It feels really bad when you see the watchdogs of the democracy turning against the very institution they’re supposed to protect. The fact that Indian mainstream media is heavily biased towards anti-Indian forces is nothing new, be it celluloid or the printing press. However, one organization which has taken half baked, propaganda based journalism to a nadir, is the once nationalist, and now heavily pro separatist and anti-democratic news daily Hindustan Times.
Ever since Narendra Modi has stepped onto the post of the Prime Minister on 26th May 2014, it seems that this specific newspaper has taken it on itself to carry the anti-India propaganda initiated by the stooges of British imperialists since 1947. Be it the intolerance episode, or the Bihar elections, or even the antics of Arvind Kejriwal, there is absolutely nothing that Hindustan Times hasn’t exercised in their right as a journalist body in order to defame the native Sanatan community and their customs. Anything that is even remotely associated to the native sentiments is fiercely looked down upon.
Anyway, news daily that includes Barkha Dutt, Karan Thapar, Indrajit Hazra among its core panel of senior columnists can never be expected to deliver unbiased, straightforward news information. So it isn’t surprising, when they lead an anti-trolls campaign against abusive posts online, with a panel of people who are the biggest trolls themselves. However, one of the opinion columns, by columnist Sunny Hundal, has forced us to think, if Hindustan Times has started following the dictum of the mainstream media, i.e. to deliver half baked, propaganda base journalism.
Columnist Sunny Hundal, apparently perturbed by the excessive vigilantism shown by the ultra-right activists in the name of protecting the livestock of Indian agriculture, i.e. the cows, and thus poured his heart out. However, the title of his column suggested otherwise, as noted below:-
‘Hindutva mobs flex muscles against Muslims. Sikhs, Christians should speak up before it’s too late.’
Which sane and rational mind would deduce it as an attempt to target the excessive vigilantism? Wouldn’t he / she interpret this post as another rant of Sanatan Dharma bashing, with a vicious aim of playing the dirty game of Divide and Rule in between. While the columnist, like almost every liberal in India, would deny this accusation, and try to indulge in mudslinging, following excerpts from his column suggest otherwise:-
“……………..As right wing forces flex their Hindutva muscles and use them against Muslims across the country, Sikhs and Christians will be watching in worry. But the time for them to speak out is now, not when the mob comes for them. By then it will be too late.
………….Sikhs know this better than any other religious minority in India. The state-directed genocide in 1984 showed that Indian politicians rarely face charges for stirring up hatred against non-Hindus. But what is at stake here for Sikhs isn’t just their own safety but the protection of an important principle.”
Alright folks, we’ve had enough of this tomfoolery, haven’t we? Who is Sunny Hundal to determine that Hindutva necessarily means putting minorities at peril? Besides, he is not even an Indian resident, to be precise. So why should we accept his half-baked and fruitless research as gospel truth. Karl Marx, the demi god of every Indian pseudo liberal and Indian communist, had never visited India, and yet, his vitriol against our nation is hidden from none. The way he insulted our culture without even learning a straw of it is deplorable, and yet, this is the same ideology that drives the Indian liberals into hating and shaming our indigenous culture. We’re already tolerating the likes of Scroll.in, ScoopWhoop, as well as the entire cabal of pseudo journalists, but not more, so Mr. Sunny, don’t even try.
As for his article, the piece has no facts, no substantial evidences that can actually pull up the role of Hindutva behind the frenzied attacks. Speaking about his allegation of Indian politicians getting away with high handedness on non-Hindus, the situation is actually reverse. The politicians have got away with atrocities on Hindus and Sikhs more than the so called minorities, who have been bestowed with undue privileges. Oh, I’m not supposed to name them, do I?
Mob mentality is not new to India; the regressive and anachronistic set up of our legal framework often compels the oppressed denizens to take law into their hands. After all, don’t we hear this rhetoric of anarchy behind any such attack, as Sunny Hundal mentions, on the majority community, i.e. the Sanatanis itself? Didn’t the fight for justice in the case of Dr. Pankaj Narang die an unceremonious death, due to this very rhetoric? So if by the same logic, the attack in Alwar and Jammu were mere cases of anarchy, so why is Sunny Hundal pissed off? Hasn’t he studied the third law of motion, as described by Isaac Newton?
As for his fear of Sikhs and Christians being oppressed, that is simply blasé. In a way, I would admit that we Sanatanis have been thankless to the community who has time and again protected our faith and our ideals selflessly. It’s a matter of shame that we have reduced a clan of never say die, bold and brash warriors who have taught the art of fighting for your way of life to a mere clan of jokes [Remember those ignominious 12 o clock jokes?]. How can Sikhs be terrorized by Hindutva, when it’s an established fact, that like Sanatanis, even Sikhs are a vital cog to Hindutva. Sanatanis and Sikhs are like the two wheels of a cart; one is incomplete without another. We never hesitated in rediscovering the concept of service to the poor through the langars, while Guru Gobind Singh was a devout disciple of Goddess Durga, and visited as well as maintained almost all of her pilgrimages on a regular basis.
Does Sunny Hundal, the columnist even know about this?
If I may mention, the same right winged Hindutva harbingers from RSS and BJP, as mentioned by Sunny passively, who actually came to the assistance of the beleaguered survivors of the Sikh genocides of 1984. Unfortunately, their own ideology forbids them from taking firm decisions on such matters, otherwise their volunteers’ job was worth commending with respect to the victims of 1984 and the Kashmiri Holocaust. We are equally to blame for not having protested enough against the brutal, state sponsored massacre against the Sikhs, and later, the Kashmiri Pandits.
Hindutva, in essence, unlike what Mr. Sunny fears, is an idea of inclusive awakening, spiritually, physically and tactically. Anyone who thinks alike on this view is welcome to our way of life, i.e. Sanatan Dharma, irrespective of caste, creed or race. This applies for our Sikh brothers alike. Doesn’t the quote of Guru Nanak align with our own age old adage of ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina’:-
‘Nanak Naam Chanadi Kalan, Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhala’
[Nanak, with Name comes optimism and joy, with peace and blessings for everyone]
As for Christians and Muslims, even they don’t need to be afraid of the magnanimous concept of Hindutva, as long as they rise above the dogma of the anachronistic superstitions that chain their cult to the prison of bigotry. People like Sunny Hundal, who are not even aware of the diversity that India embraces, claim to be concerned of the apparently deteriorating status of the minorities.
It is even more unfortunate, when such half-baked propaganda is served as journalism to us by Hindustan Times, mocking its own character of a once, pro nationalist news daily.
Mark Twain had said rightly for such idiots, ‘It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they’ve been fooled.’