On 21st January, a Danish-born politician named Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. The politician chose this method of protest against what he perceives as the ills of allowing immigration in general and Muslim immigration in particular that is threatening the fundamental nature of European countries. This caused every liberal in the world to recoil in horror. Even UN-linked organisations & Human Rights Groups condemned this burning of a few pieces of paper. Islamophobia, we were reminded repeatedly, was not good and disliking the doctrine of Islam, was no more part of religious freedom. I suspect some atheist feminists I know on social media cried in private.
At the same time in India, a young Hindu religious preacher known as Baba Dhirendra Shastri of Bagheshwar Dham was at the centre of a media storm. It largely began with a Congress-linked “rationalist” Shyam Manav targeting Dhirendra Shastri for spreading superstitions. He was specifically referring to events held by the Baba in which spiritual healing of physical ailments is carried out. Mainstream media in India jumped on the bandwagon and made multiple programs on the issue. The Nehruvian scientific temper of India seemed to be losing temper at these transgressions by the Baba. His clips were making rounds with people making fun of his claims that admittedly would not measure up to the narrow and exact standards of scientific proof. India was being reformed.
What is the link between these two events?
It is in the way the mainstream narrative treated these two events. The public burning of a Quran in Sweden was met with considerable criticism from a number of Muslim countries, including Turkey, which referred to the act as vile. Bangladesh, where Hindu temple desecration is daily news, called it an “act of insulting the sacred values of Muslims all over the world in the guise of freedom of expression”. The US called it disrespectful and a UN Body called it a “vile act”. When we look at this, it seems pretty reasonable. A rational man would condemn the burning of a sacred religious book. However, if you look at the larger picture, it reeks of hypocrisy.
Recently a Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya passed objectionable comments about the Ramcharitmanas. Shortly after, his supporters burned pages of the sacred book publicly. The people who were pained by the Quran burning showed not the slightest discomfort at this discrimination, intolerance, and bigotry directed towards Hindus. Such overt bigotry against Hindus is not just ignored, it is encouraged by ‘reformists’ who project it as an attempt to ‘reform’ and ‘liberalise’ the Hindu community. However, the same yardstick is not used to question the text in the Quran which critics say carries anti-women, anti-semitic, anti-Kafir and anti-LGBTQ verses too. This leads us to question whether or not these “intellectuals” are opposed to the burning of any and all sacred religious books based on “problematic text” or specifically against the act of burning only the Quran.
Similar is the case with Baba Bageshwar Dham. An entire machinery is devoted to revealing the “Reality of Bageshwar Dham baba and his magic”. His claims are called into doubt and mocked. An indication of the type of scrutiny that the Hindu religion is forced to endure. As expected, BBC wrote about it. On the other hand, there are hundreds if not thousands of videos from all over India depicting the likes of pastor Bajinder Singh ‘curing‘ people suffering from various diseases or ‘possessed by evil spirits’.
These videos often include rather comical scenes of the display of the supernatural powers of these Christian missionaries. In one famous video, a mute child starts talking after receiving blessings from Jesus through the pastor. But why go so fringe? Nobel laureate, Bharatratna, Saint Mother Teresa was anointed a saint by Pope Francis based on miracles performed by her. IIT-educated Arvind Kejriwal flew to the Vatican to attend the event. And these Christian miracles are being performed all over India every week. Have you seen even one-tenth of public/media scrutiny? Are rationalists losing their sleep because poor tribals are told holy water from the Church will protect them against all ailments? How many prime-time programs by Indian media, let alone colonial relic BBC?
The link is “Abrahamic Supremacy”
This is nothing but a naked show of power by Abrahamic religions who acquired that power over millennia using force. They have deployed their cultural and real capital to create narratives that support claims of their superiority over heathens/kafirs. This is not limited to superstitions/miracles alone. Everything that we were told is “progressive” is basically Abrahamic. Patriarchy exists only amongst Hindus, heck it even has a caste to further divide them. Animals only get hurt on Hindu festivals. The environment gets damaged only on Holi and Diwali. The list is endless.
Unfortunately, even after 75 years of independence, India has squarely failed to get rid of such narratives. Even today criticizing the doctrine of Islam makes you an Islamophobe but do the same to Hinduism and you are an intellectual. I am not here to justify the claims of Baba Bageshwar Dham, let people make up their own minds. But the best ideas can only win in a fair market. This is only possible on a level playing field. Selective rationalism is just superstition by other means. Essentially, all I desire is true equality, and in this Abrahamic world, it seems, there is no bigger crime.
