Let the Hindus Beware!

This happened, I believe, some 30-35 years back. A book, Religious Leaders, by Thomas and Thomas was published in Europe. And what happened next was Muslim riots that broke out in our country—in Bombay and elsewhere. As usual, the rioters began attacking Hindus, torching their shops and destroying public property.

Again, now one Baptist church minister, Jerry Falwel, it seems, made some adverse comments about Prophet Mohammed in a recent television interview in New York. Soon enough, on Friday (11.10.2002) dagger wielding Muslim rioters came out on the streets in Sholapur, Maharashtra. Papers described it as a major riot leaving eleven dead and 125 injured and at least 20 shops gutted in arson. A couple of Navaratri Pandals were damaged—one of them right in front of a police station! A BJP leader’s house was also attacked.

In between these two, how many similar incidents took place, I do not know. One may wonder, what connection is there between some incident somewhere in the world and the Muslim mobs indulging in aggression on Hindus, their property, religious places and destroying public property in our country. No, there is no connection, no logic, no local provocation whatsoever. In fact, none of these are needed. Mostly, the local Muslim politician provokes his religious henchmen for such acts, evidently for further strengthening his extremist hold upon them. And his flock follows him like robots. But why should they at all fall a prey to such power-mad politician’s machinations? The obvious reason, one feels, is that they are already indoctrinated; the Holy Quran, the local mullah or maulvi must have told them, commands them as to how to behave towards the kafirs. Neither the politician who is cocksure about his flock’s implicit ‘faith’ in him nor his flock need any further logic.

How the hold of local Muslim political leadership is crucial in all such matters also became evident just last year in Bangalore. A nearly 40,000 strong RSS swayamsevaks’ camp was held on the northern outskirts of the city. About half of that number was to pass through a locality densely populated with Muslims. The city police commissioner Shri Sangliana, a very able impartial IPS from Mizoram, tried to dissuade the RSS leadership from passing through that locality. On his part, he knew well enough that the RSS men would never indulge in any provocative slogan or act on their part. However, the local Congress MP Zaffar Sherif, who had earlier visited the camp during its preparatory days, came to the rescue of the police and assured that there would be absolutely no trouble and the RSS route march could safely pass through that locality. (Shri Sherif says with pride that he had attended the RSS shakha in his home town, Chitradurga in Karnataka.)

But the question is: Do we find such sober Muslim political leadership at present all over the country? Of course, “No”. In that case, is there really any other alternative except to deal with rabidly fanatical politicians and the localities that harbour such jehadi groups with such a firm hand that it must serve as a never-to-be-forgotten lesson for them? Evidently, this must be done by the law-enforcing authorities, irrespective of the political colour of the local ruling party. But in the present state of affairs, do we really find such strictly impartial law-enforcing police force able to keep itself aloof from political interference? The emphatic one word reply is “No”. Under these circumstances, if the Hindus honestly feel pained at heart and wish to live in honour and security, they will have to bear the responsibility of en-bloc opposing such political parties in any kind of future election and not falling into the political trap of appeal to caste or sect or any kind of favour by such parties. On the contrary, if they fail in this primary test of a living society, it will be at the cost of their lives and property and sanctity of their holy religious places. Let them beware!