According to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief in West Bengal, the Constitution of India has provisions that allow “taking up arms to protect the dignity of women”. He said the “Constitution has given the right to use weapons” to protect “honour”, he taunted that the Hindu youths’ hands had gone so soft and weak that they could not even pick up a sword now. He told them that they should take up arms to protect, and implied that they will be protected under the law. While inciting the gullible audiences of the speech, he is not heard mentioning what Article of the Constitution he was quoting from.
Dilip Ghosh’s remarks made on Tuesday, were in line with his track record of making controversial, and provocative statements, especially addressing Hindu groups. According to a report in The Statesman, Ghosh added that “Lord Ram had taken arms at a very young age. To protect the dignity of our mothers and sisters, the Hindu youths need to be united. If need be, they should take up weapons.” He was speaking at a public event of Hindu Jagaran Manch in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur. “The Constitution has given us the right. To take up arms in protection of our religion, pride and life is not illegal. We’ll do exactly that,” he added.
If asking young men to carry and use weapons freely was not enough, Ghosh added that they should seek “revenge” first before they invoked the law, “Take the revenge first then go to the police station,” Ghosh announced.
Few moments from “Hindu Sammelan” at Garbeta, Paschim Medinipur organised by “Hindu Jagaran Mancha”. pic.twitter.com/fmFIZSh1Hq
Ghosh has in the past also issued violent ‘warnings’ to party workers of Trinamool Congress, days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to West Bengal, saying “All brothers of Didi better mend their ways in six months. Otherwise their arms, legs, ribs and heads will be broken. You will either end up in the hospital or the crematorium!” Before that he had called the state a “second Kashmir” alleging there were more terrorists in Bengal than in Kashmir when addressing BJP workers in Birbhum. “All terrorists have taken shelter in Bengal. Arrests (of terrorists) were made twice from Murshidabad. Bengal has become second Kashmir,” he had said taking a communal jibe at West Bengal’s Muslim population that traditionally does not vote for the BJP. Thus, ‘othering’ and demonising Muslims, appears to be BJP’s strategy to consolidate the Hindu vote bank, in a bid to win the assembly elections scheduled to take place in the state next year. And now he has crossed another limit by falsely invoking the Constitution, and urging gullible young men to take up arms.
The truth is that India has one of the strictest gun laws in place. A licence has to be first secured for “acquisition and possession of firearms and ammunition.” The law states that: “No person shall acquire, have in his possession, or carry any firearm or ammunition unless he holds in this behalf a licence issued in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder. Further details of the Act may be read here: http://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1959-54_0.pdf
‘Jahan se pathar aaenge, wahin se toh nikale jaaenge’ (the evictions will happen where the stones came from), Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra’s words of justification for the demolition of a poor Muslim man’s house, are not a sign of things to come. It is a sign of how things already are in the Bharatiya Janata Party-run state. The minister’s words are also a clear indication that the state government’s attitude and approach towards Muslims, especially if they belong to an economically backward section. The demolition is a clear act of instant punishment for the Muslim man, even as allegations of ‘stone peling’ at a mob, as communal clashed broke out in the Ujjain neighbourhood, are yet to be investigated.
The visuals of a JCB claw ripping down the dwelling, which just seems like a brick and mortar shanty, is also perhaps a strong message to the entire community, that any attempts to dissent, resist communal slurs and attacks, will be dealt with strongly by the state powers. The state’s Home Minister, to who the state Police also reports had confidently issued the ‘warning’ in response to media’s questions on the demolition drive being carried out in Ujjain at the Muslim home.
According to an extensive report in the Indian Express, it was the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), which allegedly raised provocative slogans while it marched through Begum Bagh area, which then resulted in the alleged stone pelting. This set the Ujjain district administration to launch its demolition action in the Muslim-dominated locality on December 26. The victim was one Abdul Rafeeq, whose house was razed, and his 19 member family rendered homeless.
The family is reported to have found temporary shelter in one room of the home of their neighbour Meera Bai, a Hindu. She bravely agrees that the police had no reason to pull down Rafeeq’s two-storey home. He’s a daily wager, who took over 35 years to build the house, on the small plot allotted to him by the government. It took the powerful machine, powered by the state administration less than 35 minutes to pull it down to rubble.
According to the IE, Rafeeq says the “police were looking for two women, identified as Heena and Yasmeen,” as they were allegedly seen on video pelting stones at the BJYM rally “from Meera’s roof on December 25”. However the cops “realised Meera was a Hindu,”, and turned on Rafeeq’s house next door. His family, including 10 children, were left homeless in a matter of minutes.
The IE stated that Meera accepts that Heena, her tenant, was seen hurling stones, but added that the woman “fled” that night itself. Meera begged the authorities not to raze her house when they came the next day. She recalled that they then left her home and went to her neighbours, “Mere ghar se nikle toh udhar ghus gaye (They left my house only to enter that one).”
Yasmeen, a mother of two who also works as a daily wager, was been arrested and charged with attempt to murder. Seventeen others have been booked, 10 of them under the stringent NSA, reported the IE. According to news reports, three FIRs have been registered — by Abdul Shakir, a resident of Begum Bagh; by the BJYM’s Navdeep Singh Raghuvanshi; and by a trust of the nearby Bharat Mata Temple, however, the police say they have evidence only against residents of Begum Bagh so far.
District Collector Asheesh Singh, has said the demolition drive was meant to hurt “criminals who resort to such acts of stone-pelting” economically. He added that while Heena and Yasmeen were indeed pelting stones from Meera’s terrace, Yasmeen lived at Rafeeq’s house, reported IE. When asked why no action had been taken on the complaint against the BJYM, the DC said, “The residents claimed that the clashes erupted as those in the rally hurled abuses and chanted offensive slogans, but they have not been able to come up with any concrete evidence. We are ready to take action if any video proving it is brought to our notice.”
On its part, the state government has claimed that this “major action was taken against the land mafia in the entire state” against “illegal encroachment on government land”
पूरे प्रदेश में भू-माफियाओं के खिलाफ बड़ी कार्रवाई की गई। इंदौर, सीहोर, ग्वालियर, जबलपुर, उज्जैन, सतना समेत कई जिलों में शासकीय जमीनों पर से अवैध अतिक्रमण हटाकर करोड़ों की भूमि मुक्त कराई गई।#MafiaMuktMP#CMMadhyaPradeshpic.twitter.com/v6POfT0q2b
However, Rafeeq has clearly stated that his house stood on a small plot he was allotted by the government itself. Meanwhile, the police has booked nearly 100 people in two districts of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday after communal tensions flared up a day ago following two separate attempts by Hindutva groups to damage Muslim shrines. Prohibitory orders have also been invoked in the affected areas. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Madhya Pradesh police have claimed that “no damage was done to the shrine” adding that “96 people were booked across two districts and 28 arrested.” Mandsaur superintendent of police Siddharth Chaudhary was quoted, “there was no damage to the shrine. The police immediately swung into action and removed those who were atop the shrine,” Four FIRs for alleged desecration of a religious place and alleged vandalism were lodged, two separate FIRs were lodged by “Hindu groups against Muslims, alleging they were abused and attacked”
The lawlessness in the State calls for accountability from both the police and the Home Minister. With no thorough investigation of the alleged stone pelting at the mob and instant demolition, the police have grossly violated section 23 (prevention of commission of offence and public nuisance and failure to collect information affecting public peace) of the Indian Police Act, 1894.
The Police have also arbitrarily acted by taking swift action against Rafeeq and his entire family leaving them homeless but not looking into the BJYM’s march that allegedly raised provocative slogans through the area of Begum Bagh. Section 31 of the Police act mandates the men in uniform to maintain order on public roads, streets during any kind of procession but it failed to do so. The police’s inaction during the BYJM’s march also attracts sections 129 (failure to disperse an unlaw assembly likely to affect public tranquillity) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Madhya Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 also provides one-month time to the owner of the property before the Commissioner can issue a demolition notice under section 309 (4) of the Act. But this prerequisite was not followed before pulling down Rafeeq’s house.
In the vandalism and communal unrest reported from rural Indore, eight people were said to be injured during stone pelting. The ”jan jagran rally” was taken out by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) but it is not known yet if they had police permission, and if they were allowed to raise slogans they reportedly did when they passed through the Chandan Khedi village. The Police have confirmed that “some people climbed a Muslim shrine in nearby Gautampura and attempted to damage a part of the structure” they were removed by the police but “an FIR was lodged against unknown people under section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).” It is not clear why the FIR does not name miscreants if they had been physically removed by the police themselves. Did the men who allegedly attempted to vandalise and desecrate a place of worship run away from an area that was under strict police’s watch?
Reiterating that “There was no damage to the shrine as police acted swiftly. During violence a motorbike was set afire and a man sustained injuries in a firing incident,” Indore superintendent of police Mahesh Chand Jain, told media persons.
As MP’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra had said, “Jahan se patthar aayenge, wahin se toh nikaale jayenge (They will have to be removed from where the stones came)” such state backed “instant punishment” is likely to add to the communal fires flaring up Madhya Pradesh.
Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Dr. BR Sarangi of the Orissa High Court have observed that there is no justifiable reason for industrialisation at the cost of a healthy ecosystem.
The Bench said, “No doubt, industrialization is required for enhancement of revenue, but that does not mean at the cost of the lives of human beings by destroying ecosystems.”
The court was hearing a petition of New Light Yubak Sangha, a club established for the purpose of development of the poor, unemployed and downtrodden. The petition sought directions to initiate an inquiry on the basis of the grievance made by the villagers of Sodamal. The Club further sought cancellation of the notification through which eight acres of forest land in Sodamal village was allotted to a Waste Management Firm by the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO).
The land in question, was handed over to IDCO on a lease basis, and IDCO handed over the same to opposite party no.8 (Mahanadi Waste Management Services) for setting up of the industry by allotting the area measuring Ac.8.00 decimals for the project.
After the allotment notification, the local people, who belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities immediately put their grievance before the Collector and District Magistrate, Jharsuguda. The petitioner club also took steps for the local people for their welfare and protection which resulted in cancellation of the handing over of land to IDCO. But, again in the year 2019, Tahasildar, Kolabira published a notification that the land in question, which is jungle kisam, would be handed over to IDCO on lease basis.
In the wake of this, the petitioner stated that if an industry would be set up on the land in question, there would be destruction of the ecosystem by felling down the trees at the cost of livelihood of the local people and it would be in gross violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
After hearing the parties, the court noted, “The steps taken by opposite party no.8 at the cost of local people is serious one, thereby as has been stated earlier if the lease was allotted in the year 2011 and 2015 and the said proposal was cancelled, subsequently there was no valid justifiable reason to set up the industry by opposite party no.8 in the said land by destroying the ecosystem without hearing the grievance of the local people.”
The court further opined, “Equity has to be maintained between industrialization and the ecosystem itself. Unless there is equilibrium between the two systems, the ultimate result will be devastated.”
Finally, the court directed the Collector and District Magistrate, Jharsuguda to consider the representation made by the petitioner that was already pending for consideration before them. It also ordered them to pass a “reasoned and speaking order” by affording opportunity of hearing to the petitioner vis-à-vis opposite party no.8 and other affected persons, if any, as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of three months before setting up of the unit of opposite party no.8 in the locality.
Year 2020 ends on a positive note for the farmers’ struggle following progress in negotiations between farmer leaders and the central government on December 30, 2020.
The four agenda points put forward by farmers are as follows:
1. Modalities to be adopted to repeal the three agricultural laws
2. Procedure and provision for legal guarantee, procurement of profitable MSP for farmers and agricultural commodities
3. Amendments to the “Commission Ordinance for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and adjoining areas, 2020” to exclude farmers from the penal provisions
4. Procedure for withdrawal of draft ‘Electricity Amendment Bill 2020’ to protect farmers
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar agreed to accept the two smaller demands of farmers regarding rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning. However, the primary demand regarding the three anti-farmer-dubbed laws and the legal rights to Minimum Support Price.
After the five-hour meeting at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, farmers leaders Yogendra Yadav from Shahjahanpur border and Kavitha Kuruganti assessed the progress during the talk.
Reversing a popular Hindi saying, Yadav said, “poonchh nikli hai, haathi abhi baaki hai” (the tail’s out, now to take out the elephant) implying that farmers would proceed cautiously until their demands regarding the three laws and MSP are satisfied.
Kuruganti, who was present at the talks said, “The Union Ministers immediately accepted the third and fourth agenda points. This is not surprising since the government had accepted these demands in their December 9 proposal as well.”
These demands effectively relieve farmers from heavy penalties like a fine of Rs. 1 crore or five years imprisonment. Similarly, farmers also reserved reservations relating to the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020 such as the suspension of cross subsidy and the effect of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) on farmers. Further, they pointed out that the Bill infringed on the state government’s constitutional space.
Kuruganti said the government accepted this demand as well. However, regarding the two major agenda points, the government asked farmers to come up with alternative solutions on January 4, 2021.
“The government acknowledged that farmers will not accept amendments but asked for alternatives. This has clearly become an issue of prestige. But farmers organisations say this is unnecessary since we are the largest number of workers and citizens and the government does not need to make this a prestige issue,” she said.
She further stated that Ministers seem to have acknowledged the growing strength of struggle and thus asked for alternatives although leaders already said there was no other option.
Regarding MSP, the government reiterated their written assurance but said that turning it into a legal right will have to be discussed due to financial implications. When farmers asked for an in-principle agreement regarding the issue, the government declined stating the issue needed to be discussed further.
Present Ministers also offered setting up a committee proposal regarding the matter, but farmers refused stating they have lost faith in committees.
When asked about the general tone of the meeting, Kuruganti said, “Meetings happen in a cordial setting but the intention to solve the issues especially relating to two main demands is missing.”
Nonetheless, as a show of respect for the meeting, Yadav announced that farmers have postponed the huge tractor march from Singhu border to Tikri border to Shahjahanpur border. Accordingly, these farmers have once again invited people living near protest points to gather with farmers to eat langar and usher in the New year.
On Wednesday, the Assam BJP formally inducted two expelled Congress leaders into its fold. Ajanta Neog and Rajdeep Goala, were both Congress Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) before being sacked earlier this year.
Neog is a four-time MLA from Goalghat and widow of slain Congress leader Nagen Neog who was killed by ULFA extremists in 1996. She enjoys tremendous clout in Upper Assam. She was also a close confidante of former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. Neog was expelled on Friday for alleged “anti-party” activities. This is because Neog had met with Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal and senior cabinet minister as well as North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma on December 18.
Goala is a two-time MLA from Lakhipur and son of Congress leader Dinesh Prasad Goala who holds tremendous sway in Barak Valley. He had been expelled by the Congress in October for six years.
On Saturday, both Neog and Goala met Amit Shah in Guwahati when he formally launched the BJP’s poll campaign in the state. On December 30, both of them along with Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) MLA Bolendra Mushahary were inducted in the BJP in presence of Himanta Biswa Sarma and Assam BKP president Ranjit Kumar Das.
Interestingly, now that Congress has expelled Neog, its tally in the state assembly is down to 20, which is one short of what is required to be considered the main Opposition party. There is more turmoil in the Assam Congress.
On Monday, The Telegraph reported that party members petitioned the central leadership to install a new party leader in the state. In a letter written reportedly in August, six Congress leaders, including three sitting MPs: Pradyut Bordoloi, Ranee Narah, Abdul Khaleque, as well as Congress legislature party leader Debabrata Saikia and AICC secretaries: Bhupen Kumar Borah and Rana Goswami, wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanding the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ripun Bora be replaced.
As per The Telegraph, Bora’s ouster is reportedly being sought due to his alleged unwillingness to hold detailed discussions with the wider team before stitching together a hasty alliance with Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIDUF). He is also an accused in the murder of tea-tribe leader Daniel Topno. Though Bora was acquitted by a lower court, the CBI is contesting his acquittal.
The 126 member Assam state assembly is all set to go to polls in March-April 2021. At present the BJP has 60 MLAs, while its ally the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has 14.
The Supreme Court Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Aniruddha Bose has extended the time to surrender for prisoners in Chhattisgarh who were released on interim bail or parole as per the directions of the High-Powered Committee to decongest prisons during the pandemic.
The Bench was listening to a Special Leave petition filed by an aggrieved prisoner challenging the order of the Chhattisgarh High Court that refused to extend the time beyond December 31.
The petitioner was represented by Senior Advocate Dr. Colin Gonsalves, Ankita Wilson, Harini Raghupathy and Satya Mitra (AOR).
The Court extended the time to surrender till January 6, 2021 or until further orders of the court. “Issue notice, returnable on 05.01.2021 (January 5) before the appropriate Bench. Time to surrender is extended till 06.01.2021 (January 6) or until further orders of this Court”, it noted.
According to LiveLaw, on September 30, the Chhattisgarh High Court directed that the 5,500 prisoners who were given interim bail/parole as per the recommendations of the HPC should surrender by December 1. A group of prisoners sought an extension of time to surrender citing the rising cases of COVID19 in the state.
The High Court of Chhattisgarh, on December 1, observed that further extension of interim bail or parole was not necessary as courts have started physical hearings. Therefore, the High Court observed that the parties can approach the appropriate court by way of appropriate proceedings seeking extension of time to surrender. However, the Court granted a “breathing time” of one month for the prisoners to enable them to file such applications before the concerned courts.
Chief Justice PR Ramachandra Menon and Justice Parth Prateem Sahu had noted, “We do not find necessary to continue the extension of the interim order anymore, except for giving breathing time by a further period of one month from today so as to facilitate all the parties concerned move the appropriate Court/forum by way of appropriate proceedings.”
In lieu of this extended time, the petitioner filed an urgent application for listing the petition seeking extension. But on December 21, the request for urgent listing of the application before the appropriate bench was turned down.
Thereafter, he filed a fresh Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court contending that there was overcrowding in Chhattisgarh prisons by 150% and without making conscious efforts to decongest prisons, the High Court committed a “paramount mistake” by ordering the surrender of released prisoners by December 31, as reported by LiveLaw.
It began in 2014-15 with the government trying to impose December 25 as “Good Governance Day” and cancel the public holiday for Christmas. The uproar and criticism pushed back this attempt that was begun ostensibly to mark the birth date of former Prime Minister of India and RSS member, Atal Behari Vajpayee (December 25, 1924).
Incidentally, Mohammad Ali Jinnah also shares this birth date (December 25, 1876). The founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), K. B. Hedgewar was born on April 1, 1889. The date is also celebrated world over as All Fool’s Day. So far, however no attempts have been made to transform that date.
This year, 2020, there have been renewed attempts at this super-imposition with extra emphasis given on December 25 as ‘Tulsi & Geeta day’.There is absolutely no problem if people celebrate their varied beliefs. But when activists sworn to the supremacist Hindutva ideology that see India as a militarised and theocratic nation, start going to Mosques and Churches and gifting copies of the Bhagvat Geeta and Tulsi plants, there certainly is a problem. Minorities in India, who are already under threat of violence and constant intimidation under the present regime do not have the free choice to refuse such ‘gifts’, which are not given in friendship but as a systemic policy of imposing Hindutva over Christianity. Also, imagine if the Tulsi plant does not survive in the church or in the mosques, the minorities will be blamed for not respecting Tulsi.The plant is not seen as a medicinal plant, but as a Devi (Goddess Tulsi), so not caring for the ‘Goddess’ might invite an attack on minorities. Holy Tulsi is all set to become the next Holy Cow.
This trend to try and super-impose ‘Good Governance’ or ‘Tulsi Diwas’ on Christmas –even the concept of celebrating Parents’ Worship Day, known as Matru Pitru Poojan Diwas (मातृ–पितृपूजनदिवस) on Valentine’s day was led by none less than Asaram Bapu who is today in jail on allegations of rape against a minor disciple.
Check out this year’s tweets and Facebook posts on Tulsi Pujan Divas and Bhagvad Geeta Jayanti. There are many anti-Christian hate comments also posted using the same hashtags.
These are very easy to search look for the following hashtags: #TulsiPujanDiwas #GitaJayanti2020 #GitaJayanti #तुलसी_पूजन_दिवस #भगवत_गीता #भगवत_गीता_जयंती #CelebrateVedicFestivals
And here are some links showcasing the Saffron agenda on Facebook:
The official appeal of Asaram Bapu’s Ashram is available on Youtube, which clearly says that on December 25, the people celebrate western festival, dance and party. We should instead celebrate Tulsi Divas.
These were clearly all concerted attempts to undermine the Christian festival. Thousands of posters condemning Christmas and promoting Tulsi can be seen on social media, these are posted by the BJP IT cell members.Now BJP appears to be officially promoting it and involving officials from the government administration.
The union minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Renuka Singh, has praised the work by the Asaram’s organisation (Lok Kalyan Setu) and issued a letter on her letterhead, praising the effort of celebrating Matru-Pitru-Pujan-Divas on Valentine’s Day:
Facebook post by Kapil Mishra (BJP member and the accused of Delhi Communal Violence) explaining the importance of Tulsi Pujan Divas on December 25:
BJP’s Lok Sabha Member Ram Kripal Yadav has posted with BJP’s logo on his verified FB account
This year’s Gita Mahotsav event coincided with Christmas, so the social media included Gita Jayanti along with Tulsi Pujan Day. It is interesting to note that the Gita Jayanti was not celebrated with so much passion as it is flooded on the social media, just because there it was Christmas. There are efforts by religiously and politically bigoted leaders and governments to erase the cultural history of Minorities. Declaring Christmas as “Good Governance Day” is the BJP government’s attempt to spoil Christmas festivities.
Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi has talked about how the government is undermining the importance of Christmas by making it a working day as Good Governance day, in this TV debate.
Syncretic Traditions, beyond religious boundaries
The festivities around Durga Puja, Navratri, Ganapati Festival, Christmas, Eid and Navrozetc. are beyond religious boundaries, these are cultural heritage that unites people and for the unity in diversity we must respect and preserve these invaluable bonding that are the identity of our Indian subcontinent.
What did Swami Vivekananda say about Christmas? How Ramakrishna Mission celebrates Christmas
Once, after meditating for a long time, Swami Vivekananda opened his eyes and spoke about the extraordinary life of sacrifice of Jesus Christ and exhorted his brother monks to take up the vows of renunciation and service keeping fire as witness. The next morning, they realised that the previous evening was the sacred Christmas Eve. Read more here:
Which is why one violent wing of the supremacists, Bajrang Dal, in Assam attacked the Ramkrishna Mission for celebrating Christmas. Ramakrishna Mission has a long tradition of celebrating Christmas and worshipping Jesus Christ. Portraits of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary are placed next to the idol of Sri Ramakrishna and Mother Sarada and cakes are decorated the same way every year to mark the birth of Jesus.No religious/ non-religious organisation has ever questioned this belief but this year seems to serve as an exception. In a first, the doors of every church in the city of Silchar, Assam were closed on Christmas eve with Police and CRPF deployed inside in anticipation of violence by Bajrang Dal, as reported by the media.
According to reports, the Shillong Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Cultural Centre was also locked down by Khasi Student Union Members in Meghalaya. Once this news spread, the Bajrang Dal intimidated a Hindu family saying that if their children went to the church for Christmas celebrations, stern action would be taken. The Bajrang Dal had started threatening Hindu’s from visiting the church to celebrate Christmas in early December itself. In addition to this nuisance, this right-wing outfit went a step ahead and protested Christian prayers in Hailakandi Ramakrishna Mission in Assam.
Meanwhile, the world is realising the importance of shared cultural history and preserving these in the interests of peace and harmony on the planet. In 2010, the “International Day of Nowruz” was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/64/253. This Resolution welcomes the efforts of Member States where Nowruz is celebrated to preserve and develop the culture and traditions related to Nowruz, and encourages Member States to make efforts to raise awareness about Nowruz and to organise annual events in commemoration of this festivity.
Why must the festivities and culture be respected and preserved? It is well explained by the Director General of UNESCO while talking about Navroz, this value and logic applies to every culture and tradition (that does not violate rights). “The festival of Nowruz unites the individuals and peoples of the 12 countries that together nominated the festival for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity to celebrate values of sharing and harmony.”Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Day of Nowruz
Following Saudi Arabia’s path
A similar supremacist ideology of ‘erasing’ minority festivals and history has destroyed the cultural heritage of Arab world. Saudi Arabia did exactly the same thing with Muharram, by inventing and imposing new festivals on Muharram & Ashura to undermine the Shiite tradition commemoration, they have also banned their traditional Navroz celebrations because it has Zoroastrian origins.
Other examples of erasing cultural history in the Arab World Achaemenid Empire in the time of Darius and Xerxes
At its height, the Achaemenid Empire ruled over 44 percent of the world’s population, the highest figure for any empire in history. Therefore, traces of Achaemenid culture are still visible in Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, Africa and in Europe.
Navroz is one such festival that still exists and UNESCO has recognised this as an important festival that unites several nationalities.After the fall of Ottoman Empire and the creation of Saudi Arabia, the first thing the religious fanatics did was to ban and stop all festivals that did not suit their political agenda. And the Navroz celebration stopped by looking down upon as “those who celebrate Navroz are children of Magi” (I see this as the hateful rhetoric against the Muslims in India “the children of Babur”)The term ‘Magi’ implies Zoroastrianism — natively known as Mazdayasna, which is one of the world’s ancient religions prevailing in Iran and other Persian lands in the pre-Islamic era.
Similarly the Saudi Arabian Government started many festivals that were never heard of earlier, exactly on the day of Ashura (10th day of Muharram month in Islamic calendar) Ashura has been a day of commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussain and his companions in Karbala. This day was observed as an important day by most of the Muslims and specially by the Shiite minorities in Saudi Arabia.
One can find very active propaganda by the Saudi media on social media against the Mourning and remembrance of Karbala during Muharram. Read more here: https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/518237
The idea behind such campaigns is to undermine the existence of Minorities and their culture. Now the present Day Saudi Arabia which has the most diverse and rich cultural history, has become a country of one Kingdom, one religion and of one specific sect. Such erasing of culture is a loss to human civilization and its cultural history.
New festivals started by the BJP
In 2016, the Haryana Government started the first-ever International Gita Mahotsav, celebrating Bhagvad Gita. Gita Mahotsav is an event centred around the Bhagvad Gita, celebrated on the Shukla Ekadashi, the 11th day of the waxing moon of the Margashirsha (Agrahayan) month of the Hindu calendar. It is believed the Bhagvad Gita was revealed to Arjuna by Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra (in present-day Haryana). Read more here: https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/first-ever-international-gita-mahotsav-in-haryana-116112600590_1.html
Why this kind of appropriation not be done to a Muslim festival?
Muslim festivals follow Lunar calendar and every year the date changes, therefore, fixing a festival on Eid, Baqridor Muharram is not possible. Christmas and Valentine’s Day fall on a particular date, therefore it is easy to target them by imposing another festival or birthday on someone.
Social media influencers have made careers and money, telling hipsters about fashion trends, delicious food, given travel goals, even fuelled social causes. Yet, there is a band of such ‘influencers’ who have found their second calling spewing hate, whose ideas should be put in the dustbin of hate, in random order.
1: Kangana Ranaut (Actor)
She states her Twitter bio thus: Artist, Recipient of Padmashri, Three national awards winner, highest grossing female centric films, Budding Filmmaker, Wannabe environmentalist. Ranaut should probably add Right Wing spokesperson, commenter on everything to the list. After hunting film industry colleagues, she’s been busy spreading fake news about the farmers’ protest, alleging ‘terrorists had begun participating’ in it, calling it politically motivated. Ranaut’s favourites to abuse are the old women farmers, and Bilquis Bano of Shaheen Bagh. When corrected by popular artists such as Diljit Dosanj, she chose her overused ‘woman bhakt’ victim card. She is in a cheerful mood at the moment and has wished “Merry Christmas to only those who don’t do selective activism only around Hindu festivals” and “Good morning to only those who love Akhand Bharat and don’t want it to break in pieces…” The silver lining is that she has moved on from being a wooden horse riding ‘warrior’.
2: Vivek Agnihotri (Filmmaker)
The man at least has never pretended he was not right-wing. Vivek Agnihotri, who laughed at a man speaking in English at the farmers’ protest, was one of the first right-wing social media team to fuel the trope that ‘real’ farmers must look poor, be illiterate, speak only one native language. He is often given a sharp lesson by social media users. He also deleted his old, extremely problematic tweet, where he made light of rape, “What makes Nano the safest car for women? There is simply no way to get gang-raped here,” the screen shots still exist to remind the world who he is. Agnihotri’s biggest achievement has been that he has reportedly claimed to have popularised the term “Urban Naxal”, he now calls himself a public intellectual, author, and filmmaker.
3: Payal Rohatgi (Actor)
She makes video monologues to spew communal hate, and share bizarre theories. She has been called out multiple times on social media for her Islamophobia, and has even had police complaints lodged against her for spreading fake theories about historical figures. Rohatgi’s favourite hobby is to spin strange theories about the Nehru-Gandhi family. On December 23, a complaint was filed against her in Mumbai, for allegedly posting communal tweets a few months ago. She had been regularly spreading hatred against Muslims, which was amplified online by her followers against the community. In June, she targeted anti-CAA activist Safoora Zargar, and actor Swara Bhaskar. A few weeks after that Rohatgi’s Twitter account was suspended. She is still ranting about it on Instagram, and has asked Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to intervene, indicating he/ government risked being ‘voted out of power’ if they did not support people like her on social media.
4. Pushpendra Kulshreshtha (ex-journalist)
A former Secretary General of the Press Club of India now seems to believe in communalising communication, via his YouTube channel “Public 24*7”. In November, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) approached the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) with a complaint against Kulshreshtha. The CJP complaint shows how Kulshreshtha has been using social media to make inflammatory speeches related to Islamic terror, rise of ‘anti-nationalism’, Kashmir, Popular Front of India, Student Islamic Movement of India, etc. The complaint also cites comments below his videos that suggest waging a civil war against Muslims and calling out Islamic Jihadis/Muslims as Hinduism’s biggest enemy. Kulshreshtha demonstrates entrenched hate towards Muslims, and believes that there is only one religion in the country, that is Hinduism (Sanathan Dharam) and that Islam is not a religion but an ideology to capture power. According to Kulshreshtha Hindus and Muslims cannot co-exist in India, and he blames the educated sections of the Muslim community who go ‘astray’ and join the ‘other side’.
5. Prashant Patel Umrao (Lawyer)
It has been years since practicing Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Patel Umrao demanded the massacre of Muslims and demolitions of Masjids on Twitter in 2013. The social media platform did nothing to shut Umrao’s account, and it has just grown in hate over the years. Most recently he posted that the “Attack on Jio towers must be seen as war against National Security. 5G is bigger than mobile connectivity. Ambani is great threat to Chinese 5G & for 5G China can do anything.” Most of his hate speech is allegedly aimed specifically at Muslims. Known to champion spinning fake news on Twitter, he was one of the right-wing team members who were active after the Tanishq Jewellery brand’s communal harmony advertisement. He reportedly shared an image of a “black empire” in India by allegedly putting a “burqa” on the Indian map that locates the brand’s stores.
6. Sajid Rashidi (President, All India Imam Association)
Rashidi is termed by many as a ‘stooge’ who is called on television debates where he makes absurd statements, giving right-wing members on the debate panel a chance to engage in Muslim bashing. He recently made a provocative statement after the foundation laying ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Mosque wasn’t built after demolishing the temple but now maybe the temple will be demolished to build a mosque,” Sajid Rashidi said. Rashidi’s inflammatory statement revealed the ugly face of communal politics. During the campaigns for Delhi elections he was said to have been a supporter of BJP.
He claims to be a ‘nationalist journalist’ and makes TV shows he claims are news, adding the word ‘jihad’ wherever he can. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had cautioned Sudarshan News against the content of its ‘UPSC Jihad’ show and said that in case of any further violation stricter action would be taken. The MIB filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court about the outcome of the show cause notice issued to Sudarshan News with regards to the show. The Ministry took cognisance of the several complaints received by it against the telecast and noted that the ‘UPSC Jihad’ show was offensive, and promoted communal attitude. Suresh Chavhanke, the Editor-in-Chief of Sudarshan had asked “How has there been a sudden rise in the number of Muslims in IAS and IPS? What is the secret behind scoring high marks in such a difficult exam? If Jihadis of Jamia become your Collectors and Chief Secretaries, what will happen then?”
8. Amish Devgan (News 18 India anchor)
Devgan is known to be a serial hate offender, who likes to talk Hindutva at all times. For example, on June 15, 2020, his primetime show Aar Paar was, “Barson baad Ayodhya ki aas hui poori, sant kahein Kashi-Mathura kyun rahe adhuri (Only years later the desire for the Ayodhya temple was fulfilled, why should the Kashi-Mathura temples be left behind, ask saints)?” He has had a police complaint filed against him for spreading fake news of Muslims offering namaaz at the Kurla Masjid in Mumbai amid the lockdown. He issued a 30-second apology to his viewers for that. Devgan had earlier while insinuating that the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protestors had a part to play in the Delhi communal riots.
9. Major General GD Bakshi (Army veteran)
He has been a known face on TV ‘news’ debates. Most recently he has co-founded an outfit called ‘ Sanatan Sansad’, which he posted is to ‘raise Rashtriya chetna- National consciousness and revive Sanatana dharma values’. Major General Bakshi has also spoken on ‘Saraswati civilisation’ at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, where his recourse to the word ‘bloody’ is said to have a frequency that was baffling and jarring. His abuse and insinuations were hurled primarily against his invisible antagonist, Romila Thapar, professor emerita at the Centre for Historical Studies. His abuse is also aimed at those he calls “the army of leftist historians.” His ‘speeches’ praising and defending divisive right-wing ideology always make for loud TV ‘debates’, where he remains a favourite guest.
10. Garv se kaho hum hindu hai – Hindu jago, Facebook page
Its name translates as ‘Say it with pride, I am a Hindu – Wake up Hindus!’, the admin keeps posting old inciteful and provocative speeches delivered by former Hindutva leaders such as Balasaheb Thackeray in a bid to dig out old wounds or to provoke anti-Muslim sentiments by reminding people of communal incidents of the past. This page, with over 18,000 followers is one of the many such pages that starkly reflect prevalent fascism and the idea of a Hindu nation. Such Facebook pages are kept active by the several right wing organisations that have mushroomed throughout the country. They keep propagating hatred and inciting Hindus by giving them a sense of being victimised at the hands of minorities such as the Muslim community in order to feed into their political, communal agenda. A Wall Street Journal report showed how often Facebook turned a blind eye to controversial hate speech by BJP to remain in the party’s good books.
11. Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi (Tablighi Jamaat leader)
With the release of Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) members by a Delhi court, those who wrongly blamed them for the Covid-19 spread, and then used it to add to increasing hatred against all Muslims must apologise. The Jammat’s head Maulana Saad also must be called out for his putrid speeches. His words added to the vilification of his own congregation, and he has gone scot free while scores of members were detained, arrested, and continue to suffer the consequences. The jailed and quarantined followers were abandoned by Tablighi Jamaat chief, who himself stayed at a ‘safe location’. Ignoring all advice, including that from Muslim intellectuals, leaders and clerics, Maulana Saad, was adamant that programmes continue as scheduled. His attitude resulted in endangering the community. While he has claimed to be in self isolation “on advice from doctors,” he added fuel to the fire by allegedly sending dangerous advice like, “even if some one dies after they come into a mosque. I say there is no better place to die.”
