The coming to power of Modi in 2014 gave a
signal to the so called fringe groups that now it is their Government and they
can get away with their hate speeches and action with ease. It was a total
uninhibited show by the RSS Combine as for as spreading hatred, the foundation
of violence, is concerned. While even during previous UPA regime, RSS combines
leader lead in Hate speech, now it is a total dominance of theirs’ in matters
of spreading hate. The NDTV report is very revealing on the matter.
“90% of hateful comments made during
the NDA's current terms are by BJP politicians. During the NDA period, a total
of 44 political leaders made hateful comments. Of them, 34
politicians, or 77%, are from the BJP. 10 leaders, or 23% of the offenders, are
from other political parties, including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and
Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal.” The communal issues
were regularly thrown up. Vinay Katiyar of BJP said temple has to be built up
in Ayodhya. He said this at a time when the matters are lying in the court. On
similar lines RSS Supremo Mohan Bhagwat has been declaring that the temple will
be built in his life time.
The incidents of mob lynching in the
name of Cow, beef have been skyrocketing. While Mohammad Ikhlaq and Junaid are
few names stuck in the memory; there are many, who have been attacked by
hysterical mobs on the pretexts of skinning, killing, trading cows. The
statistics of IndiaSpend@ shows these acts of violence have gone up with Modi
sarkar. According to the data collected by IndiaSpend, based on the
content analysis of media reporting, “Muslims were the target of 51% of
violence centered on bovine issues over nearly eight years (2010 to 2017) and
comprised 86% of 28 Indians killed in 63 incidents. As many of 97 per cent of
these attacks were reported after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government
came to power in May 2014, and about half the cow-related violence — 32 of 63
cases –were from states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recorded
until June 25, 2017.”
The emotive issues related to
Nationalism have been dominating the scene. Mohan Bhagwat of RSS said early
March 2016 that “Now the time has come when we have to tell the new generation
to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ (Hail Mother India). There is no such slogan in
our Constitution, while some prefer to follow the slogan, Jai Hind, without any
reservation.
The issue of love jihad has been
taking horrible turn. On December 6, 2017; gruesome murder of a poor Muslim
laborer Ifrazul Khan, shook the nation. His killer Shambhulal Regar not only
hacked him to death, burnt him, got the whole incident videotaped and uploaded
it. Killing
of Afrazul by Shambhulal Regar has been inspired by the social media propaganda
about love jihad by divisive forces and shows the brutality to which hate
created by this ideology can penetrate the vitals of society. Regar has support
from sections of society and funds were raised for his family which shows that
the degree of hate is not superficial. It is making deeper inroads with the all
pervading Hindu nationalism. PUCL
report on the incident says that Shambhulal was “a clone of the RSS hate factory and indulged in the gruesome hate
crime.” Frightened by the crime many Bengali immigrants have left for their
state.
In the case of conversions to Hinduism in Agra
(10 December 2014) nearly 350 pavement dwellers-rag pickers and other destitute
sections were promised that if they participate in the religious function they
will be given the ration card and BPL cards. This was done by the Bajrang Dal
activist and the Hindu Janjagriti Samiti both outfits affiliated to RSS. The
process is part of Ghar Vapasi campaign.
In a subtle encouragement to the
criminals the Prime Minster has been generally keeping quiet for a long time on
‘hate crimes’ and then blurts bland statement which in a way does not reprimand
the criminals, who are inspired by his own ideology. On completion of
six months in power, Yogi Government brought out a brochure related to the
tourism development. The booklet omits to mention the biggest tourist spot
of UP Taj Mahal. Some leaders of BJP went on to label Taj Mahal as a symbol of
foreign rule and a shame on Nation.
The issue of film Padmavati was very curious. Even before
the film was released there were protests, even without seeing the film. It was
said that film is an insult to Rajput honor. As such the film is based on a novel,
a fiction, Padmavat. Padmavati is not a historical character she is creation of
fiction. Fact is; the film distorts is the presentation of Khilji, who is shown
to be a barbarian, running after women and devoid of culture, while historical
accounts tell us he was a cultured king, who not only built Hauz Khas but also
streamlined the market mechanism of trade in Delhi.
As hate speech and statements related to history, which
demonize Muslims, is on the rise, the communal violence also went up, showing
this in
year 2017, which saw a rise of 17%, (from 703 incidences in 2016 to
822 in 2017). Kasganj
violence came as a new pattern of instigating violence. A group of
ABVP-VHP workers entered the Muslim locality armed with weapons, shouting ‘Bharat
Mata ki Jai’ and giving anti Pakistan slogans. They wanted the Muslims, who
were celebrating Republic Day to make way for their rally to pass through that
narrow lane and violence followed. Similarly the Kathua rape and murder will
remain a matter of deep shame. Here in addition to the patriarchal notion,
communalism was the factor.
The assertiveness of so called fringe groups, the
increasing hate speech, is leading to an atmosphere where the sense of
insecurity among the religious minorities has gone up. The appeal of Archbishop
of Delhi Couto to observe fast is just a small reflection of the sense of
helpless, which the minorities are perceiving with Modi Sarkar, which is
pursuing its agenda of Hindu Rashtra.
