RAM PUNIYANI
Sunday, July 23,2017
The
turmoil in Kashmir has worsened since the encounter of Burhan Wani last
year (2016). The ceaseless protests, the handling of protests leading
to deaths and blinding of many is very disturbing. To cap this negative
development the attack on Amaranth pilgrims has added salt to the wounds
of the nation. (July 2017)
Tragedy
struck when one of the buses was attacked. The bus driver, Salim, in a
brave gesture, kept driving despite being wounded, and that prevented a
wholesale massacre.
Amarnath
yatra is among the most pious of pilgrimages undertaken by scores of
Hindus. Amarnath is ice Shiva Linga located in a cave deep in the
valley. This was discovered by a Muslim shepherd, way back in 1850s and
since then it is a regular pilgrimage for devotees. The yatra is managed
mostly by Muslims on the way and reflects the deep imprint of India’s
syncretic culture.
It
is also a manifestation of Kashmiriyat, the culture of Kashmir, which
is a synthesis of Buddhism, Vedant and Sufi tradition. Despite the
rising militancy in Kashmir, the yatra has mostly been going on, though
under heavy security cover. There are instances earlier also when the
Yatra was attacked in 2001, 2002 and in 2003. Incidentally those were
also the years when NDA was ruling. What is the correlation between the
muscular nationalism practiced by BJP led NDA and such acts is a matter
of conjecture.
While
there is communalization of Kashmir issue by the Pakistan inspired
militants and Al Qaeda type elements who have infiltrated into the area,
by and large the deep syncretism of the area has prevailed and the
local Muslim population has been of great help to the tourists (Yatris)
in their hours of crisis, in matters of supply of food when the yatris
have got trapped due to natural calamities. Kashmir and the nation
condemned the attack in one voice. The nation was pained to no end. The
prime Minister who takes long time to speak or tweet when Pahlu Khan or a
Juniad is mob lynched was prompt with a series of tweets in condemning,
rightly, the incident of Amarnath.
The
other part of this was the Hindu nationalists who have been on the job
to run down and humiliate the liberal and democratic voices in the
country. BJP spokesperson, GVL Narasimha Rao, carrying on with usual
mocking at the democratic liberal elements, tweeted, "On Amarnath
killings, is Not In My Name gang protesting or are protests only for
Akhlaqs, Junaids, Pehlu Khans & Not4Lord Shiva devotees?"
This
was in the aftermath of the massive turn out on Jantar Mantar after the
killing of Junaid in the train. The general impression being spread is
that liberal activists-thinkers protest only after the atrocities
against Muslims. This started being propagated more so after the ‘Award
wapasi’ (returning honors) after the mass lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq.
As such if we see even the award wapasi occurred once there was a
qualitative change in the persecution of minorities with the coming to
power of Modi Sarkar. Akhlaq’s lynching was shocking. Similarly Junaid’s
murder in a train also was an event where the basic foundations of
democratic liberties got shaken.
The
spontaneous mass protests after Junaid’s murder occurred in different
cities of the country and did register the protest all around. As a
matter of fact ‘Not In My Name’ protest picked up and on similar lines
and thousands collected to grieve the death of Amarnath pilgrims. So
what does the propaganda by BJP spokespersons aims to achieve?
Currently
this tribe wants to spread the impression that the Hindu majority is
suffering; and is being persecuted while the Muslims are being
appeased-pampered in this country. Hindu nationalist politics draw
strength from the propaganda first against Muslims and then partly
against Christians. Currently it wants to defame all those who defend
human rights of minorities. That’s the reason as protests of this kind
have occurred more often and have drawn more attention. The idea behind
this criticism of liberal democratic elements is to muzzle the voices of
protests so that this BJP type politics constructed on intolerance for
liberal values and violation of minority rights has an easy go in
society. Its main plank so far has been that minorities have been
appeased and now it is going to the next stage where the majority Hindu
community is supposed to be suffering discrimination. This is a very
shrewd move and without a shred of truth.
While
their propaganda did sink into the social understanding, the truth is
far from that. In our country, the economic condition of Muslims is well
reflected in the Sachar committee report, how over a period of last
seven decades their condition has been falling abysmally. In matters of
security and being victims of violence, over 80% of violence victims are
Muslims, while they constitute 14.1% in the population as per the 2011
Census. In most of the acts of terrorist violence also, it is Muslim
youth who had been arrested and most of them had to be released for the
lack of any evidence. Their political representation is falling
continuously as reflected in the number of Muslim Lok Sabha MPs.
The
perception being created about the threat to the majority community is
the bedrock of the communal campagin and a clever political move to
further strengthen the polarizing politics.
The
turmoil in Kashmir has worsened since the encounter of Burhan Wani last
year (2016). The ceaseless protests, the handling of protests leading
to deaths and blinding of many is very disturbing. To cap this negative
development the attack on Amaranth pilgrims has added salt to the wounds
of the nation. (July 2017)
Tragedy struck when one of the buses was attacked. The bus driver, Salim, in a brave gesture, kept driving despite being wounded, and that prevented a wholesale massacre.
Amarnath yatra is among the most pious of pilgrimages undertaken by scores of Hindus. Amarnath is ice Shiva Linga located in a cave deep in the valley. This was discovered by a Muslim shepherd, way back in 1850s and since then it is a regular pilgrimage for devotees. The yatra is managed mostly by Muslims on the way and reflects the deep imprint of India’s syncretic culture.
It is also a manifestation of Kashmiriyat, the culture of Kashmir, which is a synthesis of Buddhism, Vedant and Sufi tradition. Despite the rising militancy in Kashmir, the yatra has mostly been going on, though under heavy security cover. There are instances earlier also when the Yatra was attacked in 2001, 2002 and in 2003. Incidentally those were also the years when NDA was ruling. What is the correlation between the muscular nationalism practiced by BJP led NDA and such acts is a matter of conjecture.
While there is communalization of Kashmir issue by the Pakistan inspired militants and Al Qaeda type elements who have infiltrated into the area, by and large the deep syncretism of the area has prevailed and the local Muslim population has been of great help to the tourists (Yatris) in their hours of crisis, in matters of supply of food when the yatris have got trapped due to natural calamities. Kashmir and the nation condemned the attack in one voice. The nation was pained to no end. The prime Minister who takes long time to speak or tweet when Pahlu Khan or a Juniad is mob lynched was prompt with a series of tweets in condemning, rightly, the incident of Amarnath.
The other part of this was the Hindu nationalists who have been on the job to run down and humiliate the liberal and democratic voices in the country. BJP spokesperson, GVL Narasimha Rao, carrying on with usual mocking at the democratic liberal elements, tweeted, "On Amarnath killings, is Not In My Name gang protesting or are protests only for Akhlaqs, Junaids, Pehlu Khans & Not4Lord Shiva devotees?"
This was in the aftermath of the massive turn out on Jantar Mantar after the killing of Junaid in the train. The general impression being spread is that liberal activists-thinkers protest only after the atrocities against Muslims. This started being propagated more so after the ‘Award wapasi’ (returning honors) after the mass lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq. As such if we see even the award wapasi occurred once there was a qualitative change in the persecution of minorities with the coming to power of Modi Sarkar. Akhlaq’s lynching was shocking. Similarly Junaid’s murder in a train also was an event where the basic foundations of democratic liberties got shaken.
The spontaneous mass protests after Junaid’s murder occurred in different cities of the country and did register the protest all around. As a matter of fact ‘Not In My Name’ protest picked up and on similar lines and thousands collected to grieve the death of Amarnath pilgrims. So what does the propaganda by BJP spokespersons aims to achieve?
Currently this tribe wants to spread the impression that the Hindu majority is suffering; and is being persecuted while the Muslims are being appeased-pampered in this country. Hindu nationalist politics draw strength from the propaganda first against Muslims and then partly against Christians. Currently it wants to defame all those who defend human rights of minorities. That’s the reason as protests of this kind have occurred more often and have drawn more attention. The idea behind this criticism of liberal democratic elements is to muzzle the voices of protests so that this BJP type politics constructed on intolerance for liberal values and violation of minority rights has an easy go in society. Its main plank so far has been that minorities have been appeased and now it is going to the next stage where the majority Hindu community is supposed to be suffering discrimination. This is a very shrewd move and without a shred of truth.
While their propaganda did sink into the social understanding, the truth is far from that. In our country, the economic condition of Muslims is well reflected in the Sachar committee report, how over a period of last seven decades their condition has been falling abysmally. In matters of security and being victims of violence, over 80% of violence victims are Muslims, while they constitute 14.1% in the population as per the 2011 Census. In most of the acts of terrorist violence also, it is Muslim youth who had been arrested and most of them had to be released for the lack of any evidence. Their political representation is falling continuously as reflected in the number of Muslim Lok Sabha MPs.
The perception being created about the threat to the majority community is the bedrock of the communal campagin and a clever political move to further strengthen the polarizing politics.
Tragedy struck when one of the buses was attacked. The bus driver, Salim, in a brave gesture, kept driving despite being wounded, and that prevented a wholesale massacre.
Amarnath yatra is among the most pious of pilgrimages undertaken by scores of Hindus. Amarnath is ice Shiva Linga located in a cave deep in the valley. This was discovered by a Muslim shepherd, way back in 1850s and since then it is a regular pilgrimage for devotees. The yatra is managed mostly by Muslims on the way and reflects the deep imprint of India’s syncretic culture.
It is also a manifestation of Kashmiriyat, the culture of Kashmir, which is a synthesis of Buddhism, Vedant and Sufi tradition. Despite the rising militancy in Kashmir, the yatra has mostly been going on, though under heavy security cover. There are instances earlier also when the Yatra was attacked in 2001, 2002 and in 2003. Incidentally those were also the years when NDA was ruling. What is the correlation between the muscular nationalism practiced by BJP led NDA and such acts is a matter of conjecture.
While there is communalization of Kashmir issue by the Pakistan inspired militants and Al Qaeda type elements who have infiltrated into the area, by and large the deep syncretism of the area has prevailed and the local Muslim population has been of great help to the tourists (Yatris) in their hours of crisis, in matters of supply of food when the yatris have got trapped due to natural calamities. Kashmir and the nation condemned the attack in one voice. The nation was pained to no end. The prime Minister who takes long time to speak or tweet when Pahlu Khan or a Juniad is mob lynched was prompt with a series of tweets in condemning, rightly, the incident of Amarnath.
The other part of this was the Hindu nationalists who have been on the job to run down and humiliate the liberal and democratic voices in the country. BJP spokesperson, GVL Narasimha Rao, carrying on with usual mocking at the democratic liberal elements, tweeted, "On Amarnath killings, is Not In My Name gang protesting or are protests only for Akhlaqs, Junaids, Pehlu Khans & Not4Lord Shiva devotees?"
This was in the aftermath of the massive turn out on Jantar Mantar after the killing of Junaid in the train. The general impression being spread is that liberal activists-thinkers protest only after the atrocities against Muslims. This started being propagated more so after the ‘Award wapasi’ (returning honors) after the mass lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq. As such if we see even the award wapasi occurred once there was a qualitative change in the persecution of minorities with the coming to power of Modi Sarkar. Akhlaq’s lynching was shocking. Similarly Junaid’s murder in a train also was an event where the basic foundations of democratic liberties got shaken.
The spontaneous mass protests after Junaid’s murder occurred in different cities of the country and did register the protest all around. As a matter of fact ‘Not In My Name’ protest picked up and on similar lines and thousands collected to grieve the death of Amarnath pilgrims. So what does the propaganda by BJP spokespersons aims to achieve?
Currently this tribe wants to spread the impression that the Hindu majority is suffering; and is being persecuted while the Muslims are being appeased-pampered in this country. Hindu nationalist politics draw strength from the propaganda first against Muslims and then partly against Christians. Currently it wants to defame all those who defend human rights of minorities. That’s the reason as protests of this kind have occurred more often and have drawn more attention. The idea behind this criticism of liberal democratic elements is to muzzle the voices of protests so that this BJP type politics constructed on intolerance for liberal values and violation of minority rights has an easy go in society. Its main plank so far has been that minorities have been appeased and now it is going to the next stage where the majority Hindu community is supposed to be suffering discrimination. This is a very shrewd move and without a shred of truth.
While their propaganda did sink into the social understanding, the truth is far from that. In our country, the economic condition of Muslims is well reflected in the Sachar committee report, how over a period of last seven decades their condition has been falling abysmally. In matters of security and being victims of violence, over 80% of violence victims are Muslims, while they constitute 14.1% in the population as per the 2011 Census. In most of the acts of terrorist violence also, it is Muslim youth who had been arrested and most of them had to be released for the lack of any evidence. Their political representation is falling continuously as reflected in the number of Muslim Lok Sabha MPs.
The perception being created about the threat to the majority community is the bedrock of the communal campagin and a clever political move to further strengthen the polarizing politics.