Before India moves back (as in Vedic astrology) and forth on the golden period of honey and milk, would it not be appropriate to briefly take the stock of situation of present political state in the country.
The recent sustained and planned hatred and atrocities against Muslims must be a top concern. If not, such heinous acts would have been committed in masse at the time of partition 75 years ago when holy Bharat Mata was knifed into three pieces: India, East and West Pakistan. India would have purged all Muslims from its land and simultaneously Hindus by Pakistan, the volcano of hatred and revenge of unprecedented scale would have engulfed the sub-continent and no worldly leader could have contained those hatred and of revenge madness.
But it didn’t occur, except some well documented riots by Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in a limited number of cities and suburbs. The total number of refugees of partition were only 14 million: 7 million or 30% Hindus and Sikhs moved from West Pakistan and 7 million Muslims or 2.3% from India to West Pakistan. (Hardly any rioting or movement of refugees were reported in the East Pakistan). Migration of Muslims from India to Pakistan was 15-fold less than the other way round.
Now, what a sea change has taken place in Modi’s India after 75 years of partition? Genesis is simply Modi’s animosity towards Muslims that he honed by butchering Muslims in Gujrat riot of 2002 at no political cost. Muslim population in India was 9.8% in 1951, now increased 14.5%. Of the total, 85% are “Pasmandas” or backward, poor and deprived (not different from “Dalits”) according to Indian government’s own reports. Therefore, why such level of hatred exists against a predominantly poor and deprived community having little power and status to challenge this status quo. Simple answer is: RSS-Hindutva-Moditva harbours historical hatred against Muslims which was earlier contained by Gandhi, Nehru and other leaders. Now Modi at the helm of affairs with his top echelons has unleased the bottled-up demon. Narendra Damodardas Modi, a charismatic leader of Hitler vintage with great communication skills, oratory and mastery in strategic planning is meticulously implementing RSS agenda.
It is now evident that it was neither partition nor the Muslims rule of 800 years that has infuriated today’s Hindus to the level of preaching openly to pick up arms and cleanse holy Bharat from ‘malich’ (dirty) Muslims. In today’s India, Muslims are humiliated, demonised, brutalized, lynched and even killed on false allegations nearly on a daily basis. Their houses are bulldozed, women stoned for wearing Burqa, mosque vandalized and Imams beaten for their beards and not chanting “jai shri ram.” Ramzan prayers are being prevented even in a private home. One prominent priest, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati went on to inviting Hindus to take possession of “Kaba” (the holiest of all holy places for Muslims) and raise idols again as was in pre-Islam Mecca. After all, it was Mecca and Medina from where Prophet Mohammad started his journey of a new religion Islam. According to this priest, the message to Hindus is: ‘if you want to cleanse India from Muslims, you have to attack the fountain of Islam, the Kaba.’
The only flaw in RSS-Hindutva-Moditva strategy is its timing. The world is no longer living in a Hitlerian epoch whose ghastly committed crimes could be kept under carpet for decades. This is an era of technology and social media, disseminating information in a split of seconds.
Sadly, the reality is that Modi’s India may never pay enough price of its atrocities which is quite evident from its thumping majority in every recent election. The trend would perhaps continue for many more elections after 2024 with Modi in power. Modi has successfully devised an art of uniting all Hindus, irrespective of their castes by transfusing the notion in their heart and mind that Muslims are their mortal and historical enemy and they must be taught unforgiving lessons through sustained suppression. Hatred and enmity against Muslims are a guaranteed recipe for Modi-BJP’s success in elections.
Can the World do anything? Nothing much and concrete. Europe has unwittingly enslaved itself to the United States and will not take any step against its wishes. And US has obviously aligned itself with India to use it as a counter force to rising China. Who cares about Human Rights violations? These are only political tools to be used by US at its choice. Rich Saudi Arabia and UAE have compromised their dignity and history of glorious Islam for money and economic interests. India is a major supplier of all types of labour to Gulf: from highly skilled, professional, semi- to unskilled. India also provides many valuable commodities from essentials to specialized products. Gulf rulers would not take any risk that could harm their economic interests.
Only hope – how little and remote it may be — has to come from within India. When large segments of voting India, especially the young ones start questioning the merits of hatred and division within Indian society, otherwise known for its universality, diversity, tolerance and acceptance. If they decide to compare India beyond Modi’s artificial slogans like “Amrit Kaal”. But in reality, how greater is India against its compatriots in the region in economic achievements, human development and living standards? They may decide to wake up and strive for India’s real and indisputable Amrit Kaal: the greatness that India deserves.
Known Unknowns 