Violence is an abhorrent act. Mob violence is even more so; because the scale on which causes damage is very large. And the effects are far deeper and can be felt for a long time. No one in the senses can condone violence. Least of all, a society which thinks there is God in every living being and Karma punishes you for every wrong committed! So why such a God fearing, subdued, no actually timid society such as Hindus, doesn’t feel that guilty when riots are taking place? Or why it’s getting increasingly difficult for Liberals to shame Hindus for mob violence going around.
Given the long history of tyrannical foreign rule there can be many reasons for this. But the annoyance which I am talking about, has two recent reasons. First, an Islamic pogrom called Kashmiri Pandit exodus and second, the advent of News & Info age. The Pandit Exodus which happened in 1990 was so brutal and so in your face that it left a permanent scar on Hindu minds and left the state (Indian) red faced. The news and info age, to which one cannot put any date as such, started making a social difference sometime after 2010. It cannot be a coincidence that WhatsApp was invented in 2009.
There is a gap of around 20 years between these two events. So how can they work in combination? And how are they related to current state of mind of Hindus? You see, this is pent up anger of many decades to which Social Media (SM) has provided the outlet to express. Actually if you go back to 1947, you will realize the independence itself was a massive compromise. British, to accommodate Muslim demands, forced a ‘solution’ down the Hindu right’s throat. And the Hindu Nationalists even then, were extremely unhappy with what they got. Yet, though a grudging one, there was acceptance that this was done by keeping the leaders in confidence and ‘Rule of Law’ has prevailed.
For next four decades, till 1989, but for a blip between 1975-77, Congress either ruled or was in control indirectly. Such was the hold of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty on the party that a faux Secular narrative was known as Nehruvian Consensus. And though opposition parties may have felt dynasty bent rules and abused authority to retain power. But the overall agreement was that ‘The Rule of Law’ is prevailing. But this started changing sometime in 1989. In Sept that year, a Pandit activist Tika Lal Taploo was shot dead outside his residence. It was clear that Islamists, armed to teeth by Pakistan, have been able to sow the poisonous seeds of Jihad in Kashmir. This was followed by many incidents of rapes and murders of Pandit Woman and Men. And soon enough in Jan 1990, Jihadis started proclaiming from loudspeakers atop mosques Ralive, Tasliveya, Galive (either convert to Islam, Leave the land or die).
This was Islam at its full glory! Jihad had come to Heaven on earth! The Indian constitution had been subverted. And The ‘Rule of Law’ was broken! As per an independent estimate more than 3 Lac Pandits had to leave Kashmir with all their belongings left behind. And the worst thing was Medialooked the other way. The same Media which never missed an opportunity to pillory Indian Govt and Armed forces for acting against Armed Terrorists was almost complicit in this act of Islamist Pogrom. There may have been few op-eds here and there but no editor worth his ink had the gall to call this with what it was, ‘Jihad’!
I mentioned above that India got its independence in Aug 1947, where its leaders agreed to an specific arrangement. Exactly one year before that Jinnah had enacted Direct Action Day in and around Kolkata and massacred more than a Lac Hindus. But somehow through history books, Congress and Communists managed to hide this and series of injustices during Muslim rule. And almost same thing was getting repeated through the following decades. In 1990 Pandits were massacred, their woman raped,hundreds of thousands displaced. Three decades on they have not returned to their homes. Yet everything is hunky dory? Farce of ‘Rule of Law’ is maintained! How? Through Liberal Press and History books!
Had it been not for Social Media (SM) the truth would have never reached to so many people with such speed. Had it been not for SM, not sure how many people would have known the brutality of Aurngzeb. Or say how Nehru tried to stop KM Munshi from restoring Somnath Temple. Or say how Indira Gandhi inserted the words ‘Social Secular’ in constitution through a subterfuge. Before this it was only RSS and its affiliates who were working on taking the truth to masses. But now in SM, they have a powerful accomplice. This makes it easier for Nationalists to exchange critical information.
Cut to 2019. After winning another clear majority BJP Government brings a series of legislations (abrogation Article 370, Criminalize Triple Talaq and Citizenship Amendment Act) with an aim to nullify the Nehruvian Consensus. Gets them passed by both houses of parliament. Now they are part of the agreed arrangement between Lawmakers. So how does ‘Nehruvian Consensus’ parties react? Of course as per the Secular rule book. Call the Islamists. Block the roads.Destabilize! That’s what Shaheen Bagh was all about. The spot was deliberately chosen in such a way that it should block entry from Noida to Delhi and cause maximum inconvenience to commuters and people living in vicinity. And as if this one blockade was not enough, another sit-in was planned in north east Delhi.This sent the alarm bells ringing. When Delhi Police tried to persuade the protesters against another blockade it led to disagreement which led to riots. Now these riots go straight to the list of Direct Action Day and Kashmiri Pandit Exodus. The bloodletting was part of the larger plan to create Shaheen Bagh in every Indian City.
What was more shocking than this however, was the response of Liberal Media. This was painted as if Muslims were being massacred on the streets of Delhi. Whereas people were killed on both sides! The World community and Media, which had no time to find out why Pandits have not been able to go back to Kashmir, were in tearing hurry to call this a Pogrom!
This disproportionate airtime only to one side and selective outrage angers Hindu Nationalists. Moreover, there has been a systematic attempt to ignore the obvious nefarious designs behind these riots. For Example, Liberals even refuse to discuss Sharjeel Imam and gun wielding Shahrukh. They have no time to look at incendiary statements by Waris Pathan or why Tahir Hussain was stocking acid pouches and Molotov cocktails. When Obama visited India in 2015, a theft in Church was made to look like attack by Hindu groups on the Church. This time around, when Trump was on Presidential visit, a planned riot by Islamists was made to look like a Pogrom. Seems Liberals around the world are hell bent on painting Hindus as intolerant people. And India as a country overtaken by Fascist mobs! And thereby delegitimize the current BJP Government. Hindu Right understands this sleight of the hand. It can read what the Liberals are up to. They broke this country once in 1947. They allowed Islamists a free pass to run a pogrom on Pandits in 1990. Through anti CAA protests they wanted another bloodbath in this country.
Interest in Shaheen Bagh may have ebbed and it might have lost eyeballs, but the danger of Jihad lurks around. Bigger problem is violent Islamic agitations have a Liberal sanction. And they are backed by powerful global partisan media. This is what angers Hindu Right! Had there been no Social Media Network, Hindus would have failed miserably to counter this treacherous narrative.
