Dawn of Indian Hindu Fascism II

Long ago, I wrote an article, Dawn of Indian Hindu Fascism (Part 1), in which I blamed Hindutva forces for Malegaon blasts in which many Muslims were killed. That article got its impetus from an article in THE HINDU which suggested that Hindutva forces were acting in the background. However, within few days, the mood of Indian media swayed the culpability in a different direction. That investigation was stopped, if there was one ever. Instead the scapegoats were found, who for most Indians, have to be some Muslim names. It doesn’t matter if those caught are guilty or not; as long as they are bunch of Muslims, most Indians are happy. It ratifies their own prejudice against Muslims who are supposed to be anti-national, different and violent, and corroborates their own belief that Hindus are nationalistic, mainstream and peaceful.

Indians react quite funnily to Indian bomb blasts. They want someone to be blamed, and that has to be quick. Indian government responds equally funnily. For many years, the culprits were foreign nationals. Nowadays, they go ahead and arrest people who could be probable culprits. The names of the culprits are equally important. If they are Muslim, the common assumption is that they are the culprits. Everyone is happy- the government, the media and the people who clamor for immediate justice and retribution. This practice is not very new.

In the region where I come from, Naxalites rule the roost. The police and naxalites are at each other’s throats, literally - killing each other every now and then. Whenever a blast or crime happens, the police have to find someone and blame him for that crime. If they don’t find the real culprits, they just find a guy who fits the bill- a poor and underprivileged from a nearby village, who in the recent past might have shown some independent thinking, and displayed some questioning. He may even carry some books and reading material. Those traits are good enough to make people believe he is a naxalite. He is brought to a police station and beaten to pulp. He confesses to every crime that is possible including assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Everyone goes home happy.

In the current context, it’s much easier and quicker to blame a Muslim for a blast than a Hindu. The common mood of India is that a Muslim can do such things, not Hindus. Recently, a guy was arrested, his name displayed on national TV, just because he said, ‘Ejaz, kaam ho gaya!’ It goes without saying that if he had said, ‘Rahul! Kaam ho gaya!’ he would not have been arrested. Everyone one wants to hear the same story – that it is done by Muslims. So, when I suggested that a Hindu could be behind Malegaon blast, I was ridiculed, and some suggested I should apologize. Some suggested that my hate-mongering tirade against Hindus has gone too far.

In spite of many people asking me to delete or change the article since I was proved wrong, I have not changed it. Since some Muslims were arrested for the Malegaon blasts how could I still maintain that article on the website, they asked.

Now, there are two reasons I did not remove that article from my blog. If I was indeed proved wrong, let me be proved wrong. That article will stand as a testament that I am fallible. That I make mistakes and here’s the proof I made a colossal mistake in my assumptions and reasoning. It’s my way of saying, please take a look at this post, read it, and since it proves I am so wrong in my rationale, go ahead and believe that I am irresponsible and read no further.

The other reason was very simple. I really suspected the whole thing going on with Indian investigations after each bomb blast. I didn’t think that the investigations were thorough. They were just done to calm down the media and the public who were clamoring for an immediate justice. I believed that what was being done in my region of Telangana after each Naxalite crime, the same was done in rest of India now.

Now, the OTHER Malegaon blast has found some alleged culprits. There were two different bomb blasts in Malegaon. My article referred to only one of them – the culprits for which are still Muslim. However, the other Malegaon blast has found some culprits, not the scapegoats that were arrested earlier. These real culprits happen to be Hindus, and very surprisingly, members of affiliations of Hindutva brigade.

That does not mean I am right. India has to yet to find the culprits for the first Malegaon blasts so that I can clear the strike-through that appears on my blog. I will continue to wait.

But Indians have to wake up to the new threat facing India. It is from Hindutva brigade. Bal Thackeray warned of thousands of Hindu suicide bombers. And very recently, few such Hindutva brigands got killed or injured while making bombs. One has to understand this. If one such place got found because something went wrong, it usually means there are ten others in hiding which have not been found. In Kanpur, Nagpur and other places, Hindus were found making bombs.

The threat of Hindu terrorism is looming large in India. It will touch our lives very soon. All those Hindus who think they will not get affected since they happen to be Hindu should learn from lessons of contemporary history. In Iraq, almost every killer and the victim of terrorism is a Muslim. In Pakistan, Muslims terrorism kills Muslims. To assume that a Hindu will be spared is a myth that will soon be proved wrong.

I fear Hindu fascism more than Islamic terrorism in India. A small reason is the fact that Hindus are in an overwhelming majority and when an elephant goes mad it leaves a different set of results compared to a deer going mad. The main reason is how Hindu fundamentalism is perceived vis-à-vis Muslim fundamentalism.

Unfortunately, Hindu fundamentalism which feeds this terrorism gets legitimacy because it is tied with nationalism, which is considered good; whereas Muslim fundamentalism in India is tied with terrorism, which is considered bad. When a Hindu is rabid fanatic, he is waving the national tricolor, and hence is fighting to defend Bharat Mata against the traitors. When a Muslim is a rabid fanatic, he is the traitor. For most Indians, Hindu fundamentalism is a reaction against Muslims onslaught; whereas, Muslim fundamentalism is the cause for all the problems.

It goes without saying to most Hindus that this nation belongs to them as ancestral property, where as Muslims are guests, who have made this their home, who have not quite adapted to the rules of this nation.

These prejudices and notions are common room premises in many after-dinner discussions in elite and educated Hindu houses. That Muslims are increasing their number in explosive population growth making babies in hordes with the sole aim of beating Hindus. That Muslims are not well-represented in educations, employment and business only because they are not interested in those things. That their miserable situation is their own doing. That Muslims are fundamentally violent and would take up arms with slight behest. That they are anti-national, unpatriotic, giving allegiance to nations who are India’s enemies.

These prejudices and notions have been instilled into most of Indians by now. The Hindutva brigade gets its legitimacy and support from such notions. The many exercises and campaigns done by Hindutva brigades are bearing fruit. It has led to Hindu terrorism. It is only the first step. There is a long way to go from here. We will witness Europe of early 1900s right here in India. And our kids have to pay the price for these harmless and innocuous prejudices we keep teaching our kids.