Hindutva

The Muslims of India are facing a new shockwave with the victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state elections. The BJP is a right-wing party, ideologically and organisationally linked with the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishva Hindu Parishad. It has committed a lengthy list of atrocities in the country. On December 6, 1992, a large crowd of Hindu Kar Sevaks (volunteers) demolished the 16th-century Babri Mosque in the city of Ayodhya in UP. The demolition occurred after a political rally at the site turned violent. In the 2002 Gujarat riots, properties of innocent minority Muslims were damaged and hundreds of people were massacred. Unfortunately, the BJP is fulfilling the dream of the Hindutva rapidly.

The recent increase in the domination of religion in the realm of politics is a dangerous threat to secularism in India. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was surely right when he called for separate electorates and gained an independent land for Muslims. The Hindutva movement is fascist and adheres to the concepts of homogenised majority and cultural hegemony. Muslims have been playing a pivotal role in the progress and development of the economy in India and a peaceful environment must be guaranteed to them.

Engr Mansoor Ahmed

Faisalabad