Correction: The original version of the article had incorrectly mentioned that Brijpal Tewatia is the MP from Ghaziabad – this incorrect information was based on English news reports, and acts as a reminder to HinduPost to rigorously vet the minutest of details reported in mainstream media. This error has now been corrected – we thank our twitter followers for pointing this out and keeping us honest.

Brijpal Tewatia, a senior BJP leader from Muradnagar, Ghaziabad UP, was critically wounded in a brazen attack yesterday using AK-47s & rifles in which over 100 rounds were fired by the assassins. The MP was attacked despite being accompanied by 20 private gunners in his convoy. Tewatia and a guard who was also injured in the attack were taken to Fortis hospital in Ghaziabad, where the former is battling for life.

Last Saturday, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) Prant Seh-Sanchalak (vice-president) Brig. Jagdish Gagneja (retd) was shot at in a busy Jyoti Chowk market, Jalandhar Punjab. He sustained three bullet injuries and was rushed to a private hospital in a critical condition.

These attacks are not random incidents, but part of a larger trend in which leaders and activists across the country, who stand up for Hindu rights and issues, are being eliminated. BJP has seen many of its leaders being murdered in UP, Bihar since Lok Sabha elections 2014. 2 Gujarat BJP leaders were murdered last year in a hit sponsored by the Dawood gang. Since 2010, 16 RSS workers have been murdered in Kerala by suspected CPM party workers, while a far higher number has been permanently disabled or injured in similar attacks. A BJP leader K Raju was hacked to death in Mysuru recently, while Bajrang Dal’s Prashant Poojary was hacked to death in Moodbidri last year, allegedly for opposing cow slaughter. A senior VHP Dalit leader, Arun Mahaur, was shot dead in Agra – he too was a gau rakshak. Tamil Nadu has seen 2-3 dozen pointed, selective killings in the past 7-8 years where Hindu leaders such as BJP state General Secretary Auditor V Ramesh and Hindu Munnani’s S Vellaippan have been brutally murdered.

And one of the biggest targets for elimination has been the PM himself – Ishrat Jahan module, Abu Jundal conspiracy and the deadly serial bomb blasts during a Modi rally in Bihar in 2014 are some of the attempts to assasinate him.

Not outrage worthy for media

More than any other profession, our mainstream media displays group think in which a particular topic becomes the flavor of the month and sees disproportionate coverage. The English language media in particular identifies its audience as the urban yuppie who is profiled as Westernized, metro-centric, secular (irreligious/’spiritual’), social ‘progressive’, anti-politics and an individualistic ‘good life’ seeker. This fascinating interview with the CEO of Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), the media colossus which runs the English news daily/tabloid ‘Times of India’ reveals the mindset at work in media corporates today. Hence it is no surprise that stories like ‘Church Attacks’, ‘FTII Stir’, ‘Rising Intolerance’, ‘Award Wapsi’, ‘Rohith Vemula Suicide’, ‘JNU Protests/Kanhaiya’, ‘Yakub Memon hanging’, ‘Cow Terror’ etc have dominated the news cycle over the last 18 months. In the mind of media editors and management, anything related to Hindu Dharma is inherently regressive and assumed guilty of promoting ‘fundamentalism’. So murders of Hindu leaders are not considered ‘news worthy’ or ignored as they are deemed too ‘polarizing’.

BJP/RSS failure to inform

But the media silence does not absolve BJP and RSS for failing to create a narrative to highlight the fact that their own leaders, workers and supporters are being systemically eliminated. The PM has a bully pulpit to bring up issues in the national consciousness that mainstream media ignores. He has recently used that privilege to hit out against what he considers as ‘fake’ gau raksha elements. His Mann ki Baat program has been effectively used to promote financial & social inclusion schemes like PMJDY, life/accident insurance, crop insurance, Ujjawala Yojana (LPG distribution) etc. When his Government is criticized non-stop for intolerance towards minorities, students, Dalits, women, horses, Kashmiris etc, why doesn’t he raise the issue of the real & growing intolerance towards Hindu voices in this country?

When Congress and other ‘secular’ leaders talk in Parliament about random murders or crimes like Mohammed Akhlak’s death, why don’t BJP leaders in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha bring up the issue of targeted killing of Hindu leaders (most from BJP & RSS) across the nation?

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