I have had multiple opportunities of being in various state capitals during national celebrations, particularly for the national Independence Days. The vibrant fusion of nationalism and regional aesthetics usually overrides divisive sentiments. I can, however, emphatically claim as such a thing not being the case with West Bengal. The quantum of green is so predominant that one wonders if the saffron colour (the soul of ancient India) was at all an element of coexistence.
I must also invoke a chapter from contemporary history. After influencing the Congress of Indira for the formation of AIMPLB in the early 1970s, radical Muslims were able to smother a Supreme Court ruling as well a 400+ seat winning party in the Shah Bano Case. When a community succeeds in emphasizing such decisive dominance over sociopolitical discourse, the rule of law is merely a useless written text that can only apply to those who don’t wield notorious influence In allegedly winning elections. It’s been more than 3 decades now that those who mock civility, smash the laws and blatantly challenge the dominance of the state, are in demand to lead any kind of rebellion against national interests and aspirations. From making policemen run for their lives to rampaging any monument of national pride, radical Muslims in the age bracket of 40 (who were 4-5 year olds in 1986 during Shah Bano debates) don’t agree that any law applies to them.
Read: The Raza Academy is behind the Muslim riots in Maharashtra and it’s time to pull the plug on this extremist group
Post the West Bengal election, Mamata Banerjee’s apparatus of green (and white) is on a prowl. The doctrine of the bloody war that her cadre unleashed in her home state, is now being affected in all other states that TMC targets. Tripura is the first one on the radar!
There are a number of other factors at play here. The sociopolitical degradation of Pakistan in the recent past and Chinese failure to emphasize its whims over new resurrected India have substantially reduced options for political and ideological enemies of RSS and BJP. There’s no secret that India has made rapid strides in merely 90 months.
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Being unable to keep poetry away from hate, expressing his convenient Irate, and with an explicit intention to mock the RSS & BJP, Javed Akhtar had penned ‘Fasaas Se Pehle’ in his collection ‘Tarkash’. He summed up the piece growling ‘आज त्योहार कोई है शायद’. While Akhtar’s sole motive consistently has been to instill hate and resultant disquiet, his words resonate, ‘अब चुनाव कोई है शायद’.
And guess what, it is indeed the election time in the most important state in the country. While Mamata is on a bloody mission in Tripura, ‘Secular Socialist’ of UP are invoking Jinnah, and Muslim leaders are desperate to regain their sociopolitical influence, starkly radicalized outfits like Raza Academy who are incapable of manufacturing a hate-filled divisive narrative from Uttar Pradesh are effortlessly succeeding in inadequately administered Maharashtra.
Read: Has Yogi launched a counter academy to take on Raza Academy that exclusively trains Muslims for IAS exams?
But have no doubt, it’s the master plan to manufacture riots in the entire country, another term for BJP in UP would eradicate many dynastic political outfits as well and Muslim influencers.
Spreading fake news of the burning of mosques in Tripura like wildfire, lusting for Waseem Rizvi’s head, and assembling intoxicated radicals with a clear intention of provoking riots is exactly how the RSS/BJP hate brigade is going to campaign in the coming months.
Read: What is happening in Tripura is not an anti-Muslim riot, in fact, it is quite the opposite
The speed at which the entire apparatus of news trade operatives, political vultures and radical Islamists have converged might sound unreal but the Raza Academy has been working on inciting hate and resultant violence since May 2021 (immediately after Mamata Banerjee oversaw death and destruction for anyone who dared to vote against her).
Connecting dots and matching timelines, one would easily find compelling evidence to substantiate how the future elections are going to be contested by the anti-RSS/BJP/Modi ecosystem.
Authoured by Atul Pandey
The writer is a filmmaker, political observer, a post-graduate in economics, and has a keen interest in the history of the Subcontinent.