Violence continued on the second day of Ram Navami in Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal. Some newspapers made it the top news on their front pages. The newspapers – which considered this violence to be so extraordinary that they made it their top news – did not consider the incidents of Ram Navami violence across India just a day earlier as serious enough to run it on the front page. Whereas on the day of Ram Navami, once again there were reports of violence against Muslims from all over India. Have things come to such a pass that violence on Ram Navami is so normalised that newspapers want to push such news items to inside pages?
Violence against Muslims on Ram Navami should still be news, and in fact, should be published prominently. When someone tries to condemn the appalling violence during these processions, there are voices that openly justify the violence in the name of Hindu victimhood, or Muslims as the instigators of such violence. No doubt, Hindus would be injured in such violence as well, but what we need to understand is that when violence breaks out, everybody, regardless of their religious inclination, gets hurt.
Also read: Violence, Arson Mark Ram Navami Processions Across States; Rally Held in Delhi Without Permission
Social media is agog with videos and images from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal where Hindutvawadis in Ram Navami processions with lathis, hockey sticks, swords, and guns are seen creating ruckus in Muslim-dominated localities. They are seen shouting slogans humiliating Muslims by entering their streets, climbing mosques, dargahs and hoisting saffron flags and vandalising them.
According to media reports, Union home minister, Amit Shah, has only called the governor and chief minister of West Bengal. That he has a ‘special concern’ for Bengal is evident, and why it is so, is not difficult to guess. But, why does he find the violence in all other states not worthy of his attention?
There is no need to give details of the violence. There is a kind of boring uniformity about them. A large number of hooligans clad in saffron, armed with sticks, swords, and even guns pass through Muslim localities with DJs blaring out songs abusive to Muslims. Sometimes this goes a step further where they pelt stones and hoist flags on dargahs and mosques. They call upon the Hindus from these rooftops to establish Hindu Rashtra and openly incite them to kill Muslims.
Video screengrabs from Howrah, Mathura district and Jahangirpuri in Delhi, during Ram Navami processions on March 30.
The ‘Shobha Yatras’, organised on the occasion of Ram Navami, have become a platform for the open, shameless display of obscenity and violence which forms part of the Hindutva. It is not Ram’s glory that is sung here, it is an unadulterated hatred towards Muslims that is announced.
Many people say that even Muslims pelt stones during these Yatras. So for those Hindus participating in such provocative processions, such violence is justified on the grounds that they avenge the violence perpetrated against their forefathers 500 years ago. However, a Muslim reaction during these violent Ram Navami processions they say is uncalled for!
As evident from most places, those Hindus who take part in these processions commit violence with impunity because the police either openly support the majority community or choose to look away when violence breaks out in front of their eyes. When these incidents of violence reach courts, police have, umpteen number of times, said that it was Muslims who started the violence and Hindus had no option but to respond. In fact, this is what was said in the case of violence that broke out in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri last year.
Also read: Two Days After Violence at Ram Navami Rallies, Parts of Bengal, Bihar Remain on the Boil
The violence and police’s complicity during Ram Navami is nothing new and has a history to it. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) used such violence tactically to tarnish the Muslim community and peddle their narratives about Hindu victimhood. A recent report brought out by noted lawyer Chander Uday Singh documents the violence during Ram Navami celebrations over the past several decades. The report concludes that the main reason behind such violence is because of the insistence on the part of those who organise these processions to allow them to take out their rallies through Muslim-dominated areas and through the lanes where mosques are present. It is also common practice to carry weapons during processions, the report notes.
What has changed since the BJP came to power is that Ram Navami processions now have the backing of the government, for the party made it a rallying point for advancing its Hindutva ideology. As a result, Ram Navami is now celebrated even in those states where there were no such events before, like in West Bengal. In Bengal, BJP has been behind these rallies to bring people from Hindi-speaking states to take out these huge rallies.
I saw Ram Navami banners in Kerala a few years ago even after Ram Navami had passed. On inquiring about it, I learnt that such celebrations and processions are the latest imports to Kerala, aided by the BJP-RSS. Gradually, the BJP-RSS, riding on the shoulders of Ram, have taken their violent politics to different parts of the country.
Also read: A Single Factor Is Common to All Communal Riots During Religious Processions in India
Nowadays, we can’t find any writer like Premchand, who wrote uncompromisingly against the violence perpetrated during Hindu festivals. Who can say that there is no justification for stopping processions in front of mosques and playing songs loudly? And who can say that Hindus involved need to introspect and change their thinking and actions?
Whatever is being done on the occasion of Ram Navami is stemming out of Hindutvawadis’ desire to expand their territory. And the way this is being done is through violence and targeting Muslims. On the one hand, they are resorting to violence during Ram Navami, and on the other, they are preventing Muslims, using violent means, from offering prayers during the month of Ramzan.
This is a result of an inferiority complex among the Hindus who subscribe to the Hindutva ideology. Instead of seeking happiness and peace in the religion and its tenets, Hindutvawadis, filled with perversion, are drawing pleasure in attacking Muslims and Christians. Such acts of violence and insecurity only reflect poorly on the religion that they claim to live by, uphold, and want to safeguard.
Apoorvanand teaches at Delhi University.
