Artificial Intelligence models quantify the weaponisation of social media sites to spread hate
and false narratives against Hindus that incited anti-Hindu violence in Leicester.

Leicester, the heartland of the Hindu community in the United Kingdom, is home to
the second-largest Hindu populace in Europe. Widely known for its vibrant Hindu culture
and stunningly beautiful Hindu festivities throughout the world. Since late August 2022
until September 2022, the city’s minority British Hindu community had been the target of
deliberate, organised, and systematic acts of violence including vandalisation of a local
Hindu temple by South-Asian origin Muslims in the UK.
For nearly a month, Hindus were overwhelming victims of violent crimes like attempted
stabbings, looting, organising to commit crimes, vandalism, and hate speech. In addition,
despite assurances of safety from the local authorities and Leicestershire police, British
Hindu homes and business establishments in Leicester were targeted by organised, violent
Islamist mobs. Extreme Islamist groups in the UK waged a systematic terror campaign
against British Hindus while they were in Leicester, subjecting them to extreme threats,
assaults, and trauma.

A large-scale mobilisation of violent extremist Islamists and criminals to Leicester with the
intention of damaging the city’s Hindu population was made possible by online hate
campaigns that were planned both within and outside of the UK to incite hatred and spread misinformation against Hindus.
The media primarily characterised the anti-Hindu violence in Leicester as being sparked by
racial and aggressive anti-Pakistan slogans; nevertheless, the planned, systematic, and
organised attack on Hindus was never brought up or acknowledged. Statements condemning
the horrific anti-Hindu violence were casually reported by the media.
In fact, mainstream UK media outlets like the Guardian, the BBC etc. made sure that fake
news disseminators and supporters of Islamist extremist groups like Majid Freeman, who
spread false information to incite violence against Hindus both online and offline, or roving
reporters like Sunny Hundal, who stoked Hindu hate and sparked violence in the area by
tweeting inciting messages, were given a platform to further spread Hinduphobia and
extremist views.

Most of these observations were confirmed in a research released on November 17, 2022 by
the National Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), a cyber threat intelligence organisation.
In the report entitled “In a Cyber Social Swarming Precedes Real World Riots in Leicester:
How Social Media Became a Weapon for Violence” . NCRI collected data about incidents 1
in Leicester from Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter between August 27, 2022, and
September 19, 2022. The report’s findings are based on a variety of technological tools,
machine learning, open source intelligence, natural language processing (NLP) models,
network analysis, and linguistic models like ConfliBERT which are used to map political
conflict and violence.

The findings of the reports show that bots used cyberswarming to encourage violence 2
against Hindus online, which eventually spread to the real world. Real-world violence
against Hindus, hate speech and slurs, vandalism of Hindu temples, and intimidation were
manifestations in the socio-physical domain. The first social media incident that has been attributed to inciting violence in Leicester was a video that went viral and was shared by the unknown account @tragicbud. In the video,
cricket fans (who were not necessarily Hindu) can be heard chanting phrases like “Death to Pakistan.”
The user @tragicbud equated the sloganeering in the video with Hindutva, thereby giving India’s
victory in the cricket match an ethnoreligious connotation. In order to create a network analysis, this tweet was
examined by NCRI.

Following this, Pakistan inclined twitter handles in used cyberswarming and began notifying their followers and urging a call to action in both the cyber and real worlds. In the days following the altercation, the narratives being spread by these Pakistan-leaning twitter handles and entities grew more intense, making the terms “Hindu,” “Hindutva,” and “Abuse” recurrent themes. Figure 3 illustrates network analysis and statistical association
between these themes as reported by NCRI. Additionally, it demonstrates the “Hindu” term’s cosine similarity to 10 additional terms that were adopted by the South-Asian origin Muslims to support Islamophobic narratives.

The on-ground violence increased along with the amount of Hinduphobic content on Twitter (mainly) and other social media. The use of racial slurs like “Cow Piss” and other hinduphobic epithets increased abruptly.

The full report is available here…

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The post Weaponisation of Social Media Against Hindus in UK: CIHS Report appeared first on The Nationalist View.

From the above graph, it can be seen that there has been an unprecedented surge in copper exports from Pakistan to China. Multiple media reports belonging to Pakistan have reported that Pakistan’s copper export to China have increased by 400% giving a boost to local industries.

The post Sterlite’s Closure: The Engineering Of Social Unrest appeared first on The Nationalist View.

A silent movement, which one may term as the ‘Tribal Renaissance’, has begun in India. The rallying point of this movement is a demand for delisting of those tribals from the list of Scheduled Tribes which have converted to Christianity and Islam. Primarily, Scheduled Tribes in India have converted to Christianity in India, courtesy a sustained operation of missionaries in India that had started during the colonial era and still continues with global support.

The tribal leaders of India and the community itself have now started resisting not only these conversions but there is a massive pushback from the grassroots level from the tribal community which is demanding that the tribals converted to Islam and Christianity should be delisted from the reservation list.

Let us take a look at some numbers which reflect the popular mood amongst scheduled tribes of the country. An organisation, named Janjati Suraksha Manch (JSM) was set up in 2006 to take up the cause of welfare of tribals, especially the issue of conversions and delisting of converted tribals.

Over the last few months, around 124 public rallies have been held across the country in the areas where the tribals reside. Organised by the JSM with help of local support, these rallies have witnessed an average attendance ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 people. The attendees predominantly belonged to the tribals who follow Sanatan Dharma and have been feeling cheated that the tribals converted to Christianity have left the faith and the religious and cultural practices of the tribes and are cornering the fruits of reservation also. Many of them walk for hours to attend these public meetings to express their anger and frustration seeking delisting of converted tribals from the list of Scheduled Tribes.

The leaders of JSM, a completely apolitical and organic outfit of tribals, were able to meet 445 Members of Parliament (337 from Lok Sabha and 108 from Rajya Sabha) in March 2022 to press for their demand of ‘delisting’ of converted tribals. More than 100 more rallies are going to be organised by tribals in the next few months across the country to press for their demand.

Why should it be seen as a ‘Tribal Renaissance’ movement? The reason is that never before in the recent history of India including the British Colonial era of 200 years, a tribal movement has emerged that panned in every tribal district of the country with impromptu participation.

Present provisions for STs

For the purpose of reservation two different categories, i.e. Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), were made in our Constitution. The people who were discriminated against on the basis of the practice of untouchability in India were categorised as Scheduled Castes. The Scheduled Tribes were given reservations to preserve their traditional belief system and cultural practices. These communities have remained neglected historically as a result of discriminatory social practices, due to which they are much backward to other communities in the society in terms of education, health, and other indicators of development. The provision of reservation was essentially formulated in the constitution to improve their representation in different positions in the political and administrative spheres, so that they could contribute to policy making and its implementation.

Besides reservation some other provisions were also made to safeguard the interests of the tribes. The Fifth and the Sixth Schedules, in this context, were specially provisioned for the protection of their customs and livelihood. Later, as per the needs, the constitution was amended and Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) was enacted in 1996 and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) act was enacted in 2006.

Legal and Constitutional Position

Efforts were made by Kartik Oraon, stalwart of tribal community, way back in 1960s to get the converted tribals delisted from the list of STs; these efforts continued in 1970s but of no avail.

It is noticeable here that in a case related to Kerala, the Supreme Court of India had asked: “Does such a person, even after his conversion, remain socially weak and backward and does he still follow his age-old original tribal culture and tradition?” (Kerala State & Others v/s Chandramohan)

In another case, one of the government orders of the state of Meghalaya was justified and validated by the High Court of Guwahati and later by the Supreme Court of India as well with the argument that a (tribal) village head has to perform both the traditional rituals and administrative duties of the village together and a tribe converted to Christianity can’t do both of them together. (Ewanlangki-E-Rymbai vs Jaintia Hills District Council and Others-2006).

As per the data presented by Kartik Oraon in Parliament, many of the tribal beneficiaries of the constitutional rights were the converted tribes. Theoretically, once someone converts to the Christian faith, the concerned individual has to take an oath of being monotheistic and not to indulge in the worshipping of other Gods and Goddesses. This implies that the converted individuals from scheduled tribe communities stop worshiping their traditional Gods and Goddesses and they also give up their customary traditions and way of life.

In the given scenario, the question arises how can he or she be called tribal? If someone has converted to Christianity, why should he or she get the rights and benefits that are meant for the tribal people? Therefore, converted individuals must be removed from the constitutional safeguards provided for tribal communities that are essentially meant for the protection of their traditional ethos, culture, identity, and livelihood.

The same point was raised in the parliament by Kartik Oraon with great emphasis. Owing to his efforts, a joint parliamentary committee was formed in the year 1968, which consisted of 22 MPs from the Lok Sabha and 11 MPs from the Rajya Sabha. Kartik Oraon himself was one of the members of the committee. The committee had 22 meetings and on 17^th November 1969, it presented a report to Parliament. In this report, besides other things, one important recommendation was made — “As per 2A of Clause 2, if any person leaves the tradition, culture behind and converts to Islam or Christianity, he will not be considered as a part of the Scheduled tribe” (page 29, line no 38, schedule 2, clause 2A).

However, this report was never implemented.

A study conducted by Centre for Policy Studies has also established that the tribals who got converted especially to Christianity are taking away the major benefits of the reservations meant for the Scheduled Tribes. This, despite the fact that they have accepted another faith and religious practices shunning their real tribal identity.

It is time to take a look at around almost 100 million tribals of India and address their genuine grievance which has been pending for the last several decades by bringing an amendment to Article 342 that governs various provisions for benefits for Scheduled Tribes.

One thing has to be noted that according to Article 341, it is clearly mentioned that persons who have converted from Hindu to other religions will not be treated as Schedule Caste members, but Article 342 does not include any such restriction while describing Schedule Tribes. Because of this clarification, members of the Scheduled Castes who convert into the Muslim or the Christian faiths are not entitled to get the benefits of reservation and other facilities provided by the constitution. The definition of the Scheduled Tribe provisioned in Article 342 of the Constitution lacks this clarity due to which converted tribes have continued to take away the constitutional benefits of reservation provided for the scheduled tribes.

It is high time to apply the same provision for the Scheduled Tribes that applies to Scheduled Castes in India as far as delisting of the converted is concerned. This would help undo a historical wrong.

(The article was first published in First Post on  4 June 2022. The writer, an author and columnist, has authored  several books including ‘The Forgotten History of India’ . Views expressed are personal.)

The post Why Tribals Converted to Christianity And Islam Should Be Delisted appeared first on The Nationalist View.

This story is brought to you in arrangement with  ‘Stories of Bengali Hindus’- an initiative started by descendants of East Bengali Hindu survivors of genocides  who have come together to document their past – be it the genocides,  culture, traditions,  dialects,  memories and all their stories so that they never remain forgotten.

On the 2nd April, 2022, Lata Samaddar, a Hindu woman and a lecturer in the Department of Theater and Media Studies at Tejgaon College in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was verbally harassed and almost ran over by a Police vehicle by police officer Nazmul Tarek for wearing a bindi (the red dotted ornament on the forehead). The incident took place between 8:20 am and 8:30 am while the victim was crossing the junction at Farmgate towards Tejgaon College.

Lata told how she was walking towards the college when suddenly a middle aged looking man with a beard questioned her why she was wearing bindi. Additionally, that man hurled such profanities, that Lata even felt ashamed to retell her husband what exact words this man had directed at her. Lata turned to see and noticed that the man was sitting on a Police motorbike and wearing the Police uniform. According to Lata’s testimony ^1, the kind of tone this officer had used when he questioned Lata about her bindi was vulgar. After the officer had thrown profanities, he looked greedily at Lata and tried to ride over her, managing to ride his bike over her feet.

Lata told Prothomalo how people nearby were observing this incident but nobody came to help her, perhaps in the fear of repercussions from the law and order. There was a traffic police nearby to whom Lata went to and that officer told Lata to lodge a complaint to the Police. After the incident, Lata limped her way to her department and broke into tears. “If this is the situation after 50 years of independence, it is unacceptable. We have to wonder where we are. I am a Hindu, wearing a bindi is normal. Previously, few people had made bad comments about my shakha-pola (conch-shell bangles worn by married Hindu women in Bengal), but that did not matter much. But this time was different, because those profanities were thrown by a police officer in his uniform.”

After the incident later went ‘viral’ in Bangladesh due to feminists and free thinkers trending the topic on social media and wearing the bindi in solidarity, the issue went all the way to the Bangladeshi Parliament. Member of Parliament Subarna Mustafa from the ruling party said, “It is a very hateful incident against women, regardless of party affiliation^2. We have heard of ‘eve-teasing’, in which even talented boys indulge in when they tease girls at schools. That situation is now very much under control. However, when I see someone in the country’s law enforcement eve-teasing, it’s a huge shame.” Mustafa continued, “which law says that a woman cannot wear a bindi? This is not a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Buddhist matter […]”

The police officer was suspended, the parliament spoke, the people supported the victim. Case closed. This is how hate crimes against Hindus and the aftermath to them are always presented, whether they are true or not. Whether that is in the Bangladeshi media, the Indian media or the Western media. While most people are focused on the social media stints of free thinkers sporting a bindi on their foreheads, or perhaps watching how the politicians are blaming each other, much like after the gangrape of the 12-year-old Hindu girl Purnima Rani Shil back in 2001, there is an aspect that is always ‘forgotten’ ^3. The statement of MP Mustafa in the Parliament of Bangladesh follows the typical pattern of how hate crimes against Hindus in Bangladesh are perpetually whitewashed. Attacks on Hindus are always, without exception, labeled as a political issue, law and order problem, or general misogyny. The statement by MP Mustafa, although probably well intended, was problematic in many ways. Firstly, the statement did not acknowledge the fact that the bindi has deep roots in the sacred scriptures of Hindus. Second, the statement did not take into account the history of sexualised violence against Hindu women solely because of their religious identity.

Lata Samaddar mentioned how she has previously gotten harassed for wearing her shakhas, her marital symbols, which are specific to Hindus. This time Lata got harassed for wearing a bindi. The common denominator here is that Lata got attacked for her outward appearance, that is, wearing her religious and cultural attire that made her visibly recognisable as a Hindu woman. This recent attack against Lata is one of the countless attacks on hindu women who get recognised by their appearance, and it is also a part of the long history of fetishisation of Hindu women, and verbal and physical attacks on Hindu women for wearing shakha-pola, sindoor (vermilion) and the bindi.

In order to substantiate this assertion, let us examine some cases from recent history to this day. One of the witness statements of the Noakhali Genocide of 1946, a state sanctioned genocide of the Hindu minority of the Noakhali district in British India (currently in Bangladesh), tell how Hindu women were attacked especially for the outwardly visible markers that are exclusive to Hindus.

“The local Muslim population either actively or tacitly participated in these acts. Muslim women in the affected areas, at times, displayed their covert support. When Hindu women sometimes rushed into neighboring Muslim homes in a state of panic, it was the women of the [Muslim] households who removed the vermilion mark and broke the conch-shell bangles. This was, however, not out of any altruistic motive of hiding their [Hindu women’s] identity from their [Hindus] attackers. N.K Bose narrated the experience of a girl who had told Gandhiji [Mohandas K. Gandhi] about how the ladies in a Muslim household asked her to become like one of them.” ^4

After the partition of the Indian subcontinent, the Muslim majority East Bengal went to Pakistan. A sizable Hindu minority population was now at the mercy of Pakistan. Several successions of anti-Hindu pogroms took place in the 1950s and the 1960s, and there are many examples from that time period alone. For instance, an account from Keshab Mandal, a native of Chila, Khulna, and a survivor of the 1964 East Pakistan anti-Hindu genocide, told how his house was attacked by a Muslim mob on January 5, 1964. He had taken shelter in the paddy fields, while many Hindu families tried to seek refuge in their Muslim neighbours’ houses. Mandal told how Hindus were given shelter, only to be told by the Muslim families that the Hindu women were to go to separate rooms. Then the Hindu women were ordered to break their shakhas and wipe off their sindoor, which they did in fear of their lives. The statement on a sad note: “then all of them were ravished brutally”.^5

A lot happened politically after the state sponsored genocide of Hindus in East Pakistan in 1964. The 1965 Indo-Pakistani War happened, the economic exploitation by West Pakistan continued in East Pakistan which prompted Sheikh Mujibur ‘Mujib’ Rahman, who became the head of the Awami Muslim League after the death of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in 1963, into further prominence. Mujib dropped the word ‘Muslim’ from Awami Muslim League and went to Lahore to present his 6-point plan, which suggested autonomy from West Pakistan. At that time, Mujib obtained great support from Bengali speaking Muslims and the Hindu minority population as well. In this same time period, many educated, free thinker East Pakistani Muslim women began to wear bindi as a political expression to differentiate themselves from West Pakistan. For this, Hindus were made to pay a heavy price as the Pakistani establishment systematically targeted Hindus for extermination, as West Pakistan believed that Hindus had “corrupted” East Pakistan’s Muslims to break Pakistan.^6

The Pakistani campaign of hatred led to the genocidal rape against women in East Pakistan. A very sad example of this campaign of hatred is the case of Ferdousi Priyabhashini, a Bengali Muslim lady from Khulna, who was repeatedly gangraped by Pakistani soldiers in their cantonment. Priyabhashini told how the Pakistani soldiers had accused her of being a Hindu and an Indian spy just because she had worn a bindi and saree.^7 The fact that 1971 was not just a Liberation War of Bangladesh, but also a genocide of Hindus is not even acknowledged to this day.

After the brutal war, Bangladesh gained its independence. However, even after gaining independence, the Hindu minority population, many of whom were sent back to independent Bangladesh from refugee camps in India by Indira Gandhi’s orders^8, found themselves yet again in a state of insecurity. Several nation-wide anti-Hindu pogroms have taken place in the 50 years of independence. There are countless accounts, documented and undocumented, from Hindu women, who have told that they have been harassed and attacked by the majority community of Bangladesh, just for wearing shakha-pola, sindoor and bindi. During the 2021 Durga Puja country-wide violences and pogrom against Hindus, which started from a rumour that Hindus had disrespected the Islamic Holy Book Quran by placing it near the Murti (the embodiment) of God Hanuman, there were survivor accounts from women who had told that they are scared for their lives for ever wearing the shakha-pola, sindoor and anything else, that would make them visibly recognisable as Hindus, in public.^9

The attacks against Hindu women based on their outwardly recognisable religious and cultural attire (shakha-pola, sindoor and bindi) has not been restricted to only Bangladesh, but also it has happened in Bangladesh’s neighbouring country Myanmar, more particularly in the state of Rakhine, where Rohingya Muslim ‘militants’ had, according to Amnesty’s reports, massacred up to 99 Hindu men, women and children in 2017.^10 The Hindu survivors had told how they were forced to remove their shakha-pola and sindoor before being forced to convert to Islam.^11 There is a history of genocidal violence against Hindu women for wearing their religious & cultural attire. There’s also a history of denying that Hindu women were attacked due to their religious identity. In Bangladesh, attacks on Hindus are often claimed as ‘political attacks’ (much like in the 2001 Purnima Rani Shil case), and no further discussion is allowed in the mainstream. One of the definitions of Hinduphobia or Hindumisia is using or enacting symbols and actions that evoke historical attacks on Hindu society (for example iconoclasm, cow slaughter, etc.) in contemporary discourse to intimidate Hindus.^12 Hindu women have historically been attacked for their appearance, for example wearing the bindi, sindoor, and other visible markers that makes Hindu women outwardly recognisable. Therefore what happened in Dhaka to Lata Samaddar and the reactions to it are both part of genocidal hatred and erasure against Hindus

Sources:

1. https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/capital/%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%9B%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B8-%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%87-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF-%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF
2. https://odhikarbd.net/%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%96%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%9B%E0%A7%87-%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AF/
3. https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-212567
4. Dinesh Chandra Sinha, 1946 The Great Calcutta Killings & Noakhali Genocide, pg. 240
5. Recurrent Exodus of Minorities from East Pakistan and Disturbances in India: A Report to THE INDIAN COMMISSION OF JURISTS by its Committee of Enquiry 1965, pg. 85
6. Gary J. Bass, The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide, pg. 365
7. Yasmin Saikia, Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh : Remembering 1971, pg. 134
8. https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/30/archives/homecoming-in-bangladesh-some-hindus-say-if-you-have-been-bitten-by.html
9. https://www.bbc.com/bengali/news-59002080
10. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/05/myanmar-new-evidence-reveals-rohingya-armed-group-massacred-scores-in-rakhine-state/
11. https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/hindu-rohingya-women-remove-sindoor-read-namaz-bangladesh-camps-1052456-2017-09-26
12. https://understandinghinduphobia.org/working-definition/

 —

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication)

The post Stories of Bengali Hindus: Hindu Woman Attacked for Wearing Bindi by Cop in Bangladesh appeared first on The Nationalist View.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst-ever financial crisis since independence. The army is deployed at petrol pumps as people die waiting for fuel. Lankan embassies are shut to cut costs and Colombo still turns to China for more loans.

The crisis in Sri Lanka became apparent after the pandemic, which halted international tourist traffic to the island nation, one of its main sources of foreign exchange. As a result of reckless borrowings from China to fund infrastructure projects, the country’s debts spiralled and foreign exchange reserves shrank.

The pandemic struck tourism, shattering Sri Lanka’s economic system, which was already stumbling under the weight of debt.

The Debt Equation

As the island nation faces an economic Armageddon, the Rajapaksa government seeks more Chinese money, pushing the country deeper into Chinese debt. Sri Lanka has already taken 16 IMF bailouts, second only to Pakistan. Lanka’s external debt stands at 45 billion dollars but reserves at less than 800 million dollars. It seems like an impossible gap to bridge.

The economic meltdown in the country has triggered an exodus of Sri Lankans, most people have taken to the streets as they struggle to make the ends meet.

Image Source: Idsa.in

What is the situation?

The cost of everything has shot up dramatically, food prices have gone up by 25%, Petrol up by more than 43% and Diesel by more than 45%. Drug prices are set by the government and it has approved a 29% hike in medicines. In February this year, Lanka’s foreign currency reserves dipped to $2.31 billion and inflation hit 15.1%. Schools have called off exams as they do not have enough paper for students to write on.

People protesting for the removal of the current government owing to the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, eventually making ends meet difficult.

The government is controlled by one family, the Rajapaksas. The President is Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Finance Minister Basil Rohana Rajapaksa, Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa, Youth and Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa. According to an estimate, they control 75% of the country’s budget. This fact holds importance as what Sri Lanka borrowed in 2007, during the presidentship of Mahinda Rajapaksa, accounts for 38% of its foreign loans today. As Sri Lanka sinks into debt, the people are left with no choice but to hold the family-run government responsible, demanding their step down.

How did things come to such a pass?

The crisis in Sri Lanka became apparent after the pandemic, which halted international tourist traffic to the island nation, one of its main sources of foreign exchange. As a result of reckless borrowings from China to fund infrastructure projects, the country’s debts spiralled and foreign exchange reserves shrank. The pandemic struck tourism, shattering Sri Lanka’s economic system, which was already stumbling under the weight of debt.

In December 2021, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sought China’s assistance in the face of a worsening foreign exchange crisis, requesting a debt restructuring in a meeting with China Foreign Minister Wang Yi while China has apparently shown the door to Colombo.

Ironically, the Rajapaksa government dug its own grave by rejecting the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the United States’ offer to extend a developmental assistance grant to Colombo, as the MCC Board of Directors terminated its USD 480 million contract with Sri Lanka in December 2020 due to a lack of partner country engagement.

Furthermore, China-backed projects in Sri Lanka are anticipated to add to the island’s financial burden. Furthermore, Sri Lankans are protesting against some of these projects that would have an impact on their livelihood.

Beijing and Colombo

Sri Lanka’s dollar reserves are down to less than 800 million. The island nation requires about 6.6 billion dollars for debt payments for this year alone. Between 2024 and 2026, it has to pay 26 billion dollars to creditors.

Lanka has sought two and a half billion dollars from China, one billion dollars in loan and one and a half billion dollars as a credit line. Sri Lanka wants China to restructure all loans and China remains non-committal on that front.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Sri Lanka has taken 2.5 billion and now seeks another 2.5 billion dollars, which accounts for more than 5 billion dollars in 2 years. Sri Lanka has taken more than 10 billion dollars from China. The country’s total external debt is said to be more than 45 billion dollars.

Already lost the strategic Hambantota port to China, it is bound to lose more assets if it fails to pay.  Experts suggest that with the Sri Lankan economy bleeding, China is eyeing the Colombo Port City.

Sri Lanka is a key part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative is about a long-term plan to fund and build infrastructure, linking China to the rest of the world.

However, India, Sri Lanka’s long-standing neighbour and friend has stepped in to its rescue. India-Sri Lanka have signed a $1 billion line of credit pact in March 2022. Earlier this year, India extended a helping hand by providing financial assistance of $2.4 billion to Sri Lanka. A 40,000 MT fuel consignment was handed over by the Indian High Commissioner to the Sri Lankan Energy Minister, Udaya Gammanpila.

Reference Links:

1. https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/sri-lanka-struggles-to-repay-loans-chinas-debt-trap-for-developing-countries20220117172650/
2. https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/sri-lanka-getting-closer-to-india-to-deal-with-chinese-debt-trap-454776
3. https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/india-extends-sri-lanka-financial-assistance-of-24-billion-usd-discusses-fishermen-issue20220208195940/
4. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59932551
5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/01/sri-lanka-protesters-try-to-storm-presidents-house-as-economic-crisis-deepens
6. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/1/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-the-all-powerful-rajapaksas-under-fire

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Every year September 14  is remembered as ‘Martyrdom Day’ by Kashmiri Hindus and organisations which support their cause who had to flee the valley in face of terrorism in 1990.

In fact, a motion was submitted in UK Parliament(https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/57431/commemoration-of-martyrdom-day-of-kashmiris) to commemorate the Martyrdom Day of Kashmir  on 14 September 2020. The motion read, “That this House commemorates with deep sadness the Martyrdom Day of Kashmiri Hindus on 14 September, those Hindus having lost their lives to cross-border Islamic Jihad who committed atrocities on the population of Jammu and Kashmir, India; expresses its condolences to the families and friends of all those who were killed, raped and injured in that act of genocide; is concerned that the Kashmiris who fled to save life and limb have still not secured justice for those atrocities committed against them; commends the resilience and courage shown by the members of the Kashmiri Pandit community who survived that gruesome ethnic genocide; recognises the role of Panun Kashmir in campaigning for the rights of Hindus in Kashmir; and urges the Government of India to legislate a Genocide Crime Punishment Law in fulfilment of their international obligation by being a proposer and signatory to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

Image Source:Opindia.com

On September 14, 1989, the first major killing of a Kashmiri Hindu leader Pt. Tika Lal Taploo happened in the valley setting the tone for the massive exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from  Kashmir on 19 January, 1990.   Pandit Taploo’s  killing  at the hand of terrorists was a turning point in the  conflict in this region as he was the most prominent Kashmiri Hindu leader in the valley. His killing was the beginning of spree of terrorist attacks on Kashmiri Hindu leaders. Pandit Taploo’s assassination, was arguably the biggest blow to the moral of Kashmiri Hindus who had dug their heel to stay back in the valley.

It appears that he was chosen as a target strategically to start a mayhem that culminated into the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus.

Pandit Taploo passed his Matriculation in 1945 from Punjab University. He  did his Masters in Arts (MA) and .L.L.B from Aligarh Muslim University  and joined Kashmir Bar in 1957.  Initially he was denied admission there along with some other Kashmiri Hindus. He started an agitation was staged dharna in the University campus. The protests compelled the AMU administration to yield the ground and give admission to all of them.

Taploo was also associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He was enrolled as an Advocate of High Court in 1971. Taploo was married to Sarla in 1957 who was a government school teacher.

When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed emergency during 1975, he  courted arrest at Lal Chowk in Srinagar and led the agitation against emergency in the valley from the front.

He had a huge following amongst both Muslims and Hindus. He was popularly addressed ‘Lala’( ‘elder brother’ in Pashto) by the common people for his helpful attitude cutting across religious lines. He  was known for his extensive social work activities and spartan life style.

His popularity amongst Muslims was proving to be one of the major challenges for the terrorists in Kashmir who were trying to communalise the atmosphere in 1980s.

After he received many threats from the terrorists, Taploo took his family to Delhi but he himself came back to challenge the terrorists.   Four days after he had returned from Delhi, he was attacked at his residence Chinkral Mohalla.  He publicly challenged the terrorists to dare to attack him again. On 14 September, in broad day light he was shot dead by the terrorists.

His funeral was attended by thousands of people including senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders LK Advani and Kedarnath Sahani. Taploo was also the vice-president of the Jammu-Kashmir unit of the BJP.  Muslims of the valley, also attended his funeral in large numbers. His assassination was a brutal blow to the resolve of Kashmiri Hindus and it sent shock waves among the community. They expressed their anguish by shutting down all the shops and business establishments for a day as a mark of protest. This was probably the first last time that Kashmiri Hindus had observed a ‘bandh’ in valley against the spate of killings that began soon.

After Taploo’s death, Srinagar District Sessions Judge Nilkanth Ganjoo was shot dead. He  had sentenced Maqbul Bhat, a terrorist  and founder of the separatist organisation National Liberation Front. Maqbul Bhat was hanged on 11 February 1984 in Tihar Jail in New Delhi.

In 1989, the then chief minister of J&K, Farooq Abdullah, had ordered the release of around 70 terrorists between July and December 1989. They had been trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied J&K.

The top four among them were Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Wani, Javed Mir and Yasin Malik. They played a major role in promoting insurgency and creating an anti-Hindu atmosphere in the Valley.

By the end of 1989, the demand to establish the Islamic dominion in the Kashmir Valley and separate it from India had hit the peak. On the evening of 19 January 1990, pro-Pakistan sloganeering started from the mosques in the Valley and mobs started gathering. Posters came up, asking Hindus to either convert to Islam and join the separatists or leave their homes.

Thousands of Hindus left through the night. According to a report by Jammu-Kashmir Study Centre, a Delhi-based think tank, by March 1990, more than 90 per cent of the Hindus residing in the Valley had left their homes. Meanwhile, most of the Hindu’s houses were burnt down in the Valley and whatever was left of their movable properties was looted. However, the precursor to all these developments was the killing of Pandit Taploo on 14 September, 1989.

(Views expressed are personal)

The post Why September 14 Is Martyrdom Day For Kashmiri Hindus? appeared first on The Nationalist View.

Source: Eurostat

After the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the European policymakers pro-actively sponsored investing in European strategic autonomy to decrease its dependence on Washington and conjure consensus within Brussels to make its own autonomic decisions. The desire to endear European sovereignty by President Macron which was also highlighted as one of France’s major agendas in its Presidency of the EU is in its nascency, as the term necessitates a vivid understanding to the majority of the member states. After Brexit, France and Germany have become the two figureheads in the EU’s governance and policymaking, therefore, both Paris and Berlin have been under immense pressure to cooperate with other member states and formulate a unison response towards Russia. However, circumventing this obstacle is a ginormous challenge by itself as various regions across Europe perceive Russia differently rather than being driven by a western narrative of the Kremlin. In Macron’s recent visit to Kremlin, he reiterated avoiding war and bridging the differences between Europe and Russia through diplomacy and trust-building measures. In the same meeting, Kremlin officials arranged for a 6-metre table where Putin and Macron sat at the ends of the table which metaphorically could also be decoded as apprehension and disjunction in relations between Russia and Europe. Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz also visited Moscow earlier this week in a last-ditch diplomatic attempt to reason with Putin. Scholz before visiting Moscow visited Washington, where multiple issues were discussed, notably Germany’s refusal to supply weapons to Kyiv, hesitancy in increasing Germany’s troop presence in Eastern Europe and the future of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The pipeline for Washington has been an objectionable project since its conception as it would deliver gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The US has made its stance clear on the functionality of the pipeline since the beginning; however, in the context of the Russia–Ukraine issue, Washington has said that they will shut down the project.

The defence ministers from NATO member states have met to strengthen their diplomatic strategy against Russia which is a major threat to European security since the Cold War. Fearing the fallout in Eastern European states, NATO troops have been deployed in Poland and the Baltic states to contain any Russian aggression. Furthermore, NATO is set to come up with four new battle groups in South-Eastern Europe as France has offered to lead the battlegroups in Romania. Europe and the West have threatened heavy sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine; however, Europe also faces a major energy security conundrum if it imposes sanctions on Russia. The EU imports 39 percent of its total gas imports and 30 percent of petroleum oil imports from Russia with CEE countries being almost 100 percent dependent on Russian gas. In absence of any signs of de-escalation from Russia, the EU has asked Qatar and Japan to provide LNG shipments as an alternative to Russian imports. However, this is a temporary resolution to a longer problem. The EU now attempts at diversifying its hydrocarbon imports by looking at Norway and Southern Europe can increase its imports via the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. The EU is also aiming to incorporate nuclear energy into its energy architecture, however, nuclear availability is declining in Western European states due to phase-outs and other countries have raised objections against the inclusion of nuclear energy. Therefore, the EU is now looking at Africa for its energy imports and is eager to invest in joint EU–AU research on renewable energy, therefore, the EU aims to bolster Africa’s role in the EU’s hydrogen imports.

Figure 2:  Share of Gas Supply from Russia to Europe (2020), Country Wise Analysis

Source: Data obtained from Eurostat and European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators; Graph by Author.

The European Commission has proposed a new emergency macro-financial assistance (MFA) programme for Ukraine for €1.2 billion with €600 million ready to be dispatched immediately to maintain Ukraine’s macroeconomic stability; however, the package is yet to be approved by all member states. The Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen in her speech reaffirmed Brussels’ commitment towards Ukraine and has not shied away from Kremlin’s threats. The future of Europe situates itself on a slippery slope with the EU having a bystander effect in the Russia–Ukraine conflict. In a span of seven months, Brussels has faced multiple geopolitical challenges particularly the Afghanistan crisis, the natural gas crisis, the influx of migrants at the Poland–Belarus border and now the Russian presence at the Ukrainian border. The aforementioned challenges now compel Brussels to investigate deeply into establishing European strategic sovereignty which would allow the bloc to be at the forefront of its geopolitical decisions against external threats. While seeking solutions for the future, Brussels could perhaps consider adopting Gestalt psychology whose adage states that, ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Likewise, a collected, cohesive, and unified EU is more likely to achieve optimal outcomes against external threats rather than being divisive which not only threatens Europe but could also have significant geopolitical repercussions.

(This article was originally produced at Observer Research Foundation’s website . Views expressed above belong to author)

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Source:Wikimedia Commons

By Arun Anand

Who are Indian Muslims? And how they were treated by the Muslim rulers? There has been a continuous debate over the issue of the identity of Indian Muslims which in turn is closely linked to their origin. The complexity of this question has been aggravated as there is no integrated contemporary account that explains holistically how Islam spread in India.

In this context, it is important to go back and revisit the chronology of spread of Islam in India. That would probably help us to deal with the issue of identity of Indian Muslims more rationally and find some permanent answers.

It is interesting to note that despite the much talked about attack of Muhammad Bin Qasim in 712 AD on Sindh, by the year 1000 AD there were only a handful of Muslims in India only and that too only in the trans-Indus region. In fact, contrary to the common perception that Qasim was the first Muslim invader in India, the Islamic invasion in India had begun as early as 664 AD when Abdur Rahman captured Kabul, which was then part of India.

Stanley Lane-Poole  mentions in ‘Medieval India under Muhammadan Rule’(London, 1926, Pp1) that in C.E.1000 there were no Muslims in northern India east of the Indus.

Noted Historian KS Lal gives an account of the early years of Islamic expansion in India till  tenth century( Indian Muslims: Who are they? Voice of India, Pp2-3), “ …there were some settlements of Muslims in Sindh, Gujarat and Malabar Coast. Parts of Sindh were conquered by Muhammad Bin Qasim Sakifi in C.E. 712; whichever towns he took like Alor, Nirun, Debul and Multan, he established Mosques in them, appointed Muslim governors, and propagated the Muhammadan religion.”

According to various accounts, Qasim stayed in India for three years . After he went back, not only the Arab power declined in Sindh rapidly but most of the neo-converts went back to the fold of ‘Hindu Dharma’. In fact, this ‘ghar wapsi’ has been a continuous phenomenon which ran parallel to the conversion of Hindus since then.

During the first three to four decades of the 11^th century, thousands of  Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam by Mahmud Ghazni.  To give an example, the attack of Mahmud led to conversion of 10,000 persons alone in Baran(present day Bulandshahar in Uttar Pradesh).  Historical texts such as  Tarikh—Yamini, Rausat-Us-Safa and Tarikh—i-Ferishtah  give detailed accounts of conversions of Hindus under the sword by Ghazni and his successor Masud. All these texts were written by Islamic chroniclers. During this period some of the first Muslim colonies came up in places as far as Kanauj, Banaras and Bahraich. Some conversions took place in Gujarat and Kashmir also.

It was Muhammad Gori who established Islamic rule in India on more durable basis. Tarikh—i-Ferishtah  specifically mentions that when Gori captured Kalinjar, 50 thousand persons were converted into Islam.

At the  beginning of 13^th century, the next wave of conversions happened in the eastern part of the country as Itkhtiyaruddin Bakhtiar Khilji  marched into Bihar. He destroyed the great learning centres of Nalanda, Vikramshila and Uddandapur. According to another historical text Tabqat-i-Nasiri,  Khilji converted even some tribes in the Himalayan region.

According to KS Lal(Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India, PP.108) “..the numbers of Hindus that converted into Islam between 1193, when the rule of the Turkish sultanate was established at Delhi and 1210, when Qutubuddin Aibak died, and the immigrant Muslims were about two and a half lakhs. To this may be added the Muslims converted, migrated and pro-created, since the days of Mahmud of Ghazni in Punjab, UP, Gujarat and South. Thus, by the beginning of the 13^th century, there surely was emergence of a Muslim community in India.”

Muslim population in India grew rapidly between 12^th and 14^th century under the Turkish rule primarily due to conversions. The Turkish rulers not only used the ‘sword’ but they also used economic tools like high taxation on Hindus in the name of Jaziyah to put economic pressure to compel them to convert to Islam.

According to Lal, (Indian Muslims: Who are They, Pp36), “ … by the close of 14^th  century the situation was like this. Kashmir’s introduction to Islam had started since the days of Mahmud of Ghazni. Sindh and Punjab were being effectively Islamised by the rulers and Mongol invaders. In Gujarat, Deccan and Malwa also, because of the campaigns of local Muslim rulers against Hindu chiefs, the number of Muslims had risen. By the last years of the century, in the heartland of Muslim power, Muslim population of Delhi and its adjoining regions rose greatly.”

The Muslim population grew very rapidly during the 200 years period from 1200-1400. According to Lal, there were more than 30 lakh Muslims in India around the year 1400 CE.  During the next 400 years, the Muslim population continued to grow primarily due to forced conversions of Hindus  as well as polygamy. These conversions picked up further pace in Mughal dynasty especially during the regimes of Babur, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb. The areas which were not ruled by the Mughals but by the provincial Muslim rulers across the length and breadth of the country also witnessed  state sponsored conversions. Enslavement of women and children and imposition of Jajiyah continued to be two major tools that were used to force Hindus to convert.

Lal gives a broad estimate of the emergence and expansion of Muslims in India from 1000 to 1800 with an interesting insight, “While the total population of India from 1000 to 1800 registered rise and fall by turns, Muslim population had shown only a constant rise. In (the year) 1000, Muslim numbers in India were microscopic. In 1200 they were perhaps three to four hundred thousand. By 1400, there number had probably risen to 3.2 million and they formed about 1.85 per cent of the total population. In 1600, they were probably 15 million..the total populations estimated for 1800 is 170 million. Muslims who were 15 per cent of the total would have been about 25 million.”

Lane-Poole who had published his seminal work, ‘Medieval India’ in 1903 wrote in it, “The population of India in the present day is over three hundred million, and every sixth man is a Muslim.”

 One of the most remarkable things, as the Muslim population grew in India, was the way foreign Islamic rulers treated the neo-converts. This also busts the myth that the caste discrimination in Hindu society led to large number of voluntary conversions.  Hindus who converted to Islam were humiliated and ill-treated by Muslim rulers.

Ira Mervin Lapidus describes their plight (Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages, Pp 83), “The Indian converted Muslims manned the subordinate occupations. The socially rejected tradesmen were weighers, camel and donkey drivers, changers, falconers, cuppers, leather-workers and tanners, jugglers and barbers. The menials included scavengers, entertainers,  funeral workers, wrestlers, clowns, players, story-tellers, and singing women moving about in the street, irregularly employed, knocking about for a living, associated with vice and begging, were part of this low class.”

Ziyauddin Barani, an Islamic chronicler of early medieval times reveals in  ‘Fatawa-i-Jahandari’ how Indian Muslims were looked down upon by   Muslim ruling class. Barani writes that the foreign Muslims “alone are capable of virtue, kindness, generosity, valour, good deed, good work, truthfulness..On the other hand low-born(Indian Muslims) are capable of only vices-immodesty, falsehood, miserliness, misappropriation, wrongfulness, lies, evil-speaking, in gratitude, shamelessness, impudence..so they are called low-born, mean, worthless..shameless and of dirty birth.”

It would be pertinent, in the light of such remarks for that section of Indian Muslims to rethink about the legacy they have tried to own as they claim their lineage to the foreign Muslims who ruled in India. The latter ironically never owned them.

(This article was first published in Firstpost.com)

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Haqiqat Rai/Image Source:Twitter.com

By Vinay Nalwa

Basant Panchami, the festival of spring when Goddess of knowledge and art is revered and prayed and which marks the onset of Spring in northern India is also a  reminder of the unforgettable supreme sacrifice of  fourteen-year-old Haqiqat Rai.  Different sources give different dates of his death, including 1732, 1735, 1742 and 1791.

Haqiqat Rai preferred painful death over forced conversion to Islam. It was the time when the indigenous faith and culture faced the wrath of invaders. Every barbaric method, even temptations were used to destroy the religious identity of Bhartiya’s, so that the system of common shared heritage gets erased from the nation’s memory. However, they were not able to succeed and his firm beliefs in Hindu Dharma and determination to remain a Hindu even against the threat to his life stirred many. His brutal killing on the day of Basant Panchami Festival became a day of remembrance when  Hindus used to gather at his samadhi in Sialkot (now in Pakistan).

Bharat has faced religious persecution from the time Turks set their foot on its soil. They lived and flourished through its rich resources and tried to impose their foreign culture. This is the history of that Part of Bharat which became part of Islamic state of Pakistan where the concept of co-existence is missing even today. Hindu -Sikh gatherings on samadhi of Haqiqat Rai has been challenged time and again and is seen as the celebration of the deed of insult to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) by a Hindu called Haqiqat Rai. The Sikhs were also involved because Ranjit Singh took part in the celebrations.

Ganesh Das has given a detailed account of Haqiqat Rai’s life and events surrounding it in ‘ Char Bagh-i-Panjab’, a historical and rare text:

“Another samadhi dedicated to Haqiqat Rai is in Boeli of Baba Bhandari, where people gather and pay obeisance to Haqiqat Rai during Basant Panchami. In Gurdaspur district, a shrine dedicated to him is located at Batala. The town also has a samadhi dedicated to Sati Lakshmi Devi, said to be the wife of Haqiqat Rai.

Lala Bhag Mal Puri was a wealthy person of Sialkot. His son Haqiqat Rai was a promising lad of fourteen and like the sons of all those who lived by the pen, he was attending the maktab(school) for acquiring knowledge of all the important branches of learning. In the maktab one day he entered into a discussion with a mullazada(mullah’s student) on a point relating to the composition of verses.

It was here that some of the Muslim students in the mosque spoke ill of the Goddess Bhavani which provoked Haqiqat Rai into a polemic with his fellow students. Silenced by cogent argument on the point, the mullazada accused Haqiqat Rai of disrespect to the Prophet of Islam. The musalmans of the city supported the mullazada without a second thought and demanded that Haqiqat Rai should be punished for his blasphemy. Haqiqat Rai’s parents and the Hindus of the city begged forgiveness on his behalf, but they were given only two alternatives: either Haqiqat Rai should accept Islam or face capital punishment. Bhag Mal bribed the corrupt officials and maulvis and succeeded in getting the case transferred to the court of the provincial governor, Khan Bahadur Zakariya Khan, at Lahore.

When Haqiqat Rai accompanied the escorting soldiers to Lahore, a large number of Muslims from Sialkot and other places also started for Lahore to ensure that one of the alternatives suggested by them was adopted. On the way to Lahore, Haqiqat Rai was not allowed to ride a horse. In Lahore itself the ‘ulama, the Qazi, the muftis and other respectable people were persuaded by the mullahs of Sialkot to accept their version of the situation. Zakariya Khan listened to all the witnesses and, concluded that Haqiqat Rai was innocent. His advisers suggested, however, that it would be highly impolitic to go against the current of Muslim opinion. Zakaria Khan suggested to the boy that he may accept Islam, but he curtly replied: ‘if I become a musalman will I live forever’?

He was then offered the high mansab of three thousand, with a large jagir. But he did not care for these earthly prizes. Zakariya Khan left him then to the discretion of the maulvis. They decreed the punishment of death. Bhag Mal requested that his son may be kept in custody for one night so that he may be persuade him to accept Islam. This request was granted. At night he tried to argue with his son, saying that his life is precious. Haqiqat Rai underlined the narrowness of the creed of the Muslims and the relentlessness of their hostility to others. He told his father that he was not going to accept Islam.

The ring of finality in his decision was so evident that his father and others departed in despair. In the morning, he was stoned nearly to death when he was beheaded by a soldier out of compassion. The Hindus prayed that they may be allowed to cremate him according to Hindu rites. Their prayer was granted. Every Hindu contributed one thing or another towards the arrangements. A flower-seller of Lahore sold flowers worth one hundred and twenty rupees in half a ghari. The garland which he used to sell for half a dam fetched him more than six rupees on that day: such was the feeling among the Hindus of Lahore for the martyr.

A small samadhi was built over the place of his cremation. People hold a fair there on the fifth of every month and regard it as a place of pilgrimage. In Sialkot itself his father made a marhi(Tomb) in his house. That too became a place of pilgrimage.”

(The writer is a Ph.D. in sociology. Views expressed are personal)

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Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of the millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

Image Source: belurmath.org

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honour of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: ‘As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.’

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world, of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: ‘Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me.’ Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

(For more speeches of Swami Vivekananda, you may click at  https://belurmath.org/swami-vivekananda-speeches-at-the-parliament-of-religions-chicago-1893/)

ends

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Around a dozen Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended  on the very first day of the winter session(2021) of the Indian Parliament. The members were suspended for their  unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August. At that time the marshals were called after Opposition members stormed the Well of the House during the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021.

The suspended members comprised six from the Congress, two each from Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from CPI and CPM.

The level of parliamentary debates and behaviour of elected representatives in legislatures and parliament have often been debated.

Thus, we are going to talk about a debate that can be used as a bench mark or reference point and in present times it would be pertinent to recall it as it could help reset the standards of parliamentary debates.

This  debate took place way back in 1951 .On 12 May, 1951, the first amendment to the Constitution was introduced. It restricted some of the fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and right to hold property amongst others. It also aimed to create ninth schedule which many experts termed as Constitutional Vault. To put it broadly, laws put in the ninth schedule couldn’t be challenged judicially or one may say the right to scrutinize any law by the judiciary, that was granted by the Constitution was to be restricted.

Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee/Image Source: spmf.org

The debate that took place on this first amendment is one of the most aggressive and finest debates. It was a great verbal duel between Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and the unofficial leader of opposition Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee:

Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru started this debate and he went hammer and tongs not against only the opposition but the press also.  Those who consider Nehru to be the champion of liberalism should may have to rethink after they read what he said about the Press in his speech:

“It has become a matter of great distress to me to see from day to day some of these newssheets which are full of vulgarity and indecency and falsehood, day after day, not injuring me or this House but poisoning the mind of the younger generation, degrading their mental integrity and moral standards. It is not for me a political problem, it is a moral problem.”

Nehru ended his speech with a brave attempt to justify the first amendment which was facing stiff opposition from not only his political rivals but from within his party rank and file as well as the cabinet also.

In his concluding remarks, Nehru said, “ You, I and the Country has to wait with social and economic conditions .. and we are responsible for them.” He thundered, “How are we to meet them? How are we to answer them? How are we to answer the question: for the last 10 or twenty years you have said we will do it. Why have you not done it?It is not good for us to say: We are helpless before fate and the situation we have to face at present.”

Mookerjee deconstructed Nehru’s speech on the floor of the house and he was so powerful that not only the Congress MPs gave him a big round of applause but Congress MP NG Ranga  described it as one of the most powerful and eloquent speeches he had ever heard. Ranga termed Mookerjee as ‘the Indian Burke’ after the great British parliamentarian and conservative philosopher Edmund Burke.  Reporting on one of the greatest debates in Indian parliament’s history , the English daily The Times of India reported next day, “Mr Nehru’s sentiments was more than outmatched by the impassioned logic of Dr. Mookerjee. Interestingly, so convincing was Mookerjee that Ranga and another Congress MP Thakurdas Bhargava, who spoke after Mookerjee, asked their own Prime Minister to address some of the concerns especially those regarding civil liberties, raised by Mookerjee.

To give a glimpse of Mookerjee’s  brilliant oratory and impassioned logic, here is a quote from  his speech:

“You can pass a law and say that the entire task of framing, interpreting and working the Constitution will be left in the hands of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, assisted by such people, whom he may desire to consult. ..You are treating this Constitution as a scrap of paper.

Mookerjee ended his speech with stirring remarks that talked about ‘this encroachment on the liberty of the people of free India’, . He said:

“For the saddest epitaph which can be carved in the memory of a vanished liberty is that it was lost because it possessors failed to stretch forth a saving hand while yet there was time.”

This bill was refereed to Select committee and then as soon as the select committee gave the report and the bill was to be taken up  finally for enacting it into a law, another fierce encounter took place between Nehru and Mookerjee. Another stalwart who spoke brilliantly from the opposition benches was Acharya Kriplani. His speech was also full of wit and sarcasm, “We are accused of idol worshippers. By who are we accused? I am sure the greatest beneficiary of this idol worship is our Prime Minister and also, may I add, this government. But for this idol worship, this government would have fallen atleast 20 times during the course of the last three years.”

The famous Anglo-Indian Educationist Frank Anthony who  reluctantly voted in favour of the bill put it brilliantly, “The only way to stop the inevitable, ultimate dictatorship, Communist dictatorship is dictatorship of Jawaharlal Nehru. But because I believe that a dictatorship today is the only way to prevent a later dictatorship, I am prepared to give blanket powers to Jawaharlal Nehru. That is the only reason for supporting these amendments completely.”

Mookerjee spoke on this bill again before it was put to voting again. He again spoke brilliantly and warned Nehru in these words, “You can not pass or amend a constitution to fight with ghosts,”  He likened Nehru  to the Prince of Denmark fighting imaginary troubles in the Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

 In the final verbal duel, Nehru got so charged up that shaking his fists in fury he challenged his opponents to, ‘combat everywhere, intellectually or any other kind of combat on this issue and every other issue.’

 Tripurdaman Singh(‘Sixteen Stormy Days’ pp. 184-185) gives a vivid account of the second verbal duel that kept everyone spellbound in the House:

‘Several days of bruising debates and devastating criticism had got to Nehru-recalling the debate he would say, ‘Listening to constant accusations and denunciations was too much for my patience. I say this opposition is not a true opposition, not a faithful opposition, not a loyal opposition. I say it deliberately,’ an infuriated Prime Minister responded.

‘Yours is not a true Bill,’ came Mookerji’s sharp retort further stoking Nehru’s temper.

Nehru, shaking his fists in fury, charged Mookerji with making false statements and scandalous speeches.

‘Because your intolerance is scandalous,’ came Mookerji’s riposte.

‘It has become  the fashion in this country for some people to go about in the name of nationalism and in the name of liberty to preach the narrowest doctrines of communalism,’ growled Nehru.

‘You are an arch communalist, responsible for the partition of this country,’ replied Mookerji.

‘We here have had to put with much from a few members of this house who have challenged…,’ seethed Nehru. Even before he could finish Mookerji cut in, ‘This is dictatorship, not democracy.’

When an anxious and exasperated Govind Malviya-son of the Congress stalwart and educationist Madan Mohan Malviya- complained about the constant interruptions of the Prime Minister’s speech, Nehru sneered, ‘I have invited them…I only wanted to see how much restraint Dr Mookerjee has.

‘What restraint you have shown?’, Mookerji snapped back, ‘What restraint you have shown?’

In the heat of the moment, Prime Minister Nehru hit back hard , ‘It is we who have brought about these major changes and not the petty critics of the government and it is we who are going to bring about major changes in the country.’

This fierce and acrimonious debate which lasted for almost 16 days and in which dozens of speakers put across their views finally came to an end at 6:40 p.m. on May 31, 1951 when the Speaker called for vote. There were 228 ayes, twenty noes and close to fifty members had abstained. The first amendment to the Constitution was passed preceded by one the finest ever debates in India’s parliamentary history.

(The information for the above article has been sourced from Parliamentary debates, Sixteen Stormy Days(Penguin) by Tripurdaman Singh and  Nehru: The Debates that Defined India (Harper Collins) by  Adeel Hussain and Tripurdaman Singh)

  ends

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The tale of ‘India in Making’ is generally elaborated with the help of three conventional ideological frameworks viz. Liberal, Marxist and Gandhian. Drawing on the legacy of colonialism and India’s association with it; these frameworks have in their own way explained the ‘Idea of India’. Yet, the tale still seems incomplete. These conventional approaches still leave many critical questions unanswered. These questions relate to the very existence of India as a modern nation-state. Thus, one has to take a detour in order to further explore challenges in India’s journey and also possibly, to find remedies.

It is at this juncture; we have to recognize the fact that Modern India’s story cannot be satisfactorily explained by ignoring two other important ideological frameworks viz. Islamism and Hindutva. Understanding Indian history or politics with the help of this approach has been criticized as a convenient recourse to Hindu-Muslim binary. However, one should not forget that it is exactly the direction we are once again heading towards, after 75 years of India’s independence. Academic non-recognition of these two dominant factors eventually would only mean extending an invitation to a larger crisis.

The modern political ideology of Hindutva essentially found its genesis in the challenge created by Islamism to the very credentials of Indian nationhood. Hindutva emerged as a well-articulated response. It catered to the call for political consolidation of Hindus in order to fight against a number of challenges. These included a notion like Islamism which strongly advocated the idea of a nation based on one religion. It also viewed social constructs like the caste system as serious impediments in order to consolidate Hindus. Seminal works of intellectuals like V.D. Savarkar developed Hindutva from a reaction to a solid ideological framework including socio-cultural and political stands.

How does Hindutva look at Islamism? It views Islamism as the biggest threat to the idea of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Radical elements within Hindutva establishment view Muslim population in India as an unfinished business of partition. It continues to depict the threat posed by change in demography due to rising Muslim population. Hindutva builds its narrative on a proposition that Hindus are threatened by radical Islam even after partition. It holds a view that this existing threat would become even more serious with a steady increase in Muslim population in next few decades.

Hindutva’s criticism of Islamism seems to be rooted in four basic themes. These themes still persist and do influence India as a nation-state, as viewed by modern Hindutvavadis. These are Pan-Islamism, Political appeasement, Religious Fanaticism and Vanity.  These themes collectively formed the threat as understood by the political Hindutva. Unfortunately, the politics in post-independent India still shows substantial reminiscence pertaining to these themes. Such circumstances raise serious national security concerns. On the other side, these themes have also been well exploited by Hindutva in order to secure political power.

India was one of the many countries which witnessed Muslim youth forsaking their own country in order to fight for a religious cause; in this case, Caliphate. An ideology like Hindutva views such developments as a sign of the section within Indian Muslims being more than receptive to the appeal of Pan-Islamism. At the same time, countless examples of initiatives planned by various political parties, decisions taken by elected governments, public stands reflected by politicians have been criticized by Hindutvavadis as shameless attempts of Muslim appeasement which continue till date. Over the years, Hindutva has successfully capitalized on issues which could be associated with Islam in one or the other way. Nevertheless, the political zeal of Hindutva has undoubtedly gained consistent momentum especially in the last three decades.

This new momentum is marked by the fierce attempt by Hindutvavadis to question and change socio-political, cultural, historical narratives which are believed to be vital to the national ethos. The battleground has already transcended academics and is now being fought electorally and on streets as well. Questioning India’s freedom itself, viciously rejecting the legacy represented by Indian National Movement, changing names of cities, pressurizing literary or creative circles could be a few examples worth considering in this regard. Proponents of Hindutva believe that the task which lies ahead is two folded. One has to continuously work towards dismantling an ecosystem which favours Muslims unjustly. At the same time, an ecosystem which is intrinsically Hindu-centric needs to be built which would ensure India remains a de-facto Hindu Rashtra.

The threat of Islamist terrorism is real. There is no doubt about it. Thus, we must also understand the way recent political developments have been viewed and exploited by terrorist organizations. Few government initiatives particularly in the last decade have been well utilized by a terrorist organization like ISIS to foster the main objective even further – polarization on religious lines. Such organizations have successfully propagated a notion that political Hindutva is the biggest obstacle in the project of Islamization and threat to the very existence of Muslims in India.

The propagandist material like ‘Voice of Hind’ published by ISIS has repeatedly exhorted Indian Muslims to rise in arms against Hindus. Recent acts like CAA, NRC have especially been viewed as a systematic attempt to ‘strip Muslims from their last shred of dignity’.

Source: Center for strategic and international studies (CSIS)

‘Here, an illiterate tea-seller, a coarse piece of filth, aided and abetted by his murderous thugs, has passed law after law, act after act, bill after bill, ordinance upon ordinance, until he is now teaching you that you do not belong to this land.’ – Voice of Hind Issue 1.

While ISIS a terrorist organization has been defeated; the narrative which propels radicalization on religious lines would never cease to exist. Number publications like Voice of Hind continue to penetrate the farthest corner of this country through vast virtual gateways which are mostly unmonitored. The digital copies of such publications are now extremely convenient to share. Thus, it further increases the potential success of the intended result regarding this communication.

As warned by a number of experts in this regard, radicalization on religious lines would continue to increase unless we come up with effective measures to counter radicalization. These measures need to be backed by a strong legal framework. We need to differentiate act of terrorism from other law and order related problems for this act has larger and serious socio-political repercussions, as per these warnings go. A solid legal framework which focuses on action-specific approach, an effective cooperation between centre and states, empowering local police units, articulating policies which would enhance inter-religious faith, updating the arms and ammunition cache are some of the suggestions in this regard.

Unfortunately, religious radicalization and political strife emerging out of it would be continued despite all such efforts. The challenge lies ahead is much larger than its security dimensions. It does influence the very nature of India. It would continue to grow due to the simple fact that Hindutva and Islamism are two formidable ideologies which cannot have a mutual coexistence. This struggle is predestined and cannot be negotiated.

Land of India and the minds of the Indian population have already been marked as battlegrounds by these two dominant ideological forces. Thus, this battle would continue to cast its shadow over culture, history, language, politics and all other disciplines which essentially influence the society in some or the other way. Establishing an uncontested control over the discourse which would set the narratives roll in is an intricate and time-consuming process. One cannot assure complete success in such an endeavour. But such a battle which is being fought at every possible level is likely to witness a catastrophic event which would be equalled by nothing less than the partition of India in all its impact and severity.

There is a popular disbelief that electoral defeat would confine radical elements within Hindutva or Islamism. Proponents of such theories should not forget that even partition could not prevent the spread of Islamism as an influential ideology in India. It still thrives as has been observed for a number of times right from opposition to state’s intervention in holy Sharia to waging a war against the state itself in order to bring Caliphate. Theses like Islamism or Hindutva are less likely to be restricted or controlled by prospects of electoral defeats. Their growth or influence may depend on electoral response; but even a series of electoral defeats wouldn’t threaten their very conceptual foundation.

In fact, on the contrary, the next generation of Hindutva is likely to be even more aggressive. It does have its own justification. States like Kerala or West Bengal have already created unfavourable circumstances for further electoral expansion of BJP. While it may disturb BJP as a political party; Hindutvavadis look at such situation with a more holistic perspective.

Circumstances in above mentioned states are viewed conducive to the spread of Islamism. Furthermore, such circumstances are likely to be irreversible which thereby restrict the extent of Hindutva as a political ideology.  Such a scenario creates pressure on the establishment representing Hindutva to invest more in regions where it still successfully dominates political as well socio-cultural space. This imminent threat of losing more political territory as well as socio-cultural space would eventually force Hindutva to become less liberal and more assertive in the next few decades.

What does the future look like? Frankly, we don’t know. We don’t know what India would look like after 150 years of its independence. Would Islamism turn out to be the most grievous challenge to India’s socio-cultural dynamics? Would radicalization in one significant religion ignite the flame of radicalization in another dominant religion on a large scale? Such an attempt; if made deliberately, would it be successful? Would Hindutva as an ideology be confined in the defined constitutional framework; or would it soon view the constitution itself as a critical impediment in order to fight the greatest perceived threat to India’s national security? We don’t know.

What we witness today is a part of an ideological fortification process. Two conventional foes are preparing themselves for an eventual battle. The current tension would soon turn more intense once this fortification reaches a satisfactory level. The digital media has helped both these camps to stoke their narratives further viciously.

What is the best we can hope for? This conflict of ideas is imminent. India cannot escape from it. Its vast influence would soon eclipse a number of other equally important issues and challenges. This phase may witness resurgence of confrontational methods in support of a predefined political cause. This phase is also likely to invite pre-orchestrated violent responses reflecting stern opposition to an attempt of changing socio-political status-quo. So, the future is certainly opaque. One can’t possibly see through it.

Under such circumstances, building a strong public consensus is something we can hope for. We have been fighting a number of battles without securing consent of those on whose behalf we proclaim we are fighting for. It’s time we actually make some progress with this objective. Securing a consensus which truly appeals public conscience and rejects extremism of any kind could perhaps be the best way forward.

(The writer is teaching faculty at Fergusson College, Pune. Views expressed are personal)

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