say it is a bit too early to comment on this, as it is a honeymoon period, while others point to the pattern of policies, which do not give a hopeful picture for times to come. FDA in retail has been raised from 26% to 49% in a single swoop. While in opposition; BJP was opposing it. This is an opportunist turn around. The fear of privatization of public sector is very much there in the air. The amendments to Land Acquisition bill are going to affect the interests of the farmers in a very adverse way. What is being proposed is to dilute the consent of majority of the farmers for acquiring land.
Changed Dispensation: Sectarian mindset
Many times we express more by keeping silence than by speaking, so to say. The Pune techie Mohsin Sheikh’s murder allegedly by the Hindu Jagran Sena was part of the well designed communalization process. The violence in Saharanpur, Rampur and other parts of UP and some parts of MP are part of the process to communalize the assembly areas, which are going to face the polls soon. The silence of Prime Minister on these issues is more than eloquent. Rather it gives signal of sorts, which are not very healthy. There are scattered incidents which give us the glimpse of the Modi Sarkar. The shrewdest part of the new Government is that it has solid backing of vast Sangh Parivar to speak in different languages; these different tongues make the whole picture of their agenda. In case of the tennis star Sania Mirza being appointed as the brand ambassador of the newly formed Telangana state, the BJP leaders on TV openly opposed this saying that she is the daughter-in-law of Pakistan, while the top level functionary of the Government said that she is pride of the nation.
Education
All said and done the major problem of the present rule is going to be the changes in education, which will alter the thinking pattern of the coming generations. The goal is to instill a pattern in consonance with the Brahminical norms, to promote orthodox medieval mind set and to undermine the scientific temper. One recalls that in the previous BJP led NDA regime apart from other things, its major impact was the changes in the history and social science books, where the divisive history taught in the RSS shakhas, the communal history, the history where the kings are looked at through the prism of religion, was introduced. One knows that the communal historiography introduced by British was their main tool in implementing the ‘divide and rule’ policy which formed the ideology of the communal streams of Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha-RSS. This type of history; by focusing on the glories of ‘our’ kings also promotes the feudal values of caste and gender hierarchy. Mercifully the BJP led NDA lost in 2004 and the rational, national historiography was brought back.
Now already there are signs that RSS volunteers are out to change the total education system and the content of history, social science and other books. Even before this Government came to power, with the rise of Modi on political firmament, with the perception that he is likely to come to power, the Right wing organizations intensified their offensive against genuine scholarship. Dinanath Batra, by now is a well known name, he has been heading the RSS outfits, Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan Samiti and RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN) from many decades. He succeeded in pressuring Penguin, the World’s largest publisher, to pulp Wendy Doniger’s scholarly book ‘The Hindus: An Alternate History’. This book brings out through the interpretation of mythology the need to understand the caste and gender aspects in a sensitive manner. The history she has focused on goes against the hierarchical mind set of RSS combine and so pressure was put to pulp it. Now Mr. Batra emerges as a writer himself and a set of nine books written by him have been translated in to Gujarati and introduced in 42000 schools in Gujarat. This may be a trial run before doing similar things at larger scale. Former BJP president and present union minister M Venkaiah Naidu explicitly stated as early as last year (June 23, 2013) that “it (the BJP) will change textbook syllabi, if it returns to power”. Batra is also quoted as saying that a nationalistic education system has to be developed to address the requirements and through this we have to develop a young generation that is committed to Hindutva and nationalism”.
The sampling of Batra’s books gives a good idea of what is in store for us. A quote from one of the set of books, ‘Tejonmaya Bharat’, (Radiant Bharat) tells us “America wants to take the credit for invention of stem cell research, but the truth is that India’s Dr Balkrishna Ganpat Matapurkar has already got a patent for regenerating body parts…You would be surprised to know that this research is not new and that Dr Matapurkar was inspired by the Mahabharata. Kunti had a bright son like the Sun itself. When Gandhari, who had not been able to conceive for two years, learnt of this, she underwent an abortion. From her womb a huge mass of flesh came out. (Rishi) Dwaipayan Vyas was called. He observed this hard mass of flesh and then he preserved it in a cold tank with specific medicines. He then divided the mass of flesh into 100 parts and kept them separately in 100 tanks full of ghee for two years. After two years, 100 Kauravas were born of it. On reading this, he (Matapurkar) realized that stem cell was not his invention. This was found in India thousands of years ago. (Page 92-93)
Indian rishis using their yog vidya would attain divya drishti (divine vision). There is no doubt that the invention of television goes back to this… In Mahabharata, Sanjaya sitting inside a palace in Hastinapur and using his divya shakti would give a live telecast of the battle of Mahabharata… to the blind Dhritarashtra. (Page 64) What we know today as the motorcar existed during the Vedic period. It was called anashva rath. Usually a rath (chariot) is pulled by horses but an anashva rath means the one that runs without horses or yantra-rath, what is today a motorcar. The Rig Veda refers to this. (Page 60)
RSS has already set up a consultative body called Bharatiya Shiksha Niti Ayog (BSNA) to put pressure on Modi’s government to “correct or Indianize” the national education system. In the new syllabus “The passages in the textbooks which pointed out to any unsavory aspect of the Hindu faith like the oppressive caste system in ancient Hindu society, untouchability of the low-caste people and consumption of beef during Vedic ages were scrapped, and anyone who resisted or opposed the changes was dubbed as ‘anti-national’.(1)
Caste and Gender
While these changes in the text books give us a full idea of the agenda of this Government, which will have to follow the guidelines set by its parent organization, its already manifest in the appointment of Prof Y.Sudarshan Rao as the chief of ICHR. This national body guides the research into the Indian history. Prof Rao is not much known in the circles of Academic history, as he has hardly written any academic, peer reviewed papers or books. He has been engaged with writing few blogs on his understanding of history, which is more of a fiction suiting the agenda of Hindu Rashtra, reinstating the caste system in particular. In one of his blogs he emphasis that caste system served the society very well and there are no complaints against it. As per him “Most of the questionable social customs in the Indian society as pointed out by the English educated Indian intellectuals and the Western scholars could be traced to this period of Muslim rule in north India spanning over seven centuries.” He argues that “The (caste) system was working well in ancient times and we do not find any complaint from any quarters against it.” This is a distortion. The customs related to caste oppression were integral to the so called Hindu scriptures Vedas (Rig Veda, Purush Sukta) Upanishad, (2) the scriptures which were written in the Pre Historic BC period. Even in Manu smiriti the caste division is well articulated. Manu Smriti was written around 1-2 and Century AD. Contrary to this Prof Rao states that distortion in caste system came with the coming of Muslim Kings. He had so far been working on proving the historicity of our mythological Mahabharat as a part of History. Interestingly RSS combine presents only one version of Ramayan but there are nearly 400 versions of Ramayan. The scholarly essay by A.K. Ramanujam on the diversity of Ramayan telling again was withdrawn from Delhi University curriculum, and the publisher forced to withdraw the book.
With the coming of this Government the peripheral elements have started talking about making these scriptures as a part of our curriculum. Justice Dave talks of bringing in Gita and others are talking of Ramayana. Both these holy tomes have heavy projections of caste. In Gita, Lord talks of taking birth whenever Dharma is in danger. And this Dharma is Varnashram Dharma (Varna system). In Ramayan Lord Ram kills Shambuk, as Shambuk a Shudra is doing penance and this is something not permitted by Caste system.
Fringe Elements or Division of Labor
VHP supremo and RSS member Ashok Singhal has also called Modi “an ideal swayamsevak” and emphatically declared that Muslims must respect the sentiments of the Hindu culture, threatening that “they cannot survive for long by opposing Hindus”. He has also asked Muslims to give up their claims on Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi. The idea is to reduce Muslims to second class citizens with no privileges and rights. Another firebrand VHP leader Pravin Togadia, known for his ‘hate speeches’, has endorsed these views by issuing a warning to the Muslims, saying they may have forgotten the 2002 Gujarat riots but would remember the Muzaffarnagar riots of last year. (3)
Goa’s deputy chief minister Francis D’Souza apologized for his comment that India was already a Hindu nation. This was a tactical retreat. He was the one who said that all Indians are Hindus. Christians are Christian Hindus for example. Deepak Dhavalikar another BJP member stated that under Modi India will become a Hindu Rashtra. This is what the deeper part of RSS-BJP-Modi agenda, to see that the religious minorities adopt the Brahminical Hindu norms. That’s why they want that to use terms like Christian Hindus or Ahmadiya Hindus. Gradually, the assertion will be that since you are a Hindu you must practice Hindu norms.
On the long term agenda of RSS-BJP-Modi one needs to see the statement of RSS worker Joshi, “During a question-and-answer session, a volunteer asked Yadavrao Joshi, then the head of Sangh workers across all of south India, “We say RSS is a Hindu organisation. We say we are a Hindu nation, India belongs to Hindus. We also say in the same breath that Muslims and Christians are welcome to follow their faith and that they are welcome to remain as they are so long as they love this country. Why do we have to give this concession? Why don’t we be very clear that they have no place if we are a Hindu country?” Joshi replied “As of now, RSS and Hindu society are not strong enough to say clearly to Muslims and Christians that if you want to live in India, convert to Hinduism. Either convert or perish. But when the Hindu society and RSS will become strong enough we will tell them that if you want to live in India and if you love this country, you accept that some generations earlier you were Hindus and come back to the Hindu fold.” (4)
So where are we heading to becomes clear in the last few weeks of Modi Sarkar. The government will be trying to stick to the language which will be subtle while undertaking steps in Hinduization. Its associates, VHP-RSS will tell us bluntly about their agenda. Needless to repeat that this agenda, being unfolded is that of Hindu nation, where religious minorities will be relegated to secondary position and the Chaturvarnya system will be slipped in a subtle manner.
References
- (http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/475865-india-set-to-saffronize-school-curriculum.html)
- http://www.countercurrents.org/puniyani300714.htm
- http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reportage/rss-30#sthash.GmBGCZLQ.dpuf
- (Modi and Hindutva footprints – Editorial, Kashmir Times Kashmir Times – Monday, July 28, 2014)
AAP sees political design behind violence in Trilokpuri, demands probe into BJP’s role
New Delhi: While demanding the probe into the role of former BJP MLA Sunil Kumar Vaidya in the Trilokpuri riots, the Aam Aadmi Party has alleged on Sunday that the communal violence in Trilokpuri area of East Delhi was a pre-planned act in order to polarize the society on communal lines for political ends. The party said it is an unpardonable act which has been committed in a pre-planned manner to polarize the society on religious lines. It appealed to the people of the area to maintain peace and clam, and no attention should be given to rumours being spread by vested interests to create discord between communities.
The AAP had sought a report from its MLAs – Raju Dhingan and Manoj Kumar, representing Trilokpuri and Kondli assembly constituencies about the reasons behind the communal flare-up and the prevailing situation. It said that both of them have been spending their nights in the affected area to prevent any further disturbance. The first-hand account narrated by them has brought out very disturbing developments, which makes it clear that there is a political design behind this communal tension in Trilokpuri and its adjoining areas.
AAP demanded that Delhi Police should probe the role of former BJP MLA Sunil Kumar Vaidya in the entire incident, since there are credible reports that he had convened a meeting on Diwali night and trouble started only after that. It needs to be investigated what was the purpose of inflammatory meetings on Diwali night and where did the group led by this BJP leader go after their controversial meeting.
The attempts to create communal discord need to be nipped in the bud and the Delhi administration needs to fully wake up before it is too late.
The party said it has been reported in the media that the union home ministry had alerted the Delhi Police about the possibility of communal tension around Diwali in some parts of the capital, since neither the home ministry nor the Delhi Police have denied the existence of such an advisory, the people of Delhi have a right to know what preventive steps were taken.
Slamming the Center, AAP said that exchange of information is meaningless if there is no political will to take action and when precedents of Uttar Pradesh are already there, the central government which is controlling Delhi by proxy has a lot to explain.
Concerned civil society members petition Lt. Governor, Delhi Police over Trilokpuri riots
New Delhi: Concerned members of the civil society have petitioned to the Lieutenant Governor, Delhi Police over communal riots in Trilokpuri and expressed deep concerns about the “role and steps taken by the police” in the process of restoring communal peace and harmony, and ensuring legal justice.
They wrote that they are worried by reports that many young men are being illegally detained for long periods, and political representatives of one segment of the young men are being permitted to enter the police stations, whereas other lawyers and senior activists are not being permitted to enter the police stations.
“Rightly or wrongly, this has created an impression of communal and political bias and a lack of fairness. This is not conducive to restoring peace in the area,” the petitioned.
They demanded that the local police are firmly instructed to function in ways that are transparent, bipartisan and fair. “We further demand that all persons who are detained in connection with the violence are presented before a magistrate, and due and fair process of law not only followed but seen to be followed by all affected people,” the petition read.
The following petition signed by activists, academicians and citizens have been sent by email and fax to the Lieutenant Governor and the police commissioner today over communal violence:
To
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
&
Police Commissioner, Delhi
October 26, 2014
We the undersigned and many other citizens of Delhi are deeply concerned about the role and steps taken by the police in the process of restoring communal peace and harmony, and ensuring legal justice, following the recent communal tensions in Trilokpuri, Delhi.
We are worried by reports that many young men are being illegally detained for long periods, and political representatives of one segment of the young men are being permitted to enter the police stations, whereas other lawyers and senior activists are not being permitted to enter the police stations. Rightly or wrongly, this has created an impression of communal and political bias and a lack of fairness. This is not conducive to restoring peace in the area.
We therefore demand that the local police are firmly instructed to function in ways that are transparent, bipartisan and fair. We further demand that all persons who are detained in connection with the violence are presented before a magistrate, and due and fair process of law not only followed but seen to be followed by all affected people. We further demand that medical tests are done of all injured persons, and that family members and lawyers are permitted to meet the detained persons.
Yours sincerely
Signed on behalf of
Amit Srivastava
Anam Khan, Advocate, Human Rights law Network
Apoorvanand, academician
Areeb Rizvi
Asad Ashraf, Aman Biradari
Ashok Kumar Boudh
Ashutosh Kumar-JNUSU
Aslam Ahmed
Asrarul haque Jeelani
Chunni lal
Devendra Bharti
Dipak Dholakia
DR Rahul
Dvijendra Nath Kalia
Farhan
Ghazala jamil
Harsh Mander, writer, social activist, Centre for Equity Studies
Imkar Mittal
Jamal Kidwai
Jameer Abbas
Jaya Sharma, NoMore campaign
Jitendram- JNU
Kavita Krishnan
Kiran Shaheen
Kripal Singh
Lesley Esteves
Lokesh
Manisha Sethi, JTSA
Manoj Kumjar
Mohd Zakir Riyaz
Mukul Dube
Mukul Priyadarshi
Naveen
Nayan
ND Pancholi, advocate
Nusrat jahan
Poorva Bhardwaj, social activist
Prashant
Rajni Tilak
Rakhi Gupta
Sandeep
Santosh Kumar- sanhati
Satosh
Satya Sidhartha Pawar
Saurabh Naruka
Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, ANHAD
Shaoor Khan
Shefali & Sanjeev
Shipra Nigam
Subhash Kumar
Sucheta de
Sundaram, CNDP
Syed Mujtaba Athar
Tabish
Tanweer Fazal
Tara Negi
Tariq Adeeb, Advocate, Human Rights law Network
Varsha Mehta
Vipul
Zafar Eqbal
Zulekha jabin, Social activist
AIMMM meeting expresses concern at the “creeping communalisation" infecting the country
Left to right: Ejaz Ahmad Aslam, Zafarul-Islam Khan, Masoom Moradabadi, Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi.
New Delhi: The Central Working Committee (Majlis-e Amla) of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Musahwarat, the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, met here on Saturday, 18 October, 2014. This was the third meeting of the Working Committee this year. The meeting deliberated on milli, national and international issues. It discussed Mushawarat’s response to the post-election political scenario in the country as well as the preparations for the AIMMM’s golden jubilee later this year.
The meeting urged the Central government to declare the Kashmir floods calamity as a “national disaster” and to involve the army and national-level disaster management organisations to rebuild the shattered lives of the Kashmiris “who are left to fend for themselves.”
The meeting expressed concern at the creeping communalistaion and the freedom lumpen elements enjoy to spread hate and violence under the new dispensation at the Centre. It disapproved the open patrongage RSS elements are enjoying under the Modi government and criticised the efforts to saffronise history and textbooks.
The meeting welcomed the statements by the President of India and the Prime Minister that the Indian Muslims are not involved in terrorism and observed that this line of thought should be properly conveyed to the security and intelligence agencies which are busy faking cases and framing Muslim youth although many have been acquitted by courts in recent months.
AIMMM condemned “any attempt by the terrorist Al-Qaeda and ISIS outfits to make inroads into India” and “cautioned the government to thoroughly probe any so-called ‘threat’ before it is widely publicized.” The AIMMM also condemned the terrorist philosophy of these and similar outfits and warned Indian Muslims not be taken in by their bogus propaganda which is far from the merciful message of Islam “which respects others and calls for peaceful coexistence of religions, cultures and civilisations.”
The meeting remembered personalities who have passed away since the last meeting. They included, Qari Maulana Muhammad Qasim Madrasi, Justice Mufti Bahauddin Farooqi, Maqsood Alam, Chowdhary Muhammad Aslam, Khwaja Qutubuddin Moonis, Zafar Saifullah, Prof. Mahmood Elahi, Abdul Ahad Wakeel, Syed Ali, Ghoolam Eesaji Vahanwati, Sheikh Abul Fazl Muhammad bin Abdur Rahman, Muhammad Fazal, Pakeeza Sultan Begum, Muhammad Ateeq Siddiqui, Justice Syed Shah Nayyar Husain, Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, Captain Abbas Ali, Zohra Sehgal and Balraj Puri.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of the national President Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan. It was attended by Mufti Ataur Rahman Qasmi and Janab Masoom Moradabadi, general secretaries, Janab Syed Shahabuddin, Janab Nusrat Ali, Janab Ejaz Ahmad Aslam, Prof. Humayun Murad, Shaikh Manzoor Ahmad, Dr. Syed Ahmad Khan, Dr. Anwarul-Islam, Janab Amanullah Khan, Janab Anees Durrani and Janab Abdul Khaliq.
PUCL blames Police for Vadodara riots, says attacks were by the “police and not by any community”
New Delhi: A report submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), by People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has blamed the police for acting in a high-handed manner during the communal violence, which took place when the Navratri celebrations were on in Gujarat in September. Basing themselves on interaction with people of several localities, the fact-finding team said the attacks were by the “police and not by any community”. Quoting individuals, the PUCL said, “There was no trouble in the Yakutpura area”, yet the “police entered in Minar Masjid falia, Patel falia-1 and Patel falia-2 and suddenly started breaking vehicles.”
The report said, the cops “damaged each and every vehicle that was parked in these areas.” About 70 vehicles, “including, bikes, cars, auto rickshaws were damaged by them. Police damaged vehicles, cars, auto rickshaws window panes and doors of many houses”, it pointed out, adding, “They also beat some women with lathis. They were very abusive using the worst form of sexually explicit abuses. When women questioned why they were indulging in violence on this scale, they pulled their dupattas and almost choked one of them. They did not spare even children; a boy from 10th standard returning from tuition classes was beaten up.”
“They even beat up animals in their frenzy”, the report said, adding, “As per the complaint of the women they were just standing outside their houses, and police came forward to beat them up.” And “when they went to police station to lodge an FIR against this violence, they were viciously abused and driven out of the police station being threatened that that they are terrorists and they will be prosecuted under law.” Later, some 40 to 50 young men were “picked up from their homes and locked up.”
The team met Commissioner of Police Mr Radhakrishnan, who “accepted that the crime branch police was at fault in attacking the citizens and would take appropriate action”, the report said, but was in the denial mode when it requested him to formulate a citizen-police joint committee for spreading awareness and reducing communal tension, which he declined and told us to act ourselves in our own localities. “He said that here was almost no violence”, the report added.
In yet another area, Taiwada, near Sat Daragah Area, the team found residents complaining how in Sat (Sevan) Dargah, Taiwada area, on 28th early morning at 1.00 am, “a few policemen came and took a round.” At 2:15 am, 30-35 cops came “with people in civil dress and slippers, some of whom had handkerchiefs on their faces, with steel pipes and started breaking the doors and picking up 5-6 boys after beating them with pipes and rods.”
Ashiyana Abdul Latif told the team that in the absence of her husband, Abdul Latif, as he was on night duty, “the steel bars of windows of his house were broken with instruments brought for the purpose and plain clothes policemen entered the house. Then they put on the light and broke the doors. They pushed Ashiana against the fridge. They then went to the other room where their son Abdul Raheman (Aged 19) was sleeping, caught him by his private parts and dragged him out.”
Further: “When his sister cried to them to leave her brother, they turned their attention to the girls and tried to pull them even while the mother was trying to protect them. They beat the mother and the girls and tore the clothes of the daughter Amrin (aged 22). They told the mother to give them the both girls if they wanted the boy free. The mother was beaten on the head near her eyes with a lathi, and the girls were also beaten with lathis. Amrin who is also a nurse in a state of shock, trauma and has started getting fits.”
The report said, “Her situation worsened and became unconscious so she was admitted in the Sayaji General Hospital in the morning of September 28, 2014. In the hospital she mentioned about assault by police as reason for her injuries and mental shock and also registered her complaint in the Police Station of the General Hospital”, the report said, adding, yet “the doctor mentions assault by ‘opposing party’ in her case paper and she is not sure what police has mentioned in the FIR/Register.”
The cops, said the report, also “broke doors of the house of Tahirabanu and beat her boy who is student in first year of college and took him. He had his examinations from October 7. Police entered the house of Kulsumbibi Adbdulrahim Pulaowala (aged about 50) and beat her on thighs and broke the cupboard and broke fixtures and glass all over the house. She was so much afraid that did not go to hospital to get treatment. Only with support from human right activists she was taken to hospital only on September 29.”
In Fatehpura, Koyali Falia and Ranavas, the report said, “The trouble started on September 25 when a mob came to attack the tuition class located near their area. Along with the tuition class the houses and vehicles of other Hindu residents were also attacked. Shop keepers were forced to close their shops. Auto rickshaws, hand carts (laris), etc. were damaged. The trouble continued over the next few days. Several innocent boys were picked up by police.”
The report concluded, the factors which contributed to this new wave of communal violence in the city of Vadodara was “growing influence of BJP and right wing Hindu groups over police and administration”, nexus between “police , politicians and criminals”, and “ascendance of powerful builder lobbies and the related issues around land and attempts to displace people from poor bastis.”
The PUCL’s fact-finding team, which visited the affected areas, consisted of Ashok Gupta, Reshma Vohra, Kamal Thakar, Tapan Dasgupta, Yusuf Shaikh, Shaukat Indori, Trupti Shah, Hamida Chandol, Sabiha Hakim, Naginbhai Patel and Hardik Rana. A copy of the report, submitted to the NHRC, was also submitted to Gujarat home department and the DIG, Gujarat.
Download the full report here.
Vadodara’s BJP leader Manish Wagh arrested in connection with burning of Hindu houses
A member of Rapid Action Force fires a tear gas shell to disperse a mob in Vadodara (Photo: Reuters)
Vadodara: Navgujarat Samay which is Times Of India group’s Gujarati daily has reported in its October 1st issue that Manish Wagh, BJP Baroda’s Ward Pramukh (Chief), has been arrested in connection with burning of several houses of Hindu families in the Navapura area of Baroda. Along with Manish Wagh, 36 other officer bearers of BJP were also arrested in this connection. It is also reported that besides the aforementioned arrests, a few Muslim rioters were also arrested.
It is also reported that Manish Wagh’s arrest has led to several doubts regarding the entire modus-operandi of Baroda riots.
The four days of violence that continued unabated here last week was allegedly triggered by an image posted on Facebook. Muslim groups said the image was offensive to Islam. However, according to some media reports, prior events, marked by inflammatory statements in the run-up to the Navaratri festival, prepared the ground for a volatile communal situation.
Residents of Yakutpura – one of the worst affected neighbourhoods in the city — have alleged police complicity in the violence. In the Taiwada area, where the police conducted raids at night, residents claimed that a team of police personnel arrived with nearly 30 men in plain clothes, whose faces were covered with a cloth. They accused the police of assaulting women and setting a motorbike on fire.
Throughout September, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad gave several statements in the media saying that Muslims would not be allowed at ‘Garba’ events. The Hindutva outfit planned to launch a campaign against ‘love jihad’ and beef consumption during Navaratri.
The violence which has left with the stabbing of two, and loss of properties of many others, coincides with Mr. Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States. In his first ever international interview since assuming office, Modi, when questioned about the patriotism of Indian Muslims, told that, “Indian Muslims will live for India and die for India.” However, since assuming office, he has done nothing with regards to containing the raging communal violence in the country, perpetrated by elements part of and affiliated to his party.
With inputs from Truth of Gujarat and The Hindu.
Tools for divisive politics: Love Jihad propaganda spurs hate, not dialogue
After the last general elections where Narendra Modi and his party won a majority overwhelmingly, the BJP has not been doing so well in subsequent by-elections. The Lalu-Nitish experiment is one model, but whether it will be replicated in different parts of the country is a million-vote question. The BJP appears to resort to the basic tools of divisive politics. On one hand Yogi Adityanath, with his venomous ‘hate speeches’ has come up as BJP’s major player; on the other the word of mouth propaganda of ‘love jihad’ is being spread like wildfire.
This year, Adityanath began his hate attack on Muslim minorities blaming all communal riots on Muslims when he campaigned for the BJP ahead of the general elections. In subsequent speeches he went on to make similar baseless allegations such as wherever Muslims are in the majority there is more trouble, or that when they trigger the violence then they also have to face the consequences.
None of this is grounded in the analysis of the communal violence in India. Referring to ‘Love Jihad,’ Adityanath said that if ‘they’ convert one Hindu girl, we will convert 100 Muslim girls. His unrelenting ‘hate speeches’ are going on at the time when the Prime Minister himself has asked for a ten-year moratorium on violence. Mr. Modi seems to be deliberately looking the other way when all this Hate propaganda is on.
The ‘Love Jihad’ propaganda is a double-edged weapon: By stating that Muslim youth are being trained to lure Hindu girls, on one hand they demonize Muslims and on the other they tighten their control of the lives of girls and women. In this propaganda, Hindu women are projected as gullible, easy to be lured and incapable of deciding for themselves. In a way the communal agenda’s twin goals are achieved here. Communal politics wants to marginalize the religious minorities at the surface level and at the deeper societal level it aims to restrict the rights and freedom of women.
BJP affiliates are not only indulging in word-of-mouth propaganda on this issue. They have also started forming fronts to oppose ‘love jihad,’ some of them have come up in western UP, and more seem to be in the offing. VHP has come to the forefront on this issue by stating that “Patriots will support our crusade against ‘love jihad’ that is leading the country towards another partition.” One more Sangh Parivar-related organization, the Dharma Jagran Manch, has started a similar campaign which is appealing to Hindus to oppose the ‘threat’ of ‘love jihad.’
As far as Hindu girls being converted to Islam through Love Jihad is concerned, it is a hoax- there is no doubt about that. A friend wrote from UP that he was to talk in a girls college there. He met a young faculty member all charged up to save Hindu girls, claiming that over 6,000 girls have been converted in his area. When confronted to give the names of some of the alleged converts, he retracted, saying he has heard rumours of it and so it must be true.
A booklet priced Rs 15 about the Love Jihad conspiracy has been published by some Hindu zealots: ‘How to Save Our Women from the Terrorism of Love Jihad’. It contains some alleged case studies. Most of these stories feature a typical pattern: a young Hindu woman lured into a relationship or into marriage by a Muslim man who had allegedly posed as a Hindu. It is claimed that those who get married often convert to Islam and need to be ‘rescued’ and this is where the RSS affiliates want to pitch in according to their plans.
While lot of historical material has come out on the issue of Love Jihad, two items in particular need to be mentioned. Many analysts have compared the Modi politics with the politics indulged in by Hitler, who used a similar tactic to polarize German opinion against the Jews, who were called the ‘internal enemy’. The Nazi propaganda held that Jewish young men had been luring German girls and polluting the purity of Aryan blood with a view to subjugating the German nation.
Similar tactics were adopted by Arya Samaj and Hindu Mahasabha in India in the 1920s, when organizations to save the honor of Hindu women were formed and pamphlets like ‘Hindu Auratonki Loot’ (Loot of Hindu Women) were brought out. This propaganda was a potent weapon to polarize the communities along religious lines.
Can this be combated in some way? There is news that some Muslim youth have planned peace marches in the areas to create an atmosphere of amity. I hope more such marches take place and can restore the sanity of our society and surely members from the majority religious community will join these marches spontaneously to boost the amity amongst communities.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Next Page »