Teachings of Islam which have so far succeeded in sealing itself off from every shade of empiricism, rationalism, universalism, humanism, and liberalism, are the hallmarks of Hindu and modern Western culture. But in the context of India, where Islam failed in its mission of lasting conquest and total conversion, these tenets have acquired the task of endless conquest and complete transformation. These tenets have developed a singularly sinister and subversive character.

What we mean by Islamism is self-righteous psychology and a closed cultural attitude, making it impossible for its converts to coexist peacefully and with dignity with other people. There are many Hindus who share several tenets of Islamism.

Days after the excruciating murder of a Hindu tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur by two Islamists, the American news magazine Time sought to soft-pedal the harshness of the atrocious crime.

In an article published on Friday (July 1), Time correspondent Sanya Mansoor used the monstrous killing to peddle the narrative of ‘Muslim victimhood’ and trivialize the security and safety concerns of the Hindu community in India.

At the very onset, Mansoor shifted the conversation from the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal to supposed ‘chilling calls for retaliation against the ‘marginalized’ Muslim population.

Screengrab of the Times article

While trying to scrutinize the murder of Kanhaiya Lal, Sanya Mansoor endorsed that the poor Hindu tailor had drawn the fury of the Islamists upon himself by supporting the ‘degrading remarks’ of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. 

Meanwhile, Mansoor also tried to cover or protect the co-religionists of the killers and praise them for their token comminations. “Muslim politicians and Islamic clericals swiftly condemned the killing,” she asserted while conveniently ignoring their collective silence over calls of ‘Sarr tan se juda chants all over India backed by the same people.

The bafflement of the Hindu majority

Hindus in India are caught in a state of dilemma. They can neither demand security from the State as they happen to be the ‘non-violent majority’ nor can they safeguard themselves out of the fear of being called atrocious majoritarians, and anyways, oblivious to minority rights.

So, the cornered Hindus are busy running hashtags on social media, hoping to wake up the State from its deep slumber. In recent years, the community has garnered support globally and raised awareness in the virtual world for their plight.

However, Islamists and their sympathizers in the media want to snatch away even this last remaining recourse from the Hindus to voice their concerns. Sanya Mansoor made precisely the same attempt in her vicious article in Time. This became quite evident when she went on a brainsick rant against the social media hashtag ‘Hindu Lives Matter.’

She claimed, “Political authorities call that dangerous, risking the enhancement of a heinous but isolated crime into an affirmation of systemic violence against Hindus, who make up some 80% of India’s 1.2 billion people.”

No, the murder of Kanhaiya Lal is not an isolated incident

It must be recalled that the murder of Kanhaiya Lal by Islamists, namely Riyaz Attari and Mohammad Ghaus, is not an isolated incident. Seven days before his beheading, another Hindu man named Umesh Kolhe was hacked to death for supporting Nupur Sharma.

Several people, including TV actresses, have received death threats for merely speaking in support of the ex-BJP spokesperson. In the days leading up to the brutal murders, Islamists ransacked public property, set vehicles on fire, and brought life to a standstill in several cities across India.

The common Hindu, unaware of his sense of religious identity, watched in silence while the Islamists created mayhem on the streets. Their unabashed display of street power, coupled with the silence of their ‘moderate’ co-religionists, have struck terror in the heart of an average Hindu.

It must not be forgotten that there was a Kishan before Kanhaiya and a Kamlesh before Kishan. All of whom were slaughtered on allegations of blasphemy. The list is long.

Perfect excuses always back Islamist crimes

However, this has made way for aspersions that blasphemy, a part of public discourse in civilized, secular societies, is somehow to blame for their brutal murders.

Such a vicious argument that tends to rationalize the idea of snatching away a human life even found affirmation in the highest echelons of the Indian judiciary.

Even in the absence of blasphemy, there were attacks on Hindu religious processions, as evident from Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. While Islamist sympathizers blame the communal violence on the BJP, a thorough reading of history since the 1980s suggests otherwise.

One of the admirable qualities of these extremist elements is that they have an abundance of excuses to justify their heinous crimes. And despite being the aggressors, they are well-equipped to pose as the perpetual victim.

Nupur Sharma and blasphemy is just an eyewash. Islamists are baying for the blood of the non-violent majority, who are left to fend for themselves, with no intellectual ecosystem to back them up.

The assertion of systemic violence against Hindus is accurate and vivid, which only remains invisible to the eyes of bigots who are blinded by Hindu hatred.

Political ‘journalist’ begs to not generalize all Muslims over ‘isolated cases’

Mansoor sought the comments of one Dhirendra Jha, who has been described as a political journalist and the author of the propaganda book ‘Shadow Armies: Fringe Organizations and Foot Soldiers of Hindutva.’

Jha remarked, “Just because two community members commit this type of crime, you cannot paint the community as a whole with the same brush.
Profile of Dhirendra Jha. This is not good for Indian democracy.”

As evident from the above discussion, the murder of Kanhaiya Lal is not an isolated one. Several Hindus have paid the price of such whitewashing of Islamist crimes with their lives, only to be told that their death should not be used to generalize the Muslim community.

Jha happens to be a politburo member of the Communist Party (Marxist and Lenin), which partly explains his attempts to distance his religious angle from the gruesome killing of the Hindu tailor.

However, in his propaganda book, Jha left no stone unturned to insinuate that crimes by fringe elements are, in fact, the manifestation of ‘right-wing Hindutva, fascist politics’ under the Narendra Modi regime.

Jha, a contributing writer at the leftist propaganda news portal The Caravan, had earlier mocked India’s most significant tax reform at the expense of the Hindu community. He claimed that there would be a cow, temple, and Hindu festival tax after implementing the Goods & Services Tax (GST).

His insensitive comments on the Kanhaiya Lal murder should not surprise him, given his past track record of doing whataboutery and peddling Muslim victimhood.

Leftist apologist peddles delusional theories interlinking Hindutva with white supremacy

Time reporter Sanya Mansoor also sought refuge in the ‘political expertise’ of a New Zealand-based Professor, Mohan J Dutta. Described as an ‘anti-Muslim hate’ researcher, Mohan outrightly dismissed claims of systematic oppression.

“Ironically, a majoritarian structure takes that hashtag to deploy hate towards India’s Muslim minority community, which has consistently been targeted by hate,” he made outlandish assertions about #HinduLivesMatter.

The Professor suggested that the hashtag, meant to describe and uphold the value of Hindu lives, is somehow related to calls for ‘Muslim genocide.’ His record sheds light on his rant against the amplification of Hindu voices silenced by Islamists.

Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) had pointed out how Mohan J Dutta had published a propaganda-laden whitepaper, wherein he alleged that Chinmaya Mission NZ and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are terrorist organizations.

Screengrab of the whitepaper by Mohan J Dutta

He resorted to name-calling and censoring Hindu voices when asked to provide evidence to back his claims. “Along with accusing Hindus of being Islamophobic, Dutta has repeatedly equated Hindutva with white supremacy,” stated SHHAN.

Mohan has been open about his political affiliations and has urged the people of West Bengal to vote for the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

“As you go in to vote in Bengal, consider what would it take to dismantle the fascist politics of the BJP. #VoteLeft as Left is the only ideological ground for fighting fascists,” he had tweeted.

Mohan J Dutta was also one of the speakers during an anti-Hindu event titled, ‘India on the Brink’ wherein aspersions were cast about an impending Muslim genocide.

Scholar justifies the murder of Kanhaiya Lal as a reaction to Hindu vigilante groups

Angana Chatterji, described as a scholar by Time reporter Sanya Mansoor, had no qualms about contextualizing the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal. She hinted that his killing somehow resulted from a reactionary force from the Muslims, who are ‘oppressed’ by the Hindu community.

“Systemic violence by state institutions and Hindu vigilante groups against Muslims are bound to commence cycles of violence,” Chatterji had justified.

She then asserted that the lives of victims of the Islamist onslaught in India had not been overlooked in a ‘Hindu-majority country.’  A ‘scholar’ from the University of California remarked, “This is a revisionist fabrication of history and the present.”

“She supports “freedom” for Kashmir and has fabricated many reports, some in connivance with international human rights agencies, accusing Indian government and Indian army of sexual violence on Kashmiri women,” states Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN).

Angana Chatterji has been associated with the Jamat-e-Islami-linked Indian American Muslim Council since 2003. According to journalist Vijay Patel, she has actively lobbied against the visa of Narendra Modi in the United States.

“In 2011, Angana Chatterji and her husband Richard Shapiro were suspended and later dismissed from California Institute of Integral Studies after students complained against them. They were found guilty of “failure to perform academic duties and violation of professional ethics. Angana Chatterji was also accused of harassing students”, informed SHHAN.

“She calls Indian history ‘nationalistic and mythic’, proclaims the now-debunked Aryan Invasion Theory as correct history, supports history that says Hinduism was created by Aryans from Central Asia, and accuses Hindus of subjugating Adivasis and indigenous people,” it added.

Her name cropped up following the arrest of Pakistani ISI-operative Ghulam Nabi Fai by FBI officials. According to Sandeep Balkrishna, Chatterji was codenamed ‘Mary’ to meet the then ISI’s Security Directorate Major General, Mumtaz Ahmad Bajwa.

Throughout her article, Time reporter Sanya Mansoor used a brutal episode of Islamist terror to build a case against the Hindu community. She pontificated that Hindus, by way of their speech and actions, have ‘rightfully’ drawn the wrath of Islamists.

This becomes clear from the choice of her ‘political experts’, who reiterate the same talking points and trivialize the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal in one way or the other.

Kanhaiya Lal is not the last terror victim perpetrated by Islamists in India. Given the circumstances, Hindus must not relinquish their social media activism.

Propaganda pieces in international publications must not bog us down. Social media is our last recourse for justice in a world of mute spectators and deaf ears.

References:

opindia.com