New Delhi: The ongoing hearing on same-sex marriages and the row over ‘Kerala Story’ were widely debated by the Hindu Right media outlets in the week that went by.
Other topics such as the alleged sexual abuse in Christian-run shelter homes in Tamil Nadu, hybrid warfare through fake news, India’s export targets were taken up by Hindu Right authors and columnists
In its editorial fortnightly magazine Hindu Vishwa, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) declared that same-sex marriages are “invalid and unacceptable”.
It went on to add that same-sex marriages, if legalised, can lead to problems as seen in live-in relationships that ended in incidents like the killing of Shraddha Walkar.
“Live-in relationship is becoming the reason for incidents like Shraddha Walkar. Similarly, same sex marriage can be the reason for many other types of problems tomorrow. … What is the guarantee that adopted children will be treated decently?” the editorial argued.
It added that as same-sex marriages cannot produce children and they (such couples) do not believe in normal marriages, then it seems somewhat impractical to give children born of heterosexual marriages to people who do not believe in normal marriages
“This may give rise to a new problem of child sexual abuse. Those who are not in favor of natural marriage should have the right to it, it is somewhat ridiculous and impractical”, it wrote.
‘The Kerala Story’
Right-leaning author Vishnu Sharma wrote about ‘The Kerala Story’ film which claims to highlight the story of women who went missing from Kerala and were allegedly used by terror outfits like Islamic State.
In an article written in Hindi, Sharma contended that the film’s trailer brings out how ‘love jihad’ works, and added that is why the Congress and the Left parties oppose it.
“A few months ago, a big face from the church also created quite a stir when it openly blamed Muslims for the conversion of Christian girls in Kerala. PM Modi visiting a church in Delhi and then going to Kerala to meet many church leaders shows that the Christian community of Kerala is also coming closer to BJP. Vipul Shah (the producer) usually avoids controversial films, but when controversy arose, his answer was, ‘we will not show a single scene without facts’. In such a situation, it is wrong to raise questions,” Sharma wrote in Oneindia.
Author Ratan Sharda, who claims to have seen the film, commented that there is no attempt to whitewash the truth or brush the story subtly to hype up the facts like the “Leftist filmmakers do”.
“It is strange to hear the state’s current Marxist chief minister saying that ‘The Kerala Story’ is RSS propaganda and has an ulterior agenda. He forgets that his party’s former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan said in 2010 that organisations like PFI wanted to convert Kerala into a Muslim majority in another 20 years. The film shows a video clip of his statement,” Sharda wrote in an article published in FirstPost.
“Those who are protesting against the movie are afraid that we will see through the façade of ‘all religions are the same’. The sweet poison fed to the Hindus that it is only their duty to be ‘liberal’ and ‘tolerant’ has been swallowed by unsuspecting Hindus and imbibed in their thinking where not knowing about one’s dharma is cool.”
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‘Abuse’ in Christian-run shelter homes
A report by Organiser raised concern about the alleged sexual exploitation of women in shelter homes run by Christian organisations in Tamil Nadu. Despite being aware about the situation, it alleged, the M.K. Stalin government was a mute spectator.
“The sexual exploitation of women within the ‘sanctified Church compounds’ in India has not received the media attention it deserves. The political parties’ dependent on Church donations and election campaigns through churches have successfully camouflaged, or ignored the happenings right under their administration. For them a Church-controlled vote bank is more paramount than the dignity of women and crimes perpetrated on women,” the article said.
While it did not provide any data for the allegations, the article listed individual cases of sexual abuse and claimed that only a miniscule of such cases come into public eye.
In another article, Organiser pilloried the western criteria of ‘religious freedom’ in the backdrop of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report on harassment and violence against religious minorities in India.
The writer, Sudip Kar Purkayastha, questioned the criteria on which Western countries judge India and Hindu religion.
“Two Abrahamic faiths viz, Christianity and Islam, which went for wide scale invasion and colonisation of countries across continents showed scant respect for the religions of the natives. On the contrary, they resorted to massive proselytisation by violating various kinds of values commonly associated with the term ‘religion’,” he said.
He further questioned the criteria of religious freedom and whether it is truly achievable.
“If the global community is genuinely interested in guaranteeing religious freedom to the world population across the religious spectrum, fundamental questions such as the one below must be asked — is it possible at all for a country to simultaneously allow religious freedom to people of different religious faiths in terms of UDHR Article 18, if some faiths, driven by their scriptures and teachings, do not respect other religious faiths or they harbour an attitude of intolerance or hatred towards ‘other faith,” Purkayastha wrote.
‘Hybrid war’
In its cover story, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliated magazine Panchjanya published its cover story focused on ‘fake news hybrid war’.
“An imaginary incident had made the whole country and society suspicious. The whole incident was fabricated in such a gruesome and planned manner that at once, most people began to believe it. Eventually the truth came out, but by then a lot of damage had been done. In modern warfare, this type of fake news is considered a part of hybrid warfare. Its main targets are those democracies that accept freedom of expression,” it claimed, referring to the Kathua rape case that shook the country in 2018.
“The main targets of this type of hybrid warfare are those democracies that accept freedom of expression. Fake news on the surface does not interfere in democracy. Rather, it claims that it is fighting for the values of democracy and liberalism. Whereas in fact, the aim of hybrid war is just the opposite, that the voters should be mentally compelled to vote or not to vote in a particular direction,” it added.
Also Read: ‘Slap on face of Dravidian model’: Hindu Right press on SC allowing RSS marches in Tamil Nadu
NRI & Indian values
Explaining the cause of Indians living in the US being the top earners in the country, Panchjanya elaborated that NRIs are steeped in Indian traditions and values.
“…in the US, Indian parents also sacrifice their own interests for the sake of their children. Indian mothers sacrifice their passion for professional work for the sake of their children. Similarly, Indian fathers make many compromises in their business in the interest of their children,” it said in an article written by author Prahlad Sabnani.
“Therefore, for Indian parents, the upbringing of their children becomes the biggest priority. Indian parents spend their most valuable time on the development of their children even in the busiest moments of their lives,” the article explained.
Reaching USD 2 trillion export target
In a column published in Pioneer, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch’s national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan argued that the rate of inflation in India is still less as compared to other countries.
He further suggested ways to achieve the export goal of two trillion dollars by 2030.
“Many countries of the world which were interested in importing from India earlier; were not able to do so, due to the paucity of dollars. Recently the Reserve Bank of India, through a circular allowed settlement for import and export in rupees. After this, the settlement of trade with Russia started in rupees for the first time in December,” Mahajan commented.
He also suggested that to increase exports, manufacturing in the country will have to be strengthened, costs of production and transactions need to be reduced and the current pace of infrastructure construction be maintained.
“The fact is that in the year 2013-14, India’s GDP was just less than 2 trillion US dollars, and exports were little less than 500 billion US dollars; when the size of the Indian economy expanded to nearly 3.5 trillion US dollars and exports are 767 billion US dollars, in 2030 when we become a $7 trillion economy, export target of 2 trillion US dollars looks well achievable,” he added.
CPI’s decline in india
Former BJP MP Balbir Punj’s article in Dainik Jagran focused on the Communist Party of India (CPI) losing its national party status, and what it means for Indian politics.
“CPI has lost its status as a national party at a time when it is closer to completing 100 years of its establishment. CPI and RSS were established during the same time period, in that case it becomes an essential question how there is a stark difference between the status of both the parties.
“Its (CPI) leaders continued to receive guidance from the ‘Communist International’, which operated from Moscow till 1943. At the same time, RSS is the embodiment of Indian thought and is committed to its protection.
Punj said that on snatching the status of the national party, the CPI invoked its role in the freedom struggle. “Was there any?” he asked.
“The CPI rejected India’s independence by being a whistleblower for the British in the ‘Quit India Movement’. They gave full help to the Jihadi Razakars of Hyderabad against the Indian Army in 1948, supported China in the Indo-China war of 1962” The leftists were also engaged in derailing the Indian nuclear program. There is a long list of such works,” Punj wrote.
(Edited by Tony Rai)