A top-grade left liberal/communist is one who disrespects openly every tradition and religion except for Islamist and Islam. In India it is so stark when it is to do with Hinduism. The most recent example is Mohua Maitra, the Trinamool M P. Another suitable name to quote is Leena Manimekalai, a Toronto based filmmaker. As a liberal, they think it is their duty to utmost disrespect and degrade Hindu deities.
The two are public figures and celebrities. They should have therefore had a minimum sense of sensitivity and responsibility to not hurt the feelings of a religious community. They are much more accountable than any ordinary citizen.
Take the example of Nupur Sharma. She cited the Islamic scriptures. What she said is written in their holy books. Yet she was not spared. She was hauled up in public, press and electronic media. She was rebuked, condemned and expelled. Multiple FIRs have been filed against her. Supreme Court had very very strong words against her although it can be disputed whether they had the jurisdiction to say so since the plea before the Court was limited to only the clubbing of the multiple FIRs in a single court in Delhi.
Is our country heading towards chaotic strife, between the different religions? There is some recurrence of the sense of mutual suspicion that had led to the country being partitioned, once before. As my friend CM Pillai has so beautifully put it: The remedy perhaps lies in the hands of the self-styled liberals, who cannot take the conservative Hindus for granted any longer…they should, for the common good, not seek to harvest political brownie points, by passing comments against their own religion, while professing to be Hindus, citing some rationale or the other… This intellectual self-flagellation must stop asap…. there’s nothing intellectual, about stoking communal fires…
There have also been multiple death threats to Nupur Sharma. Two Nupur Sharma supporters have been brutally murdered and their assailants caught by police/NIA. This is clearly a case of Islamic terrorism. It may be worthwhile to recall in this connection the various measures taken by French Govt. when a similar beheading by Islamists occurred on 16th October 2020. The following is taken from Thread by @ Sanity 3 on THREADREADERAPP>COM
Macron visited the school and fiercely called it an act of “Islamic Terrorism”
- mosque that killer attended, was immediately shut down
- preacher of the mosque arrested
- Everyone who had praised the attack on social media was arrested and investigated
- Govt immediately shut down Grande Mosque de Pantin, for at least 6 months and its Imam is still under arrest
- Mosque was only allowed to open once the new Imam and rendered a public apology.
- within 2 days, National Council deported 231 Muslims out of France
- Interior Ministry shut down 2 big Islamic NGOs
- Govt also shut down 50+ organisations that were allegedly supporting radical Islam
- Macron announced that “Sheikh Yassin Collective” would also be dissolved
- An Algerian, who called the attacker a martyr, on social media, was immediately arrested, sent to prison for 6 months, and was deported to Algeria & banned from entering France
- 2 15 & 17 years old were arrested for praising the attack on social media
- A bill against Islamic terrorism was passed in Feb
- Govt branches were authorised to shut down mosques & organisations if those were found preaching Radical Islam
All these were brought into effect, just into few weeks of the incident. A lot of Islamic countries including Turkey Started campaigns to boycott French Goods. PM Macron, famously ridiculed Erdogan and other Islamic countries, saying France will not be dictated by such fanaticism or at the whims & fancies of such Govts.
Would GOI think along these lines? I am not asking all these measures to be necessarily taken, but that terrorist activities must be dealt with sternly.
The writer is a long-time commentator on political and economic issues.
