Home Blog Page 3879

Who are the ‘Hindu IT Cell’ because of whom Rana Ayyub and her American friends are losing their cool

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Who are the ‘Hindu IT Cell’ because of whom Rana Ayyub and her American friends are losing their cool

The conglomeration of liberal ‘journalists’ on social media appear to have found their new enemy. It is the ‘Hindu IT Cell’. From Rana Ayyub to Siddharth Varadarajan of The Wire, the rage against the group is quite extreme.

And the outrage was only to be expected. It is based on the complaint filed by one of the group’s members that an FIR has been registered against Ayyub and her fundraising campaign. However, despite so much discussion about the group, there is very little that is known about the ‘Hindu IT Cell’.

Siddarth Varadarajan, for instance, was so enraged by the group that he appears to have forgotten that the FCRA laws apply to individuals also.

Rana Ayyub, too, accused the group of ‘hate and propaganda’ while defending herself from the allegations of fraud against her fundraiser.

Statement by Rana Ayyub

But what is the ‘Hindu IT Cell’? Who are the people behind the group? What is their aim? These are the questions we will seek to provide an answer to here.

What is ‘Hindu IT Cell’?

In the summertime of 2020, with India locked down to decrease the spread of the Covid pandemic, the Narendra Modi government decided to bring some happiness into Indian homes: It got Doordarshan to replay two popular 1990s TV shows based on the Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. 

The minister for information and broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, declared the state broadcaster was doing so on popular demand. 

As soon as Mahabharat and Ramayan started playing on Doordarshan, it became the most viewed program. On 16th April at 9 PM, the telecast of Ramayan created a word record. It managed to bag 77 million viewers in a single day. In fact, The first episode had crashed Doordarshan’s website and became the top searched item on Google India. It trended at the top on social media platform.

As was expected, the cabal went into a tizzy. There were deliberate attacks on Hindu sentiments and deities on social media. And while individuals on social media outraged and expressed rage, on ground, there was hardly any impact. It was then that Ramesh Solanki and Vikas Pandey, with 10 other men with the same ideology, decided to come together as “concerned Hindu volunteers” to protect the Gods. Through the internet. Using the force of law. In May 2020, they declared themselves as the “Hindu IT Cell”.

They vowed that those deliberately spewing venom against Hindus would be taken to task legally. Based on this motto, Hindu IT Cell has been working since its inception. The objective is to file legal complaints and pursue the case with the police to take action against social media users who have made “anti-Hindu” remarks. To do so, they work with a team of lawyers and “cyber volunteers” who are determined to impose a cost on hate speech. 

Essentially, the Hindu IT Cell initiates its network of cyber volunteers to track down and identify those indulging in hate speech and then appropriate legal action is taken as per the law by taking the refuge of local police.

Who are the people behind the group?

Ramesh Solanki joined the Shiv Sena in 1998 and was associated with its IT cell for years. He left in 2019 when the Sena allied with their onetime ideological rivals, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, to form the government in Maharashtra. 

He is a well-known Hindu Activist and a known leader across India who actively voices out for Hindu causes. He has played a vital role in the ban of TikTok from India and has spearheaded the demand for reforms in IT rules.

Vikas Pandey, another co-founder of Hindu IT Cell is a known Social Media Activist and Software Architect who is knowing for running successful social media campaigns in the 2014 general election where BJP got a landslide. Recently as a founder of a Hindu IT cell, he has got an FIR registered against journalist Rana Ayyub for allegedly duping funds in the name of COVID relief. 

The Hindu IT Cell has alleged that Ayyub had illegally collected money through the online platform Ketto “in the name of charity”, adding that the journalist also received foreign funds without the government’s approval. The group alleged that a portion of the funds has still not been spent on beneficiaries, which the complainant claims to have confirmed with the online platform.

The charges against Ayyub were under section 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and section 66D of the Information Technology Act (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resources). Sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 418 (cheating), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code were also included in the FIR.

While Ayyub has claimed innocence, it is up to investigative agencies and the Courts to deliver the final verdict.

Yogi Adityanath hits a sixer on Rahul Gandhi’s full toss

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Yogi Adityanath hits a sixer on Rahul Gandhi’s full toss

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday gave a befitting reply to Rahul Gandhi’s tweet accusing him of being hateful.

Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi had tweeted, “Jo nafrat kare woh Yogi kaisa” (he who hates, how is he a Yogi).

To that, Yogi Adityanath’s office through its official Twitter account said one sees what one wants to see. Citing Ramcharitmanas, Yogi Adityanath said that a person sees the Lord the way his feelings and devotions are for the God. “And yes, Mr Rahul Ji, if it is hate to drive a bulldozer on the empire created by the criminals, then this ‘hatred’ will continue,” he said.

The political landscape in Uttar Pradesh is warming up as India’s most populous state goes to polls sometime in February-March 2022.

Islamism apologist profiled by Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint calls for sanctions, ‘regime decapitation strike’ against India

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Islamism apologist profiled by Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint calls for sanctions, ‘regime decapitation strike’ against India

On September 13, radical Islam apologist profiled Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint and often branded as a journalist, CJ Werleman, called for sanctions and a ‘regime decapitation strike’ by the United Nations under Responsibility to Protect (R2P). He said, “We are fast approaching the moment the UN will be required to invoke R-2-P to protect 300 million Muslims, Sikhs and Christians from genocide in India. Possible measures include Censure. Sanctions. Regime decapitation strike.”

What is Responsibility to Protect?

The Responsibility to Protect (R2) is an international norm adopted by the international community in 2005 as a response to the failure to adequately respond to mass atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s. The concept started to take shape in 2001 and was unanimously adopted in 2005 at the United Nations World Summit, the largest gathering of Heads of State and Government in history.

The details of R2P have been described in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the World Summit Outcome Document. Paragraph 138 says that each individual state has the responsibility to protect its population from war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide. The state is responsible for preventing such crimes, including incitement, using the necessary and appropriate means.

It further reads, “The international community should as appropriate, encourage and help States to exercise this responsibility and support the United Nations in establishing an early warning capability.”

Paragraph 139 says, “The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.”

The international community further intended to commit themselves to help the states to build capacity to protect the populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and to assist the nations that are under stress before the conflict break out.

R2P has three pillars of responsibility:

Pillar one: Every state has the Responsibility to Protect its populations from four mass atrocity crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Pillar two: The wider international community has the responsibility to encourage and assist individual states in meeting that responsibility.

Pillar three: If a state is manifestly failing to protect its populations, the international community must be prepared to take appropriate collective action in a timely and decisive manner and in accordance with the UN Charter.

Is R2P a rule under international law?

R2P is not a rule of customary international law. It can be described as an international norm. In the case of R2P, it has been unanimously adopted the language of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document. Though once a norm has gained formal acceptance but widespread usage, it can become part of the customary international law, R2P is still a norm and cannot be described as a rule.

India’s role in R2P implementations

During the World Summit, [Indian Perspectives on the ‘Responsibility to Protect’] the group of non-aligned countries led by India, including Pakistan, Brazil and Malaysia, emphasized the centrality of state sovereignty. They raised questions over the judiciousness of sole authority to the Security Council related to international peace and security issues. They considered such criteria as an ‘automatic trigger mechanism’ and stated that this would make the intervention more likely and highly problematic.

Nirupam Sen, then-Permanent Representative to the UN of India, constantly asked to raise the threshold for the application of R2P at the World Summit. He also stressed further adding more prerequisites for the approval of R2P. While talking about the necessary change in the institutional structure of the UN, he said, “R2P could work only if the institutional architecture of the United Nations is reformed significantly”.

Sen emphasized that the consent of the relevant regional organizations along with the consent of a reformed and expanded Security should be required for the application of R2P. He added that the permanent members should restrain from using the veto in cases where R2P’s application had already been determined by the General Assembly. India also raised concerns over using R2P to cover “conferring legitimacy to the idea of ‘military humanism”.

Since R2P became a norm, India’s approach has been evolving to conceptualize, formalize and implement it at the UN. India has reacted differently on a case-to-case basis in countries like Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, South Sudan, Syria, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. While India has been in favour of implementing Pillar One and Pillar Two of R2P but have shown reservations on the implementation of Pillar Three.

India has shown apprehensions that R2P is more likely to be misused, which was proven to be true in the case of Libya. India has laid out presumptive alternatives based upon the complex interplay of local factors, existing international affairs and the ideas of policymakers. It has emphasized localization of the global norms like R2P rather than normative internationalization.

The reality

Werleman is a habitual liar and a fake-news peddler. India is a vibrant democracy of over 1.3 billion people. It is one of the most important members of the UN for its population, secular democratic rule and geopolitical importance. India is the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping forces. India is currently holding the presidency of the UNSC and is actively working with the UN and other major nations to lead the war against Covid, poverty, energy crisis and climate change.

India is an emerging global superpower, attracting billions of dollars in foreign investments every year. The idea of the UN gearing up for major sanctions against India is ludicrous. Also, in the changing global picture, nations depend on each other for trade. India maintains a healthy bilateral relationship with most nations.

India’s constitution grants equal rights to persons of all faith and atheists too. The claims of the UN working against India is, like all of Werleman’s tweets, fake and a figment of his wild imaginations.

Call for Regime decapitation strike and Werleman’s agenda against Hindus in India

In his tweet, Werleman has called for a Regime decapitation strike, which is basically the use of military power to overturn the government in a nation where the UN believes the targeted population is under threat of atrocities like genocide and ethnic cleansing. In the case of India, a functional and secular democracy where there are no signs of organised violence against any minorities, minorities or targeted population, propagandists like Werleman have been constantly peddling fake news to claim that minorities are being targeted.

This is not the first time he ran propaganda against Hindus or the BJP-ruled government. Recently, he alleged that Hindus destroyed a Muslim graveyard in Himachal Pradesh. His tweet turned out to be fake news as reports came out an illegal Majar was demolished by the authorities.

In August 2018, he took to Twitter to wrongly claim that the BJP had banned the slaughter of livestock during Eid. Werlemen also claimed that the Police Officer was forcing an Imam to declare “Qurbani is a punishable crime” to his followers in the video that he had attached. As usual, his claims were false.

CJ Werlemen appears to have a particular grudge against Uttar Pradesh, probably because a saffron-clad monk is the Chief Minister of the state. In several tweets, he had mentioned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as a ‘Hindutva terrorist’. Werlemen is a habitual fake news peddler and incites violence and hatred against Hindus.

In 2018, Kasganj Police had exposed his false claims after Werlemen accused them of teaming up with ‘Hindu extremists’ to target Muslims. In a separate instance, this time not involving Uttar Pradesh, Werlemen used a video depicting the violence during the Bhima-Koregaon clashes in Maharashtra and claimed that it showed Hindus destroying Muslim property.

Note: Earlier this article identified CJ Werleman as columnist with ThePrint. However, it turns out, he was only ‘profiled’ by Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint and has not written any article for them. We have updated the copy. Error is regretted.

Watch: Punjab Congress MLA admits anti-farm law protests are being sponsored by Congress and other opposition parties

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Watch: Punjab Congress MLA admits anti-farm law protests are being sponsored by Congress and other opposition parties

Congress MLA from Punjab, Raj Kumar Verka, has admitted that the anti-farm law protests across North India are being sponsored by the Congress party. He said that it is true that the protests are being ‘sponsored’ by opposition parties while speaking to the media.

Raj Kumar Verka said, “I am telling you. This is a movement against the BJP. Those who have brought these farm laws, ‘kala kanoon’, this struggle is against them. Where is the doubt in that? The Congress is with the farmers, with this struggle. So we are in a conspiracy in this. What is the problem with that? I am saying openly that we are with the farmers.”

The comments come a day after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had told the protesters to go protest in Delhi instead of the state. Blaming the protests for economic losses, Singh said, “I want to tell Punjab farmers that this is their land. Their ongoing protests here are not in the state’s interest.”

“If the farmers were stopped in Punjab, they would not have reached the Singhu and Tikri borders. You do whatever you want in Haryana and Delhi but why are you causing loss to Punjab?” he emphasised.

Earlier in July, ex-Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jhakar had conceded that it was the Punjab Chief Minister who had instigated the farmers to go to Delhi and protest. Jhakar was speaking during the inauguration of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the Punjab Congress chief.

Ahead of Durga Puja, Kolkata ‘artist’ paints Goddess in Hijab, draws ire

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Ahead of Durga Puja, Kolkata ‘artist’ paints Goddess in Hijab, draws ire

Ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations that are scheduled to commence next month, the political and religious propaganda surrounding the annual festival has already begun.

On September 2, renowned Bengali artist Sanatan Dinda posted a picture of a woman, clad in a head covering (hijab) and a face veil (niqab), on Facebook. The contentious drawing was sketched using charcoal dry pastel and was accompanied with the caption ‘Maa aschen’. The phrase of ‘Ma aschen’ is a Bengali reference to the homecoming of Goddess Durga to her maternal home. It is used to describe the curiosity and joy that is felt in anticipation of the Hindu festival.

Screengrab of the Facebook post by Sanatan Dinda

The picture, posted by visual artist Sanatan Dinda, drew the ire of netizens for its portrayal of the Goddess in Hijab. BJP Mahila Morcha Vice-President Keya Ghosh wrote, “Maa Durga in hijab… by artist Sanatan Dinda.”

She pointed out, “He knows he can get away with it because many intellectuals Bengalis are going gaga over it.” The BJP leader had sought the help of the Hindu IT Cell, ex-Shiv Sena leader Rajput Ramesh and architect Vikas Pandey.

Netizens slam artist Sanatan Dinda, claim he revealed the future of West Bengal

A disgusted Twitter user (@vighosh) pointed out the irony in the name of the artist. “And his name is Sanatan,” he wrote.

Screengrab of the tweet

Another Twitter user, wrote, “He has drawn the future of West Bengal. Nothing else.” He suggested that women of all Faith will eventually be forced to wear Hijab, irrespective of their Faith.

Screengrab of the tweet

“What the hell is this now”, wrote another user in disbelief.

Screengrab of the tweet

“He has drawn the future of the State. The tears in the eyes of the woman in the sketch has given us insight into what the future beholds,” another user lamented.

Screengrab of the tweet

Azaan played in pandal during Durga Puja in 2019

In October 2019, a video of azaan (the Muslim call to prayer) being played at a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata’s Beliaghata 33 Pally area sparked outrage on social media. Users lashed out at the organisers calling it “appeasement” and slamming their “desperation to show secularism”. Following this, a local lawyer filed a complaint and named ten people, including the club secretary of the puja pandal and local TMC leader Paresh Paul. Reportedly, Pal was the primary organiser of this community Puja.

The community Durga Puja at Beleghata’s 33 Pally (in south-central Kolkata) was playing a recording of azaan since the festivities commenced on Maha Panchami. The complaint alleged that 10 people, including local Trinamool Congress leader Paresh Paul, intentionally tried to “disturb the peace and tranquillity in the state” by playing a video of the azaan during the puja. Many viewed playing azaan from the venue of the puja as ridiculous and felt it was a deliberate and mischievous act to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.

Zomato co-founder Gaurav Gupta quits to ‘start a new chapter’, share prices drop momentarily

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Zomato co-founder Gaurav Gupta quits to ‘start a new chapter’, share prices drop momentarily

Gaurav Gupta, one of the top executives and the co-founder of food-delivery platform Zomato, has reportedly quit the company, said a report published in Moneycontrol. 

Zomato stock price, which had high an all-time high of Rs 152.75 Tuesday, momentarily came down after news reports of Gupta’s exit from the organisation surfaced online. The stock opened at Rs 145.10 on Tuesday morning and rose to Rs 152.75 before falling down to Rs 136.20 as reports of Gupta quitting the company came out. The stock has since then recovered and is currently hovering at Rs 145 levels. 

According to the sources quoted by Moneycontrol, Gupta’s exit was imminent because of an earlier fallout between him and Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal. 

Gupta had joined Zomato in 2015 as global head for advertising sales and then was promoted to COO role. In March 2019, he was made the co-founder of the company. 

Announcing his resignation in an internal mail, Gupta, who headed the supply at Zomato, said he is ‘starting a new chapter’ after six years at the food delivery platform, according to CNBC-TV18.

Gupta’s resignation came a day after foodtech unicorn Zomato closed down its neutraceuticals market. As per several reports, the decision to shut down its nutraceutical business was a part of the company’s strategy to extricate itself from low to moderately successful ventures, including the grocery delivery business, which was shuttered by the company from September 17. 

Zomato pulled the rug out of its grocery delivery service from September 17 chiefly due to gaps in order fulfilment leading to poor customer experience, marking its exit from the segment for the second time since last year.

It is worth noting that Gupta was responsible for the launch of the grocery and nutraceuticals businesses, which struggled for a while before Zomato finally decided to call it quits.

BTS given diplomat passports by South Korea president, to attend UNGA as special Presidential envoy

OpIndia Staff
-
0
BTS given diplomat passports by South Korea president, to attend UNGA as special Presidential envoy

Popular K-pop sensation BTS is all set to attend the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) after they were appointed as “special Presidential envoy for future generations and culture” by South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday.

All 7 members of BTS – RM, Jin, J-Hope, Jimin, Suga, V and Jungkook were bestowed with a diplomat passport and a fountain pen, along with certificates of their appointment as special envoys during their meeting with President Moon Jae-in on September 14.

According to several reports that are doing the rounds, Moon and BTS will be attending the UN General Assembly meet scheduled to take place on September 20 in New York. They will also reportedly participate in the second meeting of the Sustainable Development Goals Moment (SDG Moment) of the Decade of Action.

President Moon Jae-In invited the K-pop boys-band to Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House), Seoul on September 14, Tuesday, where he met the members of BTS and asked them to be his special envoys at the forthcoming UNGA meeting. According to the Blue House, BTS has been a beacon of hope for people across the world, and South Korea believed that their outreach should be harnessed to connect with the world through the platform offered at the UN General Assembly.

As BTS has delivered messages of comfort and hope to the entire world, its attendance at the UN General Assembly this time is expected to serve as a meaningful opportunity to expand communication with future generations around the world and draw their sympathy on major international issues,” the South Korean President’s office said in a statement.

Following the official ceremony, internet was replete with videos of the boys band fist-bumping the President as they accepted their appointment certificates. Besides, BTS member J-Hope was also seen giving two thumbs up to the President, which made the attendees laugh, as per Korean media reports.

BTS: South Korean K-pop sensation

BTS is a massively popular South Korean boy band that was formed in 2010 and debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The band, also known as the Bangstan Boys comprise seven members —Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. The group co-writes and co-produces much of their own output. It had recently come up with a song called “Butter” that instantly became a chartbuster. 

The band had originally been a hip hop group, but their musical style has evolved over a period of time to include a wide range of genres. The lyrics to their songs often focus on personal and social issues, touching upon themes of mental health, school-age problems, loss, among other things. Their body of work also includes references to literature and psychological concepts, along with an alternative universe storyline.

Besides, they have a formidable fan base, who call themselves ARMY. A.R.M.Y is an acronym for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth. By some accounts, the band has more than 90 million fans across the world, who are passionately devoted to the group.

Mamata Banerjee did not mention pending cases against her in nomination papers for Bhabanipur by-poll, BJP files complaint

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Mamata Banerjee did not mention pending cases against her in nomination papers for Bhabanipur by-poll, BJP files complaint

The BJP has claimed that Mamata Banerjee did not mention the pending cases against her in the nomination papers she had filed for the Bhabanipur by-poll on the 10th of September. A complaint was filed with regards to the matter by Sajal Ghosh, the Chief Electoral Agent of Priyanka Tibrewal, the BJP candidate from the constituency.

The pending cases against Mamata Banerjee cited by the BJP are registered across multiple police stations in Assam.

The cases include Case No. 286/2018 under sections 20B, 153A and 198 of IPC at Geeta Nagar Police Station, Case no. 466/2018 under sections 120B, 153A, 294, 298, and 506 of IPC at Pan Bazaar Police Station, Case No. 288/2018 under sections 121, 153A, of IPC at Jagiroad Police Station, Case No. 832/2018 under sections 120B and 153A of IPC at North Lakhimpur Sadar Police Station and Case No. 177/2018 under sections 353, 323 and 338 of IPC at Udharbond police Station.

After Trinamool Congress secured a comprehensive victory in the assembly elections, Banerjee is making a return to the constituency that had been her own for 10 years. Earlier, TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay had resigned after winning the seat.

The BJP has decided to field Priyanka Tibrewal for the Bhabanipur by-poll. Priyanka Tibrewal is an advocate by profession who had joined the BJP in the year 2014. She is a practicing lawyer at the Calcutta High Court and Supreme Court.

From loss of business to breach of covid protocol to allegations of rape: NHRC seeks report on ‘farmer protests’ around Delhi border

OpIndia Staff
-
0
From loss of business to breach of covid protocol to allegations of rape: NHRC seeks report on ‘farmer protests’ around Delhi border

After receiving several complaints regarding the ongoing so-called farmers’ protests, the National Humans Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh seeking detailed reports on the protests. 

As per the release, there are allegations that the protests have had an adverse effect on the industries operating around the protest sites. As pictures confirm, Covid-19 protocols are being flouted and the blockades have impacted transportation resulting in long jams. 

“There is further allegation that the inhabitants are not being allowed to move out of their houses due to the blockade of the passage,” read the release. 

NHRC’s press note. Image Source: NHRC website

Owing to this, the NHRC has issued notices to the Chief Secretaries and Director Generals of Police of the four states asking them to submit their respective ‘Action Taken Reports.’

Reports demanded on disruption of economic activities and livelihood

NHRC has further asked the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) to assess the adverse impact of the farmers’ agitation on industrial and commercial activities and disruption of transport services on commercial businesses and citizens. A comprehensive report has to be submitted by October 10 in this matter. 

The Human Rights Commission has next asked the National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health to submit detailed reports on the adherence of Covid-19 protocols at these protest sites. 

Moreover, the Delhi School of Social Work has been asked to conduct a survey and submit a report after examining the disruption of livelihood caused by the nine-month-long protests. 

Punjab faces economic losses

We reported earlier how Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh blamed the protesting farmers for hurting the state economically. “I want to tell Punjab farmers that this is their land. Their ongoing protests here are not in the state’s interest,” he stated.

He further instigated the alleged farmers to take their protests to the national capital or Haryana. “If the farmers were stopped in Punjab, they would not have reached the Singhu and Tikri borders. You do whatever you want in Haryana and Delhi but why are you causing loss to Punjab?” he emphasised.

Here is why Arshad Madani of the Darul Uloom Deoband suddenly supporting Mohan Bhagwat’s statement on ‘Hindu-Muslim same DNA’

Editorial Desk
-
0
Here is why Arshad Madani of the Darul Uloom Deoband suddenly supporting Mohan Bhagwat’s statement on ‘Hindu-Muslim same DNA’

The Times They Are A-Changin’. Or are they? Arshad Madani of the Darul Uloom Deoband has now come out in support of the statement by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat saying that there is nothing wrong with the statement that Muslims of India and Hindus share the same DNA.

According to reports, Madani said that he likes the statement made by Mohan Bhagwat. He said that in India, there are Gurjar, Rajputs and Jats, for example, amongst Hindus and Muslims both, therefore, there is nothing wrong in saying that Hindus and Muslims in India share the same ancestry. He is further claimed to have said that RSS is “changing its old ideology and is now on the right track”.

While the statement by Mohan Bhagwat in isolation seems like a hand extended in friendship and the statement by Arshad Madani seems like that hand in friendship has been accepted, there is certainly more than meets the eye here.

When Mohan Bhagwat made that statement about the shared ancestry between Hindus and Muslims, there was widespread outrage by sections of Hindus and Muslims alike. The Hindus who took umbrage to what Bhagwat said claimed that the RSS was softening its stand against Muslim fundamentalism and therefore, the Sanghis were simply not Sanghi enough. The Muslims, on the other hand, said that RSS was ‘anti-Muslim’ and was somehow denying the Islamic heritage and claiming that Muslims from India were Hindus, in some sort of an attack against the Muslim community.

Both groups were, of course, off the mark. Mohan Bhagwat had categorically also said that Islam as a religion came to India through invasions. Essentially, there is nothing wrong with what Mohan Bhagwat said. Indeed, Islam is a foreign religion to India and came to Bharat only after barbaric invasions by Muslims rulers. Thereafter, as is the norm in every Caliphate, the process of conversion began. The Islamic invaders proceeded to destroy temples, rape women, kill men, tax kafirs and give Hindus the option to convert to Islam, pay Jizya or die. Several Hindus in that era converted to Islam for fear of retribution by the barbarian rulers. It is the lineage of those who today call themselves Indian Muslims.

Therefore, it is not far from the truth when Bhagwat says that Hindus and Muslims in India have a common ancestry. Muslims today were Hindus then, who were converted by force. This is not to say that Indian Muslims are Hindus today and neither does it whitewash Islamic fundamentalism in any way. It is a simple historical fact. Muslims in India are Muslims because their Hindu forefathers converted under barbaric Islamic invaders. That is that. It is what it is.

On the face of it, Arshad Madani agreeing with what Mohan Bhagwat said is not wrong. It is good that he admits that Indian Muslims share their ancestry with Hindus because the forefathers converted under barbaric rulers – they were, at some point of time, Hindus.

However, there is a deeper meaning to what Arshad Madani is trying to do here and we must acknowledge it before the fundamentalists manage to set a narrative that whitewashes Islamic terrorism.

Arshad Madani, the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband who is also president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind doesn’t believe the Taliban as a terror outfit, and, he adorns Taliban and Talibanis as freedom fighters. 

In an exclusive interview given to the Dainik Bhaskar recently, Madani said that if fighting against subjugation is terrorism then by this logic Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Hazrat Shekhuddin were also terrorists. It must be noted that the Taliban is believed to have drawn inspiration from the Deobandi movement which originated in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoband. 

As the Taliban has come to conquer Afghanistan a large number of Muslim scholars, politicians and leftist media are trying for the makeover the image of the Taliban as ‘Good Taliban.’

“Anybody fighting against subjugation we don’t consider them as a terrorist. We clap if the Taliban are fighting for independence because everybody has the right to independence. If this is terrorism then Gandhi, Nehru and Shekhuddin were also terrorists, all those who fought against the British government were terrorists,” Dainik Bhaskar quoted Madani saying.

He, therefore, believes that the Taliban had a right to stone women to death, behead kafirs and those who fought for the people and not the Taliban, ensure that women are covered from head to toe because if they aren’t, men would get lured. He also believes in pushing gay men off buildings and a host of other problematic, barbaric actions taken by the Taliban in strict accordance with Shariah law. He did not say any of this explicitly. But, of course, if one defends the Taliban while they are doing all of this, one has to assume that their actions are also acceptable to the individual.

In the same breath, when Madani says that Hindus and Muslims in India have the same ancestry, it must be understood that he is not really referring to a biological and historic fact. What he is trying to do is normalise his vile thoughts and insinuate that there is no difference between Hindu and Muslim ideology per se.

This brilliant admission will serve multiple purposes for the cabal. Firstly, it will give way to the narrative that if there are “bad apples” in the Muslim community who indulge in terrorism, there are also “bad apples” in the Hindu society. This is a classic strawman which is deliberately created by the apologists of Islam. Essentially, to say that humanity is the same and that the intrinsic problems in Islam that lead to terrorism are a figment of the Hindu imagination.

What it does further is to say that Indian Muslims are as “good” as the Hindus and any and all criticism of the Muslim community, that regularly indulges in terrorism and commits atrocities against Hindus is misplaced.

What this admission does is to give the “narrative pushers” a chance to create false equivalences between Hindus and Muslims. In fact, they would go a step further and create a false equivalence between Hindu “terrorists” and Muslim terrorists – saying that “terrorists” are in all faiths and no disproportionate criticism should accrue to Islam.

This, notwithstanding that Muslims, till a few days ago, were criticising Mohan Bhagwat for mentioning a historic fact because they believed that their Islamic heritage was being denied.

Madani is essentially not agreeing with a historic fact. He is using this to whitewash terrorists. To mainstream what the Taliban does and to create a straw man where all criticism of Islam can be branded as Islamophobia and Hindus becoming “intolerant”.

1...3,8783,8793,880...7,596Page 3,879 of 7,596