No community targeted by the Indian state
EBRAHIM Essa's most recent fulmination (March 28) is predictably replete with misinformation, convenient distortions, and selective amnesia.
The war in Gaza is clearly a humanitarian crisis – there can never be a contrarian view, regardless of the genesis of this abomination.
When Essa recklessly suggests that the “Indian Prime Minister … remains aloof from all base human emotion. Not even a ‘no comment' … refuses to take sides”, he is advised to reflect on the post made by Shri Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) on October 19, 2023, to the president of the Palestinian Authority HE Mahmoud Abbas.
He should also refer to Modi's statement “Civilian deaths unacceptable” (Hindustan Times, November 22, 2023) and his outrage at the hospital bombing in Gaza (“Deeply shocked at the tragic loss of lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza.
Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and prayers for speedy recovery of those injured. Civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a matter of serious and continuing concern.
Those involved should be held responsible” – The Hindu , October 18, 2023).
These are but three comments made by Modi that can be readily accessed. This underscores the need for fact checking, as airbrushing and distortions can have an incendiary effect on societal harmony.
When Essa writes evocatively of the “massacre, genocide and wanton destruction, using every conceivable mode of killer-equipment possible … in Palestine”, he must be reminded that Modi and the Hindus in Bharat are deeply sensitive to such inhuman excesses, being themselves victims of the Hindu holocaust, a legacy of Islamist imperialism in Bharat, beginning in the 11th century.
It is selective morality when Essa and his ilk keep silent when there is ongoing persecution of minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan; this was the impetus for the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act).
This writer outlined that “India's CAA not discriminatory” (The Mercury, March 18, 2024). CAA is an enabling law to fast-track citizenship to persecuted minorities (read Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and Hindus) from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh – countries having Islam as the State religion.
In 1947, when Bharat was partitioned, the Hindu population in Pakistan was about 24%; today it is not even 1%. In 1947, the Hindu population in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was 30% – today it is about 7%.
For a persecution that is real and tragic, the CAA is not one of Modi's “frivolities”.
Persecuted Muslims such as Shias,
Baloch and Ahmadiyas are part of the Muslim bloc in Muslim majority countries and identify with the State religion (Islam); theirs is a problem between the different Islamic sects.
Myanmar is a secular country and does not have a State religion; thus, Rohingya Muslims are not brought under the purview of the CAA. Al Jazeera protests, but Qatar (like other Islamic states) declines to take in the Rohingyas!
With respect to the destruction of mosques, it is mischief making by Bharat bashers as it is a Supreme Court ruling that ordered demolition of all unauthorised religious structures, both temples and mosques on roadsides and public land.
To suggest that one community is being targeted is divisive, but a predictable recourse to a perennial victimhood.
MAHESHWAR RAMLAGAN | Umhlanga Ridge