Daily Times

Pulwama incident is nothing but Modi’s ‘Hindutva’ tactics once again. There are good reasons to believe that. I believe this on the basis of a long track record of terrorism by the extremist, ruthless, and, gruesome tactics of Hindutva underworld members who are fully supported by Mr. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India.

What happened in Pulwama is extremely sad and it should not have happened. The suicide attack killed 40 humans carrying out a duty assigned to them by their government. These soldiers were trying to support their families. As a human being one has sympathy with their families as well. But these unfortunate individuals did not know that they were going to be used as Guinea pigs in a larger conspiracy.

Terrorism of a different kind has been perfected by Indian extremists for over a century. The first organization was ‘Abhinav Bharat’. Not to be confused with a social welfare trust of similar name. It is true that India has a long tradition of homegrown terrorism. The extremist ‘Abhinav Bharat’ was born well before the independence of India. It was led by VinayakSavarkar. Initially, it called for an armed struggle against British control. It even executed several terrorist acts. Its home was India House in London. The activities at ‘India House’ did not go unnoticed for long. By 1909, India House was under surveillance from Scotland Yard and the Indian Intelligence. Savarkar’s elder brother, Ganesh was arrested in India in June that year. Savarkar’s speeches became increasingly violent and called for the murder of the Britishers. Ultimately Sir William Curzon Wyllie, the political aid-de-camp to the secretary of state to India was assassinated by Madan Lal Dhingra on the evening of July 1,1909. Dhingra was later executed. There is a long history of Abhinav Bharat’s continued terrorism. This organization gave rise to many other similar organizations in India. These terrorist organisations have the same agenda with slight difference about their priorities. These have one common factor and that is suppression of Muslims and other non-Hindu communities. The ‘Hindutva’ members believe that the land of India must belong to Hindus and nobody should have any rights there and also it should adhere to the Brahman superiority and class system. The level of intolerance clearly reflected in the murder of Gandhi for having supported Pakistan’s demand for their share of the assets after partition. The killers of Gandhi were members of Abhinav Bharat and were supported by several other extremist organizations in India. A branch of Abhinav Bharat with the philosophy that arose from the work of Savarkar was consolidated in India in the 1920s. It followed an explicit ideology of Hindu nationalism, exemplified by ‘Hindu Mahasabha’. It was distinct from Gandhi’s message of peaceful coexistence .Savarkar’s philosophy earned the support of Hindu chauvinists. The symbolic leader of this Hindu chauvinism today is Mr. Narendra Modi who has the position of the prime Minister of India with the support of Mahasabha. He follows the extremist line officially and thus tries to consolidate his support.

What happened in Pulwama is extremely sad and it should not have happened. The suicide attack killed 40 humans carrying out a duty assigned to them by their government. These soldiers were trying to support their families. As a human being one has sympathy with their families as well. But these unfortunate individuals did not know that they were going to be used as Guinea pigs in a larger conspiracy

In the present times Abhinav Bharat is led by Savarkar’s grand Daughter HimaniSavarkar. She is also related to NathuramGodse who killed Gandhi. Narendra Modi, a believer in Hindutva, an open extremist, killer of thousands in Gujarat, is trying to consolidate his position for the next elections which are not too far in India. His party leadership is based on the blood of thousands of innocents. The new act of terror at PULWAMA is supported and organized by the sponsors of Modi. Pulwama terror act was strategically organized by Hindutva. However, it is unfortunate that the progressive Hindus of India are being suppressed now. The Muslims and all minorities are living under fear. It may be recalled that Sikhs were harassed, killed and tortured as well. The demand of Sikhs for their constitutional rights was treated as an uprising. During that period, killing of their leader and attack on Sikh sacred places occurred. The inevitable backlash was revenge. Nobody has ever gotten away after insulting Sikhs. This situation could have been better handled by the Congress Government. Indira Gandhi yielded to the pressure of extremists and took actions she should not have and consequently she lost her life.

The Indian Government’s extremely arbitrary and unconstitutional conduct towards Sikhs is a long story of Hindu extremism. The Hindutva concept is same as the Arya Samaj doctrine. This doctrine believes that India is a sacred land of Hindu Aryans. The fact is that Aryans only came in oppressing numbers between 3000 and 2500 BC. The Aryans suppressed the locals as described in detail in the Rig Veda, then absorbed the knowledge of Indus Civilization and called it Hindu wisdom. The Hindu Wisdom classified humans to upper and lower classes. The Arya Samaj Doctrine exposed itself in ‘ Satyarth Prakash’ in which it throws slander on all other religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism.

In short: intolerance and terrorism form the basis of Hindutva and its current leader is Narendra Modi. How can anyone expect something better from him? He needs to save his political base by using extremist actions and he has succeeded till now. His support is dwindling because of Pakistan’s open arm policy and willingness to hold dialogues on difficult issues. The opening of the corridor for sikh pilgrims has added fuel to the fire. How can Modi join in friendship? He thrives on hate! With the recent mass murder engineered in Kashmir, he has used the technique of immediately putting the blame on Pakistan. He got results of strengthening hate, and suppressing goodwill between the countries. he enlightened and sensible Indian communities believe in good human relations but when their thinking is under attack by extremists, they cow down. How long will this continue for? The solution can only be found by the Indian populace.

The writer is Pakistani theatre, film and television actor, scholar, public speaker, columnist, teacher and dramatist

Published in Daily Times, February 25^th 2019.