Why did Mumtaz Qadri get mad at Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer? Only because he considered governor’s talk about flaws in the blasphemy law itself falls under blasphemy, he gunned down the governor without any remorse and proudly got himself arrested. Perhaps it was the same mentality Shiv Sena and other right-wing extremist outfits portrayed by slamming the Bollywood star, Amir Khan, for his remarks about growing intolerance in India. But irony is they in fact were proving Khan’s point — only an extremely intolerant society will stop its victims even to cry out.
India is a large country, home of various religions, colourful cultures and customs and languages, the only way it could get united is by adhering to its secular credentials. By and large, India has been able to prove its inclusiveness over decades but recent rise of right-wing to power is shattering the values on which India always takes pride. Modi was not voted in because he oversaw killing of thousands of Muslims in Gujarat but of the prosperity and grown Gujarat witnessed in his period as chief minister. Rest of the country expects the replication of Gujarat model of prosperity, not the dark model of massacre and intolerance towards religious minorities.
Instead of brushing aside its critics as conspiracy theorists against BJP government, some sane minds in the party need to ponder upon — whether the silence of Modi over these incidents is in turn becoming a tactical approval of what’s going on in the name of Hinduvata, who is supposed to openly condemn lynching of people on mere suspicion of eating/transporting beef, who is supposed to tone down federal ministers, chief ministers openly asking their opponents to go to Pakistan, who is threatening the religious minorities to take it or leave it?
People trust and follow their leaders — silence or tactical approval of intolerance is slowly changing the mindset of general public, making it an acceptable phenomenon. Apologists need to take a back seat, not to justify extremists’ actions only because if something wrong is happening outside India. One may presume that elections results in Delhi and Bihar would be sufficient to bell the alarm, but perhaps that’s not the case. India needs to learn from its neighbours — once the genie of hatred and intolerance is out if the bottle, then no one can put it back. Prove Khan wrong by showing love and compassion, not by offering Rs100,000 for slapping Khan.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia