Spreading hate in the region
A wave of intolerance is fast enveloping India. The Hindutva is being interpreted in a way that negates India’s rich cultural, ethnic and religious diversity while it is being employed to promote narrow-mindedness and bigotry. The various Sangh Parivar groups from which the BJP gets ideological sustenance and political support are involved in fanning hatred. Shiv Sena happens to be in the forefront of promoting anti-Pakistan sentiments. This month alone the extremist network provoked three incidents in Mumbai. It forced the organisers of a cultural show to cancel a concert by ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali for no other reasons than his being a Pakistani. In the second incident, after it failed to pressurise Indian politician and columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni to call off a talk by Khurshid Kasuri, Sena activists doused the latter in black paint. On Monday, Shiv Sena men stormed BCCI headquarters and forcibly stopped the holding of a scheduled meeting between Board’s President Shashank Manohar and PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan.
At least two Muslims were killed after being falsely accused of beef eating or smuggling of cows for slaughter. Another young Muslim trucker was killed in Jammu after the spread of rumours that cows were being killed in the region. This has led to widespread protests and curfew in Indian controlled Kashmir. Muslims are not being targeted alone. Last year Sangh Parivar inspired activists torched several churches and gang-raped two nuns.
Religious minorities are not the only target of violence. What one sees happening is an all out attack on enlightenment, secularism and democracy. Last month Indian scholar M M Kalburgi, who debunked gurus, sorcerers, healers and godmen, was killed by unknown assailants. As a protest against the rising tide of intolerance, over 40 noted Indian writers and intellectuals have returned their prestigious Sahithya Akademi awards. The BJP government’s connivance with the extremists would not only harm India but also encourage the spread of intolerance and bigotry to the rest of South Asia.