Issue 417 = 03-09-2021

36 03/09/2021 NEWS LITERATURE POLITICS FASHION ART & CULTURE KIDS RELIGION FILMS
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Combating Hate in a Plural Society:
SCATTERED ATTACKS ON MUSLIMS
India’s diversity has been amazing
as different cultures, religions, languages
and ethnicities had been living
here, cheek by jowl, from last many
centuries. Bhakti-Sufi Saints and then
the freedom movement cemented the
bonds between diverse communities
living here. But last few decades in
general and last few years in particular
have seen an assault on this syncretism
and intercommunity relations.
A couple of days ago in Mathura. A
dosa stall, Srinath Dosa outfit in Vikas
market was vandalized by the followers
of sectarian ideology. They threatened
media controlled, indoctrinated and
blinded by sectarian ideology targeted
Muslims for the spread of Corona.
Now the communal forces are making
a transition of hate manufacture
from medieval period to the period during
freedom movement. They any way
had no role anti-colonial struggle are
another matter. It was the British Policy
assisted by Muslim and Hindu communal
forces which led to the partition
tragedy. Father of Nation, Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru are being presented
as the appeasers of
Muslims, due to which
Asian Age, his article was withheld. In
his interview to Satya Hindu’s Neelu
Vyas he tells us that the article dealt
with massive anti Muslim pogrom in
Jammu, the intensity of which is not
less than anti Hindu violence. The point
is not which community suffered more;
point is the whole subcontinent was
writhing with pain and anguish.
The sectarian agenda wants to
observe this day as partition horror day
just to infuse one more ground of Hate
against the Muslim community. Jammu
massacre does not find
much mention in many
the owner, Irfan, as to how dare he keep
the partition took
a books on partition,
the Hindu name for his eatery and
asked him to move out of the Vikas
market where he is located. Other more
place, as per them. To
add another brick to
the foundation of the
the state sponsorship
of the same, the collaboration
with Hindu
frightening acts against Muslims have
construct of ‘hate
communal outfit and
been proliferating recently. In
other’, now Mr. Modi
all that, but it’s very
Rajasthan, Sikar a 52 year old rickashw
driver was thrashed, asked to shout Jai
Shri Ram and warned that he will not
be spared till he leaves for Pakistan. In
Indore, Taslim Ali, a bangle seller was
beaten black and blue and questioned as
has declared that 14th
August, the Pakistan
was founded, will be
observed as Partition
horror remembrance
day.
much available with
little search. The other
spokespersons of BJP
are now hinting that it
was Congress which
appeased the Muslims
to why he has come in a Hindu area to
He uses convoluted
due to which the partition
horror took place.
sell his bangles. Another E Rickshaw
statement, ‘sacrifices
driver was beaten by the Hindutva mob ing the intercommunity bonding cultivated
tively acts of cruelty by them are being of those who lost lives
Ram Puniyani
They forget that it was
as his young daughter kept crying,
clinging to him, and pleading to the
mob to spare her father. In Ajmer a
Muslim beggar sitting with his two sons
was confronted and asked to leave to
Pakistan as he was beaten.
To add salt to the injury these inhuman
incidents are videotaped and circulated
as acts of bravery to be emulated
by others. These random acts of hate
may be some from the list which have
come to surface. They just indicate that
communal violence against hapless
minorities is becoming a new normal.
They are spontaneous and scattered
over different areas. The Hate manufacturing
machines are working overtime
and this ‘social common sense’ is undoing
over centuries, particularly durtively
freedom struggle. This Hate is outcome
of the communal narrative constructed
over last two centuries. True,
the equal and opposite hate was constructed
by communal forces, Muslim
Communalists against Hindus and
Hindu communalism against Muslims.
While Muslim communalism did get
deflated after the partition, the Hindu
communalism is on the ascendant and
more aggressive from last few years.
The narration which creates Hate
against Muslims began with Muslims
being foreigners, Muslim kings being
cruel and what have you. Muslims
kings, have been the kernel around the
Hate is constructed and currently selec-
highlighted through various mechanisms.
With its fertile imagination the large
section of media, during last decade has
become more partisan; as it is owned by
the masters who stand to benefit a great
deal from the Government with sectarian
goals. It has unleashed itself aggressively
against the Muslim community.
One can give innumerable examples of
the same. But this downhill journey of
social perceptions over decades can
also be seen from the change in reception
to films like Mughal-E-Azam in
yesteryears to Jodha Akbar in recent
times. ‘Tablighi Jamat being the core
spreader of Covid 19’ will go down as a
classic case as to how large section of
during the partition
tragedy’ etc. His minions bring forward
the real import of the same. In various
articles the BJP spokespersons are
reminding us of the Calcutta killings
and the horror which Hindu refugees
had to face. Incidentally my own family
was also one of the victims of this
horrific tragedy. The attempt is to give
a total ‘Hindus killed by Muslims’ presentation.
The reality is far more complex.
It was not just Hindus and Sikhs
who suffered; it was Muslims also who
suffered in substantial measure. It was
the whole subcontinent immersed in the
misery irrespective of religion.
When this point was elaborated by
Karan Thapar in his column in The
Sardar Patel, who they
are trying to iconize for their narrow
political gains, who was Home Minster
at that time.
As far as appeasement of Muslims
is concerned that has been the complaint
of Hindu communalists right
from end 19th century, when they stated
that INC having Muslims as members
is their appeasement. And this
‘charge’ has been continuing in various
forms right till the day. We need to rise
above the sectarian considerations and
try to integrate communities and
remember our composite culture as a
learning point to build our future. To
combat the hate bricks should be topmost
on our program!
We have the right to raise our voice
for Muslims in Kashmir: Taliban
New Delhi : Suhail Shaheen, the
spokesman of the Taliban political office in
Doha, has said that the group has the right to
raise its voice for Muslims anywhere,
including in Kashmir, Geo
News reported. In a Zoom
interview with BBC Urdu,
Shaheen also said that the
Taliban do not have a policy
to raise arms against any
country.
"We have this right, being
Muslims, to raise our voice
for Muslims in Kashmir, or
any other country," he said,
as per Geo News.
According to Shaheen:
"We will raise our voice and
say that Muslims are your
own people, your own citizens.
They are entitled to
equal rights under your laws."
To a question on the Haqqani network,
the spokesperson said there is "no such
group" and they are "part of the Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan". On Sunday, in an
interview with Geo News, Shaheen had said
that Washington will "have no right to attack
Afghanistan" after August 31, when the
withdrawal of its troops its complete.
The US had launched a
drone strike against a
Daesh attack "planner" in
eastern Afghanistan, a
day after a suicide bombing
at Kabul airport killed
13 US troops and scores
of Afghan civilians,
according to a news wire.
Responding to a question
if the US had carried out
the drone strike with the
Taliban's consent,
Shaheen had said the
Taliban-led government
will stop any such attack
in Afghanistan after
August 31, Geo News said. Earlier on
August 19, Shaheen, in an interview with
China's CGTN television, had said that
China could contribute to the development
of Afghanistan in the future.
Thailand working to help small businesses survive pandemic
Bangkok : The ongoing
Covid-19 pandemic has been
tough to Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) in
Thailand, many of which have
shutdown, and the country's
Ministry of Commerce is
working to help them get
through the crisis.
According to Thailand
Development Research
Institute (TDRI), the country
currently has about 3 million
SMEs, employing up to 12 million
people or around 82 per cent of total
employment, Xinhua news agency
reported on Thursday. About half of
those businesses are in tourism and
related sectors, one of the hardest-hit
sectors by the pandemic. Since the
pandemic began early last year, the
tourism and hospitality sectors have
been put to a standstill. SMEs' contribution
to the country's GDP continued
to drop, creating a larger gap
away from the ambitious 45 per cent
target set by the government. The
absence of foreign visitors, restrictions
on domestic travel, limited
operations of retails and restaurants,
together with many other situations
to name, have caused countless businesses
to shut down temporarily and
permanently for some. Several costcutting
measures have been
employed to safeguard financial liquidity
and the survival of the business.
However, many still could not
adjust their day-to-day operations to
cope with the pandemic, especially
when income stops rolling in but
operating costs and expenses still
keep bleeding out.
The Ministry of Commerce has
set up several initiatives to help
SMEs adjust their businesses for the
new normal during and post Covid-
19. "SMEs play a vital role in
driving the country's economic
activities. We have set up a
Joint Steering Committee
between the government and
the private sectors to work
together in assisting this
group of workforces," Deputy
Prime Minister and
Commerce Minister Jurin
Laksanawisit said during a
business conference earlier
this week. Jurin said the
Ministry has been working to help
Thai SMEs get themselves equipped
with the new normal of business
operations, whereby many activities
will be digitalised and happening
online. He said to survive in the
future, SMEs must realise the importance
of e-Commerce platforms,
innovation, technologies and intellectual
properties. Learning how to
effectively operate in the new business
setting has become very essential.
Additionally, commerce ministry
recently launched a program to
help young generation become successful
business owners and entrepreneurs.