Religious processions would have had women, the elderly and the devout

The spate of violence, vandalism and hate mongering by some Hindu groups in several towns, notably at Khargone in Madya Pradesh, at Karauli in Rajasthan and many other towns in Karnataka, West Bengal, Goa, Gujarat and even Delhi on Ram Navami and later on Hanuman Jayanti has been deeply disturbing.

Several videos showed Hindu groups marauding through Muslim areas, carrying swords and sticks and shouting abusive and threatening slogans against Muslims and, waving and hoisting saffron flags atop some mosques have come to light from these and many other places.

The nature and composition of these processions that led to vandalism indicate they had been pre-planned with a view to foment communal discord. Those in the processions were mainly young boys, many even minors. There were hardly any adults beyond the age of 25-26. A religious procession led in right earnest should have more likely included the elderly too, who are by nature, more religiously inclined, and even women. That these two categories were absent from these processions raise suspicion about the motive of these processions.

One also noticed that these boys carried swords, sticks and even pistols in their hands. It is unlikely that these boys owned these weapons. These lethal weapons might have been supplied to the boys by the organizers of these processions. It has been rightly pointed out by NDTV’s Ravish Kumar that these boys, most likely belonged to poor or very lower middle- class families. As this seems apparent, I wonder whether their parents are aware how the tender minds of their dear ones are being filled with bigotry and hate.

It has also come to notice that the boys marching in the processions were shouting abusive, even vulgar, slogans against the Muslims and singing abusive songs. I cannot imagine that these boys were clever enough to coin these abusive slogans and compose vulgar anti-Muslim songs themselves. They are not Ad gurus to have done so. The script might have been given to them by their handlers. Those are the real culprits who need to be caught.

These celebrations did no honour to the name of Lord Ram. They brought disgrace to the Hindu community. A celebration to commemorate the birth of Lord Ram should be a solemn affair, not a rowdy procession. Swords and sticks and pistols are not symbolic of Ram’s character. One remembers that even Dussehra celebration, that marks the victory of Lord Ram over the demon king Ravana used to be a mela rather than a procession, where you saw the effigies of Ravana and his two brothers go up in flames in a symbolic destruction of evil at the hands of Lord Ram.

It was also ironic, as Arfa Khanum Sherwani of The Wire, observed, that those in the processions were dancing (and shouting) in front of mosques instead of going to Ram temples. In innumerable videos one saw, a Ram temple was nowhere in sight. The aim apparently was not to worship Ram, it was to humiliate Muslims., which they did.

A little knowledge of mob psychology would tell us that a crowd of young and immature boys, who had been given swords and sticks and pistols, who had been given script of abusive slogans and songs, who had been told to follow a particular route and who had been told to shout the given slogans at the appropriate places would certainly do so and most likely turn violent. As they did.

Against this background, the Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Narottam Misra concluded that the fault clearly lay with the Muslims community of Khargone and the Hindus acted only in self defence. Accordingly, he ordered the demolition of 92 houses of Muslims. This summary disposal is not just travesty of justice. It is a total disregard of the law of the land by the Madhya Pradesh Government.

Considering the reputation of the Delhi Police as it emerged during February 2020 riots, the same story, short of demolition has started playing out in case of Jahangirpuri violence.

It is difficult to believe that the Ram Navami and later Hanuman Jayanti processions were passing peacefully singing bhajans in prayer of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman and stones were thrown at them by the other community without any provocation. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of human nature would tell you that a group of poor and downtrodden people are unlikely to start a riot, more so if they are in a minority. They are sensible enough to know that the mighty arm of the state will crush them with impunity. It follows that if stones have been first thrown by the ‘other’ community, as the narrative is being built by BJP leaders, they might have done so on a very grave provocation. In other words, if they had been abused in vulgar terms, of which several videos have surfaced.

Confirmation of my argument has just come in as I write, from a person who should know better. Talking to the National Herald, the former Haryana DGP, V.N.Rai, said, “Whether it is Khargone or Delhi or anywhere else… These Shobha Yatras, processions are not spontaneous but part of a design”. (NH, 19 April)

The former top cop even accuses the Modi government of being complicit in Jahangirpuri violence. He is not alone in holding this view. The noted historian Ram Guha, in separate interviews to The Wire and to NDTV a few days ago accused the present leadership of facilitating the communal discord. He went on to say that the RSS, the parent body of the BJP, has a clear design which can be summed up in six words, ‘We will show Muslims their way’. He also told Nidhi Razdan of NDTV, that ‘the top leadership is complicit in all that is going on in the name of hijab, namaz , and azan etc., and by top leadership, I mean the Prime Minister and the Home Minister’.

Can we still retrieve the situation?

(Views are personal)