Daily Times

The elevation of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister was a structural victory of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its followers for they believed it was their government, and ripe time to cultivate Hindutva, an ideology that leaves no space for the followers of other religions. The movement ‘Ghar Wapsi’ (home coming), started taking roots after Sadhvi Saraswati, the leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) announced India would be a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ by 2023. “Christians and Muslims in the country have to either do a Ghar wapsi or face the same situation that the Hindus are facing in other countries”, he said. The ascension of the saffron-robed, Adityanath Yogi as Chief Minister of Utter Pradesh triggered the Hindutva movement to the fore. Another firebrand leader of the Hindu extremist organisation, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Pravin Togadia envisioned, “Hindu first policy on matters concerning welfare, development, and prosperity’. Addressing a large rally, he said,  “Just like Hindu couples, who now don’t opt for more than two children, Muslims should also be allowed to have just two kids. Violators should be barred from availing welfare schemes such as free education, healthcare, and food rations. They could also be exempted from participating in the electoral process.”

The Hindu bigotry clashes bitterly with its so-called secularism when the anti-minority narrative is encouraged instead of being dealt with an iron fist. Narendra Modi orchestrated anti-Muslim riots in the western state of Gujrat in 2002 when he was the Chief Minister of the state killing more than 1000 people, mostly Muslims. He never apologised for his brutal action whereas country courts cleared him of any crime or intentions of killing Muslims willfully.

Because of fast-growing Hindu nationalism, the Indian society is becoming less tolerant. When international observers question the maltreatment of minorities, Hindutva followers hide behind the secular constitution of the country

Since 2014, because of silent support from the government camps, anti-minorities sentiment has grown reasonably, Utter Pradesh, home of 40 million Muslims remains under threat.  The anti minorities track record of Adityanath Yogi is known to all. Manoj Singh, a journalist from Gorakhpur following Aditya Yogi for the last two decades, recalls a incident from 10 years ago of a killing of Hindu man by Muslims. Adityanath Yogi waged a war against Muslims when he made an emotional speech at Gorakhpur Railway Station accusing Muslim men seducing Hindu women in the name of ‘love jihad’. He shouted, “We cannot tolerate such incidents anymore, it has crossed all limits. If someone sets ablaze the houses and shops of Hindus, then I do not think that someone stops you from doing such things.” Not only Muslims but particularly Christians are being persecuted in India. Pastor Ritesh Joshua runs a church on the outskirts of Gorakhpur where fanatics from the Hindu saffron clans attacked his church after Christmas in 2016. He narrates, “They started shouting that we would not allow any conversions here. They shoved people, turned over furniture and told me, you are the main culprit.” There were 410 incidents of Christian persecution reported in the first half of 2017, whereas in 2016 total incidents recorded were 441. A local partner of Open Door, a worldwide Christian Charity told that “the Indian government fails to punish attackers, which emboldens them the target Christians even more. When Christians are beaten up by extremists, they are injured mostly on their heads or vital body parts. There was one incident earlier this year when the victim was attacked by a sword to his head. He was bleeding profusely and was critically injured… Attackers do not care if the person dies. They know they will not be punished because the government (and hence the judiciary) will be on their side. In most cases, attackers go unpunished.”

Because of fast-growing Hindu nationalism, the society is becoming less tolerant. When international observers question the maltreatment of minorities, Hindutva followers hide behind the secular constitution of the country. A Christian convert, who once was a staunch Hindu, shared his experience, “Before I converted to Christianity, I used to be a staunch Hindu. I also joined RSS at that time and started working with them. The party upholds Hindutva ideology and believes that if Christians in India aren’t controlled, they would convert all the Hindus in the country and Hindutva would lose its identity, Hence RSS wants to do their best to stop Christians from preaching about their faith. They would go to any extremes for that. I myself persecuted many Christians until I came to the Christian faith and realised what I had been doing.” In the fear of the rising Christian persecution, The National Council of Churches in India, representing 14 million Christians wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding measures to save minorities but no action has been taken so far. Everyday there are stories of minorities’ persecution but cunningly the lobbyists and paid think tanks successfully tell the world stories about the Indian secularism where all citizens enjoy equal space in the society. However, in this age of social media and technology, this strategy will not work for long. The cruel face of the so-called secularism will be exposed to the world sooner rather than later.

The writer can be reached at kaleem.dean@mail.com

Published in Daily Times, October 27^th 2017.