Why equating radical Islam with “Hindutva Terror” is dumb, stupid and dangerous
Sadanand Dhume explains it well. A brief excerpt below (emphasis added):
Simply put, the notion that the radical Hindu threat to India is comparable to that posed by radical Islam is ludicrous. First there’s the question of scale. Alleged Hindu terrorists—not one of whom has been convicted—are accused of bomb blasts in 2007 and 2008 in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra that killed 17 people. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the toll in India from about two dozen radical Islamic terrorist attacks since 9/11 stands at more than 950 dead and many hundreds more injured.
The principal Hindu groups accused of the bombings—Abhinav Bharat and the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti—are ramshackle outfits with few members and scant popular support. The Lashkar-e-Taiba, by contrast, is part of a powerful international network and has close links with both al Qaeda and Pakistan’s notorious military intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.
Nor can radical Hinduism—such as it is—claim anything approaching the ambition or ideological rigor of radical Islam. From Morocco to Mindanao, radical Islamists are motivated by the desire to replace man’s law with God’s law by ordering every aspect of society and the state by the medieval dictates of Shariah law.
In ideologues such as the Egyptian Sayyid Qutb (1906-66) and the Pakistani Abul Ala Maududi (1903-79), they find religious justification for terrorism. In Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, they see the possibility of making their dream a reality. In the oil rich kingdoms of the Middle East, they find deep pockets to tap. None of these is true of Hindu groups.
Sadanand’s conclusion is telling…
Finally, they (Rahul Gandhi’s comments) raise the uncomfortable prospect of India being led by a man out of touch with the dominant ethos of the country he seeks to lead, one that may be flawed but remains essentially liberal, humane and resistant to any kind of radicalism.
In the long run, it’s this ignorance, not a handful of Hindu zealots, that poses the greater threat to India.
Related Posts: Exploding the Myth of “Hindutva Terrorâ€
Exploding the Myth of “Hindutva Terror†– Part II
A few inconvenient questions for the “Youth Iconâ€
Image courtesy: Associated Press via WSJ
Rather than dumb and stupid, it is dangerous because firstly it weakens the resolve of the nation to fight the the real terror from across the border and secondly it will gladden those who attack India through the heinous acts of terror, secure that the focus is turned away from them.
Pakistan has used the argument of “Hindutva” terror effectively to deflect the focus.
Dhume: “In the long run, it’s this ignorance, not a handful of Hindu zealots, that poses the greater threat to India.”
Interesting that he attributes RahulG’s howler to “ignorance”. Consider these facts:
Right now, “liberals” are staging orgies of breast-beating over the sentencing to life imprisonment of a dude called Binayak Sen. This guy was hobnobbing with leftwing extremists. On last count, 120 districts in India are infested by these extremists, who routinely stage killings of lowest-rung policemen, poor villagers, farm hands and other such class enemies.
Members of SoniaG’s National “Advisory” Council are among those raging against the court judgement that jailed Sen. A member called Jean Dreze — yes, he’s as Indian as SoniaG — called the court a “kangaroo court”. In other words, this tax-payer funded government body is siding with those that the government is supposed to protect us from.
It turns out that Comrade (or is it Father?) Binayak is linked with an outfit called ISI. This ISI is not the Pakistani Islamist outfit but a Jesuit-run Indian Social Institute. For those who do not know, Jesuits are Catholic evangelists, members of the Society of Jesus.
It is worth mentioning also that after a Hindu swami was murdered by Christian extremists in Kandhamal, Odisha, leftwing extremists tried to own up the act.
SoniaG’s inner circle is not known to have any Hindus. Her trusted aides include Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Oscar Fernandes.
Other members on NAC include:
Harsh Mander, of ActionAid/ChristianAid fame, regular contributor to media of sob-story opeds that deal mostly in atrocities committed by Hindus on non-Hindus
Aruna Roy, who led a legal campaign against “saffronization” of textbooks, and lost the battle in the Supreme Court, and pressed on nevertheless
Ram Dayal Munda, who the Catholic church showcases as its “Tribal” ally.
(Checkout Offstumped’s:
http://offstumped.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/the-left-liberal-jesuit-confluence-of-interests/)
Note also the subtle shift of several Christian leftwingers, especially those in the internet and the media. They do not want to be seen associated with commie orgs, but are increasingly less inhibited about opnely cheering SoniaG and RahulG.
And presto, their beloved RahulG proclaims just what they want him to proclaim: Hindus are the real baddies, not jihadis or Maoists, as you might think.
Does anybody still have any doubts in their minds? Does the elephant in the room need to be explicitly pointed to?
Nope, I disagree completely. How dare you point your finger to the infallible 2G – SoniaG and RahulG? If people can not rule by themselves then they will need a Goddess from Italy to give them a stable government. What is so wrong in that?
No matter what you guys say Hindus are the most dangerous and violent people. Don’t you know that any non Hindu who are violent enough to kill any Hindu is a Hindu? Thus any terror can be attributed to Hindutva. That is what Digvijay Singh told me by phone (like him I too don’t have any records of the call).
As the first PM once said that Hindu extremism is the biggest threat in this country, freedom meant that Hindus would be ruled by secular anti-Hindus. Hindus had a long habit of being ruled by non Hindus, so they can live with it. But non Hindus and anti-Hindus have a long habit of ruling, how they would live without it? So the more non Hindus are pulled into Government more stable it would be.
Because Hindus can not rule themselves and places like Italy will be having a leadership deficit in the long run, next generation leaders have to come from non Hindus in India. That is the reason Maoists and people like B Sen are trying hard to cultivate the next generation of leaders by converting the villages. But you illiterate Hindutva people will never get that. It requires secular point of view and liberal bent of mind to see the point. Either get converted and rule over Hindus or get ruled. It is as simple as that.
As usual media mis-representation of Mr.Gandhi’s comment.
What did Rahul actually say????
Check:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/16/wikileaks-rahul-gandhi-warned-us-hindu-extremism
Rahul never uttered the word “Hindutva Terrorâ€.
Rahul said :
“there was evidence of some support for [Islamic terrorist group Laskar-e-Taiba] among certain elements in India’s indigenous Muslim community, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community”
Here Rahul Gandhi was referring to far-right hindu Communalism NOT “hindutva terror”………
Look at this portion:
“which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community”
Clearly , he was referring to Communalism and communal riots!
The Clown Prince and Dicky must be thrilled with the importance they are getting; mumble something, without any cross-questioning or interruption from the ELM, then run for cover as the message sinks in and other issues get diverted.
The Kkkangress is a pathetic party with no leaders or leadership qualities anywhere. It needs these tactics, invented by its’ coterie, to survive.The print media and the Electronic media support them in their endeavours.
Why are there no leaks about the real mess they are in?
Why are there no sting operations on them?
Why are no moles planted in their organizations?
Recently, a Pak national managed to join the Youth Kkangress!
Maninder Singh Bitta quit the Youth Kkangress. Why doesn’t someone milk him for further info ?
One has to say to Indian Pundit that the most dangerous kind of communalism that the GOP has been practicing for the last more than sixty years is drumming into the minds of the minorities overtly and covertly that they are not safe in India because India is more than 80% Hindu. Now, to do this overtly they had to invent demons and the most convenient demon can obviously be the majority groups. So anybody who associates himself with Hinduism is branded as communal.
And covertly they themselves have been discriminating against the Muslims, look at the percentage of Muslims that have govt jobs after so many decades of their rule. The proof is the Sachar committee set up by them.
Rahul is only following his great great grand father’s fake,secular ideology.Another aspect of that ideology i.e. socialism has been dumped by Rahul’s party under compulsion of economics. And the politics of development that is slowly gaining ground will hopefully force it to dump this aspect also. But that seems unlikely in the near future because India seems to be full of gullible people who can be easily fooled.
Just thinking
I think there is no such thing as Hindutva terror and it is stupid to equate it with radical Islam. But on the other hand Hindutva is trying to arouse radical Islamic type defensive feeling in Hindus that is not characteristic of Hinduism. And politicians deliberately take advantage and compare them.
You folks seem to forget that it is the Hindus that elect this anti-Hindu governments election after election. And even now if elections were held to day Hindutva folks will not be able to form government. Why? I think it is because what Hindutva folks stand for does not appeal to Hindus at large. I think Hindutva folks are mixing up religion and Dharma. They seem to stand for the religion more so than Dharma. As an example, Ayodhya temple is a matter of religion and NOT that of Dharma.
@Morris,
Good thinking…
For your last sentence on mixing of dharma and religion, ayodhya temple is very much a matter of dharma. if restoration of a vandalized property to its previous glorious state, is not dharma, then what is?
Ravindranath
Thank you for your comment. I am not sure of my views. But my personal feeling is that no act is good or bad by itself. Firstly I am not sure that the act was good to begin with. And secondly, even if we agree that the act was a noble one, viewed with the knowledge of why and how it started and the means used, made it more a political and at best a religious rather than Dharmic one.
Shantanu, if you google the phrase of two words you have quoted, you get about 7300 hits, one of them is your page. The long discussion about an idea that exists only in the imagination of some who possibly wish to use the Goebellian propaganda for some political or ulterior motives is not a good idea IMHO.
Are you sure it is right to discuss this? It surely adds to the number of searches on google and bing…. But will this discussion serve any other useful purpose?
@Prakash: Re. “The long discussion about an idea that exists only in the imagination of some..”, the emphasis I have added will probaby give you a clue as to why I think it is important to relentless challenge the blatant falsehood(s) and odious comparison.
The “some” happen to include a person who may well end up as Home Minister and/or Dy PM and a person widely tipped as a PM-in-waiting.
Need I say more? Thanks
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hinduradio/page/1
Scroll down the web site and you will get this
original Air Date: November 04, 2010
Hindu Radio-Hindu-Muslim Unity, Rama, Krishna and Diwali
In this episode of Hindu Radio-Breaking the Sound Barrier we focus on the ancient Vedic Festival of Diwali. Rooted in the history of India, Diwali represents a connection to the sacred. Listen in and learn about Diwali and its significance to Hindus around the world. In this week’s news section Hindu Radio will feature India’s Muslim Rashtriya Manch, an Indian Muslim organization dedicated to a strong and united India. Recently one of its main coordinators, Indresh Kumar, has made great strides towards the unification of Hindus and Muslims and the common goal of national and cultural integrity. However these efforts have been rewarded with conspiracy and a media blackout. In other news learn the details about the upcoming World’s first ever Sanskrit Book Fair. Tune in to hear about these and other important events and news items.
The part of the article that you’ve quoted has a factual inaccuracy, –
He says (and you quote), “Alleged Hindu terrorists—not one of whom has been convicted—are accused of bomb blasts in 2007 and 2008 in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra that killed 17 people”
As you know, they’re being accused of blasts in 2006 (Malegaon). Not that it really matters, as it loses out on the “question of scale”, but it claimed 37 lives.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Malegaon_blasts)
This may be a bit out-of-topic, but there appears to be new revelation about our genius PM-in-waiting. I quote:
N V Subramaniyan writing in Public Affairs magazine
From an interview of Home Secretary GK Pillai in Rediff:“At the moment they are scattered, they are very few. I would say, if we talk about so-called armed people, there will be fewer than 100 Hindu radicals in a country of our size. It’s not the major problem. It’s more out of retaliation for what happened.”