The Historical Frame: Contesting sacred space

Sambhal is a Muslim-majority town (approx. 77.6%) in western Uttar Pradesh with historical and architectural significance. Sambhal is home to the Shahi Jama Masjid, one of only two surviving mosques built during Babur’s reign, with the other being in Panipat. The mosque stands as a rare surviving monument from the early Mughal era.  The town also holds significance in Hindu belief as the prophesied birthplace of Lord Kalki, the tenth avatar of Vishnu. While the mosque is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), right-wing groups claim it was built on the ruins of the “Hari Har Mandir”, allegedly demolished during the Mughal era. These claims rely on discredited 19th-century colonial accounts, particularly by ACL Carlleyle, whose report was rejected by the then ASI Director General, Sir Alexander Cunningham.

This confluence of history and myth set the stage for conflict, especially in a town that was once a stronghold of anti-CAA protests and continues to elect Muslim representatives like MP Zia Ur Rahman Barq, whose family has long resisted the majoritarian politics of the ruling party. Over the past few years, this mythical narrative has been aggressively revived. Mahant Rishiraj Giri, a petitioner in the present dispute, has said he wanted to file a case even before the Babri suit. The town has already been declared a potential “Kalki Dham” by BJP leaders, and PM Modi laid the foundation of a Kalki temple in 2024.

November 2024: A timeline of escalation

• November 19: A civil suit by eight petitioners is filed alleging the mosque was once a temple. Within hours, by 3:30 pm, the Sambhal civil court grants permission for a survey, waives the notice requirement, and appoints an advocate commissioner. By 7:00 pm, the survey was underway. The mosque committee was neither notified nor given a chance to be heard.
• November 22: Friday prayers occur under heavy police presence.
• November 23: Authorities begin preventive detention under Section 107/116 of the CrPC; 34 persons, including the father of MP Zia Ur Rahman Barq, are bound by peace bonds up to ₹10 lakh.
• November 24: A second survey is conducted without fresh court orders. Police are accompanied by PAC, RAF, and officials from multiple districts. This time, a video went viral showing members of the survey team chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, and a rumour spread that the mosque was being excavated. The ablution tank was drained, and water was seen seeping from the structure, fueling panic. A protest breaks out. Police respond with tear gas, lathis, and gunfire. Five Muslim men are killed.

Police Firing: Lethal force, denials, and eyewitnesses

According to Masjid Committee President Zafar Ali, the protest on November 24 was peaceful until CO Anuj Chaudhary responded to concerns with verbal abuse and an unprovoked lathi charge. he police, led by CO Anuj Chaudhary, responded with verbal abuse, a lathi charge, and then tear gas. As people began to flee, the police escalated, firing live ammunition.Tear gas followed, and then live rounds were fired. The crowd began to disperse, but police pursued them into lanes and homes. Eyewitnesses reported police using slurs, destroying property, and shooting indiscriminately.

Five Muslim men were killed, including a minor:

• Kamran (17), shot in the chest.
• Nasir, Abbas, Basim, and Nabeel—each with fatal injuries, many allegedly from police bullets.

Videos circulated showing police shouting “Goli chalao” (fire the gun), pelting stones, and dragging minors. Authorities denied using firearms but later admitted to firing “warning shots”. Zafar Ali, who openly accused the police, was detained and later arrested under serious charges.

Authorities claimed the protesters were armed and that police only fired in retaliation. Yet, no police injuries or gunshot wounds from “desi kattas” were documented. The families dispute the claim of crossfire and assert that their relatives were unarmed and shot from the front. (Detailed report may be read here.)

Suppression of victim families and testimonies

The families of the deceased report:

• Denial of postmortem reports.
• Being forced to sign blank papers or coerced to remove references to police in their complaints.
• Rapid burials under police pressure.
• Heavy surveillance at their homes, making it difficult to speak to outsiders or pursue legal recourse.

For example, Kamran’s family was called to identify his body, made to give thumbprints on documents, and forced to bury him amid a police convoy. Nasir’s mother said she saw two bullet wounds but received no documentation. Basim, before dying, told his family he was shot by police. The police allegedly forced them to rewrite their complaint, removing the word “police”.

The Legal Offences: Violating due process and the law

As per the report, the lower court’s order violated:

• Section 80(2) CPC: No genuine urgency justified bypassing notice to the mosque committee.
• Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991: This law bars alteration of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on 15 August 1947.
• Article 26 of the Constitution: Grants religious denominations autonomy over their places of worship.

Despite these clear violations, the Allahabad High Court later upheld the survey, and referred to the mosque as an “alleged masjid” even in a whitewashing plea. The Supreme Court has stayed proceedings but failed to undo the communal spectacle that the survey facilitated. (Detailed report may be read here.)

Myth-Making: Temple discoveries and state rituals

Shortly after the violence, local officials claimed to “discover” a hidden temple near the Shahi Jama Masjid. The structure was cleaned and declared sacred. District officials performed worship ceremonies, and a priest claimed the idol “smiled”. This triggered a wave of temple “discoveries”, 24 sites were surveyed by the ASI within weeks. Carbon dating was announced, and claims emerged that 56 temples and 19 sacred wells had been hidden by Muslims.

The government launched a spiritual tourism project titled “Kalki Nagri.” Plans were made to develop 87 religious sites and a 24-Kosi Parikrama Marg. Authorities, priests, and right-wing figures declared temple idols had been “discovered” at sites like wells and drains. In some cases, idols were immediately installed and worshipped. The state began institutionalising the narrative that Sambhal is a Hindu holy site under siege.

Muslim residents refuted these claims, saying these were existing sites in disrepair. As per the report, a local lawyer remarked: “They are digging up new temples every day. We fear they will come into our homes and dig one up there too.”

A new police chowki named “Satyavrat Chowki” was built outside the Shahi Jama Masjid using stones from the protest site. The chowki was inaugurated with Hindu rituals, including a havan and shlokas etched on its walls

Administrative Reprisals: Raids, Demolitions, and Surveillance

In the weeks after the firing:

• Mass detentions occurred. 83 people, including minors and Masjid Committee President Zafar Ali, were jailed. Over 160 bail pleas have been rejected. (Detailed report may be read here.)
• Zafar Ali, who publicly stated he saw police firing, was arrested on March 23, just before he was scheduled to testify before a judicial commission. He had not been named in any FIR prior. His arrest included disproportionate BNS charges, including those carrying life imprisonment or death penalty. Dormant cases from 2018 and 2021 were suddenly revived against him.
• Police launched electricity theft drives: 1440 cases were registered, mostly against Muslims, including 16 mosques and two madrasas. A total fine of ₹11 crores was imposed. MP Barq alone was fined ₹1.91 crores (Detailed report may be read here.)
• Encroachment demolitions began in Muslim areas. Some residents pre-emptively dismantled their own homes.
• The Janeta Sharif Dargah, previously a site of interfaith worship, was marked for probe, its clinic shut down, and its fair cancelled.
• Loudspeakers were removed from mosques.
• Police built a new outpost, engraved with Hindu shlokas, using stones allegedly “thrown by Muslims” on November 24.
• The administration questioned the Dargah’s Waqf status, and its land was bulldozed. This marked the first major Waqf land crackdown since the 2024 Amendment Act. (Detailed report may be read here.)

Surveillance and silencing of victims

Families of victims report constant police surveillance. The report recorded one mother stating that “They sit outside our house 24×7. You are lucky you met us while they were away.”

Many families, like those of Nasir, Abbas, and Nadia, reported being beaten, having property vandalised, and facing threats if they spoke to media or filed complaints. The DVRs of CCTV footage were seized. Police broke into homes and slapped women, dragged children, and refused to register complaints.

Constructing a new narrative: From victims to villains

The state and media spun a narrative portraying Muslims as aggressors:

• UP CM Adityanath claimed Muslims had turned mosques into “mini power stations”.
• He invoked a fabricated figure of 168 Hindu deaths in the 1978 Sambhal riots to justify crackdowns.
• Posters branding Muslims as “pathharbaaz” (stone pelters) were plastered across the town.
• The Kalki Dev Tirth Samiti was instituted to develop “religious tourism”, with 87 sites being prepared for Hindu pilgrimage.

The result is a manufactured transformation of Sambhal from a Muslim-majority town to a contested Hindu religious centre, without public debate, evidence, or consent.

Legal recommendations and civil society appeals

The report calls for:

• Independent investigation into police killings and torture.
• Immediate release of detainees without proper FIRs.
• Enforcement of the Places of Worship Act in both letter and spirit.
• Rebuilding trust through compensation and an end to bulldozer demolitions.
• Holding judicial commissions accountable for bias.
• A nationwide civil society campaign to reject communal myth-making and support Sambhal’s residents.

Conclusion: Sambhal as a “Template”

The report ends on a haunting note:

“Ultimately, the situation in Sambhal is not an isolated incident but part of a larger pattern of narrative construction that seeks to redefine the Muslim community as a problem to be managed rather than a population deserving of rights and protection. As such, it calls for a reevaluation of how narratives are formed, disseminated, and challenged in the pursuit of justice and communal harmony, alongside a robust resistance to the forces that seek to communalize and polarize Indian society.”

Sambhal, the authors of the report warn, is not an aberration, rather it is a preview. If unchallenged, the Sambhal model will become the blueprint for future communal engineering. The report is a call to document, resist, and refuse—to protect the republic from turning against its own.

The complete report may be read here.

Related:

Sambhal Custodial Death: A systemic failure exposed

Supreme Court blocks execution of Nagar Palika’s order regarding well near Sambhal Mosque, prioritises peace and harmony

Uttar Pradesh’s new tactics for harassment: Electricity theft charges, strategic revival of temple, opening up of 1978 Sambhal communal riots cases

Sambhal Mosque, Ajmer Dargah: how deep do we plunge into the abyss?

Sambhal Violence: State crackdown intensifies, thousands accused, and allegations of police misconduct ignite a political and communal crisis in Uttar Pradesh

Sambhal’s darkest hour: 5 dead, scores injured in Mosque survey violence as UP police face allegations of excessive force

The post “Sambhal: Anatomy of an Engineered Crisis”- How a peaceful Muslim-majority town was turned into a site of manufactured communal conflict appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Targeted Violence in April and May

In the months of April and May, CJP documented 180 instances of targeted violence against Indian Muslims post the Pahalgam attack. Of these, 77 took place in April, and 103 in May. These spanned from outright cases of murder (3 specific instances, 3 victims) to nearly 99 cases of hate speech (made by politicians, proponents of Hindutva and other individuals and organisations with affiliations to the Hindu-right). The attacks spiked between April 23 and 25 (10, 12 and 18 cases respectively), following a near-steady course of events right through May. The following is a visualisation of this pattern of violence across the month.

Graph representing number of incidences of communal violence in relation to time

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These attacks were spread out across India, as demonstrated by this map – although they were majorly spatially concentrated in northern and central India – with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana being the 5 worst offenders – with 29, 28, 22, 21 and 10 instances respectively.

Pie-chart representing the percentage of targeted violence per-state

Many (at least 66 out of 180 incidents had the assailants referring to the Pahalgam attack or accusing the victims of allegiance to Pakistan, thus directly relating it to the same and the state’s narrativisation of the violence – thus bringing up the percentage to 36.66%. This does not obviously include incidents which did not have the perpetrators bringing up the attack or alluding some association to it, although, in most cases one can make the assumption that the spike in attacks is related to the perception of the attack) of these incidents were direct outcomes of the Pahalgam attack, with many of the perpetrators citing it as the reason for the same.

A chilling example would be the video of a man claiming responsibility for the killing of a young Muslim man, who was shot dead near a restaurant located on Shilpgram Road in Tajganj police station area, in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. The man in the video identifies himself as a member of ‘Kshatriya Gauraksha Dal’. “Bharat Mata ki saugandh, 26 ka badla agar 2,600 se na liya toh mei Bharat Mata ka putr nahi, Jai shri Ram, Jai Hindu Rashtra, Bharat Mata ki Jai”, the man is heard saying. The two men have knives and a pistol tucked inside their waist. Reacting to the viral video, Agra Police said, “Regarding the viral video on social media, it is to be informed that no organization named Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal is working in Agra.”

This recent spike in attacks on India’s religious minorities must be contextualized — there is an establishment of a “new normal”. This systemic violent targeting of India’s Muslims (and Christians) can be traced back to 2014, when a new avatar of the Bharatiya Janata Party assumed control at the centre. The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism writes, “Historically, communal riots often involved groups from two religious communities clashing, with both sides inflicting and suffering losses … However, in recent years, the nature of larger riots has shifted. Instead of clashes between two communities, many significant riots now involve state actions disproportionately targeting the Muslim community. These actions include using bulldozers to demolish properties owned by Muslims, causing significant economic damage. Additionally, the state has slapped cases and implicated the members of the Muslim community, even in instances where they are victims of violence during communal riots. The disproportionate and seemingly one-sided state action has led to social discord, communal consciousness, and polarization. This atmosphere of communal tension has been steadily intensifying over recent years. For instance, the Pew Research Center, a respected research institution, categorized India in 2022 as “very high” on its Social Hostilities Index (SHI), with a score of 9.3. Social hostilities index (SHI) factors in levels of religion-related harassment, mob violence, terrorism, militant activity, and conflicts over religious conversions or the use of religious symbols and attire.” This also tracks with the India Hate Lab report, which stated that there was a 74.4% surge in hate speech in 2024, driven by the BJP, Hindutva outfits, and unchecked social media amplification.

Media, politics, and the act of communalisation

India has noticed a growing entrenchment of the systematisation of communalism and ensuing violence over the last decade. However, this is not a singular event that has stemmed from uniquely specific factors. This is a product of the country’s long history of communal tensions and Hindutva outfits’ responsibility in stoking the fires in ensuring that said tensions evolve into deeper, more dangerous rifts whose brunt is borne by the Muslim civilians in the country. Tanika Sarkar, well-known intellectual and former professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University – who has written largely on Indian politics, society and religion, told DW, a global news TV program broadcast by German public state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). “What happens is that war does not immediately translate into violence at home but it translates into very bitter memories and histories and allegations. I don’t know how it is on the Pakistani side, I suppose very much the same thing … In the latest conflict in particular, India’s news channels did not help. Between May 8 and May 10, some of the most viewed channels reported sensational, unverified information which later turned out to be false. That, coupled with messages circulated on WhatsApp, created an environment of fear. This is a situation where you can’t believe or disbelieve anything. And in that situation if you are so minded, then you will start looking at every Muslim with suspicion … Even if these attacks aren’t the norm, they create a psyche of fear in the hearts of every Muslim who lives in India.” CJP has, in a sustained campaign, complained against such media outlets and is pursuing some of these cases with the NBDSA even now.

What Sarkar mentions needs to be highlighted, because Indian news media has attained a near vitriolic status when it comes to war-mongering and proselytizing Islamophobia. TV anchors called for “Israel-like final solutions” and repeatedly attempted to mobilize public opinion against a possible ceasefire. The attitude of the unprofessional conduct of entrenched electronic media channels was a subject matter of comment on international media. Political commentators trying to provide more nuanced takes on the situation at hand were silenced or side-lined. Nupur J. Sharma, editor of OpIndia, tweeted, ““Nobody cares. keep your candles. Keep your apples. Keep your shawls. Keep your Kashmiriyat. Stop the bloody drama,” in response to a candle march held by Kashmiris in condemnation of the attack.

Columnist and political researcher Asim Ali wrote for The Telegraph, “The function of the communally-coded messaging broadcast on news channels is not to ‘reflect’ the anger of the audience, as they claim. It is to create and sustain an angry, communal subject that identifies with the incendiary scripts and is conditioned to demand revenge on a shady ‘Muslim’ enemy as well as its political supporters. It is to reinforce the authority of the political executive even though it has failed to fulfil the substantive demands of the citizenry, now transformed into a passive Hindu audience with its exogenously- seeded communal demands.

Historical Context

Ali writes, “The foundational moment of the present regime can, arguably, be located in the 2002 Gujarat riots where this political experiment of constructing and exorcising a Muslim enemy had been carried out to fruition. That experiment culminated in the re-election of the Modi-led state government over thousands of dead bodies. We have already seen several reports of attacks on Kashmiri students by right-wing vigilantes from different states in the last few days.” Ali connecting Pahalgam to the Gujarat riots is very well-founded, because this chamber of violence is not neo-natal in its construction. It has been tried, tested and perfected over decades of institutionalizing codes of conduct of perpetuating harm towards the Islamic “other”.

To contextualize this further, one could look at the media coverage of the 2002 riots and the differences in its approach. In the Concerned Citizens Tribunal Report, Crimes Against Humanity released in November 2002, the Tribunal noted, “On February 28, the two largest circulation, multiple-edition Gujarati newspapers, Sandesh and  Gujarat Samachar, which are fairly dependent on the state government’s largesse, played up the unsubstantiated official version of there being a ‘foreign hand’ behind the Godhra tragedy. It was only 3-4 weeks later that reports rubbishing this theory began to appear in newspapers. But by that time, the damage had already been done. Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar have been playing a blatantly communal role since the BJP returned to power in Gujarat in 1998. The BJP government’s patronage of these dailies needs to be looked into carefully, so that they do not continue to act as mere government agents. In the recent carnage, too, the role of Sandesh was particularly mischievous, while some smaller circulation newspapers like Gujarat Today, Sadhbhav and Gujarat Mitra acted responsibly.”

A study done by Saifuddin Ahmed titled The Role of the Media during Communal Riots in India points out that national television media coverage of the riots had been “bold and independent” with journalists like Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt at Star News repeatedly condemning the victimisation of the Muslims in Gujarat during the riots. Print publications like The Times of India and The Indian Express carried headlines that highlighted the atrocities faced by the Muslim communities. This of course resulted in them receiving a lot of flak from the BJP administration in Gujarat and the centre. According to Ahmed, “The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, addressed the nation a day after the attacks, regretting the “disgraceful” violence. He later on added that the news media were presenting an “exaggerated” account of the situation in Gujarat. The BJP and the state government under Narendra Modi singled out STAR News and banned cable operators from showing the channel in the state. The viewers in Ahmedabad, one of the worst affected regions in the riots, were left with blank television screens, unaware of the reality happening on the streets. Cable operators received calls from local officials in Ahmedabad and other cities to completely blackout STAR News, Zee News, CNN and Aaj Tak. Dossiers and “hitlists” on journalists were reportedly prepared while the channels which dared to reveal the truth and were critical of the Chief Minister and his plan of actions were not invited to the press conferences and hence were denied the basic right to information by the state itself.”

One sees this model amplified in its worst possible form with – whose control is currently concentrated in the hands of corporate conglomerates with firm affiliations to the Indian state apparatus. This facilitation of the development of a monolithic opinion that centralizes hate is strengthened by the hostile crackdown on independent media outlets covering communal hatred and opposing the regime’s machinery. Over the course of the last month, the websites of multiple independent news media platforms such as that of The Wire, Maktoob Media, have been blocked by the government. One could also think of the temporarily blocking of the X account of Anuradha Bhasin, editor of Kashmir Times. In the last few years, the Indian government has zeroed down on completely dismantling press freedom by revoking non-profit status from independent news media outlets, routinely charging journalists with sedition and terrorism – and even monitoring them with the Israeli spyware, Pegasus. One must also remember, that several of the most powerful accused of the Gujarat riots have been released, and now roam free, having escaped through loopholes and intentional pardoning.

This however does not absolve less powerful or non-media actors of their role in furthering the bile of “revenge”. Al Jazeera found almost 20 songs that built on Hindutva-aligning sentiments that were meant to be incendiary. While H-Pop (Hindutva Pop) with a high degree of hate content has been a visible phenomenon over the past decade, Caravan and CJP have analysed these, Pahalgam gave this new hate music market a new focus and twist. All of these songs infiltrated into the timelines of Indian social media users, with outright calls for Hindus to identify the “traitors within the country”. At the same time, politicians and members of the Hindu right continued with the single focus agenda which is to lace every issue, every speech with its own peculiar dose of targeted hate.

According to our data, there were over 100 instances of hate speeches in the country. Here is an example, on May 5, in Bankura, West Bengal BJP MP Saumitra Khan, while submitting a memorandum demanding the deportation of alleged Pakistani nationals residing in the state, “urged Hindus to sell their land and houses only to fellow Hindus. He alleged that once their children move away and they pass away, Rohingyas would eventually occupy their homes”. In another instance, on May 4, BJP MLA Ravinder Singh Negi, “speaking at a religious event in a temple, claimed that Muslims train their children to become extremists in madrasas instead of providing them with proper education. He questioned why Hindus could not raise their children as extremists in temples. He also invoked the Pahalgam attack and dog-whistled for a boycott of those he described as ‘traitors’ within the country.”

One often sees politicians attributing the rise in communalism to the populace, rather than the multiple perpetrators of the same. Here, we could think of the concept of Astroturfing — which “is the deceptive practice of hiding the sponsors of an orchestrated message or organization (e.g., political, economic, advertising, religious, or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from, and is supported by, unsolicited grassroots participants.” This could simply be translated to this: it is a process where a top-down method of dissemination is falsely recognised or propagated as a bottom-up one. If we were to integrate this conceptual framework with what Nalin Mehta writes in Modi and the Camera: The Politics of Television in the 2002 Gujarat Riots — “For our purpose, John B. Thompson’s notion of ‘mediated communication’, where he taps into the hermeneutic tradition to postulate that individuals are not passive recipients of symbolic messages from the communication media, is also pertinent. Messages from the mass media are received in settings spatially and temporally remote from the original context of production and the recipient’s own assumptions and expectations regulate how they are interpreted and appropriated,” – we would understand why things are the way they happen to be.

Responses

The institutional / state response to most of these hate crimes have not been very appropriate, with an observable systemic apathy in the nature of action taken by the administration / police forces. Most Chief Ministers of the states in question have not addressed the rising  tensions within their respective states, instead focusing on urging for befitting replies and prices that need to be paid. The police have been no better, in most cases being entirely absent from the scenes of violence, in others being complicit in institutional violence.

Graph representing the response of police in respective cases of hate crimes

Out of 180 data entries that were made situations where it was
Unclear if there was a case filed: 135 cases
Institutional Violence: 7 cases
Appropriate / Immediate police action: 15 cases
Definitively no case filed: 6
Police took action that harmed the Muslim victim: 17 cases

Out of the 39 cases that had clear police involvement, 53% or 24 of those cases were ones where the police were complicit outright. The other thing to be mentioned here is in all the cases where we are dealing with unclear police involvement, we are unsure whether no case has been filed or whether attempts were made and then rejected.

The worst affected, however, have been Kashmiris and Kashmiri Muslims, in particular. Following the Pahalgam attack, surveillance has intensified in Kashmir. According to Kashmir Times, “In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, security forces have launched extensive operations across Kashmir, demolishing about a dozen houses using explosives and conducting widespread searches and detentions. At least 1500 people are said to have been detained. The demolitions have occurred in multiple districts including Pulwama, Shopian, Anantnag, Kupwara, and Bandipora”.  There have been multiple incidents of Kashmiri students being harassed in other states, creating an almost paranoid sense of hypervigilance among these individuals. Kashmiri businessmen have also found themselves in trouble, where selling their wares has become near-impossible within the current climate.

Mirza Waheed, writer born in Srinagar, Kashmir, wrote for The Guardian, “Kashmiris have never wanted to be a bone of contention between the two states; they have paid a staggeringly steep price for this 75-year relationship of attrition. Internally, Kashmir has never really been normal, despite the narrative push and despite the appearance of normality, scripted elsewhere and executed on the ground through a security-administrative complex. Underneath the quiet, there is growing resentment at what Kashmiris see as their incremental and cumulative dispossession and disempowerment, in the form of new domicile and land laws, and in the absence of any real representational politics. Human rights activists, journalists and politicians remain in jail under harsh anti-terror laws. Nobody is allowed to speak; surveillance is probably at its highest since the start of the armed insurgency in the late 1980s; a previously independent and robust press has almost entirely been forced into a supine, compliant role. Most accounts from Kashmir speak of suppressed anger at the growing powerlessness and the humiliating deprivation of agency. Many Kashmiris talk about dham, a quiet, bruising suffocation, with no space to breathe. That all this is fertile ground for militancy is hardly a surprise, whether local or Pakistan-sponsored.”

All seems to remain unwell, in the land of what has turned out to be the homeland of misdiagnosed glory and gore.

(The legal research team of CJP consists of lawyers and interns; this graphic visualisation report has been worked on by Saptaparma Samajdar)

Sources

1. https://m.thewire.in/article/media/communalisation-pahalgam-reinforcing-anti-muslim-sentiment
2. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/29/traitors-hate-filled-songs-target-indian-muslims-after-kashmir-attack
3. https://muslimmirror.com/right-wing-media-channels-peddle-anti-muslim-narratives-after-pahalgam-attack/
4. https://www.deccanherald.com/india/uttarakhand/uttarakhand-cm-condemns-terror-attack-in-jks-pahalgam-3505295
5. https://www.reuters.com/article/world/kashmir-domicile-law-raises-fears-of-losing-land-culture-idUSKCN24T007/
6. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/country-specialists/five-years-silence-and-struggle-kashmir
7. https://article-14.com/post/-what-did-i-do-after-pahalgam-attack-kashmiri-students-in-at-least-4-northern-states-face-intimidation-threats-isolation–680b16d1a8d53
8. https://www.thehindu.com/education/pahalgam-attack-casts-a-shadow-over-jammu-and-kashmir-students-outside-state/article69531760.ece
9. https://www.dw.com/en/india-pakistan-conflict-risks-deepening-religious-tensions/a-72529635
10. https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1080/00856400601031989
11. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/05/03/india-media-freedom-under-threat#:~:text=Amid%20growing%20restrictions%20on%20media,spyware%20Pegasus%20to%20target%20journalists.
12. https://cjp.org.in/role-of-the-media-how-hate-was-spread-in-2002-in-gujarat/

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This move by the temple authorities came directly on the heels of intense pressure and vocal demands from pro-right-wing organisations and even a local NCP MLA, all demanding for the removal of non-Hindu workers from the temple’s operations. A protest rally led by Ahmednagar (Ahilyanagar) NCP MLA Sangram Jagtap was also organised on June 14, 2025.

शनीशिंगणापूरमध्ये हिंदू समाजाच्या श्रद्धेचा घोर अपमान झाला.
११८ जिहादी मानसिकतेच्या लोकांना शुद्ध मंदिरात नोकऱ्या देण्याचा निर्णय हा हिंदू धर्म, परंपरा व श्रद्धेवर थेट घाला होता.
मी या निर्णयाविरोधात शनी भूमीत ठाम भूमिका घेतली. pic.twitter.com/et07OLYUUs

— MLA Sangram Jagtap (@sangrambhaiya) June 15, 2025

Following pressure from right-wing outfits, the Shani Shingnapur Temple Trust held internal meetings on June 8 and 14. Soon after these closed-door deliberations, the Trust issued dismissal orders for 167 workers, marking a significant and controversial move, as per a report in Maktoob Media.

While the temple management has vehemently denied any allegations of religious discrimination or bias, asserting that the decision was based purely on absenteeism and subpar work performance, the timing of these dismissals has raised significant concerns.

Occurring just days after the public outcries from Hindutva groups, the sequence of events has led many observers to question the true underlying motives behind the Trust’s actions. The stark contrast between the village’s open-door philosophy and the sudden closure of opportunities for Muslim workers at the temple presents a complex and troubling narrative.

Viral video showing Muslim workers doing work near the temple ignites controversy and demands for exclusion

The seeds of this controversy were sown in May, when a video clip rapidly gained traction across social media platforms. This footage depicted Muslim individuals engaged in painting and maintenance activities in the vicinity of the revered Shani Shingnapur temple. Almost immediately, the video became a flashpoint, drawing sharp criticism and objections from an array of right-wing organisations and leaders.

Their core demand was unequivocal–non-Hindus, they insisted, should be barred from working within the ‘sacred precincts of the shrine’. This chorus of demands quickly intensified, building considerable pressure on the temple administration.

११८ जिहाद्यांना शनी मंदिरात ठेवण्याचा प्रकार हिंदू धर्माचा अपमान आहे!
शुद्ध हिंदू मंदिरात अशुद्ध विचारांचा शिरकाव सहन केला जाणार नाही.
१४ जून २०२५, शनिवार | संध्याकाळी ४ वाजता
शनी शिंगणापूरमध्ये भव्य मोर्चा!

हजारो हिंदू बांधव उपस्थित राहणार आहेत – तुम्हीही या! pic.twitter.com/NUnVERBfhb

— MLA Sangram Jagtap (@sangrambhaiya) June 13, 2025

Notably, these terminations occurred without any prior public hearing or a formal, impartial investigation into the allegations or the workers’ performance. This abrupt action, coming on the heels of the viral video and the escalating demands, further fuelled the contentious narrative surrounding the temple’s employment practices.

Right-wing outfits earlier demanded the removal of the Muslim workers

The pro-right-wing organisations, including the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) and Sakal Hindu Samaj (SHS), led the campaign demanding the removal of Muslim workers from the Shani Shingnapur temple. These groups vehemently demanded the immediate removal of Muslim workers, expressing concerns about the sanctity of the temple and what they perceived as a disregard for Hindu sentiments.

Just a day before the dismissals, the HJS publicly called for immediate action. Through their official social media handle on X (formerly Twitter), the HJS stated, “Shocking! 114 Muslim workers deployed inside the sacred Shani Shingnapur temple; grill installed on holy platform, hurting Hindu sentiments. Demand for their immediate removal & strict action on officials who allowed this — @SG_HJS, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti. Govt urged to adopt Tirupati-like Hindu-only staff policy!”

Shocking ! 114 Muslim workers deployed inside the sacred Shani Shingnapur temple; grill installed on holy platform, hurting Hindu sentiments.

Demand for their immediate removal & strict action on officials who allowed this — @SG_HJS, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

Govt urged… pic.twitter.com/ig7FboLYRC

— HinduJagrutiOrg (@HinduJagrutiOrg) June 13, 2025

Similarly, the Sakal Hindu Samaj, an allied pro-right-wing outfit of the HJS, also voiced its concerns days before the removal decision. The outfit, through a social media post on X, directly appealed to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for immediate intervention, questioning the very sanctity of the temple with the presence of Muslim workers. Their post on X read:

“Shani Mandir Trust at Shani Shingnapur in #Ahilyanagar has given jobs to 118 Muslims. These heretics do not believe in #Hindu gods, how will they maintain the sanctity of this temple? Are we waiting for another #Tirupati laddu fiasco to happen or readying ourselves for opening of Mecca and Medina for non Muslims ? Especially since this temple comes under the control of the #Maharashtra government Request to @Dev_Fadnavis to take immediate action on this and maintain the sanctity of the temple.”

Shani Mandir Trust at Shani Shingnapur in #Ahilyanagar has given jobs to 118 Muslims.

These heretics do not believe in #Hindu gods, how will they maintain the sanctity of this temple?
Are we waiting for another #Tirupati laddu fiasco to happen or readying ourselves for opening… pic.twitter.com/BI8693rD6K

— Sakal Hindu Samaj (@sakal_hindu_) June 8, 2025

Right-wing outfits hail dismissals, call for similar review and action at other temples

Following the temple trust’s decision, right-wing outfits Sakal Hindu Samaj and Acharya Tushar Bhosale, chief of the BJP Spiritual Coordination Front, celebrated the move. Bhosale explicitly stated the dismissals were a direct result of pressure from a “grand march” organised by “the entire Hindu society” in protest of Muslim employees. He hailed it as a “victory of the unity of the entire Hindu society,” indicating a clear intent to influence temple employment practices based on religious identity.

Bhosale said that, “In protest of the appointment of Muslim employees at the Shani Shingnapur temple, all of us, under the leadership of the entire Hindu society, organized a grand march yesterday. But under the pressure of this march, the temple administration has announced that they are removing the Muslim employees from their jobs. I congratulate all the Shani devotees of the country and the entire Hindu society, because this is a victory of the unity of the entire Hindu society”

Nashik, Maharashtra: Out of the 167 employees removed from the Shani Shingnapur temple, 114 were from the Muslim community

BJP Spiritual Coordination Front chief Acharya Tushar Bhosale says, “In protest of the appointment of Muslim employees at the Shani Shingnapur temple, all… pic.twitter.com/yvAutINbp7

— IANS (@ians_india) June 13, 2025

Similarly, the Sakal Hindu Samaj commended the temple’s action. They framed the dismissals as a response to “anger in the Hindu community” over Muslim employees allegedly installing grills on a sacred platform.

#Shani_Shingnapur Temple removes 114 Muslim employees following public outrage over breach of sanctity.
Hindu Janajagruti Samiti welcomes the decision & urges similar reviews in other temples to ensure staff uphold #Hindu traditions. pic.twitter.com/fOxOkfP7IP

— HinduJagrutiOrg (@HinduJagrutiOrg) June 14, 2025

Beyond endorsing the Shingnapur decision, the Sakal Hindu Samaj, along with organisations like Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh, has now publicly demanded investigations into the appointments of “people of other religions” in other government-managed temples, urging their “immediate” removal.

शनि शिंगणापुर मंदिर से 114 मुस्लिम कर्मियों की छुट्टी, ‘बिंदास बोल’ की हुंकार और सकल हिंदू समाज के आंदोलन की जीत#shanishingnapur #Maharashtra #bindasbol #SanatanDharma @SureshChavhankehttps://t.co/C93edBHdDi pic.twitter.com/6xiQ965lI4

— Sudarshan News (@SudarshanNewsTV) June 14, 2025

Temple body denies religious bias, cites performance issues amid discrimination allegations

Amid mounting allegations of religious discrimination, temple officials at Shani Shingnapur have firmly denied that faith played any role in the mass dismissal of workers. They claim the decision was based purely on operational efficiency, pointing out that only around 900 of the 2,400 contracted workers were regularly reporting for duty, while the rest were allegedly underperforming or frequently absent.

However, the move has sparked controversy, as the majority of those dismissed were low-wage Muslim labourers engaged in essential but menial tasks—such as sweeping, tending to the cowshed, agricultural work, and performing routine administrative duties. Many of these workers were hired without formal employment contracts, leaving them vulnerable and without legal safeguards.

Critics argue that the lack of documented performance reviews and transparent processes raises serious questions about the fairness and intent behind the dismissals, especially in light of the preceding pressure from right-wing groups demanding the removal of Muslim staff.

114 Muslim employees dismissed from Shani Shingnapur temple, along with few others on grounds of indiscipline and irregularities. pic.twitter.com/zkCbqtKMeg

— Megh Updates (@MeghUpdates) June 13, 2025

Controversy not new to Shingnapur

Religious discrimination is not a first-time controversy for the Shingnapur. In September 2024, Shingnapur Gram Panchayat passed a controversial resolution barring the registration of new Muslim voters, specifically targeting “recently arrived” individuals. Justified under claims of preventing “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants,” the move demanded the removal of existing Muslim names from electoral rolls. Civil rights groups condemned it as unconstitutional and sought legal action against the panchayat. Following widespread backlash, Sarpanch Rasika Patil issued a public apology, stating the resolution was misrepresented and no such action would be taken.

The gram panchayat of #Shingnapur village in #Maharashtra‘s #Kolhapur district passed a resolution on 5 September barring the registration of new #Muslim voters in electoral rolls. The panchayat’s decision, which specifically targets #Muslims ‘recently arrived’ in the village,… pic.twitter.com/EA2oinwi2A

— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) September 16, 2024

This incident followed an earlier resolution in August 2023, where the panchayat prohibited the allotment of village land for religious events—another decision widely criticised for targeting minority communities. Together, these actions suggest a troubling pattern of exclusion under the guise of administrative control.

Related:

The Right to Worship my God

Faith Knows No Religion: Banke Bihari Temple again rejects boycott call against Muslim artisans and businesses

Harmony vs disharmony in 2 states: Kerala temple welcomes Muslims; MP temple fires Muslims

The post Right-wing outfits and NCP MLA’s protest led to dismissal of 114 Muslim workers at Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The post Police, Bajrang Dal and the Making of Anti-‘Love Jihad’ Squad in Madhya Pradesh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This action comes in the wake of two recent murders that sparked communal tensions in the coastal region. The externment measures are intended to restrict these individuals from entering designated areas for a specified period, thereby aiming to maintain public order and prevent further unrest.

The individuals in question are linked to multiple police station jurisdictions, including Bantwal, Vittal, Puttur Town and Rural, Kadaba, Sullia, Uppinangady, Punjalkatte, and Belthangady. The proceedings are being carried out under Section 55 of the Karnataka Police Act, which empowers the police to initiate preventive action against those deemed a threat to public peace and safety.

In the wake of recent communal killings in Dakshina Kannada, the police have barred 36 individuals, who belong to both communities and have troubled pasts, from entering the district under Section 55 of the Karnataka Police Act. This action is aimed at curbing unrest and… pic.twitter.com/Cxf7tKz2UU

— Ashish (@KP_Aashish) June 3, 2025

The list includes people from various parts of the district. They have been charged with assault, intimidation, extortion, and gang-related activities. The list comprises individuals aged between 22 and 54 from different parts of the district, all of whom have been booked for offences such as assault, intimidation, extortion, and involvement in gang-related activities.

Taking strict action to ensure peace in the region: Police

Arun K, Superintendent of Police, Dakshina Kannada, said, “We are taking strict action to ensure peace in the region. Externment is a preventive measure aimed at breaking the nexus of habitual offenders who pose a recurring threat to society” reported the Indian Express reported.

The police are in the process of serving notices, and hearings will be held in accordance with legal procedure before the orders are finalised, he said.

BJP Minister alleged Hindu leaders are being unfairly targeted under political pressure

Despite the list including individuals from both Hindu and Muslim communities, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has expressed concerns over what it alleges to be selective targeting. Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, Shobha Karandlaje, has written to the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority, Justice N.K. Sudhindra Rao, claiming that Hindu leaders are being unfairly singled out under political pressure.

The minister its letter asserted that the action appears biased and urged the authority to review the externment proceedings to ensure they are free from political influence and carried out in a fair and transparent manner.

Shocking reports from Dakshina Kannada reveal targeted harassment of pro-Hindu citizens by police allegedly acting under political pressure from the Congress-led govt. Midnight raids, illegal surveillance & blatant abuse of power are being used as tools of political vendetta.… pic.twitter.com/eKJm3wk85V

— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) June 3, 2025

She alleged that, “acting under political pressure from the Congress-led State Government, have been systematically targeting and harassing individuals associated with pro-Hindu organisations, social workers, traders, and even ordinary law-abiding civilians.”

Calling the situation “particularly alarming,” Karandlaje alleged that police officers have been visiting individuals’ homes late at night, photographing their residences, and recording GPS coordinates “without any legal warrants or just cause.”

She further added that these actions violate fundamental constitutional rights, including the right to privacy, the right to life under Article 21, and the right to equality under Article 14.

“This pattern of intimidation began shortly after the recent change in police leadership in Mangaluru,” she said, referencing the Karnataka government’s decision to transfer the Police Commissioner of Mangaluru city, along with the Superintendents of Police (SPs) of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, in the wake of recent communal incidents.

Police initiated legal proceedings to extern BJP leader Arun Kumar Puthila

Additionally, in Dakshina Kannada district, police have initiated legal steps to extern BJP leader and Puthila Parivara head Arun Kumar Puthila, citing concerns about his impact on law and order in the region. Earlier, a formal notice had been served, requiring him to appear for a hearing on June 6. If he fails to do so, officials may proceed with an ex parte order, as per a report in the Hindustan Times.

The action is also being taken under Section 55 of the Karnataka Police Act. An official familiar with the matter said there are plans to relocate Puthila to the jurisdiction of Shahabad police station in Kalaburagi district. The notice, issued by the Puttur assistant commissioner, mentions that Puthila can be represented either in person or through a legal representative. The move reportedly stems from his past record of delivering inflammatory speeches, as reported

FIR registered against senior RSS leader Prabhakar Bhat for delivering provocative speech

As part of ongoing preventive measures, Dakshina Kannada police registered an FIR on June 2 against senior RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, accusing him of delivering a provocative speech during a condolence meeting held on May 12 for Suhas Shetty—a Hindutva activist and rowdy-sheeter who was recently killed on May 1 on a busy street in Mangaluru. Shetty was a prominent pro-right-wing youth leader associated with Bajrang Dal in Karnataka’s coastal belt.

According to The News Minute, the FIR details several of Prabhakar Bhat’s remarks. He reportedly said, “We don’t accept the killing of cows. So many of our youngsters have risen against that. They’re not rowdies; they’re patriots. They protect dharma (religion).”

The Hindu reports that the event took place at Madwa Palace Convention Hall in Kavalapadur village, under the jurisdiction of the Bantwal Rural Police Station. Authorities claim Bhat’s remarks were inflammatory and could spark communal unrest. The case has been filed under relevant section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Interim relief for RSS leader after Hate Speech FIR

Just hours after the FIR for alleged hate speech was registered, RSS leader Prabhakar Bhat approached the Karnataka High Court, seeking to quash the case and halt further proceedings. In response, Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar granted interim relief, directing the police not to take any coercive action against him. The court also instructed Bhat to cooperate with the investigation and required the police to obtain judicial permission before filing a chargesheet.

Siddaramaiah government is anti-Hindu: BJP State President

Karnataka BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra launched a sharp attack on the Congress-led state government, accusing it of misusing the police force to target Hindu leaders for political gain. He alleged the administration was appeasing the Muslim community for electoral benefits while ignoring “anti-social elements.”

“In the coastal region, Hindu leaders and BJP workers are being deliberately harassed to intimidate Hindu activists,” Vijayendra said, claiming the state was silencing pro-Hindu voices and shielding others. He also criticised the swift transfer of senior police officers in Mangaluru following the murder of a Muslim truck driver, calling it a politically driven move.

“There’s a clear conspiracy to slap false cases on Hindu leaders and put them behind bars,” he added, denouncing FIRs and externment orders as “shameful attempts to stifle free speech.” He demanded the immediate withdrawal of all charges. “The FIR against more than 15 leaders of Hindu organisations, including Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat, must be cancelled, and the deportation order revoked. If not, the government alone will be responsible for the consequences,” he warned.

Commenting on the murder of right-wing leader Suhas Shetty, Vijayendra reiterated his stance, calling the Congress government “anti-Hindu” and alleging repeated attacks on Hindu activists. He said BJP leaders had appealed to Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot for a central probe, and the Ministry of Home Affairs had since handed the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

“BJP workers met the Governor and we demanded an investigation by the NIA, which the state government did not accept, but the Centre fortunately agreed to…” he stated in a report in the ANI.

BJP warns of agitation over alleged ‘targeting Hindu leaders’ in Dakshina Kannada

The BJP has warned of a protest against the Congress-led Karnataka government, accusing it of targeting Hindu leaders in Dakshina Kannada. This comes after an FIR was filed against RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat for alleged hate speech and an externment notice was issued to BJP leader Arun Kumar Puttila, as per the Hindu reports.

Dakshina Kannada MP Capt. Brijesh Chowta criticised the Siddaramaiah government for misusing state machinery to harass and divide Hindu voices, claiming it was a cover-up for its administrative failures. He said he had spoken to the state police chief and would meet top police officials in Mangaluru on Tuesday along with other party leaders.

Former Minister and Karkala MLA V. Sunil Kumar accused the government of trying to enforce a “police raj” in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, as reported

However, on June 3, BJP Dakshina Kannada district president Satish Kumpala also accused the Congress-led Karnataka government of misusing the police force to “mentally harass and demoralise Sangh Parivar activists by filing baseless cases against them” as per the report in the Hindu.

Speaking to the media after meeting City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy and Dakshina Kannada SP K. Arun—along with BJP MLAs and party leaders—Kumpala said the delegation had conveyed its strong displeasure over what they described as the police treating individuals associated with Hindu organisations as criminals.

Whether Hindu or Muslim, action will be taken only if someone breaks the law: Karnataka Home Minister

Responding to allegations of selective action, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara stated, “Whether Hindu or Muslim, action will be taken only if someone breaks the law. No one will be spared if they do something wrong.”

In a post on X, Parameshwara emphasised the government’s commitment to restoring peace and social harmony in the state, particularly in light of recent communal disturbances in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, and Shivamogga districts.

“We had promised to make Karnataka a garden of peace, and the people placed their trust in us,” he wrote. “Now, more than ever, there is a need to foster an environment of peace and unity.”

ಕರ್ನಾಟಕವನ್ನು ಸರ್ವಜನಾಂಗದ ಶಾಂತಿಯ ತೋಟವಾಗಿಸುವ ವಾಗ್ದಾನವನ್ನು ನಾಡಿನ ಜನತೆಗೆ ನಾವು ಚುನಾವಣಾ ಪೂರ್ವದಲ್ಲೇ ನೀಡಿದ್ದೆವು, ಅದರಂತೆ ಜನತೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮೇಲೆ ವಿಶ್ವಾಸವಿಟ್ಟು ಬಹುಮತದ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ರಚನೆಗೆ ಅವಕಾಶ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ರಾಜ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಶಾಂತಿ, ಸೌಹಾರ್ದತೆ ಮತ್ತು‌ ಸಾಮರಸ್ಯದ ವಾತಾವರಣವನ್ನು ನಿರ್ಮಾಣ ಮಾಡುವ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಎಂದಿಗಿಂತಲೂ ಈಗ… pic.twitter.com/JYtHiSZr8F

— DIPR Karnataka (@KarnatakaVarthe) May 30, 2025

He added that the government has taken serious note of incidents involving communal miscreants and has formed a special task force to address them. The force—carved out of the existing Naxal Suppression Unit—includes 248 personnel, led by a DGP and supported by officers across various ranks.

“Strict action will be taken against anyone who incites communal hatred, regardless of their religion or affiliation. The law will take its course,” he said.

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Rane in the Crosshairs: CJP demands authorities to Act now on BJP MLA’s alleged barrage of divisive rhetoric; three formal complaints lodged state-wide!

Waqf vs Holi Show: CJP asks Zee News to take down its divisive debate show over Waqf protest

The post Karnataka Police’s massive crackdown on habitual hate offenders in Dakshina Kannada region appeared first on SabrangIndia.

– George Elliot (English Novelist and Poet, 1819-1880)

Firdaus Alam alias Asjad Babu – age 24 years – is dead.

Details of this cold blooded killing have appeared in a section of the media and make chilling reading. (1)

Asjad – a native of a village in Kishenganj district of Bihar, married hardly 7 months back, worked as a tailor in Panipat, Haryana.That tragic evening, he was sitting with his friends including his brother Asad Raza in a playground when the accused approached him and started mocking him for wearing a skullcap.

None of the friends had any personal enmity with the accused Narendra alias “Susu Lala”.When confronted, he felt further agitated and attacked Asjad with a knife, inflicting serious fatal injuries.

Death of Asjad is no ordinary death.

It appears to be a hate crime.

Hate crime is a special crime where a person is targeted just because of hostility or prejudice towards that person’s colour, look, dress, which reveals the person’s community, religion or belief etc. One does not know whether the police or the law-and-order machinery would be ready to acknowledge this brutal murder as a hate crime (2) because that would entail stricter charges, which may be followed by stricter punishment.

What is even more disturbing, is to note that killings, like that of Asjad have become commonplace.

Merely a week back four people carrying buffalo meat in Aligarh were brutally attacked by a group of vigilantes, all Hindu youths, calling themselves Gorakshaks; but,they could be better termed as (protected?) criminals. (3) Few of the attackers have been arrested and police is searching for the rest. There are reports that these youths run an extortion racket from people engaged in this trade; and when these four people, who were engaged in this business with proper license, refused to pay the ransom, they were brutally attacked and left for dead.

One does not know if these self-proclaimed vigilantes, operating under the cover of Gau-Raksha politics, will transform into professional criminals, or revert to a normal law-abiding life.

Or how Gulfam, a biryani seller in Agra was killed point blank by one Manoj Chaudhary – who later claimed in a video that “Pahalgam has been avenged’. (4)

A cursory glance at the last decade of India’s democracy makes it clear how such attacks/ killings are increasingly getting normalized.

Perhaps the first such killing was that of a computer techie (2014) Mohsin Sheikh, who was killed by a mob allegedly belonging to Hindu Rashtra Sena , when he was returning home from his namaz. (5) Till date, there have been many ups and downs in the case. His father Sadiq Sheikh died waiting for justice in his son’s case.

Despite the controversial record of the Hindu Rashtra Sena in the police files, and even though the Maharashtra government had once contemplated banning the group, the high court judge – Mridula Bhatkar – granted bail to the three men accused of killing Mohsin Sheikh. (6) The order given by the judge is ‘remarkable’for its astounding logic and deserves to be read,

The applicants/accused otherwise had no other motive such as any personal enmity against the innocent deceased Mohsin. The fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favour of the applicants/accused. Moreover, the applicants/accused do not have criminal record, and it appears that in the name of the religion, they were provoked and have committed the murder. Under such circumstances, I allow the bail Applications.

In other words, if one kills someone out of personal enmity than that is worse than if someone is killed ‘merely’ on religious grounds. Those who kill in the name of religion should be – by Justice Bhatkar’s logic – given favourable treatment vis-à-vis other kinds of murder.

The Supreme Court observed that the high court ruling was ‘coloured with bias for or against a community’. It set aside the order of the Bombay High Court. But, thanks to the absence of any witness protection scheme, few of the key witnesses in the case turned hostile.And, after nine long years of legal battles,the result, however, went against the victim. All the accused in the case were allowed to go scot free after nine years of the legal battle, could be said to be an eyeopener in this case. (7)

Last one heard about the case that family members of IT Engineer Mohsin Sheikh plan to approach High Court after acquittal of all the 22 accused in the case. (8)

What happened in case of Junaid was not qualitatively different.

On 23 June 2017, Junaid (age 15) was in a festive mood, waiting to celebrate Eid with a lot of gaiety with his family. He was on a train from Delhi to Mathura. Some men on the train began to mock him and his friends for their religion. They tugged at their beards and accused them of being beef eaters. The train compartment was crowded. Then the men attacked Junaid and his friends viciously. None of the co-passengers came to their rescue. Junaid was stabbed. Then the men pushed Junaid and his friends onto the platform at Asaoti railway station. Junaid bled to death in his brother’s lap.

The men were arrested, but then released on bail. The wheels of justice are stuck. Junaid’s mother waits for something to happen. But what is going to happen startles her. (9)

It is worthwhile to revisit the case to know how, in an ambiance of majoritarian triumphalism, certain deaths become ‘non-events’as a scholar-activist Aarthi Sethi had then commented in her article (10).

..Kaunain Sheriff M returned to the railway station in Faridabad to find out ‘who saw what’ when Junaid was killed. He found that nobody saw anything as a young boy lay bleeding to death on Platform number 4. The blood stains, the journalist writes, are ‘still visible’ on the platform and yet no-one saw anything, neither the Station Master Om Prakash nor the post-master Bhagwat Dyal whose office is right across from the platform. ‘I did not see anything’, said Om Prakash. ‘I did not see anything’, said Bhagwat Dyal. Even the CCTV did not see anything. One official said, ‘There is a CCTV camera opposite the spot. The wire has been tampered with and it is non-functional’. ..

Sethi recounts what Sheriff M had written, and writes,

“Then they collectively, and without prior agreement, continued to not see what they had seen after the event. This is the uniquely terrifying aspect of this incident on which this report reflects: the totalising force of an unspoken, but collectively binding, agreement between Hindus to not see the dead body of a Muslim child. Hindus on this railway platform in a small station in north India instantly produced a stranger sociality, a common social bond between people who do not otherwise know each other. By mutual recognition between strangers, Hindus at this platform agreed to abide by a code of silence by which the death of a Muslim child cannot be seen by 200 people in full public view on a railway platform in today’s India.”(11)

India has of late metamorphosed into a land of such hate crimes.

Anyone can recall how a key leader of the ruling dispensation had in a public meeting underlined how ‘they’ can be recognised by the ‘clothes they wear’ (kapdon se pehchanejane wale) or how  his senior colleagues have been caught umpteen times stigmatising these ‘others’ as termites etc.

It is true that under the exclusivist ideology and praxis, presently, such attacks are mainly targeted against the religious minorities. But violent attacks cannot remain limited to minorities, as the reactionary forces advance. Soon, it would engulf others as well.

As analysts have noted, lynching appeared in India not as individual acts – i.e., one person killing another person – but as group violence, i.e.,mobs targeting religious minorities, Dalits, transgender persons and people belonging to deprived sections. Anyone considered ‘other’ was a fair game. Professor Sanjay Subramanyam, who teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Indian Express that the members of the lynch mobs know that nothing will happen to them, that their acts have the approval of higher authorities.

Earlier, organised acts of mass violence were repetitive in character and there was a pattern, e.g. processions were attacked, or the violence was timed with public festivals. This was so even in the time of the Mughals. Then, post-Independence, there have been largely urban, organised forms of violence, where various political parties have provided protection to the perpetrators.

The difference between the earlier phase of mass violence and the current phase requires differentiation, writes Professor Subramanyam.

But what we are seeing now is not at a single place, there are fewer numbers attacked, and it is decentralised, done by little groups all over the place. These groups are either being told or imagine that they have been told to act in this way. Further, after the event, no one in authority is clearly telling them the contrary. There is also an aspirational quality to the violence. …curious thing is that the perpetrators want it to be known. After all, some of the people doing this are even videotaping it. They make sure the information is circulating, intended as a warning, as a signal and controlling device for the social behaviour expected of minorities. It is a form of violence which can pop up here one day and there on another. It is never mass killings but based on the existence of grassroots kind of organisations which believe in doing this, and also to an extent on copycat behaviour. So even if it is decentralised, there is a larger context.

If anyone doubts this understanding, then it is worthwhile to look at the excerpts of a sting operation done by NDTV regarding the killing of a meat trader – Qasim Querishi – in Hapur (Uttar Pradesh) and beating of Samiuddin. The police arrested Yudhisthir Singh Sisodia, who was the main accused. Let off on bail, Sisodia spoke to NDTV’s A. Vaidyanathan, who had a hidden camera. Sisodia told the court that he had no role in the killing, but when Vaidyanathan asked him about it, he said,

I told the jailer that [the victims] were slaughtering cows, so I slaughtered them. My army is ready. If anyone slaughters a cow, we will kill them and go to jail a thousand times.

The lynching of Junaid was not seen by 200 people who were on the platform at that time. They did not see the violence. They did not see Junaid.

Likewise Mohsin Sheikh was murdered in a marketplace with lot of people around but none from the crowd gathered courage to give testimony about his perpetrators.

This is Today’s India.

Could it be correct to say that today, India is a country with a new normal of hatred and bigotry.

This ‘new normal of hatred and bigotry’ is the consequence of an unholy alliance between corporate interests and Hindutva zealots. It is defined by upturning the rule of law, sabotage of institutions, and the creation of an atmosphere of fear for those, who differ. India has become a republic of violence instead of republic of hope.

Does anyone bother to even remember the n number of religious congregations, called Dharam Sansads, held in different parts of the country, including in the national capital itself, openly giving a call for ‘final solutions’ to solve the ‘problem’, instigating the crowds gathered to go for ‘cleansing of the country’ of the ‘unwanted elements’? And despite such open calls for genocide, no substantive action against the organisers or the instigators is to be seen.

There is no official statistics of such crimes available at the national level.

The studies show that this government has a scant regard for gathering data.In fact, it is accused of ‘suppressing crucial data’; and it is engaged in undermining ‘even the institutions responsible for data collection’’(12) Looking at stray reports, appearing here and there, it can be safely and correctly guessed that such murders, such attacks, have seen a quantum jump since the ascent of Hindutva Supremacist forces in this part of South Asia.

Firdaus Alam alias Asjad Babu – age 24 years – is dead.

We are told that a case has been filed by the police and the accused has been arrested.

Demands have been raised by concerned citizens that this killing be considered a hate crime, the accused be arrested under UAPA and the case should be dealt under a special court to expedite the whole process, to send a clear-cut message to all such fanatics.

Today, looking at the changed ambiance, it looks difficult that police would be keen to send such a message.

And one needs to ready for a long battle for justice; perhaps it would be crucial to understand why justice eluded in earlier cases and what corrective action(s) are needed.

Death of Asjad Babu in relatively peaceful times raises many questions before us.

The key question is why is it that violence against the religious minorities and ‘others’ never subsides completely, and it continues to simmer even in relatively peaceful times.

Whether it is an outcome of a wider and deeper penetration of Golwalkarian worldview among votaries of Hindutva politics, who in his book ‘Bunch of Thoughts’ lumps together Muslims, Christians and Communists as ‘internal enemies’ and considers them equally or rather more dangerous than ‘external enemies’.

Or it relates to what Prof Aijaz Ahmad calls the existence of ‘Cultures of Cruelty’ in our society.[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517939]. According to him it is

“[a] much wider web of social sanctions in which one kind of violence can be tolerated all the more because many other kinds of violence are tolerated anyway. Dowry deaths do facilitate the burning of women out of communal motivations, and, together, these two kinds of violences do contribute to the making of a more generalised culture of cruelty as well as a more generalised ethical numbness toward cruelty as such.”

No doubt, these questions need detailed probing, and more about it sometime .

Subhash Gatade is a left  activist associated with New Socialist Initiative

Courtesy: CounterCurrents

The post Will Asjad Babu Get Justice in Today’s India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Earlier, too, the apex court had sought the view of the Odisha government on Dara’s Singh’s early release but the state government had sought 45 days’ time. The deadline is almost over.

The Spine-Chilling Incident

Staines, along with his two minor sons, was burnt alive to death inside a station wagon vehicle on the night of January 22-23, 1999. The horrendous crime had stunned the entire world.

Reporting on the unspeakable act from Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district had somehow remained shrouded by various interpretations as the then media, except two platforms, could not reach the spot on January 22, which is roughly 150 km from the capital, Bhubaneswar.

However, this reporter, then representing a leading national electronics media channel, along with another national channel drove to Manoharpur at the dead of the night negotiating arduous tracks through thick forests.

It was almost past midnight when we reached the village, which was palpably bathed in a perplexing silence. The silence was too disturbing.

As we passed through the row of houses flanking the pathway, we could see men and women sitting on their verandahs, each a picture of shock and mental torment.

On our right hand, we saw what we had heard. The sight was flabbergasting and rendered each of us speechless. The station vehicle was still on fire from below and its deflated tyres were still in smoldering. Fumes were still emanating from inside the vehicle.

Australian missionary Graham Staines with his family. His two minor boys were burnt alive along with him in 1999 in Odisha, by Bajrang Dal activists led by Dara Singh. (File photo.)

A little away from the vehicle, we could catch a glimpse of the charred remains of three bodies, simply indistinguishable and nerve wracking. Two small corpses and one that of an adult.

The police had already reached the site of the crime and were preparing to send the mortal remains in a police van to Bhubaneswar.

Before that, the perpetrators of the heinous crime, led by Dara Singh, the main accused and his accomplices, had fled chanting ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ as if self-cheering the horrendous act.

We gathered from the benumbed villagers that when the vehicle, stuffed with hay stacks, was on fire, the gang led by Singh, armed with weapons, did not allow any villager to come near the burning vehicle.

The villagers saw two little hands faintly visible, desperately banging the windscreens for help. But the screams were lost in the din of ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ chants by the killers.

It was late evening on January 22, 1999, and Staines was reportedly holding some kind of formalities or feast after some conversions to Christianity. As we could gather from the villagers, mostly from the tribal community, Staines had been active in Manoharpur and in a few adjoining pockets for seeking conversions.

That night was different. Little did Staines realise that a plan was being hatched by a gang of about 20 people led by Dara Singh to attack him. The missionary, perhaps, had no inkling of it and had brought along his two sons, Philip (10) and Timothy (6).

The seething vengeance of Dara Singh and his accomplices nearly exploded into a massacre. They stuffed haystacks underneath the vehicle in which the three were sleeping and set it on fire. A few men and women of the village told this reporter how a rage of revenge became cataclysmic when three live human beings (including two minors) were burnt to death alive before the entire village. Humanity was literally shamed.

The perpetrators stood on guard till the indescribable end. “We had no courage to dare the armed gang and douse the inferno where three souls were being charred to death”, I recall a senior villager called Suresh Hembram confiding to this reporter.

“We felt guilty that we were made mute onlookers despite the heart wrenching sight when, from a distance, we could faintly make out the movements of the three caught in the blaze inside the burning vehicle, banging the windscreens for help” whispered Sebati Majhi, an old woman of the village in who was in tears and panic-struck by the horrific scene.

Dara Singh alias Ravindra Pal was known to be a Bajrang Dal activist who worked in that area against cow transportation to other states because cow slaughter was banned in Odisha. Singh, as per the government counsel, often resorted to brutal ways to punish cattle-laden truck drivers.

After committing the crime in Manoharpur, Singh went underground for a month before being arrested.

Singh, the main accused in the triple murder, was convicted and sentenced to death by a CBI court in 2003. The Orissa High Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 2005. The decision of the High Court was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.

Many human right activists expressed their annoyance after the High Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment for such an unforgivable crime considered as “rarest of rare”.

He (Dara) promised to “give back to the society” through “service-oriented actions”. He submitted that he had undergone more than the qualified period of sentence of 14 years under the April 19, 2022 remission policy in Odisha.

According to Wikipedia, Dara Singh was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  He was also an activist of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).

The police reported that Dara Singh was an active member of the ‘Go Suraksha Samiti’, an initiative financed and implemented by VHP and the Bajrang Dal.

We drove to Balasore 150 km from Bhubaneswar a week after the tragedy to meet Gladys Staines, wife of Graham Staines, who politely received us and was looking completely crest fallen. At times, she appeared numb and would walk inside and come back after washing her face.

The substance of her reaction was “what can I say, and from my side I simply forgive him (the killer)”. The bereaved mother and wife sounded spiritual.

Now that the apex court has sought the view of the Odisha government,  which is “presently under the BJP rule, it seems a bit likely that the person behind of world’s one of most brutal acts in the history of crime, may get a nod for premature release”, Rabi Das, who as a journalist has been working on human rights also, told this reporter.

“Let’s wait. It would be premature at this time to predict the Odisha government’s response to the apex court’s query on the premature release of Dara”, said Aravinda Satpathy, a senior advocate of the High Court of Orissa.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Odisha with over 40 years of experience in the profession.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Odisha: Graham Staines’ Brutal Murder; Mystery Hangs Over Dara Singh’s Release appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This post was captioned “LOL Salam, Comrade” – a take on communists’ use of ‘lal selam’ or ‘red salute’. It was posted as a response to a press statement by the CPI(ML) condemning ‘Operation Kagar’ – a joint operation by the paramilitary, state police, and various security forces in the dense and hilly forests of Telangana and Chhattisgarh, in which officials said 27 ‘Maoists’ were killed.

The CPI (ML) had condemned the “cold-blooded extra-judicial killing of Maoist activists and Adivasis in Narayanpur-Bijapur.”

The party statement also said that Shah’s celebratory post reflected that the “state is spearheading Operation Kagar as an extra-judicial extermination campaign and taking credit for killing citizens and suppressing Adivasi protests against corporate plunder and militarisation in the name of combating Maoism.”

The connotations of a cauliflower 

While the Union government’s response has indeed been celebratory, it was, in fact, the presence of a cauliflower in BJP Karnataka’s X post that stunned online commentators.

The use of the cauliflower has become a de-facto stand-in for a call to Muslim genocide.

Capable of circumventing hate speech laws online, it was most recently widely shared by pro-BJP political commentators following the communal clashes in Nagpur.

The imagery is understood to refer to the 1989 Bhagalpur anti-Muslim riots in which over 900 people were killed. In the village of Logain, 110 Muslims were killed and buried in a farm. It is well known that cauliflower saplings were planted over their dead bodies.

In recent years, this reference has been revived by alt-right groups, particularly the trads. Some of its less disguised versions in the past have portrayed hijabi women as cauliflowers.

In their social media bios, many Hindutva ‘trads’ refer to themselves as “cauliflower farmers.”

Trads constitute the extreme end of the Hindutva universe, and comprise youth who want to serve as self-styled civilisational warriors online. Trads view other right-wingers as too liberal and call them ‘raitas’. They also consider PM Narendra Modi too weak to further the real Hindutva agenda due to his alleged appeasement of Dalits and inability to deal with the Muslims with an iron hand.

In 2022, The Wire had reported on these trads following the ‘Sulli Deals’ case in which a hundred Muslim women were ‘auctioned’ on an app.

The Wire had reported how trad iconography is usually designed to ‘trigger’ minority communities with shockingly violent ‘humour’. They include memes depicting the beheading of Muslims, caricatures of Muslims being mowed under their cars, Dalits depicted as “cockroaches” being gassed, or rape victims (who are either Muslims or Dalits) being urinated upon by a saffronised ‘Pepe the Frog.’

The report had said how this dependence on iconography draws directly from Western neo-Nazi creators and in some cases imitates the content of alt-right 4chan activists. References like the cauliflower meme or the invocation of the Ranveer Sena, a banned anti-Dalit militia accused of massacres in Bihar, are local additions.

While the BJP had so far steered away from this extreme discourse and gory trad imagery, the recent caricature is testament to its growing tolerance.

In the past year, trad iconography has become more acceptable in mainstream Hindutva lexicon, especially while addressing Muslims. In the many caricatures the BJP have posted since January 2024, especially during their 2024 Lok Sabha campaign, they adopted some of this imagery and symbols – like Pepe the Frog, a depiction of PM Modi dressed in saffron and taking on the Muslims in green, and an animation of Muslims taking away property and the belongings of the Dalits.

In 2022, in a post on X captioned Satyamev Jayate (truth alone prevails) a caricature was shared by the official handle of the Gujarat BJP featuring a dozen skull-capped and bearded men in white kurtas being hanged. Social media users and commentators drew comparison with Nazi caricatures and the tweet was taken down by Twitter. But the party said that they were not targeting any particular religion and that the cartoon was based on real incidents – a Gujarat court convicting terrorists for the 2006 Ahmedabad blasts.

Courtesy: The Wire

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All references to Delhi Sultanate and Mughal rulers have been deleted from the S^tandard VII text book. In addition, in all other text books –wherever there are references to Muslim rule—has been deleted. What also stands deleted is the reference to Post-Mumbai (92-93 violence), post-Gujarat violence (2002), the references to Nathuram Godse being a trained pracharak of RSS, the ban on RSS in the aftermath of Gandhi murder (January 30, 1948),  among others. While the Kumbh Mela finds a place, deaths by stampede and other related tragedies like the Delhi station stampede have no place.

All this began during the Covid period when the pretext offered was reducing the burden on the students and followed by ‘rationalization’ which meant deletion of these portions which caused discomfort to the Hindu Nationalist ideology.

For the political purpose of demonisation of Muslims and spreading hate against them, Mughals have been presented as the  major villains in our history. Some earlier kings like Allauddin Khilji have also been on the hammer for the Hindutva narrative. Until now, the demonisation of Muslims was structured around the selective narrative of ‘temple destruction by Muslim kings’, propaganda which has been contested by rational historians. The spread of Islam by Muslims Kings using the sword was another part of this. This version is totally off the mark as conversions to Islam took place a century earlier, due to social interactions with Muslim Arab traders to begin with. In later years, many from the depressed castes embraced Islam to escape the tyranny of the caste system.

The ideology of Hindutva has gone to the extent of presenting this period as a dark period when a ‘Holocaust against Hindus’ took place. No doubt the era of Kingdoms is full of war for political reasons. Kings always wanted to expand their regime and in the process many people were killed. To call it holocaust is totally off the mark. Their (Hindutva) narrative actually takes off from the Communal Historiography introduced by the British to pursue the policy of ‘divide and rule’. In this; all the motives of Kings are related to religion and kings are presented as the symbol of the entire religious community.

Hindu communal historiography has taken this several steps further, by claiming that Muslims and Christians were ‘foreigners’ who have tormented Hindus. Muslim communal historiography presented the other side of the coin where Muslims are portrayed as perpetual rulers and Hindus as subjugated subjects. This presents Muslims as the logical rulers of this land.

The later trajectory of this logic did assist the British to divide our composite land into India and Pakistan. Savarkar articulated that there are two nations in this country, and Jinnah went on to demand a separate country for Muslims, Pakistan. Pakistan fell into the trap of Muslim communalism right from the word go and as far its textbooks are concerned they presented the beginning of Pakistan with Mohammad bin Kasim, only in the eighth century. Today their history books have totally deleted any reference to Hindu rulers. The hate which the Muslim communalism spread against the Hindus peaked with their school texts removing all the references to Hindu Kings and culture.

In a way India; during the last three decades has been walking on the footprints of Pakistan. The mirror image of Pakistan’s trajectory is being copied, down to the last comma. This point was highlighted by Pakistan’s poet Fahmida Riyaz. In the aftermath of Babri demolition she wrote “Arre Tum bhi Ham Jaise Nikale, Ab Tak Kahan Chhupe the bhai’ (Ohh! you have also turned out like us, where were you hiding so far).

Prior to Hindutva ideology coming to total control of Indian education, the RSS shakhas were spreading the communal version of society through multiple mechanisms like its Shakha bauddhis, Ekal Vidyalays, Shishu Mandirs. In due course mainstream media and social media also came to its service.

As such culture is a continuously evolving process. During the period of History under the hammer of Hindutva, serious social changes took place. Apart from the architecture, the food habits, dress and literature, the synthesis in the field of religion, the noble traditions of Bhakti and Sufi tradition developed. It was during this period that Sikhism came and flourished.

Now this political ideology may have to change the track. With Muslim rulers out of the way how will they demonise the Muslims now? Newer techniques may be on the way to substitute Aurangzeb or Babar; as now they will be defunct!

History is very central to the concept of Nationalism. Erich Fromm points out that ‘History is to Nationalism what poppy is to the opium addict’. Since BJP came to power as NDA in 1998, the major thing they did was what is called “saffronization of education”. Here history has been presented the narrative of glorious and brave Hindu Kings versus evil and aggressive Muslim kings. The charge has been that so far History has been written by Left Historians, who focused on Delhi rulers and who were pro Muslim. The point is that text books did present the details of particular dynasties depending on the historical length of their rule.

The history books in the decades of 1980s had a good deal of presentation of Hindu as well as Muslim kings. The narration was not revolving just around religion but the holistic view of communities was presented: trade, culture, literature among others.

Still it is true that ruler, ‘King centric history’ is not what we need to build our future. We need to focus on diverse sections of society, Dalits, women, adivasis and artisans who do not find much place in such narratives.

Related:

2025 NCERT Textbooks: Mughals, Delhi Sultanate out; ‘sacred geography’, Maha Kumbh in

Mughals Won’t Disappear From History Just Because Sangh Wishes so: Irfan Habib

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Kashmiri porters carried the tourists to safe places and opened their houses and masjids for the guests. Kashmir observed a ‘bandh’ and many processions were taken out, raising slogans of ‘Hindu Muslim Unity’, while across the country, Muslims and other groups took out candle marches and offered condolences for the martyrs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due to visit Kashmir during that time but just a few days prior to the visit, he cancelled his trip. At the time of the tragedy, he was in a Gulf country. He cut short his trip and headed back home, and rather than going to Kashmir, went to Bihar to attend a rally, from where he gave a powerful warning to terrorists. The message that terrorists were Muslims and the victims were Hindus was the undercurrent of the whole narrative that was circulated.

Thereafter, there was escalation of tension and hostilities between India and Pakistan, and a ceasefire was declared by US President Donald Trump, while the Modi government has a different interpretation of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, ‘godi media’ had a field day spreading hate with different television channels reporting India winning over different cities of Pakistan while sitting in their plush studios. The TV media fell to unimaginable lows, further smashing the ethics of journalism long abandoned by them.

The worst outcome of all this has been the increase in hate against Muslims. Islamophobia is gripping the country with increasing intensity. In Latur, a Muslim was reportedly labelled a Pakistani and beaten black and blue. Humiliated by this, he allegedly died by suicide. Kashmiri students in a hostel in Uttarakhand were thrown out in the middle of the night and had to stay put in front of the Dehradun airport.

The worst of this was seen when Vijay Shah, a minister in Bharatiya Janata Party’s Madhya Pradesh government, indirectly referred to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, one of the spokespersons of the Indian Army, as a ‘sister of terrorists’. For the sake of face-saving, he did apologise for this but now the MP High Court has called for an FIR against him.

Mithila Raut, who works with Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai, in an article in Dainik Loksatta (Marathi) enumerates the number of hate incidents, as reported in the newspapers. As per her article, there have been many anti-Muslim incidents after the Pahalgam attack. In one such shocking incident in Uttar Pradesh, in Shamli’s Toda village, one Sarafaraz was attacked by one Govind, who is said to have stated that “you have killed our 26; we will kill your 26!” In Punjab’s Dera Bassi in the Universal Group of Institutes, Kashmiri students were allegedly attacked in the hostel.

One Shabbir Dhar, a Kashmiri vendor, living in Uttarakhand’s Mussoorie and selling shawls, was attacked along with his shop assistant as “revenge for Pahalgam”. He, and many other Kashmiri vendors, were threatened not to come back again. In Haryana’s Rohtak, in Kharawar village, Muslim residents were allegedly threatened and asked to leave the village by May 2.

These are some of the incidents that have been culled out from newspapers. How the atmosphere of hate has intensified is very clear from these incidents. The atmosphere in society has been gradually worsening. The Hindu Right-wing has already created an atmosphere against Muslims. Initially, this was created by use of medieval history, where the training in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shakhas, the ‘godi media’ and social media created an “enemy image” of Muslims.

The formation of Pakistan gave another major pretext to those practicing communal politics to assert that it had been formed by Muslims. This is a totally distorted version of the account of history, as the formation of Pakistan was a combination of three factors — the British policy of ‘divide and rule’, Muslim communalism and Hindu communalism. The ‘Two Nation Theory’ was first articulated by Hindutva idealogue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

After the formation of Pakistan, the propaganda was that Partition took place due to Muslims, and this became an additional reason for spreading hate. As such, it was the formation of two States simultaneously, India and Pakistan. Pakistan was to be in Muslim-majority areas.

The add-on to the anti-Muslim propaganda came from the complex Kashmir issue. The exodus of Kashmiri pandits in 1990 was yet again used against Muslims. Exodus of pandits happened when the V P Singh government supported by BJP was ruling at Centre and the pro-BJP Jagmohan was the Governor of Kashmir. Ignoring all that, the anti-Muslim angle in pandits’ emigration became the central point around which hate against Muslims was unleashed.

So, step by step, more issues have been used to torment Indian Muslims. The voices of amity have been muted and every occasion now is turned into adding to the prevalent hate against Muslims, to vitiate the hate used by RSS-BJP to intensify its agenda of a Hindu nation.

Pahalgam and Diplomacy

The issue of Pahalgam has also brought to fore the change in the nature of Indian diplomacy. As per the Shimla Agreement (1971) between Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the India-Pakistan issues were to be sorted out in a bilateral manner, without mediation from any third party. With Trump dominating the scene now, and Modi unable to confront him, the equations seem to be changing. Globally, not many countries came to side with India.

The core point is to solve the Kashmir issue based on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Doctrine of ‘Insaniyat, Kashmiryat and Jamhooriyat’ (Humanism, Democracy). We need to live in peace with our neighbours, as Vajpayee again said: “Friends can change, but not neighbours.”

The reflections of ‘Hate Pakistan’, as is the wont of the Hindu Right-wing, supplemented by the loud-mouthed and hate- spewing Indian ‘godi media’, reflects badly on Indian Muslims. It vitiates the possibility of an amicable atmosphere at home.

The intensification of communal problems due to the Pahalgam tragedy needs to be grasped and war- and -hate- mongers have to be negated for peace and prosperity of our country. So far, ‘Pakistani’ was the main abuse for Muslims, ‘Kashmiri’ seems to have been added to the hate list.

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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