Neither Democratic nor Peaceful



They Moplahs murdered and plundered abundantly, and killed or drove away all Hindus who would not apostatise. Somewhere about a lakh (100,000) of people were driven from their homes with nothing but their clothes they had on, stripped of everything. Malabar has taught us what Islamic rule still means, and we do not want to see another specimen of the Khilafat Raj in India” – Annie Besant, The Future of Indian Politics: A Contribution To The Understanding Of Present-Day Problems, 2006, P252, Kessinger Publishing

Whatever the TV studio analysts and intellectuals want to imagine about the nature of anti-CAA protests, whitewashed through the singing of national anthem and flag, the actual picture on the ground is scary and a vivid reminder of what was happening hundred years ago. The fear-mongering created by the Communists and the Congress and cleverly manipulated by the radical Islamic organisations like Popular Front of India (PFI) is turning out to be undemocratic, violent and divisive as happened with the case of Khilafat movement. As Government has given a clear signal of not backing out from implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act, these protests are expected to take a wilder turn.

If you visit the ground and ask the protesters, especially in the Muslim majority areas, you will not find a single logical answer for opposing the CAA. It will start with National Citizenship Register (NRC) and then will move on to Article 370, Ayodhya, Triple Talaq, employment, action against (violent) students to 800 years of Muslim rule in Bharat. So the ‘Tera Mera Rishta Kya’ (what is the relationship between you and me) was answered by the Islamic Supremacist slogan, with the mindset of pan-Islamism, at Jamia and Aligarh Universities, was not just a coincidence. The demand for including Muslims as a category for giving relaxation in citizenship under CAA is not just hypocritical but essentially standing for the perpetrators of the minority persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in the name of Islamic brotherhood. That is why we do not find even a mention of the abduction of Mahak, a girl kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan or desecration of temples in Bangladesh post-CAA in these protests.

What we are witnessing in the name of protests against the Government is violence against Hindus. A youth, called Varun, was nearly killed for attending a rally in support of CAA for which six Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) fundamentalists have been arrested by Karnataka police, who were also planning to eliminate the young Member of Parliament from Bengaluru, Tejaswi Surya. BJP Kerala State Secretary AK Nazeer was brutally attacked while he was offering namaz at a mosque in Idukki district's Thookkupalam. A doctor, namely Vyas Vishwanathan, was hounded in Kerala and forced to leave his job in Kerala while the other Doctor Ranjit Vijayahari who served the people diligently faced boycott and threats for supporting the CAA. The Hindu residents of a colony were denied drinking water for supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Kuttipuram, Malappuram district. A rally in support of CAA in Lohardaga, Jharkhand was attacked on January 23 with stones and petrol bombs. Hindu symbols are ‘liberally’ denigrated. At the level of optics, national flag and anthem are cleverly used; interestingly the display of such nationalist sentiments was opposed by the same elements supported by liberals till recently. Despite these developments, if some people are calling these protests as peaceful and democratic, then they are either blind or willfully dishonest.

One should not forget that the seeds of Partition were sown in the Khilafat, which is again reminded by the fundamentalists directly or indirectly. Then also Kerala was the epicentre and Moplahs, whose rioting was skilfully sold as a rebellion by Communists, virtually conducted genocide against Hindus. The ripples of the same could be felt in other parts with the Muslim majority. Then Congress was projected as a Hindu party, and now the same strategy is employed against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Not just the Government but all the sensitive and concerned citizens of Bharat should be wary of this dangerous trend and counter it with facts and legal instruments. Muslim fundamentalists will persecute minorities in the neighbouring countries, and the same category in Bharat would use their veto against the relief for them is no longer acceptable to the resurgent Bharat. Thankfully, some Muslim voices are showing some guts to stand against this dangerous trend of radicalisation; we should stand by them so that they do not become victims of fundamentalists.

@PrafullaKetkar