Even if Modi again becomes the Prime Minister it will not be the strong Modi with 56 inch chest whom we have known so far, but only a weak caricature and shadow of that figure
Justice Markandey Katju
“Yeh do din mein kya maajra ho gaya
Ke jangal ka jangal hara ho gaya“
The most important outcome of the results of the recent parliamentary elections in India is that the nightmare for Indian Muslims is over.
Muslims in India are about 200 million i.e. about 15% of the country’s total population of about 1400 million (of which about 80% are Hindus ).
Even before the right wing Hindu party, the BJP, came to power in 2014, the Muslims in India were often victimised, demonised, and discriminated against. But this was usually sporadic, often covert, and temporary, since the Congress and other secular parties kept it to some extent in check, with an eye on the large Muslim vote bank.
After the BJP came to power in 2014, such atrocities and oppression of the Indian Muslims increased exponentially, and became overt, continuous, and virulent.
Lynching of Muslims (on false allegations of eating and selling beef ), bulldozing their houses, beating them brutally for not saying ‘Jai Shri Ram’, arresting and incarcerating them in prison for several years on false and fabricated charges of being terrorists, gangsters, and molesters and seducers of Hindu women, became commonplace. Cow vigilantes had a field day, and Muslims were fair game.
Narendra Modi, the present and caretaker Indian Prime Minister, had a prominent role in this. He became Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001, and organized the massacre of 2000-3000 Muslims in that state in 2002.
After becoming Prime Minister of India, he regularly oppressed and organized atrocities on Muslims, not only to secure Hindu votes, but even more because it was part of his RSS mindset.
The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) is a fascist Hindu organization which the British rulers of India created in 1925 as part of their divide and rule policy, and was the other side of the same coin as the Muslim League, both being British agents.
What is imbibed in all members of the RSS is hatred for Muslims. In his book, ‘A Bunch of Thoughts’ (which is compulsory reading for all RSS members), a former RSS leader M.S. Golwalkar (known as Guruji by RSS members) has spouted venom on the Indian Muslims, calling them foreign invaders, looters, rapists, gangsters and terrorists,
Modi has obviously read all this, since he had joined the RSS at a very young age, and like all other RSS members, he has a pathological hatred for Muslims, as became evident throughout his 10-year term as Prime Minister in which in almost all his public statements he denigrated Muslims. Throughout his term of office Indian Muslims lived in fear and terror, like Jews in Nazi Germany.
State and educational institutions were sought to be ‘saffronised’, and science and education perverted.
In his speeches during the recent parliamentary elections, Modi again spouted venom against Muslims, calling them ghuspethiyas (foreign infiltrators) though the truth is that 95% Indian Muslims are descended from Hindu ancestors who for some reason converted to Islam, but were never foreigners, and the remaining 5% too were soon Indianised. His mention of mangal sutra, mutton, murga, mujra etc reveals his low culture.
However, in my opinion dark days for Indian Muslims are over.
The results of the recent parliamentary elections show that that the BJP has won only 240 seats in the 545 seat Lok Sabha, which is well short of the half way mark of 273.
To form a government, hence, the BJP will have to take the help of allies, particularly Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, and Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. But these two are reputed past masters in extracting concessions from big alliance partners and blackmail. They will surely demand lucrative portfolios like Finance Ministry, Commerce Ministry, etc where they can make a lot of money. They will also demand special status for their states, and that they should have a say in legislation
This being the situation, even if Modi again becomes the Prime Minister it will not be the strong Modi with 56 inch chest whom we have known so far, but only a weak caricature and shadow of that figure.
He will certainly not be allowed to torment Muslims as he did in the last 10 years, firstly by his coalition partners, who do not wish to lose Muslim votes, and also by a resurgent opposition, the INDIA alliance.
All Indian Muslims are breathing free, at least for now.
The writer, Justice Markandey Katju, is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
C. Ummid
