Where Will This Hate Land Us: "India Has Attained the Eighth Out Of Ten ‘Stages’ of Genocide", Says A Genocide Studies Scholar
By
Ram Puniyani for New Age Islam
5 October
2023
In the last
couple of months, we have witnessed various detestable incidents which reflect
the degree of hate which is prevalent and exponentially rising in the country.
Illustration:
Pariplab Chakraborty
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One recalls
Mohit Yadav, a bus conductor who said he stopped his bus as a few passengers
wanted to ease themselves and some others wanted to offer namaz. A complaint
was lodged, following which Yadav and the bus driver were suspended from their
jobs. Yadav died by suicide a few days later.
Tripta
Tyagi, a primary school teacher, made a Muslim boy stand up for not doing his
homework and asked other students in her class to slap him one-by-one. She also
made a reference to ‘Mohammedan’ (Muslim) children during the incident.
Another
teacher, Manjula Devi, singled out two Muslim students who were bickering and
allegedly commented that India was not their country. There are reports from
schools that Muslim children are prevented by Hindu students from playing with
them.
To cap it
all, the parliament of the ‘mother of democracy’ witnessed a most horrendous
event when Ramesh Bidhuri, a BJP MP, used extremely abusive language against
BSP MP Danish Ali, calling him ‘mullah’, ‘terrorist’, ‘anti-national’, ‘pimp’
and ‘katwa’ (a Hindi slur against Muslims).
This is a
matter of detailed elaboration, but in sum and substance, there was only mild
regret at Bidhuri’s actions. Om Birla, the Lok Sabha speaker, said that action
will be taken against Bidhuri were he to repeat such an action.
While
Danish Ali has written to the speaker to take action against Bidhuri for his
offensive hate speech, many other BJP MPs and leaders have come forward to
defend their colleague, accusing Danish Ali of provoking Bidhuri. Another one
accused Danish Ali of staging drama in order to enter into the Congress.
Interestingly,
when Bidhuri was on his hateful diatribe, two BJP ex-ministers, Dr Harsh
Vardhan and Ravishankar Prasad, were having a hearty laugh.
While what
happened in parliament may be the acme of the outcome of hate, incidents of the
above nature may just be the tip of the iceberg. The sense of fear, insecurity
and anger among the Muslim community may be an undercurrent, parts of which can
be perceived with sensitive observation.
The
marginalisation, frustration and helplessness of the Muslim community are the
dominant observations, while the economic hardships, violence, humiliation and
subjugation of Dalits, women and Adivasis are also equally frightening
phenomena that mark the rising domination of majoritarian politics.
Hate Is
Not A Recent Phenomenon
Is hate a
recent phenomenon? Not at all: With the sowing of the seed of ‘communal
streams’ – namely Muslim and Hindu communalism – during the colonial period,
hate was promoted by communal organisations against the ‘other’ community, and
this also laid the foundation for communal violence.
This
communal violence is very different from the ethnic, sectarian violence during
rule by kingdoms, when Shia-Sunni or Shaiva-Vaishnava conflicts marred the
peace in society.
Today in
Pakistan, this communal hate dominates against Hindus and Christians. India is
seeing the continuing rise of this hate against Muslims as well as Christians.
The
narrative of hate against these religious minorities has been constructed by
communal organisations and spread and intensified by the media.
One recalls
that this was recognised by our earlier leaders also. Mahatma Gandhi, in the
wake of the murder of Swami Shraddhanand by Abdul Rashid, wholeheartedly
condemned this murder in a Young India article titled “Shraddhanadji – The
Martyr”, and wrote of the role played by newspapers in disrupting communal
harmony by spreading hate and violence.
The role of
the poison of hate spread by the major communal organisation was underlined by
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, when in a letter to RSS chief M.S. Golwalkar he
wrote,
“All their
[the RSS’] speeches were full of communal poison. It was not necessary to
spread poison in order to enthuse the Hindus and organise for their protection.
As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the
invaluable life of Gandhiji.”
In today’s
context, the hate does emanate from the source pointed out Sardar Patel, and
has been amplified in an exponential way by various affiliates of this organisation,
namely the corporate-controlled godi media, which is out to bow to the ruling
party and to condemn opposition parties and the ruling party’s critics.
The
television networks have been totally bought over by corporates who are in
strong collaboration with the majoritarian party. This party, aiming towards a
Hindu nation, has also opened a media cell and started lakhs of WhatsApp groups
to broadcast its message of hate.
No wonder
the INDIA alliance, out of its helplessness, had to decide not to attend TV
debates by 14 news anchors. These anchors, in a competition to please their
masters, have devised various mechanisms to defame opposition parties and
religious minorities. The core part of their journalistic ethics – objectivity
and speaking truth to power – is missing.
Critical
Phase in The Life of Our Republic
This is a
very critical phase in the life of our republic, where hate is being
aggressively dished out from the hallowed portals of the highest institution of
democracy. What will its impact be on social life and on the core value of our
constitution – fraternity?
The naked
defence of Ramesh Bidhuri is an indication that he is enjoying the blessings of
his party. Hate speech, which is a crime, goes unabated and unpunished. Many of
our Dharm Sansads and the ilk of Yati Narsinghanand are strolling through
society with this dangerous weapon.
Professor
Gregory Stanton, a genocide studies scholar, had predicted the 1994 genocide in
Rwanda after studying the broadcasts of Radio Rwanda. As per him, India had
attained the eighth out of ten ‘stages’ of genocide.
Can just
remain mute spectators to this ghastly phenomenon? The question is, what can be
done? Can the opposition stand in unison to oppose hate speech? More than that,
can the political parties committed to the values of the Indian constitution,
social groups and human rights groups come together and devise a way to promote
fraternity at the community level? This is an urgent task which has become
overdue.
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Ram Puniyani is president, Centre of Study of
Society and Secularism and has written several books including Communal
Politics: Facts Versus Myths (Sage, 2003), Deconstructing Terrorist Violence
(Sage 2015), Indian Nationalism versus Hindu Nationalism (Pharos 2014) and
Caste and Communalism (Olive 2013).
Source: Where Will This Hate Land Us?
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/hate-india-stages-genocide-scholar/d/130824
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