In yet another gruesome act of Hindu extremist violence in India, a Muslim senior citizen was lynched to death for the suspicion of stealing a calf. Incidentally cows are worshiped as mothers by the Hindus. The victim was a government school headmaster and respected member of the society, but that did not deter the Hindu mob, which killed him blinded by hate and prejudice born out of Hindu fundamentalist nationalist ideologies. This incident is not the first but one of many hate crimes committed through mob violence ever since the Hindu nationalist government of Mr Narendra Modi came to power in India. According to a leading Christian rights group, at least 600 such hate crimes occurred in India through such attacks, which took place between the election of Modi and August of this year. One hundred and forty nine of these assaults were against Christians and rest were targeted at the country's Muslim community. The Hindu nationalist government party BJP, led by PM Modi augmented this sad saga of violence by supporting their state governments which passed laws banning the eating of beef and cow slaughter. It is shocking to know that eating a beef steak in India can get you behind bars in some of the world's worst prisons for up to seven years in a row. The sick Hindu nationalist mentality of the proclaimed secular democracy of India was exposed after this ban on beef, when a Muslim man was killed on the suspicion of storing beef in his house refrigerator. Not only was the meat stored found to be that of a goat (mutton) after forensic investigation, but the fact that the victim was the father of an Indian Air Force serviceman did nothing to deter the Hindu mob, which lynched him to death. This Hindu fundamentalist majority in India worships cows and even drink their urine as a religious obligation. Ironically, these Bhakts (Hindu fundamentalists) as they are popularly called, belong not only to the illiterate class of Indians but include the well to do educated ones as well in huge numbers. Hindus are in the majority in India, but these fanatic Hindu nationalists treat their own lower classes called the Dalits as untouchables who are treated inhumanely by them. This spell of violence in India is being orchestrated by the militant arm of ruling BJP party known as the RSS. The PM Modi has been a life long member of the RSS and started his politics from the platform of the RSS. The RSS is now forcing Indian minorities to convert into Hinduism. When they refuse to do so their houses are burnt down, livelihood destroyed and women and children raped and murdered.
Mr Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party has a history of religious and communal violence. As the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, Modi oversaw the massacre of thousands of Muslims by Hindu nationalists. Until Modi became the Prime minister of India due to the votes of this same Hindu nationalist majority, he was banned entry to the USA due to his human rights violations record. The US was forced to grant him entry in grand style because of their newly found fondness for India. The west wants to see India as a counterweight to the ever rising influence of China in the Asia pacific region. Narendra Modi was not elected for his human rights criminal violations in Gujarat by the Indians but for his successful economic model which saw the rise of Gujarat as an economic hub of India and his promise to transform the complete Indian economy on his Gujarat model. However, after more then one year in power, all he has to show is inflated and sometimes flawed reports about the growth of Indian economy essentially published by the western media desperate to show India as the better place to put international investment rather then China. On ground, the Indian exports have decreased and China is still emerging as the top destination for foreign direct investment. Modi projected his brand India by wearing a colourful crafty wardrobe around the world which resulted in him shining on the global map in the eyes of westerners who were as intrigued as a five year old watching a circus act. That however was all it is about when it comes to his performance.
Domestically, after the swearing in of the BJP government in May 2014, India saw a sharp rise in religious and communal intolerance. This situation got so bad that very recently the international monetary rating agency Moody's was forced to flash a formal warning to the Indian government over these issues. However, It was bluntly rejected by the Indians as they felt that it was only the work of a junior analyst at Moody's. The flashy positive economic data published by the leading western economic media out lets like the wall street journal regarding the rise and shine Indian economy turns out to have been questioned for its authenticity and dubious nature by leading international economists including those at the wall street journal itself. Mr Angus Deaton (British noble laureate economist) criticized the statistics produced by India in Oct 2015. Commenting on the west's deceleration of India being the top growing global economy earlier this year, he mentioned in an interview with leading Indian news channel (NDTV) that there were "very serious discrepancies in India's economic data... I'm sure some of the growth is exaggerated... One of the things you worry about with statistics is that growth is so much a flag under which recent Indian governments have flown" He also stated "The national accounts are showing, you know, a huge increase in the amount that people have, year, upon year, upon year, and we are just not picking it up in the household survey". It is highly pertinent to note, that Deaton won this year's Nobel Prize for economics, in part for his work measuring the poverty in India. His words extinguished the hopes the Indians had when they elected the manic Hindu nationalist government, led by a man with a blood tainted record, due to his promises of an economic revival on his so called Gujarat Model.
Hindu nationalism in India has always had a history , but its most recent rise is worrying the secular Indian population in India and abroad. In the past the Sikh population of India fell victim to the same phenomenon and migrated to western countries in huge numbers during the mid 80's. This mass migration occurred after they demanded a separate state for themselves because they were trying to escape the Hindu fundamentalist policies of India. Most recently, a movement of Indian intellectuals has been born. They resist, protest and fight back the cancer of Hindu nationalism which arose after the advent of Modi government to power. Award winning famous Indian writers are returning their honours and awards to the Indian government in protest. One such internationally acclaimed Indian writer, Arundhati Roy said while returning her awards to the Indian nationalist government on Nov 5, 2015, said, "... Today, we live in a country in which, when the thugs and apparatchiks of the New Order of "illegal slaughter", they mean the imaginary cow that was killed, not the real man who was murdered. When they talk of taking "evidence of forensic examination" from the scene of the crime, they mean the food in the fridge, not the body of the lynched man..."
With the chartering of the Modi nationalist government, India saw a rise of Hindu nationalism supplemented by mindless violence. The newly found Hindu macho-ism was not restricted to Indian mainland but it spread fast to skirmishes on the India-Pakistan border resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides. In the genesis of this rise of Hindu nationalism in India, there is a strong element of hatred directed towards the Muslims of India and neighbouring Pakistan. Pakistan however, unlike the Muslims of India is a nuclear armed republic with strong Armed Forces at her disposal to counter the Indian aggression and that is exactly what it is doing. This rise of Hindu nationalism under Modi's rule in India would expose the world to the risk of a nuclear holocaust in South Asia if remained unchecked. Incidents like the banning of Pakistani artists, international cricket umpire and an attack on a book launch by a Pakistani writer in India are a direct result of this latest rise in the Indian nationalist violence and speaks volumes about the mood prevailing in India among the majority Hindu fundamentalist population.
Under the circumstances, brand India is facing strict scrutiny around the world with its already tarnished image due to a series of gang rapes involving foreign/western tourists. Fundamentalist attitudes are fast becoming mainstream in India. If this dangerous trend is failed to be restrained it will most probably only give rise to schismatic tendencies in India. The country already faces dozens of separatist rebel movements. The huge global Indian diaspora with the support of the western media, fights desperately to control the damage, however mere propaganda won't put this genie back in the bottle. It would require a national consensus in India to address the issue of Hindu fundamentalist violence that the country currently is faced with. If this fails, the Modi government typically may divert the public attention towards and militarily challenging neighbouring Pakistan. That would be a grave mistake that the region can not afford due to the obvious fatal consequences.
India has always desired to be and has been portrayed in the recent past as a tolerant open minded democracy that is in the running to be a world super power. Narendra Modi has single handedly in the space of under two years, managed to prove the two nation theory used as a reason to create the two countries of India and Pakistan. He has also managed to demolish the majority of the efforts made by the people and the leaders that came before him to depict India as a progressive state. Arundhati Roy has managed to paint a more realistic portrait of the India of today with the following words:
Mr Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party has a history of religious and communal violence. As the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, Modi oversaw the massacre of thousands of Muslims by Hindu nationalists. Until Modi became the Prime minister of India due to the votes of this same Hindu nationalist majority, he was banned entry to the USA due to his human rights violations record. The US was forced to grant him entry in grand style because of their newly found fondness for India. The west wants to see India as a counterweight to the ever rising influence of China in the Asia pacific region. Narendra Modi was not elected for his human rights criminal violations in Gujarat by the Indians but for his successful economic model which saw the rise of Gujarat as an economic hub of India and his promise to transform the complete Indian economy on his Gujarat model. However, after more then one year in power, all he has to show is inflated and sometimes flawed reports about the growth of Indian economy essentially published by the western media desperate to show India as the better place to put international investment rather then China. On ground, the Indian exports have decreased and China is still emerging as the top destination for foreign direct investment. Modi projected his brand India by wearing a colourful crafty wardrobe around the world which resulted in him shining on the global map in the eyes of westerners who were as intrigued as a five year old watching a circus act. That however was all it is about when it comes to his performance.
Domestically, after the swearing in of the BJP government in May 2014, India saw a sharp rise in religious and communal intolerance. This situation got so bad that very recently the international monetary rating agency Moody's was forced to flash a formal warning to the Indian government over these issues. However, It was bluntly rejected by the Indians as they felt that it was only the work of a junior analyst at Moody's. The flashy positive economic data published by the leading western economic media out lets like the wall street journal regarding the rise and shine Indian economy turns out to have been questioned for its authenticity and dubious nature by leading international economists including those at the wall street journal itself. Mr Angus Deaton (British noble laureate economist) criticized the statistics produced by India in Oct 2015. Commenting on the west's deceleration of India being the top growing global economy earlier this year, he mentioned in an interview with leading Indian news channel (NDTV) that there were "very serious discrepancies in India's economic data... I'm sure some of the growth is exaggerated... One of the things you worry about with statistics is that growth is so much a flag under which recent Indian governments have flown" He also stated "The national accounts are showing, you know, a huge increase in the amount that people have, year, upon year, upon year, and we are just not picking it up in the household survey". It is highly pertinent to note, that Deaton won this year's Nobel Prize for economics, in part for his work measuring the poverty in India. His words extinguished the hopes the Indians had when they elected the manic Hindu nationalist government, led by a man with a blood tainted record, due to his promises of an economic revival on his so called Gujarat Model.
Hindu nationalism in India has always had a history , but its most recent rise is worrying the secular Indian population in India and abroad. In the past the Sikh population of India fell victim to the same phenomenon and migrated to western countries in huge numbers during the mid 80's. This mass migration occurred after they demanded a separate state for themselves because they were trying to escape the Hindu fundamentalist policies of India. Most recently, a movement of Indian intellectuals has been born. They resist, protest and fight back the cancer of Hindu nationalism which arose after the advent of Modi government to power. Award winning famous Indian writers are returning their honours and awards to the Indian government in protest. One such internationally acclaimed Indian writer, Arundhati Roy said while returning her awards to the Indian nationalist government on Nov 5, 2015, said, "... Today, we live in a country in which, when the thugs and apparatchiks of the New Order of "illegal slaughter", they mean the imaginary cow that was killed, not the real man who was murdered. When they talk of taking "evidence of forensic examination" from the scene of the crime, they mean the food in the fridge, not the body of the lynched man..."
With the chartering of the Modi nationalist government, India saw a rise of Hindu nationalism supplemented by mindless violence. The newly found Hindu macho-ism was not restricted to Indian mainland but it spread fast to skirmishes on the India-Pakistan border resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides. In the genesis of this rise of Hindu nationalism in India, there is a strong element of hatred directed towards the Muslims of India and neighbouring Pakistan. Pakistan however, unlike the Muslims of India is a nuclear armed republic with strong Armed Forces at her disposal to counter the Indian aggression and that is exactly what it is doing. This rise of Hindu nationalism under Modi's rule in India would expose the world to the risk of a nuclear holocaust in South Asia if remained unchecked. Incidents like the banning of Pakistani artists, international cricket umpire and an attack on a book launch by a Pakistani writer in India are a direct result of this latest rise in the Indian nationalist violence and speaks volumes about the mood prevailing in India among the majority Hindu fundamentalist population.
Under the circumstances, brand India is facing strict scrutiny around the world with its already tarnished image due to a series of gang rapes involving foreign/western tourists. Fundamentalist attitudes are fast becoming mainstream in India. If this dangerous trend is failed to be restrained it will most probably only give rise to schismatic tendencies in India. The country already faces dozens of separatist rebel movements. The huge global Indian diaspora with the support of the western media, fights desperately to control the damage, however mere propaganda won't put this genie back in the bottle. It would require a national consensus in India to address the issue of Hindu fundamentalist violence that the country currently is faced with. If this fails, the Modi government typically may divert the public attention towards and militarily challenging neighbouring Pakistan. That would be a grave mistake that the region can not afford due to the obvious fatal consequences.
India has always desired to be and has been portrayed in the recent past as a tolerant open minded democracy that is in the running to be a world super power. Narendra Modi has single handedly in the space of under two years, managed to prove the two nation theory used as a reason to create the two countries of India and Pakistan. He has also managed to demolish the majority of the efforts made by the people and the leaders that came before him to depict India as a progressive state. Arundhati Roy has managed to paint a more realistic portrait of the India of today with the following words:
We say we have "progressed", but when Dalits are butchered and their children burned alive, which writer today can freely say, like Babasaheb Ambedkar once did, that "to the untouchables, Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors",without getting attacked, lynched, shot or jailed ? ... "
Wrong!!!!
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