New Delhi: Every inter-faith marriage may not be a case of ‘love jihad’, but that does not mean such a movement does not exist, said Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece Organiser in its defence of the controversial film The Kerala Story, which claims to highlight the plight of Kerala women who were purportedly brainwashed into joining the Islamic State.
In its editorial, Organiser says the film highlights the problem of “systematic grooming, deceitful conversions and human trafficking”.
“Love is not a crime, and inter-faith or inter-caste marriage can promote social harmony,” says the piece, but adds that there are exceptions.
“Can it be done in a deceitful manner, where a man hides his religious identity or marital status? Are such weddings normal if the girls are forcibly converted and trafficked to join some Islamic terrorist organisations?” it asks.
The editorial further claims that “religion-based demographic imbalance and radicalism” are a “glaring reality” in Kerala, purporting to give some “hard facts”.
“In the pre-Independence period, Congress tried to whitewash the Islamic genocide of Hindus in the name of Khilafat. Communists further coloured it as a class struggle. Since then, Malabar has become the hotbed of Islamic radicalisation. Neither the film nor raising the issue of having a bearing on social harmony and national security is against the State of Kerala,” it added.
While The Kerala Story has been declared tax-free in several BJP-ruled states, including UP and MP, and has even been referenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a poll rally, the film has also invited criticism for propagating false information and for being little more than a propaganda piece.
Other topics covered by Hindu Right authors and columnists included the BJP’s poll prospects in Karnataka, the perceived “anti-Hindu” stance of the Congress party, the Manipur violence, and the correlation between freebies and state debt.
Also read: Tharoors and Shabana Azmis took a classic liberal stand on ‘Kerala Story’. They must rethink
Karnataka Bajrang Dal row
In its manifesto for the Karnataka elections, the Congress had promised that if it came to power, it would ban the Hindutva youth outfit Bajrang Dal and other organisations that purportedly “promote enmity”. Shortly thereafter, the party promised to build and renovate Bajrang (Hanuman) temples across the state.
This, according to the Hindi RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya indicated the “victory of the Hindu consciousness” despite the party’s “deep hatred” of the RSS and affiliate Bajrang Dal.
The editorial stated that if the Congress, which engaged in “blatant appeasement” and abolished anti-terror laws such as TADA and POTA, was now “forced to promise to build a temple of Bajrangbali, then there must be something behind it”.
The piece also lamented the Congress’s hostility to the RSS, claiming that was the reason why it wanted to ban the Bajrang Dal in Karnataka.
“The root of this hate propaganda (of Congress) is that Bajrang Dal is related to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Congress is the platform of such deep hatred towards the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which stands with society and the nation in every emergency situation and works for the upliftment and construction of the nation,” it says. “Democracy is capable of teaching a lesson about the consequences of this hatred, and (the Congress) must be taught this lesson.”
Manipur violence: Hindus a ‘soft target’
On the ethnic violence that has swept across Manipur since 3 May, an article in Organiser claimed that the dominant Meitei community, mostly Hindus, have been a soft target in the state for various forces, including missionaries, since before independence.
For the clashes, in which at least 60 people died and thousands were displaced, the article squarely blamed the state’s minority tribal groups, which primarily follow Christianity, and a rally they had taken out last week to demand protection for their rights.
“The reason for the clash is the rally which was organised despite the restrictions imposed by the district administration in anticipation of the potential communal violence,” the article said.
“On the day of the so-called peace rally (Tribal Solidarity March of ATSUM), the rallyists turned violent and burned four Forest Offices. Why they targeted Forest Offices? The answer is very simple; they don’t want government control of the forests and their resources as it would prevent them from the mass illegal poppy plantations,” it further said.
The article alleged that militant groups had spearheaded the violence as a response to the Biren Singh-led BJP government’s crackdown on drugs in the state, its moves to check undocumented migrants from Myanmar, and its demolition of illegal churches.
In contrast, 10 Kuki MLAs, including eight from the BJP, issued a press statement on 12 May in which they claimed that the violence was “perpetrated by majority Meiteis and tacitly supported by the existing government of Manipur against the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi hill tribals”.
Also read: Ethnic conflicts to ‘dissent from within’, Manipur CM Biren Singh is fighting many fires
‘Modi magic’ in Karnataka
Right-leaning journalist Hari Shankar Vyas, in his column Hindi daily Naya India, argued that the Karnataka elections are a test for Modi and his “magic”.
He wrote that if the BJP did not win despite Modi’s “hard work”, it could lead to some deleterious consequences.
“Firstly, the entrance of the BJP in South India will be closed. Secondly, the regional satraps will gain strength. The dependence of the BJP high command on local leaders will increase. The BJP will have to think ten times before deciding to sideline them and contest elections on Modi’s face,” Vyas argued.
Vyas asserted that if the BJP loses the election, the media and the party itself will refrain from blaming Prime Minister Modi. However, they will attribute the seats won to Modi’s perceived magic.
Meanwhile, right-leaning JNU professor Makarand Paranjpe wrote a News18 opinion piece arguing why he thinks the BJP will retain power in Karnataka.
Paranjpe acknowledged that the “double-engine sarkar” might not have been able to deliver on expectations, but Congress’s “politics of appeasement”, especially its promise to ban Bajrang Dal, may make things difficult for the party. No one who is perceived to be anti-Hindu has a chance to win in India, Paranjpe said.
According to him, there are “two possible scenarios” for the BJP to retain power in Karnataka.
“The first and most desirable one is that it will win on its own. The final push by the trimurti Modi-Shah-Nadda will rouse both the cadres and voters to push them past the finish line. If they get 113 seats or more, they will happily install a new CM, probably a Vokkaliga, as their helmsman. The administration will be tightened, corruption brought down, and the party will shore up its power and prestige in preparation for the 2024 general elections,” he wrote.
The second scenario would take place if the party could not get past the halfway mark, he added: “If it is only a matter of a few seats, the party is more than capable of managing to win over a sufficient number of MLAs to form the government.”
SJM on debt
In an article posted to his website this Monday, Ashwani Mahajan, the co-convenor of RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), highlighted that states with higher expenditures on “freebies” bear a heavier debt burden.
Referring to a report from the Reserve Bank of India, Mahajan wrote: “Government borrowing is 9.6 per cent in Punjab and 6.1 and 6.0 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal respectively. Apart from this, it is 5.3 per cent in Haryana and 5.1 per cent in Kerala”,
He emphasised that while the deficits and liabilities of the central government are transparent and unlikely to be misrepresented, the same cannot be said for the liabilities of state governments.
“Significantly, according to the assessment of the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), the general debt is more in those states, where more expenditure is being made on free schemes. In this, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh are at the top where the bulk of the total revenue is spent on free schemes. Apart from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu is another southern state which spends more on free schemes,” he wrote.
“Although Delhi is far ahead in free schemes, due to this debt Delhi does not increase because the per capita revenue of the state is almost twice that of the national arrangement,” he added.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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