Shaheen Bagh protesters sing Vande Mataram, Owaisi salutes the flag: Amit Shah’s dream Bharat is here

The anti-CAA protests are unravelling at an unprecedented rate and majority of the credit must go to the radical Islamists like Shehla Rashid, Sharjeel Imam, Ladeeda and the ilk. In a bid to save the protests from fizzling out, the left liberals have embraced nationalistic agenda to garner support and establish some credibility to the protests especially the on-going one at Shaheen Bagh. From the chants of Jai Hind and Vande Mataram to raising the Indian flags and singing national anthem and of course showing their unbridled love and respect for the Constitution — the anti-CAA protests have seen it all as the same people who had a problem with the chants of ‘Jai Hind’ have now emerged as the flag bearers of nationalistic overtones and all of this is Amit Shah’s dream materialising right in front of him.

Not even for a second do the anti-nationals believe in the nationalistic slogans as they further their vested interests under the garb of nationalistic overtones. Even if insincerely, the anti-nationals behind the protests have been forced to resort to PR stunts drenched in patriotism in at bid to validate and legitimise their demands.

Barkha’s ‘sheroes’ Ayesha and Ladeeda soon fizzled out as their Jihadi agenda was exposed The anti-CAA protests were delivered a massive blow when freelance protester Shehla Rashid shed her mask off as she came out as an Islamist and reduced the whole anti-CAA protests as an issue between the Hindus and Muslims. Of course, anyone who contested against Shehla’s ideology or attempted to dissociate the protests from Shehla was trolled and his liberal status taken away, case in point being Shashi Tharoor.

While the PR-machinery of the Shaheen Bagh protest has ensured that the Shaheen Bagh picture is painted with Indian flags, the national anthem and other forced patriotic instances, the main man behind the protests, Sharjeel Imam, has revealed exactly what the intentions of the leaders of the protests are, and the feelings that they harboured in their hearts from the start.

Kanhaiya only dreams of a break-up of the country but Sharjeel Imam, a PhD student of JNU, has already laid out a plan for it. Imam says that with the help of only 5 lakh people, his gang can easily engineer the break-up of India by amputating Northeast India from the rest of the country. “Cutting off Assam is our responsibility. Let Assam and India be separated, only then they will listen to us. You know what the condition of Muslims is in Assam, CAA, NRC has been done over there, people have been thrown in detention camps and well, the massacre is taking place over there but in the next 6-8 months, we will find that all Bengalis have been killed, be it Hindu or Muslim. So, if we want to help Assam, we will have to close the gateway to the NorthEast,” says Sharjeel Imam. He suggests blocking railroads so that supplies from India and most importantly the Army cannot pass.

At such a precarious time, the anti-CAA protests desperately needed to be rebranded and hence the nationalistic makeover of the entire anti-CAA protests is abundantly visible and it comes as no surprise that the Indian national flag was unfurled by the protesters at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital on the occasion of 71st Republic Day.

Last year in June, Asaduddin Owaisi had refused to say ‘Vande Mataram’ as he claimed that the Muslims in India are being terrorised today for not saying ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram.’ He even refrained from saying ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ and referred to them as JSR and VM. In a volte face and almost like a dream, Owaisi of all people, unfurled the Indian flag while hailing Bharat Mata on the occasion of India’s Republic Day.

There is no doubt that the nationalistic overtone is just pretence as TheWire’s columnist Arfa Khanum addressing the crowd at AMU clearly stated that their will be no compromise on ideology and they had to tone down and recalibrate the strategy to get support from the non-muslims as she clearly signalled her intentions to establish the Islamic caliphate.

The anti-nationals have been forced to swallow the bitter pill and embrace nationalistic ideals, even if it was just a PR stunt. This has been what India’s nationalists always wanted in the first place although with a little bit more sincerity. Tolerance for anti-national activities has reduced nationwide, and many have realised the need to conform to some kind of nationalism, in order to further their vested interests. Amit Shah must be credited for not even sparing an inch to the anti-nationals and forcing them to dance to his tunes.