{"id":338005,"date":"2022-06-16T05:41:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T11:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=338005"},"modified":"2022-06-16T05:42:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T11:12:11","slug":"the-backlash-was-just-waiting-to-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/the-backlash-was-just-waiting-to-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"The backlash was just waiting to happen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nupur Sharma\u2019s obnoxious unleash against the Prophet of Islam, was not just blatantly communal but against all the basics of civility. Aren\u2019t we taught in our homes that one should respect all faiths ?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This had to happen! This backlash had to come whether from the foreign lands and their rulers or from the Indian Muslim community.<\/p>\n

Nupur Sharma\u2019s obnoxious-communal-horrific unleash against the Prophet of Islam, was not just blatantly communal but against all the basics of civility. Aren\u2019t we taught in our homes, right from the very childhood, that one should respect all faiths and religions and beliefs\u2026In fact, in all civilized societies the very basic concept of respect and love for the other forms the very basics to the very existence. But see what dismal lows we have reached, with communal poisoning ruining us. I would go to the extent of stating that more worrying is this communal poisoning than any of the pollutants in the atmosphere! As this poisonous unleash is destroying our age old civilization, our diverse culture, our everyday living, our infrastructure, our children and us, our very future.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not being very original in stating that if you stretch a bit too much there\u2019s bound to be reaction. Under the present ruling Right-Wing government, the hounding and humiliation of the largest minority community of India, the Musalmaans, has been on \u2026ongoing.<\/p>\n

Even a day back, news reports surfaced of blatant targeted communal attacks on Muslim fakirs in Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Gonda district. And last week one of the barbaric instances of police torture was reported from Uttar Pradesh\u2019s district Badaun – when a 22-year-old Muslim vegetable vendor was tortured by the Uttar Pradesh police and two unidentified people, over suspicion of smuggling cow meat\u2026the tortured man\u2019s mother stated that Sub-inspector Satya Pal inserted a stick inside her son\u2019s rectum and gave him electric shocks several times. And when the cops realized that they\u00a0 had\u00a0 picked up a \u2018wrong person\u2019 they gave him Rs 100 and\u00a0 sent him home \u2026that tortured- injured\u00a0 man suffering from seizures, is\u00a0 now admitted in a\u00a0 hospital, where\u00a0 the doctors have stated his\u00a0 nervous system\u00a0 has been left severely damaged because of the police\u00a0 torture! Shouldn\u2019t the accused cops and the two \u2018unidentified men\u2019 be charged with semi-murder of an innocent young man. After all, once the nervous system is destroyed, what\u2019s left of the person! Shouldn\u2019t the victim be provided the best medical care by the State! Yes. That\u2019s the least the establishment could do.<\/p>\n

The communal situation has deteriorated to such an extent that every possible alibi is put forth to hound and humiliate a Musalmaan. Alibis range from his or her ‘terror links ‘, \u2018anti\u2013national\u2019 stand, \u2018 hijab or the head scarf and\u00a0 the skull cap, \u2018cow slaughter\u2026beef\u2019,\u00a0 \u2018As- salaam – alaikum\u2019 greetings (May peace\u00a0 be on you).<\/p>\n

Alibis could range from a this to that, but the targeted attacks are only compounding. And because of the poisonous propaganda and communal perceptions, innocents are targeted and tortured and ruined.<\/p>\n

\"\"
New Delhi: In this file photo dated Sunday, May 1, 2022, BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma during a programme at Delhi University. BJP suspended Sharma from party membership over her alleged remarks about Prophet Muhammad, on Sunday, June 5, 2022. (PTI Photo\/Manvender Vashist)(PTI06_05_2022_000167B)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In fact, weeks after the Modi government took charge the second time, in the summer of 2019,\u00a0 there were blatant attacks on the\u00a0 Muslims. The most blatant was the killing of the 24- year-old Muslim man, Tabrez Ansari, in Jharkhand. An orphan, he was visiting his ancestral village to get married but\u00a0 before he could get back\u00a0 to his place of work, Pune, he was lynched by a\u00a0 mob of\u00a0 Right-Wing goons, after forcing\u00a0 him to chant\u00a0 \u2018Jai Shri\u00a0 Ram\u2026Jai Shri Hanuman\u2019 slogans. Tying him to an electric pole, they beat him the entire night. Even when the police came on the scene, instead of shifting Tabrez to the nearest hospital, they threw him into a prison hell-hole. Not just that, they did not arrest any of the Hindutva goons who had assaulted Tabrez. Only much later, after Tabrez was declared dead and videos of those goons thrashing him went viral, that those typical reactions did the rounds\u2026There\u2019d been no lessening of communal attacks even after that brutal killing of Tabrez Ansari. News reports surfaced of Muslim men forced to chant Hindutva slogans. Mind you, even after they chanted those slogans, there was little guarantee of their survival.<\/p>\n

Mind you, I have been a witness to several communally surcharged phases in the recent history of the country, but the communal unleash had never been so blatant and brutal and barbaric as it is today.With the political climate turning murkier and blatantly communal by the day, strangest possible twisted notions of the \u2018other\u2019 are doing the rounds. Myths are manufactured and facts get twisted to dent the very image of the Muslims. All sorts of wild notions about the Muslims are being made to circulate among the masses so that there\u2019s\u00a0 negativity hovering around\u2026so that Muslims stand bypassed and boycotted, if not\u00a0 hounded and humiliated.<\/p>\n

Why should the largest minority community of this country sit reduced to this third-class status by the political rulers who want to rule just about somehow! By distorting if not changing the very narrative, spreading the communal virus, unleashing violence. And then speak in different voices, to confuse the masses and with that halt a collective outcry. \u2026There seems a blatant strategy by the Right-Wing lobbies to portray Islam and its followers in dark shades. The visual media misses no opportunity to dwell on the negatives to the community. Also, non-issues are churned overtime. Wrong perceptions and misconceptions are projected. All sort of wild theories in circulation.<\/p>\n

If only the concerned and responsible citizen groups in the country insist on this\u00a0 basic essential\u00a0 corrective measure: The various myths and misconceptions and wrong negative portrayals about the Indian Muslims should\u00a0 stand corrected. If this happens, then perhaps, the communal onslaughts and growing hate for the \u2018other\u2019 would lessen.<\/p>\n

The concerned citizens of the country will have to step in. Now and immediately. It is time to cry halt to the dangerous communal build-ups!<\/p>\n

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( end of the column\u00a0 –\u00a0 HUMRA\u00a0 QURAISHI)<\/p>\n

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Nupur Sharma\u2019s obnoxious unleash against the Prophet of Islam, was not just blatantly communal but against all the basics of civility. Aren\u2019t we taught in our homes that one should respect all faiths ? This had to happen! This backlash had to come whether from the foreign lands and their rulers or from the Indian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":338007,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,14770,2205],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338005"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338008,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338005\/revisions\/338008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/338007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}