New Delhi: The idea of Bharat is under threat from the mindset of protecting criminals, read an editorial in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) English mouthpiece, Organiser, referring to the violence that broke out in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area during Hanuman Jayanti processions earlier this month.
“The idea of Bharat is under threat from the mindset of protecting criminals, promoting illegal immigrants and whitewashing rioters through whataboutery. We need to bulldoze this mindset to save the idea of Bharat.
“Before creating Pakistan, Congress believed that only by taking Muslims along in the fight against colonisers we could (sic) attain freedom. The same Islamic appeasement continued even after Independence as happened in the Jahangirpuri case,” the editorial in Organiser said.
It also said that “the fake narratives of provocation from the Hindu side were used to justify the criminal acts, illegal migration, encroachments,” adding, “stone pelters and rioters always get such a cover from a set of intellectuals and media”.
It admitted, however, that a bulldozer cannot be an ideal response to deal with criminals “as per the rule of law in a democracy”. But Prafulla Ketkar, the editor of Organiser, also wrote that with the “successful experiment in Uttar Pradesh”, the bulldozer has emerged as a “symbol of strict action” against rioters.
In its cover story titled, ‘Straight from the Stone Age’, Organiser wrote that there are “deep cultural and civilisational issues which cannot be swept under the carpet”.
It demanded a police probe into the role of Rohingya refugees in the Jahangirpuri violence, citing their alleged involvement in “many terrorist incidents and riots in Delhi in the past”.
Other issues that found mention in the pro-Hindutva press this week included an RSS worker’s death in Kerala, IPL betting, an ‘exposé’ on government schools in Delhi, and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s remarks on the Hanskhali rape-murder case.
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RSS worker’s death in Kerala
Right-wing publications were inundated this week with uproar over the killing of an RSS worker, Sreenivasan, in Kerala — allegedly by activists of the Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). This came barely a day after a PFI worker was killed, allegedly by RSS workers.
The Sangh’s Hindi mouthpiece, Panchjanya, carried an article on Sreenivasan’s death.
“Palakkad-Melamuri is considered a BJP stronghold in Kerala. The message behind killing Sreenivasan by entering a BJP stronghold is very clear. They are capable, well equipped and ready to kill freely in any stronghold. Attackers, in what is sometimes described as ‘vengeance’ and sometimes ‘misguided youth’, selectively target Sangh workers. These ruthless killers can only be called a stigma on Indian society and philosophy of life,” read the article in Panchjanya.
It added, “The killing of Sangh-BJP workers one after the other definitely confirms that the religious jihadi killers not only have access to the government, but that there is an impenetrable nexus. As a result, Sangh-BJP workers are being selectively put to death,”
Ban PFI, SDPI, CFI, says ex-Army officer
In an opinion piece for Organiser, Brigadier (Retd) G. B. Reddy wrote that “weak-kneed appeasement politics” is futile, adding that the bulldozer policy is not enough to stem communal conflict and conflagration.
“First, the government must send a clear signal by declaring modern Bharat as Hindu Rashtra. Next, they must ban the PFI, SDPI, CFI and all other fundamentalist organisations without fear and favour. Instead of going on a foreign tour, the prime minister must first address the threats churning and brewing internally from radical sleeper outfits sulking and waiting for an opportunity to strike as per directions of their alien handlers,” he wrote.
The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Campus Front of India (CFI) are, respectively, the PFI’s political and student wings.
Another article in Organiser went on to claim that the practice of stone pelting was “inspired” by an Islamic ritual called the Rami al-Jamarat or ‘Stoning the Devil’. This ritual, the article suggests, is an “integral part of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca” during which pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls called the jamarat.
‘How ABVP forces Naxalite groups to their knees’
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS’s student wing, reviewed its new book, Dhyeya Yatra, in the April edition of its ‘Chhatrashakti’ magazine,
The book, which chronicles the journey of the ABVP, was launched by RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and former chief election commissioner Sunil Arora.
“By reading this, we get to know how a student organization forces the ghastly undemocratic and violent Naxalite groups to their knees by eliminating them by their continuous democratic efforts and self-sacrifice. A student organisation keeps the national crisis of Bangladeshi infiltration raging nationally in the headlines for decades with its resolving efforts and makes the governments think about solving the problem,” read the book review in Chhatrashakti.
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‘Bulldozer model of Savarkar’s political philosophy’
In his article for Naya India, former Modi supporter and Right-leaning journalist Hari Shankar Vyas wrote about the use of bulldozers for punishing individuals accused of rioting or other crimes.
“The Sangh Parivar (RSS) should get a global patent for the sophisticated, modern bulldozer model of Savarkar’s Hindu political philosophy. The question is whether to consider it as the all-powerful model of the Sangh Parivar or of Narendra Modi? Obviously, the foundation of Narendra Modi’s incarnation as a Hindu avatar is his self-created ‘bulldozer philosophy’.
“Savarkar gave an introduction to modern civilisational Hindu politics. But the credit for the creation of the real, mechanical experimental bulldozer model goes to Narendra Modi. This not only led to the increase of devotional power in the last eight years, but also resulted in the economy, society, politics, science, bureaucracy and institutions lining up in front of the bulldozer… This is why it is decided that the world will follow the bulldozer model. Humanity will enter a new era,” Vyas wrote.
‘Hundreds of families’ being destroyed by IPL betting
Panchjanya’s cover story this week, meanwhile, revolved around the Indian Premier League (IPL) and betting.
“Online-offline betting is increasing continuously across the country under the guise of IPL cricket. The gambling business is conducted through website, app and mobile. Before taking the full amount from the people, they are given the password of the app or website. But after a few balls are bowled, they are shown a live match.
“Speculators drop the prices according to their own accord and cheat the bettors. Hundreds of families are being destroyed because of this, yet the government has not stopped it,” the cover story read.
In another article, the RSS mouthpiece claimed to have “exposed” the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Delhi school model.
“Of the total 1.027 government schools run by the state government in Delhi, only 203 have principals. That is, only 19.76 per cent of the schools have a principal and 80.24 per cent of the schools do not have a principal. You can guess from this how conscious the Delhi government and the education minister of Delhi are about education. Is this the revolution in education or Delhi’s school model in which schools are being run without principals,” the author remarked.
Sound of azaan causing ‘many serious mental diseases’
As Hindutva groups champion restrictions on the use of loudspeakers for the Muslim call to prayer (azaan), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), on the cover of its magazine, Hindu Vishwa, asked why those who don’t want to should hear the azaan via loudspeaker.
“The sound of azaan being recited aloud from mosques all over the country is not only disturbing the sleep or peace of the people, but is also causing many serious mental diseases,” the editorial read.
“What is more dangerous than this is the stubbornness of making those who don’t want to hear the namaz listen to it. When the loudspeakers of mosques became deadly for Kashmiri Pandits on January 19, 1990, causing millions of families to flee, get raped, murdered, looted, then the mentality of using these loudspeakers comes under suspicion. This needs attention in the whole country, even outside Kashmir,” editor Vijay Shankar Tiwari wrote.
‘TMC is always right in Didi’s West Bengal’
Salil Gewali, a Right-leaning columnist and researcher, commented on West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s remarks on the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Hanskhali. The chief minister had suggested a connection between the crime and a love affair or pregnancy.
In a piece in Organiser, Gewali wrote that Mamata Banerjee’s “insensitive remarks show the level to which she can stoop to protect her own party men”.
“Has the CM’s remark not rubbed salt into the wound of millions of mothers and tender girls? Many are casting aspersions as the accused in the case is the son of one of the TMC leaders. TMC is always right in Didi’s West Bengal.”
“There is no denying that there is no end to the suffering of the majority of Hindus in Bengal now. The police department can hardly take any effective action against the perpetrators,” Gewali wrote.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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