On Thursday, Radio Mirchi RJ Sayema ended tieing herself up in the knots on Twitter after she was confronted with facts about the inherent nature of intolerance in Islam against non-believers or ‘kafirs’.
It all began when Sayema, who has a complicated relationship with facts and logic, took to Twitter to rant against lyricist, poet, and screenwriter Manoj Muntashir over his tweet about his upcoming YouTube video exposing Mughal emperors.
In a clip of the video that the poet shared, Manoj Muntashir was seen asking how can we Indians accept the blatant distortion of our own heritage. In the video, he asked how invaders, plunderers who killed thousands of Indians, can be celebrated as heroes. The poet also termed the Mughals as “glorified dacoits” and asked people to recognise India’s own heritage and stop glorifying barbarians and plunderers as heroes.
The video posted by Muntashir triggered several “liberal-secular” intellectuals, who then went on to cancel the poet for speaking about the barbarity of Mughal invaders against native Indians. Expectedly, Sayema, who has a history of whitewashing crimes committed by the Islamists, had a problem with Munatashir’s video.
The controversial radio jockey abused the renowned poet by calling him a “bigot” and declaring that bigotry had nothing to do with education. “In fact if you are educated and a bigot, it’s a deadly cocktail,” tweeted Sayema.
However, Sayema’s tweet targeting Manoj Muntashir over his video caught the attention of netizens, who exposed her dubiousness over the issue of freedom of speech. Social media users schooled Sayema, saying Manoj Muntashir had every right to express his views on the issue and suggested that the controversial RJ counter him with facts instead of launching denigrate attacks.
Scientist and Professor Anand Ranganathan did not leave a chance to expose Sayema’s chicanery. In response to hate-filled tweets by Sayema, Prof Anand Ranganathan put out verses from Islamic texts that demand unleashing violence on non-believers of Islam and polytheists. Anand Ranganathan, known for his meticulous research and strict adherence to facts, put out three verses in Quran to help Sayema realise that Islam is inherent with texts that prescribe violence against non-Muslims.
The three verses quoted by Prof Ranganathan were:
Surah 4 (An-Nisa) Verse 56:
Indeed, those who disbelieve in Our verses – We will drive them into a fire. Every time their skins are roasted through, We will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted in Might and Wise.
Surah 98 (Al-Bayyinah) Verse 6:
Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.
Surah 4 (An-Nisa) Verse 34:
Men are in charge of women by (right of) what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them, guard. But those (wives) from whom you fear arrogance – (first) advise them; (then if they persist), forsake them in bed; and (finally) strike them. But if they obey you (once more), seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.
In response to Anand Ranganathan’s tweets, Sayema tweeted again, thanking him for reinforcing what she had written. But, in a hurry to give a “befitting reply” to the scientist, Sayema ended up calling Anand Ranganathan an “educated bigot”, too.
Now, within a span of an hour, RJ Sayema had ended up declaring two of the most articulate public speakers and intellectuals – Manoj Muntashir and Prof Anand Ranganathan as “bigots”.
Prof Anand Ranganathan confronted the controversial RJ yet again, asking her whether she meant that reading the verses from Quran induced bigotry. The scientist also asked her whether she had read the holy book herself, from which Prof Ranganathan had quoted the verses.
“Are you condemning the words of Allah,” Prof Ranganathan asked Sayema, who called him a “bigot” for referring to verses from Quran.
The JNU Professor also warned the Radio Mirchi RJ to delete her tweets against Islam, saying that a fatwa would be issued against her. He also expressed fear that “Sar Tun Se Juda” or the beheading gangs would hound her for the tweets she had put out.
As another social media user highlighted how Sayema had ended up calling her own religious text a source of “bigotry”, Prof Anand Ranganathan once again urged Sayema to delete the tweet as it could cause danger to her. Prof Anand Ranganathan quoting another verse from Quran (33:57) that read, “Those who abuse Allah and His messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and the hereafter and prepared for them a humiliating punishment”.
Sayema, who had already fallen into the trap of Prof Anand Ranganathan and ended exposing herself, did not know how to save her face from the embarrassment. So, in a quintessential “liberal” way, Sayema put out a response saying that Prof Anand Ranganathan had acquired knowledge of the Quran from WhatsApp university.
Rather than responding to facts put out by Prof Anand Ranganathan that shed light on the Islamic verses that promoted violence against the non-believers, Sayema began hurling personal abuses. However, in doing so, she ended up referring to the Islamic text of the Quran to a WhatsApp university, a colloquial term for the source of fake news on the internet.
Despite Sayema indulging in name-calling, Prof Anand Ranganathan provided the controversial RJ with another chance to prove that the verses he had quoted were not part of the Quran. Prof Ranganathan asked her to prove from sources from whichever university that she was comfortable that disproved his claims.
Sayema, who until now was putting at least some defence of Islam, ran away from the conversation as soon as she was asked to put out facts to disapprove Prof Ranganathan’s tweets. Since then, she is nowhere to be found on Twitter.
As Sayema could not provide a credible explanation to Prof Ranganathan’s questions, the scientist has now urged social media users and listeners of her show to ask her to quote verse 4:34 in her show next time.
