Hate Watch: State looking the other way as Hindu Jagran Manch Himachal goes on rampage?

One Kamal Gautam of the group borrows Shivaji Vs Aurangzeb analogy from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when posting anti-Muslim videos 

HindutvaImage: twitter

Vandals and goons claiming to be members of Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) Himachal are sharing a video of a mob vandalising a Muslim shrine or Dargah, breaking the grave and the shrine with massive hammers. The video is shared in Hindutva circles and is posted by one by Kamal Gautam (a member of HJMH as well as RSS as it proudy  features on his email address ) on his Facebook  page.

He posted the video of the goons vandalising the shrine and “देवभूमि में लैंड़ जे हाद बर्दाश्त नहीं किया जायेगा… हर अवैध ढांचा जो भूमि कब्जाने की मंशा से पीर मजार के नाम पर बनाया गया है उसका अंजाम यही होगा। Hindu Jagran Manch Himachal का इस्लामिक जे_हाद के विरुद्ध अभियान जारी रहेगा।” This translates as “Land jihad will not be allowed on the land of the gods. All illegal structures that have been raised as holy graves will meet the same fate. Hindu Jagran Manch will continue this project.”

Land Jihad is yet  another bogey coined by the Hinditva groups to allege “land grabbing by Muslims”. The right wing often target Muslim shrines, schools, business establishments, and in places where police look away resort to such vandalisation.

This attack in Himachal Pradesh and destruction is being reported just days after the members of Hindu Jagran Manch, went on a rampage at a Muslim grave revered as shrine, in the state and broke it with hammers. That video of the vandalism was also shared on different Hindutva pages with the same song whose lyrics translate to “‘I will kill ravan myself’, a Ram who says this should rise, ‘not one Kaurav will be left’ a Shyam who says this should rise,” are aimed to ‘inspire’ right wing youth to take to arms and destroy all that they see is ‘wrong’ or ‘evil’. The older video was posted by Harish Ramkali, a Hindutva goon who is building his image as a vandal group in Haryana. He takes pride in leading and encouraging many such acts in Haryana.

The hammer blows are heard loud and clear in both the videos. Kamal Gautam posts about the so called ‘love jinad’ and so called ‘land jihad’ and mocks Muslims as ‘औरंगजेब की नाजायज औलादो’ (illegitmate children of Aurangzeb), and threatens muslims that wherever they go they will be confronted by “a Shivaji”. The hundreds of comments that follow are steeped in Hindutva and hate for Muslims.

Pitting Aurangzeb against Shivaji in Himachal Pradesh?

Kamal Gautam has borrowed this analogy from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi who while inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath corridore in Varanasi  had, appeared to put the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindutva agenda front and centre.

The Prime Minister had said at that time, “आतातायियों ने इस नगरी पर आक्रमण किए, इसे ध्वस्त करने के प्रयास किए! औरंगजेब के अत्याचार, उसके आतंक का इतिहास साक्षी है। जिसने सभ्यता को तलवार के बल पर बदलने की कोशिश की, जिसने संस्कृति को कट्टरता से कुचलने की कोशिश की! लेकिन इस देश की मिट्टी बाकी दुनिया से कुछ अलग है। यहाँ अगर औरंगजेब आता है तो शिवाजी भी उठ खड़े होते हैं!”

(Translation: Terrorists have invaded this city, tried to destroy it! History has borne witness to Aurangzeb’s atrocities and terror. He tried to change civilization with the might of his sword, he tried to crush culture using extreme methods. But the soil of this land is different from that of others. If Aurangzeb comes here, Shivaji stands up to him!)

This is what Hindutva groups are now using as validation for their acts of hate and destruction, and communal targeting of Muslims. They seem to remain confident  that their hate crimes will not be checked by the law keepers of the land.

 

 

Related:

Hijabs and saffron scarves a no-no in this Karnataka college

Why did UP’s Deputy CM defend Haridwar hate speech?

Hate Watch: Muslim shrine vandalised in Himachal Pradesh 

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