I agree with Sanjay Raut, the Shiv Sena MP: all this Muslim appeasement should stop, and when it does India will be rid of its worries.

I have known and loved Raut since we were young and clueless editors of newspapers based out of Prabhadevi 20 years ago. I was clueless because I came from Surat and had no experience of white collar work or of a big city. Raut was clueless because he was monolingual and barely literate. Of course, that did not stop either of us from holding forth on the great issues. Mind you, Raut was clever enough to wangle a Rajya Sabha ticket in return for a few words of flattery, like all editors of the time who knew which side to rub Bal Thackeray on (good friends Pritish Nandy, Bharatkumar Raut and Sanjay Nirupam being the others whom the Shiv Sena sent to Parliament).

His latest pronouncement, and it pleases me to know he continues our traditions of 20 years ago, is that Indians who are born Muslim should be disenfranchised and banned from voting. Naturally, the Shiv Sena believes this is for the good of Muslims. To wit: “Muslims will not be on the path of development if their numerical strength continues to be misused by political parties. Balasaheb Thackeray had made a demand that Muslims should be stripped of their voting right. This is an appropriate demand… The mask of secularists will come off if Muslims are disenfranchised… Muslims should take the initiative in this connection.” Yes, that is what Muslims should do.

Truer words were never spoken, and yet the party felt the need to qualify them by saying it was only against Muslim appeasement. And this, as I have said, is something that should stop immediately. But how? Let’s see.

I think we should first start by making sure they are not appeased in the Union government. Of the 26 Cabinet ministers in the government of India, one (Najma Heptullah) is a Muslim. Of the 38 ministers of state, one (Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi) is Muslim. That is in my view excessive for a group of Indians that is 14% of the population. One strong reason why Muslims should be banned from voting is that we voters don’t want them in the Lok Sabha in any case. Out of 543 seats, 22 were won by Muslims, of whom eight were Bengalis.

Then there is appeasement in the armed forces. From 30% at Partition, Muslims are today 2% of the army, according to MIT professor Omar Khalidi (‘Ethnic Composition of the Indian Armed Forces and its Impact on Performance During Riots and Pogroms’). My question is: why are they not down to zero? It is a puzzling and troubling thing which must be corrected if the Hindu nation is to achieve greatness.

There were, according to a 2012 Union home ministry report, 1,945 Muslim policemen in Raut’s home state of Maharashtra, out of a total of 182,971. Meaning one per cent. It infuriates me to learn that Marathis appease their Muslims and give them preference in this way, though I accept that Maharashtra is doing better work than Delhi, where representation is 2%. In 2013, the Economic & Political Weekly reported that Muslim recruitment in the civil services was 2.8% for the previous year (28 candidates out of 998). This must stop and our leaders must emphasize this as often as possible.

I do not know why we are not more proactive in bringing about Ram Rajya, which will arrive when we put Muslims in their place. I suggest we do the following: tear up their mosque when it offends us; support, defend and reward politicians who call them names (like haraamzada, for instance); punish them collectively for the crimes of individuals. Of course, most important, we must not let go of the eternal truth: that they are being appeased, a word that the dictionary assures me means “to yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.”

I demand justice for Hindus, who are being discriminated against, and ask the government to do what it must to ensure that Muslims are not appeased in this way, and for their own benefit, naturally.

I have yet to touch upon private sector appeasement. I cannot recount to you the number of advertisements peddling cars, mobiles and insurance on television and in print that show Muslim individuals and families. It is not only off-putting, but frankly sickening. And what about all the appeasement Muslims get in housing? Preferential treatment to them in neighbourhoods must stop. Enough. No more mollycoddling.

Now then, may I have my Rajya Sabha ticket please?