REFORMADVOCATE.COM NEWS/VIEWS
Toronto, Canada Jeffrey S. Ram, Editor June 15, 2022
Two hundred million Muslims are the main target of the BJP’s hatred and violence; thirty million Christians are the secondary target. Islam and Christianity are foreign religions, but their adherents’ families have lived on the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. Many families were already in India when the Aryans arrived.
TERRORISM AGAINST MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS WILL NOT SOLVE INDIA’S HUGE PROBLEMS
Even after 75 years of independence, hundreds of millions of Indians still live in misery and despair. They have no hope of relief from the awful life their families have led generation after generation. However, leaders of Bhartiya Janata Party and its ideological parent, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, have convinced at least half the population of Hindus that violence against Muslims and Christians is the solution of Indians’ plight. In fact, hooliganism and savagery against Muslims and Christians cannot resolve India’s mega problems; only good governance can.
India’s female labour Courtesy: developmentnews.in
Will savagery against Muslims and Christians break the cycle of poverty of poor Indians?
SOME GLIMPSES OF SHOCK AND PAIN - “BAD DAYS” (BURE DIN)- OF BJP’S BAD GOVERNANCE
The incompetence and inefficiency of the BJP leaders and their blatant misuse of power have caused immense grief to Indians.
SHOCK AND PAIN OF DEMONETIZATION
On 8 November 2016, the Government of India demonetized all rupees ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series. In exchange for the demonetized banknotes, new rupees ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes were to be provided. Prime Minister Modi explained that the action would reduce and check illicit and counterfeit cash. People faced severe hardships, and trade and commerce suffered heavy losses.
According to the Reserve Bank of India's 2018 report, about 99.3% of the demonetized banknotes were deposited with the banking system. Evidently, demonetization failed to get rid of the black money.
SHOCK AND PAIN OF SHORT NOTICE UNPLANNED LOCKDOWN
The Indian government imposed a nationwide lockdown for 21 days to check Covid-19. The announcement was made on the evening of March 24, 2020, for the lockdown to start on March 25. At that time, there were about 500 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in India.
India’s Nationwide Unplanned Lockdown:
Phase 1: March 25, 2020 – April 14, 2020 (21 days)
Phase 2: April 15, 2020 – May 3, 2020 (19 days)
Phase 3: May 4, 2020 – May 17, 2020 (14 days)
Phase 4: May 18, 2020 – May 31, 2020 (14 days)
Due to the lockdown, 1.4 billion people stayed at home. They went to markets or pharmacies for only pressing needs.
SHOCK AND PAIN OF MIGRANT WORKERS LONG WALK HOME
The lockdown resulted in a humanitarian crisis for India’s estimated 120 million migrant labourers. They lost jobs and could not afford to pay rent or buy food. Without public transport, migrant workers and their families were forced to walk hundreds of kilometres on highways to return home. According to the government estimate, about 500,000 to 600,000 migrants walked to their homes from cities.
Some people died from walking without food, and some were killed in road accidents. Many were beaten up by states’ police at their borders to chase them away.
SHOCK AND PAIN OF COVID-19 GAS CYLINDER SHORTAGE DEATHS
PHOTO: Mass cremation of bodies in Delhi
COURTESY: sg.news.yahoo.com
Will killing Muslims and Christians improve healthcare or save Hindu lives?
When the Covid-19 pandemic started, the Modi government used emergency power. The Union government took charge of the states to deal with the pandemic. Hospitals all over India faced a shortage of oxygen in April and May 2021. In cities, towns, and villages, men, women, and children died in large numbers for lack of oxygen. Cremation grounds had a hard time coping with the demand. Hospital managers complained that there was no centralized oxygen supply and distribution coordination.
The World Health Organization reported on May 5, 2022, that 4.7 million deaths occurred in India due to Covid-19; the global death toll was 14.9 million.
THE SHOCK AND PAIN OF FARM BILLS
The three Agricultural Acts of 2020, popularly known as farm bills, were enacted to deregulate the system of government-operated wholesale markets. Farmers were permitted to sell directly to food processors, but they were afraid that the end of government-guaranteed prices would reduce the price of their crops. As a result of mass protests by farmers, these laws, which came into effect on September 27, 2020, were repealed on December 1, 2021.
SHOCK AND PAIN OF PEGASUS SPYING IN INDIA
Pegasus, spyware owned by Israeli NSO Group, is used for the remote surveillance of smartphones. The technology firm claims that it sells the spyware exclusively to governments.
Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based journalism non-profit, and rights group Amnesty International shared the leaked list, which showed that over 300 individuals in India were targeted. They included opposition politicians, more than 40 journalists critical of the Modi government, social activists, and businessmen.
SHOCK AND PAIN OF THE MISUSE OF THE SEDITION LAWS AND THE UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES PREVENTION ACT (UAPA)
Prime Minister Modi’s BJP government has criminalized dissent by using Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, the Law of Sedition, and UAPA against students, opposition leaders, journalists, and innocent Muslims and Christians to create fear. According to Home Ministry’s record, 326 were charged with sedition between 2014 and 2019.
The Supreme Court suspended Section 124A on May 11, 2022, while the Union government ‘reconsiders.’
SHOCK AND PAIN OF BJP GOVERNMENTS’ PROMOTION OF HATRED, HATE CRIMES, AND VIOLENCE AGAINST MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS
Indian female workers
Will barbarian crimes against Muslims and Christians improve the workers’ lives?
Some Instances of Muslims’ Victimization
Many BJP-ruled states used laws against cow slaughter to prosecute Muslim cattle traders. Hindu extremists attacked Muslims and Dalits on rumors that they killed or traded cows for beef or ate beef. Justice Rajinder Sachar, former chief justice of the Delhi high court, said at a conference in Mathura in November 2015 that among all the beef traders in India, 95% were from the Hindu community.
In August 2019, the Indian government revoked the constitutional autonomy granted to the only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir, imposed broad restrictions, and arbitrarily detained thousands of people.
The BJP government leaders blamed the Tablighi Jamaat’s international conference for spreading Corona-19.
On December 11, 2019, the Indian parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which excluded Muslims and made religion the basis for citizenship.
On February 23, 2020, Hindu-Muslim riots erupted in Delhi, killing 40 Muslims and 13 Hindus.
Muslim men who marry Hindu women are targeted under the anti-conversion laws in eleven states.
In January 2022, the BJP government of Karnataka banned wearing hijab or head scarf in the state’s educational institutions. On March 15, 2022, the Karnataka High Court upheld the ban.
Numerous Hindu Conferences (Dharam Sansad) took place in different parts of India, where speakers urged Hindus to attack Muslims.
Many BJP governments used bulldozers to demolish Muslim protesters’ homes without any judicial hearing.
BJP’s national spokesperson uttered remarks insulting Prophet Mohammed.
Christians' Victimization
The Christian population's percentage has decreased from 2.6 in 1971 to 2.3 in 2011. Still, anti-conversion laws are used as an excuse to attack Christians. New Delhi-based United Christian Forum recorded at least 486 cases of violence against Christians in 2021. In only 34 of the 486 cases, police registered formal complaints. According to Open Doors USA's 2021 World Watch List, India ranks as the 10th worst country globally for Christian persecution.
INDIA NEEDS LEADERS WHO THINK OF THE NEXT GENERATION, NOT THE NEXT ELECTION
Indian child workers – India’s future?
Will bulldozing Muslims’ houses build the future of India’s child workers?
The RSS and the BJP governments are not entirely responsible for India's current state of affairs. Other political parties that led governments federally and provincially also contributed to the decline of democracy. RSS and BJP speeded up the decay. All rulers have neglected the problems of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, corruption, lack of quality healthcare and education, and educated youth unemployment, among others. BJP's strategy to divert attention from the serious issues by focusing on violence against Muslims and Christians is not the solution. India needs capable and responsible leaders to tackle this difficult task with determination and good governance. India needs statesmen, not politicians.
RELATED:
REUSE THIS CONTENT/ SHARE THIS POST