The dominant discourse in public sphere since May 2014 or precisely after the BJP led NDA under Narendra Modi came to power, has been the role of right-wing in changing the perception about the way India conducted its social and constitutional obligations. The endless debates on intolerance, anti nationals versus nationalists suppression of diverse opinion and expression, the highly contentious but rarely proven attacks on churches, atmosphere of fear, clamp down on supposedly God’s Own NGOs and to cap it all; Ghar Vaapsi or the new avatar of Shuddhikaran of Swami Shraddhanand.
The high decibel debates, lack of content on our 24 x 7 news channels are the most visible aspect of the discourse, however, the reader is more discerning then the listener who has been incapacitated by the TV news channels boom. For decades, the left-leaning narrative has dominated the public perception in India, specially after the late 60s, thanks to the largesse given to the Communists in lieu of the support by Indira Gandhi. The unprecedented and to certain sections the unexpected victory of Narendra Modi stunned the opposition into silence, most surprisingly, the opinion makers in India were at a loss of words to ascribe this victory to Modi’s message of “development”. The subsequent assembly victories consolidated the position of the prime minister as the leading politician in India.
Then started the attacks on Churches in Delhi. The TV channels and the hitherto silenced liberal elite pounced upon the chance to liberate the lungs of the mucous formed due to unabling silence. The attacks gained such enormous notoriety for the Modi government that it was widely reported in western media special thanks to our perceived neutral and enlightened media. It’s another matter that these attacks were nothing but minor cases of vandalism and theft. A far larger number of temples during the same period were vandalised and offering stolen which never came in our media. Most obnoxious of the campaign was the rape of an an elderly nun in West Bengal. Without even preliminary investigations, the same set of people, sections of media the liberals, the Seculars attributed it to the supposed Right-wing terror tactic.
Later, four Bangladeshi illegal immigrants were arrested in the case. The damage had been done, the government was prosecuted and damned by a biased MSM jury. The western media largely controlled by the church, feared for minorities in India under Narendra Modi government. Missionaries like John Dayal, Kancha Ilaiah cried foul, petitioned against India in the US. As if, the US would determine the fate of the Indian nation. India has seen its Hindu population decline over the decades from a high of 85% percent in 1951 to less than 80% in the 2011 census. The alarming changes in the demographics are pushed under the carpet by our liberals and the seculars arguing that the growth rate is higher amongst the Muslims and the other minorities. This is a perfect example obfuscation and distortion of facts. It is a well known and accepted fact that there has been an insidious design to attempt large-scale Conversions by both Muslim and Christian conversion mafia. The States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are all under intense drive by Christian missionaries. Coastal regions of Tamil Nadu and Andhra have been successfully converted to the extent that the demographers and authorities are apprehensive to report the exact numbers.
To top it all, the church in South India have over the years has issued diktats to keep the religious identity hidden. District in Tamil Nadu and Kerala have seen dubious Muslim organisations engaged in spreading jihadi ideology and luring to convert. Both these States have seen a very large number of RSS and Hindutva workers been killed, 137 in Tamil Nadu and more than 200 in Kerala.However, no news vending machines have found it worthwhile to report on either the changing demographics or the brutal killings of RSS and Hindutva workers. This lopsided and unjust coverage has been countered effectively by the newest organ of mass reporting of events, even as they unfold, the Social Media. The new narrative as a counter to the age-old conspiracy theories have substituted the mainstream media.There has been some reactions to these activities from the right wing, however there has not been any concerted or an organised effort to counter the discourse.
The much publicized Ghar Vaapsi was a botched attempt lacking finesse and zeal of the Christian missionaries as also the lack of financial backing of the petro dollars or the Oil money. Ghar Vaapsi is nothing but a natural corollary to conversions by the Christian missionaries and the fundamentalist Mullahs. The Ghar Vaapsi campaign lacked the dexterity and the passion of the Evangelist as also the Coffers full of Dirhams and Riyals.Changing demographics is a real and present danger. China has demonstrated this master strategy, the diabolic play of demographics. Tibet, Xinjiang, far east Siberia has seen massive population influx of Han Chinese to frustrate the designs of Tibetans, Uighurs and even the Russians in the far east Siberia. Closer home Bangladesh, threatens us in the north-east. The north-eastern region of India suffers from two pronged threat by both Christians and Muslims. North-eastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and to certain extent Manipur have been under the influence of Church. The states of Assam, Bengal and Tripura face the threat of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
In fact, Assam and Bengal have seen a gradual and the steady decline in the number of Hindu population. The Muslim population in the state of Assam is around 34% this increase is predominantly a post-1971 phenomena. Bengal is home to 30% Muslims the disconcerting increase in Muslim populations has seen the alarm bells ringing .Ghar Vaapsi, besides being constructive, is also a force multiplier in thwarting internal threats. But, Ghar Vaapsi is plagued by yet another ill, The rigid and degenerative caste system in our society. If Ghar Vaapsi is to be a success it must be accompanied by all its attributes above. The killing of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh was sad and unfortunate the killers of this heinous crime must be punished. Having said that, it is imperative that the same outrage be preserved for the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. The Kashmiri Pandits have been killed, butchered, burnt, looted, robbed and raped by the Muslims in Kashmir Valley.
Shockingly, not a single person has ever been convicted in any of the crimes in the last three decades. There is no outrage, absolutely nothing at all on the 24 x 7 news channels, not even a blip on the radar of the so-called human rights and civil rights activists. The apathy over the years has created a wide chasm between the apologists of the rights of the minorities, read Muslims, supported by variety of activists, liberals and secularists on the one hand and the rising aspirations of the right-wing supporters on the other. This indifferent attitude towards the plight of Kashmiri Pandit is now on battlefield of opposing ideological warriors. The pre May 2014 dominant opinion makers are losing their lustre in the dawn of rising right wing enthusiasts. The right wing led by the young and the educated on the social media has made a great impact on the way Truth is reported nowadays.
The distinct change can be seen even in the English news channels which from which from being virulently anti right wing have come around to take an objective view on the issue. The public discourse is chaotic, cacophonic but not a one-way traffic anymore, the differing ideologies are clashing trying to dominate the narrative of their suiting. This loss of credibility and the consequent loss of face by the liberal opinion makers has made the public discourse very interesting. The right-wing narrative variously called as the Nationalist viewpoint, the Hindutva counter argument, the Xenophobic discourse or the new communal discourse is hampered by a majorly ordinary narrative lacking genuine intellectual counter argument,especially in the English language, however it is gaining ground and in the process of becoming the dominant narrative in the country. The murders of so-called rationalist, the trio of Pansare, Dabholkar and Kalburgi happened under the Congress rule in both Maharashtra and Karnataka but were blamed on the new incumbent in Delhi,the NDA government.
This massive blunder by the liberals led to a counter attack by the Right Wingers. Similarly, the role of NIA in the Malegaon, Samjhauta is now under a cloud, NIA is now accused of colluding with the Congress bigwigs to implicate Hindu trois workers in these blasts. The witnesses in most of these cases have turned hostile, though there are voices which accuse the present government of meddling in the NIA investigations. However, the Ajmer and the Malegaon blasts involving Colonel Prasad Purohit are falling apart, the supposed confession of Swami Aseemanand was retracted by the individual as it was under duress. The NIA narrative since 2008 of Hindu terror is not standing scrutiny, the Congress’ attempt at communalising terror hasn’t really taken off despite brazen accusations by senior Congress leaders as Sushil Kumar Shinde, P Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh along with the Congress president, Rahul Gandhi.
Another remarkable event was the hanging of Yakub Memon in the 1993 Bombay blasts. It exposed to liberal sentiments, a multitude of liberals, Seculars, Human and civil rights activist activist had pushed petition for clemency against his hanging for the Mumbai blasts in which 254 people were killed. The nation was deeply divided But the Supreme Court stayed the course course and hanged Yakub Memon for all he deserved. The mainstream media went overboard on a judicial hanging, Indian Express, a leading national daily captioned it “ And they hanged Yakub “!It seemed as if an innocent has been killed by the Supreme Court and not a terror accomplice who led to deaths of 254 people.
Right Wing assertiveness on the Social Media, the reactions to Mass Conversions taking place in India in shape of Ghar Vapasi are natural corollary to the monstrosities heaped upon the majority community in India.
