Does Haridwar’s “Dharm Sansad” justify Jinnah Theory

Syed Khalique Ahmed

NEW DELHI—Is the last week’s event at Haridwar where the so-called Hindu religious leaders participating in “Dharm Sansad” (Religious Parliament), called for the use of arms for genocide against Muslims in India, a pointer towards broad contours of the Hindu Rashtra in the making?

Though the videos of the event have gone viral, and one can hear many religious leaders making incendiary speeches against Muslims, amounting to terrorism and sedition, the Uttarakhand police have filed a soft FIR naming Waseem Rizvi as an accused and overlooked the persons who made hate speeches. Waseem recently converted to Hinduism and acquired Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi as his new name. Haridwar is a sacred religious place for Hindus in the hilly state of Uttarakhand.

Speakers in the video are heard stating to physically eliminate 20 crores of Indian Muslims to protect Sanatan Dharma (pure Hinduism). This means that Hinduism can’t coexist with Islam and Muslims. Did this not justify Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who propounded that Hindus and Muslims can never make a common nationality. That became the basis for the Partition of India in August 1947 that witnessed the biggest genocide after World War II. However, Muslims who made India their home vociferously rejected the Jinhah theory. It was one of the reasons why the Constituent Assembly that was full of orthodox Hindus and India’s first president Rajendra Prasad being the most orthodox among them, adopted a secular Constitution.

What concerns the most is the silence of the top functionaries of the central government? Should the silence be understood as tacit approval of the hate-mongering against Muslims at the Haridwar religious summit? If this is not approved, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must break his silence and speak out strongly on such a vital national issue.

Surprisingly, civil society maintains its complete silence over the issue, except for a few left-leaning liberals.

But silence will do a great disservice to the nation.  “Maun” or the silence of the government will undoubtedly send a wrong message to the countrymen and the global community. In the internet age, the world has become a global village where everything travels at lightning speed, and nothing remains hidden, unlike in the earlier days.

So, what kind of message do we want to send to the world? Has India ceased to be a democracy and a multi-cultural state where people of different faiths, cultures, traditions, and even atheists can live peacefully while adhering to their own separate religious beliefs? Can’t people of other religions and cultures, other than Hindus, live in India now?   Could the proponents of “Akhand Bharat” (Undivided India) aspire to realize their dream by making India “Muslim-mukt” (free of Muslims)?  If they can’t live with 20 crore Muslims in India, how can they live with Muslims of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh if the three-Muslim dominated countries become part of Undivided India? It calls for serious contemplation. The government must not allow the fascists and hate-mongers to go scot-free.

What the hate-mongers stated at Haridwar is not a challenge to Muslims alone. It is a challenge to the nation. It is a challenge to the very idea of India. It is a challenge to secular and liberal Hindus. It is a challenge for the Hindus who have settled down and working in the US, Canada, Europe, and in large numbers in many Muslim countries. This is a challenge to Sanatan Dharma itself that believes in the idea of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family). The hate-mongers are doing a great disservice to the Hindu religion itself. Because of these reasons, many educated Hindus are drifting to atheism.

Will the central government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wake up and show the hate-mongers their place? Any delay will only encourage the peddlers of hate to defame India.