Clarion India
NEW DELHI – Amid the hate campaign against Muslims in the wake of the Tablighi episode, a Mysore-based newspaper ‘Star of Mysore’ called for the genocide of Muslims by using the terms “rotten” and “bad apples” for them.
In a venomous editorial, published on 6 April, targeting Muslim community, the evening tabloid referred to “18%” of the India’s pollution as “rotten apples” proposing that the country needs to get rid of them as Israel is currently doing and Singapore did decades ago.
The genocidal editorial goes as “Referred to as a rotten apple, a bad apple is a negative person who infects those around him with his bad influence. The term bad apple or rotten apple comes from a proverb: One bad apple spoils the whole basket, an ancient saying that has stood the test of time. The nation is currently hosting an annoying 18% of its population self-identifying as rotten apples.
“The presence of bad apples cannot be wished away. They are there in whatever way one wants to identify them, doesn’t matter if it is religious, political or social, taking care not to generalise. An ideal solution to the problem created by bad apples is to get rid of them, as the former leader of Singapore did a few decades ago or as the leadership in Israel is currently doing.”
The objectionable editorial took a cue of the incident of the incidence in Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi where the Tablighi Jamaat preachers were infected with the COVID-19.
Referring to the Muslim population which has been identified as “18 %” of the country, the editorial said “this mass, which is a big drag on the back of the Government of the day, is marked by three great qualities namely stupidity, fear and greed”.
The hateful editorial went on saying, “In the present scenario of the bad apples spoiling the basket’s hold of good apples, some business executives, including Mysuru’s home-grown elite, are leading by example. Their acts, one hopes, can get rid of the bad apples in society, which are proving to be more harmful than the dreaded virus itself”.
Reportedly, the newspaper withdraws the violence-inducing editorial and apologised to the reader saying that it has hurt the sentiment of some of the readers. However, no action has been taken against the newspaper for publishing such provocative editorial. Locals want strict action against the writer and the publication.
“They have issued an apology, but that’s not enough. Targeting and demonising a community is a reprehensible act and warrants strict penal action against both the author and the editor of the newspaper. The government must take action to ensure that such incidents aimed at inciting violence against a community are not repeated,” said an advocate Mudassir Hussain.
