Daily Times

The saffron ideologues are also working on the academic demise of Muslim history. With Modi assuming the country’s top executive office, India has undergone a rapid transformation from a secular and a democratic state to a fascist and saffronised state. There is no room for others, but Hindus in the world’s so-called biggest democratic dispensation.

Subjected to inexplicable atrocities and marginalisation, minorities in India are living under constant fear and insecurity and their properties, lives, honour and religious freedoms are at severe risk. Without addressing the grievances of the minorities, Modi and his ideologues are hell-bent on saffronisation of India.

The term “saffronisation” is an Indian political neologism (named after the saffron robes worn by Hindu sanyasis) used by critics and others to refer to the policies of right-wing Hindu nationalists that seek to recall and glorify ancient Hindu cultural history.

Another term associated with saffronisation is “saffron terror” used to describe the acts of terrorism motivated by Hindutva or Hindu nationalism. Parveen Swami coined this term in 2002 in a frontline magazine article.

The main driving force behind saffronisation or saffron terror is Hindutva ideology. It is an ideology that seeks to establish the hegemony of Hindus and the Hindu way of life. The salient principles of Hindutva are as follows:

The entire Indo-Pak subcontinent (which includes countries ranging from Afghanistan to Indonesia) is the homeland of the Hindus.

“Hindus” are those who believe India is their fatherland (Pitribhumi) and holy land (Punyabhumi).

A call to form a “Hindu nation” (Hindu Rashtra).

Emphasizing historical oppression of Hindus by other groups like Muslims and Christians and aiming to reverse the influence resulting from these intrusions.

Cow slaughter should be banned in India.

To materialise the Hindutva ideology, several organisations were formed. Such conglomerate sharing Hindutva ideology was named as “Sangh Parivar.”

The main groups of Sangh Parivar include the RSS, the nucleus of Sangh Parivar. It is, therefore, called the main command centre of Sangh Parivar, which effectively uses its 3000-full time volunteers as frontline personnel in riots and other violent acts.

The BJP is the political wing of RSS, which gives its activities political support and state patronage. The World Hindu Council (WHP) is the organisation for Hindu priests, which is also notorious for using violence in riots as well as the demolition of monuments.

The Bajrang Dal or the Army of Hanuman often called the foot soldiers of Hindutva, is believed to be the most violent of all Sangh Parivar; partaking in riots, murders, public lynching and bomb blasts.

Without an iota of doubt, Modi’s government is not only patronising the activities of saffron terrorists but also aggressively pursuing the agenda set by right-wing Hindu nationalists–saffronisation of Bharat–premised on Hindutva ideology. To this end, it has enacted many pro-Hindutva laws. In 24 out of 29 states, cow slaughtering is strictly prohibited. In some states such as Gujarat, the government has introduced a law that makes cow slaughtering punishable with life imprisonment.

The Bajrang Dal or the Army of Hanuman often called the foot soldiers of Hindutva, is believed to be the most violent of all Sangh Parivar; partaking in riots, murders, public lynching and bomb blasts

Emboldened by such state support, pro-Hindutva or right-wing groups are unleashing violence and targeting Muslims in the name of “GAU RAKSHA” or cow protection. Consequently, after the enactment of such unjustified and biased law, the cases of Muslim persecution in India increased exponentially. The saffron terrorists under the garb of cow vigilantism publicly lynched many Muslims. In September 2015, Mohammad Ikhlaq was attacked by a mob, dragged out of his house and killed on suspicion of keeping and consuming beef. Similarly, in June 2017, 15-years-old Junaid was stabbed to death by a mob that attacked him and his brother. The mob hurled religious insults at them and called the brothers “beef eaters” and “anti-nationals” before killing them in cold blood. Another beef-related incident took place in the same year, when a mob beat and killed Asgar Ansari, a 45-years-old Muslim trader, for allegedly carrying beef in his car. Three days earlier to this horrific incident, a Muslim dairy owner, Usman Ansari, was beaten up and his house was fired when a cow carcass was reportedly found near his home.

According to an Indian Spend analysis, 97 per cent of beef-related violence took place after Modi came to power. Besides, Dalits are also suffering from state-patronised violence, perpetrated by saffron terrorists. The National Crimes Records Bureau Data for 2015 and 2016 showed that the number of crimes reported against Dalits had risen from 38,670 to 40,801, in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan-states ruled by the BJP.

This is a vivid depiction of how aggressively Modi, in cahoots with Sang Parivar, is translating the idea of saffronisation of India into a reality.

Inter alia, obliteration of Muslim heritage is also underway under the saffronisation program of Modi government. The buildings, roads, and institutes, named after Muslim personages, are being renamed. The proponents of the renaming of the Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi argued that the Mughal emperor was an invader and a cruel ruler, who does not deserve to be commemorated in modern India.

Even, the street named after Muslim Mughal Ruler Akber, who is considered to be a liberal even by right-wing Hindus, was also vandalised.

However, the real reason behind their opposition is deeper than the Aurangzeb or Akber’s conduct.

The RSS and BJP perceive the entirety of the medieval Muslim era as a dark phase in the country’s history.

Voicing this notion in 2014, Prime Minister Modi said that India was troubled by “1200 years of slave mentality.” He was clearly lumping together the 200 years of British colonial rule and the preceding medieval Muslim era. It clearly reflects that the right-wing group’s problem is solely not the cruel legacy of Mughal emperors, but of the whole of India’s Muslim history.

That’s why anything physically or abstractly alluding to Muslims is being targeted by the adherents of Hindutva. For example, in July 2017, RSS ideologue Dina Nath Batra sent a document to the National Council for Educational Research and Training demanding that some Urdu words and a couplet by Ghalib be removed from India’s school textbooks. In a similar attack on Muslim symbols, in 2016, some right-wing activists prevented the artists from writing a couplet in Urdu on the walls of the GT Road in Delhi as a part of a non-governmental “Delhi I Love You” campaign.

The saffron ideologues are also working on the academic demise of Muslim history. A major part of Indian history, science and philosophy are interconnected with more than 700 years rule of Muslims over the sub-continent; a chapter that is currently irksome for right-wing Hindu nationalists and has therefore ushered in an era of “Murder of History” in the Indian polity. Consequently, Indian Muslim history is being distorted and interpolated and the Indian youth are, thus, being poisoned by their saffron masters into believing that the Muslims were and are the real cause of all that is wrong with India.

To encapsulate, if not hampered, saffronisation of India would, for sure, bring devastating consequences for the Indian people, particularly the oppressed minorities. If Modi does not put an end to this racial and religious prejudice orchestrated by his patronized saffron terrorists, the civil war stretching across India seems inevitable. If this happens, the world’s so-called biggest democracy would eventually witness its political, social, economic nemesis.

The writer is a legal practitioner-cum-columnist based in Quetta