Although India and Hindus were attacked for centuries, India maintained a peaceful environment and communal harmony, to a great extent. India is the second most populated country in the world with 1.34 billion people…in essence, four times the population of the U.S. in less-than-one-third of U.S land. You can certainly imagine the complexity India faces as a country. In comparison, the issues are managed brilliantly, and balance is restored quickly oftentimes. The recent past has been particularly difficult for the Hindus, Hinduism, and India; as we have witnessed communist media’s effort to defame, divide and weaken India. These questions have been bothering me for a while –
1. Is there one Hindu (or a group) who stood up against blatant bias, negative narratives, defamation, and anti-Hindu and anti-India propaganda?
2. Why would U.S. Democrats, like Bernie Sanders, an ultra-leftist communist, be influenced to propagate such sick anti-India, anti-Hindu statements, directly inciting violence against Hindus worldwide?
3. How many Indian Muslims were driven out of India?
4. Why are the western media relentlessly pushing an one-sided narrative of victimhood, painting the Modi government as fascists, murderous, genocidal, xenophobic and anti-Muslim?
LET’S START WITH SOME FACTS ABOUT INDIA:
First, India is the ONLY country with the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries
Second, India holds third of world’s Muslim population (10.9%), slightly behind Pakistan (11.1%) and Indonesia (12.7%) [Note, just a few years ago, India was at the second place over Pakistan]
Third, India has over 200 million Muslims – can one neighboring Islamic state provide such statistics of minorities?
Fourth, India remains a secular country. YET, the neighboring Islamic State nations (Pakistan & Bangladesh) cannot say the same
Fifth, there are 51 Islamic nations, 0 Hindu countries, 1 Jewish country, and the rest are Christian and Buddhist countries, out of 195 countries in the world
Sixth, India is a Hindu majority country with 79% Hindus and 21% minority. This percentage is retained more-or-less constant since the 1947 India-Pakistan division. Nepal was a Hindu nation at the time of monarchs, BUT not anymore – it was declared as a secular state in 2007 after abolition of it’s monarchy
Seventh, Pakistan’s minority number dropped from ~27% in 1947 to 2% now, and numbers fell from ~23% to 10% in Bangladesh
Eighth, the ‘Hindu way of life’ is much older than the existence of Hinduism as a religion. This sophisticated ancient civilization by the Indus river is at least 10,000 years old and people of the region are known as Hindus. Hinduism came up as religion long after
Finally, Hindus and Hinduism cannot be separated from Hindustan (India)
RECENT EVENTS:
Search on ‘anti-CAA protest’ turned ‘Delhi Riots’ that was perfectly aligned with the timing of President Trump’s India visit will give you plenty of anti-India anti-Hindu coverage. It is increasingly becoming clear that the massive protest was highly organized, funded, pre-planned and executed with thousands of outsiders that were brought in from elsewhere (& very quickly disappeared), primarily organized during President Trump’s visit to make a strong international wave against India. What I will bring here is what the media DIDN’T tell you. Gravely critical informations were kept out of mainstream media coverage – DELIBERATE? For instance, a Hindu IB (Investigative Bureau) officer’s body was found in a drain (he was investigating an opposition political party’s leader). He was stabbed 400 times, according to the autopsy. That Muslim political leader was booked, arrested, and suspended for allegedly starting the Delhi Riot, IB officer’s murder, Islamic group PFI money laundering charges. Rocks, stones, petrol, temporary slings were found on his roof-top (still an open investigation). A Hindu policeman was murdered during a mob lynching and heavy stone-pelting. A shooter with a gun in hand pointing at police force was identified as a Muslim, and had gone missing. Images of burqa-covered women stone-pelting in action were circulated. Muslim rioters bore drill machine into a 19-year Hindu boy. These are just a few examples. Civilians and policemen were beaten, lynched, shot, stabbed and killed. Public properties, homes, schools were destroyed. HOW DOES ONE EXPLAIN SUCH VIOLENCE? 49 died in this horrifying clash. Were Muslims the only ones who got impacted? But the media largely didn’t tell you that. Violent protests in the liberal universities occurred just before the Delhi riot.
You might find it astonishing that, foreigners such as a Polish and a Bangladeshi student studying in Vishva Bharti University had been ordered to leave the country for engaging in anti-India protests. Do you know Poland has refrained from taking a single immigrant refugee? What do you make out of this?
Recent 77-day ‘Shaheen Bagh anti-CAA’ protest at the nation’s capital, Delhi, was primarily attended by Muslim women and children. The entire ground is empty now, Delhi election is over, and they disappeared rather magically. Where did they come from? Who funded them? How did they manage to occupy the area for these many days without steady organization or enormous source of funding? As per India’s democracy, peaceful protests are welcome, however, this massive gathering was blocking roads causing inconvenience for people for months. They pressured the Modi government to take back CAA decision, while Modi stood firm. You might ask, what did they accomplish? WHAT WAS THEIR GOAL? Their real victory was the Delhi election when they successfully blocked BJP from winning in Delhi. This was a massive win for the liberal opposition party. ACCIDENT?
In the United States, an Ivy League university student group named ‘Students Against Hindutva’ created by South Asian Indian-American student from Yale University, attacked Hindu by celebrating a protest named ‘Holi Against Hindutva’. Interestingly, College Democrats of 20 plus universities were involved. COINCIDENCE? Would an organized effort such as these against Eid, Ramadan, Christmas, Hanukah ever be tolerated?
‘Interconnected’ talking points propagated by U.S. Democrats and organizations are highlighted below. Many of whom also pushed anti-India rhetoric during Kashmir’s cleanup and integration. Rep. Rashida Tlaib: ‘This week, Trump visited India but the real story should be the communal violence targeting Muslims in Delhi right now. We cannot be silent as this tide of anti-Muslim violence continues across India.’ Rep. Alan Lowenthal: ‘This is a tragic failure of moral leadership. We must speak out in the face of threats to human rights in India.’ Rep. Pramila Jayapal: ‘This deadly surge of religious intolerance in India is horrifying. Democracies should not tolerate division and discrimination, or promote laws that undermine religious freedom. The world is watching.’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren: ‘It’s important to strengthen relationships with democratic partners like India. But we must be able to speak truthfully about our values, including religious freedom and freedom of expression—and violence against peaceful protestors is never acceptable.’ Sen. Bernie Sanders: ‘Over 200 million Muslims call India home. Widespread anti-Muslim mob violence has killed at least 27 and injured many more. Trump responds by saying, “That’s up to India.” This is a failure of leadership on human rights.’ In another tweet, he said: ‘When Donald Trump stays silent in the face of religious persecution, repression and brutality, the dangerous message this sends to autocratic leaders around the world is: “Go ahead, you can get away with it.’
House Foreign Affairs Committee: ‘Chairman @RepEliotEngel: Deeply troubled by the deaths from the communal violence in India over the past couple of days. The right to protest is a key aspect in democracy, but they must remain peaceful and police must ensure the safety of all.’ The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHRC) has filed an unprecedented plea with India’s Supreme Court, asking to be made a party in the case against the CAA. “The High Commissioner seeks to intervene as amicus curie (a third party) in this case, by virtue of her mandate to inter alia protect and promote all human rights and to conduct necessary advocacy,” according to the petition filed with the court by Michelle Bachelet. Furthermore, Iran and Turkey didn’t leave the opportunity to point fingers at India and called to “Confront extremist Hindus, stop massacre of Muslims” said Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei on Delhi riots.
Today, the media, encroached by the leftists’ propaganda, wants you to believe that extremists Christians and white supremacists exist in the west, and extremist Hindus exist in the east (mainly in India) and tirelessly pushing agenda to shape narratives. Will you let them?
RECENT POLICIES:
The Modi government has taken stricter measures around border security, illegal immigration, terrorism, extremism, and corruption; and essentially, came down hard with pro-India ‘nationalist’ policies. Universities, opposition political parties, Muslim groups and media continued to challenge these measures. Intellects from Oxford to Harvard and media gurus have portrayed this as anti-Muslim. WHY? Because India is finally taking strong measures that are pro-India, safe and secure for the citizens of the country. Let me give you a few examples.
Kashmir Conflict: 70-year-old saga in Kashmir created during 1947 India-Pakistan division has seen many Prime Ministers of India over the years; YET, no one solved it. Note that, India was ruled by communist parties like Congress and CPI(M) [Communist Party of India, Marxists] since independence. Late 2019, this border issue has been resolved in a single stroke to ensure Kashmir is fully integrated with India FINALLY as part of ONE country, one policy, without any special privileges for Kashmir. During that time, Indian Muslims and Muslims all over the world, United Nations, along with many Democrat elected officials of the United States condemned India and blamed its government for all kinds of Human Rights issues. The world has seen a flood of anti-India narratives over India’s strong decision on Kashmir. However, NO ENTITY dared to ask, what was the primary issue? The world had ignored Kashmiri Hindu genocide of the 1990s when Kashmiri Hindus were burnt alive, raped, slaughtered, killed, murdered, thrown out of Kashmir forcing them to flee the region and turning them into refugees within their own country. Did Kashmiri Hindu lives meant anything?
Mid-August last year, as I was preparing for the 7th annual IndiaFest in Milwaukee, I got a phone call from a local interfaith group. The leader of the group asked me to hold a ‘solidarity prayer for Kashmiri Muslims’. I respectfully declined the offer and clarified that “India is the most diverse, peaceful and inclusive country in the world, even with the barbaric, tormenting and a heinous past. Essence and message of India and IndiaFest will not change. We stand for everyone, including Kashmiri Hindus”. Hindus must not be forgotten. Unimpressed, he then informed me that some people would protest against IndiaFest and India. I cordially concluded with, if they must, they certainly can (in this country), and law enforcement authorities will be notified.
We now see news of Pakistan hiring lobbiyists worldwide to push the Kashmir agenda.
Ayodhya Babri Masjid: An age-old dispute on Babri Masjid (known as the Mosque of Babur built in the name of 1st Mughal emperor Babur, on a holy site of the birthplace of Hindu deity Lord Ram in 1528). It was claimed that the Mosque was built after destroying a Hindu temple. Under the Modi government finally, the issue saw a verdict in favor of Hindu Temple (Ram Mandir). India saw a massive amount of violence and riots due to the escalation of hostilities after large scale protests by Muslims in reaction to Babri Masjid demolition since early 90s.
Citizenship Amendment Act -CAA: Recently supreme court ruling in favor of CAA created another unrest in the country. In a very simpler term, it allows persecuted religious minorities, i.e. Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian who fled from the three neighboring Muslim majority Islamic countries (namely, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan) due to “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” and entered India before Dec 2014 are given Indian citizenship. It is strictly welcoming the religiously persecuted minorities – why wouldn’t anyone be against such a ‘humanitarian act’ after all? This issue also being combined with NRC (National Register of Citizens) – an official listing of all citizens of the country; and NPR (National Population Registry – a listing of ALL PERSONS in India whether Citizen or not. Generally speaking, every country counts its population every 10 years, commonly known as Census. Based on it, the government determines parliamentary (political) seats, government programs or welfare schemes. Now, you must ask, HOW is this anti-Muslim? Are the current Indian Muslims being impacted by this act? If so, HOW? If they are citizens of India, why do they have any fear of being thrown out of India?
It is absolutely mind-boggling to see the widespread net of propaganda, massive funding, media support, organization skills they have. When the New Zealand mosque shooting occurred in the early part of 2019, the entire world felt a shock wave of narratives that white supremacists inspired by President Trump caused the anti-Muslim shooting which killed about 50 people. A massive hysteria was created that Muslims are unsafe in the west. We all watched as the world mourned for months with solidarity, prayers, candlelight vigils – an experience like nothing.
One major question: Where are the Hindus (worldwide) protesting against FALSE narratives and lies?
Hindus, Hinduism, and India:
Hindu way of life is extremely simplistic. Hindus were focused on spirituality (higher dimension of life), knowledge, peace, and truth. So, asking questions is not viewed as criticism of Hinduism but encouraged for exploring higher dimensions beyond the physical body. Our ancestors had plant-based diet and vegetarian food with herbs and ingredients with medicinal properties. From the ancient time our ancestors knew that there is no alternative to a vegetarian diet for the human body (modern science is only coming to this conclusion now). Only when western religion entered the Indian subcontinent, meat-eating became part of the Indian diet. Long before world knew science, India performed cataract surgery, and practiced plants and nature-based Ayurveda medicine that are known for cure without side effects and complexity. India also has a rich history of many modern inventions, like button, chess, and so much more. Discoveries and advanced mathematics – can you imagine modern STEM without Indian invention of algebra, trigonometry or number zero? History reveals their intelligence (astrology, precise engineering, architectural marvels). Hindus find the presence of ‘God’ in everything and worship idols and animals, it’s a process that helps to conceptualize the vast complexity of the universe to a much relatable to the simple mind of ours through symbolism. Ancient artifacts and architecture reveal a superior level of ingenuity, knowledge and skills. Oldest universities of the world, Takshashila (founded in 700 BC) and Nalanda (5th century), which were important centers of learning were destroyed and ruined by the superior invaders, currently are UNESCO world heritage sites proudly depicts our history.
However, in the current time, we Hindus are not brought up with education of scriptures, Puranas, Vedas or Upanishads. Our education system has changed, much westernized. We study in English rather than the oldest scriptures of the world – SANSKRIT, is as close to extinct now. We may have a ‘Hindu’ life, but we are not really educated in such a way that we know our history or our civilization well. Most of the Hindus do not read the ‘Geeta’ the holy book of Hinduism (I am guilty as well), unlike most of the Muslims who read the ‘Quran’ or Christians who read the ‘Bible’ in their childhood.
IN CONCLUSION:
Everyone who spoke about human rights, religious persecution and discrimination against Muslims in India, did they ever issue any statement about the actual occurrences in Pakistan, China, Nigeria? WHY?
In general, people of India are usually quieter, individualistic and self-focused. I think peace is in our DNA. Individualistic characteristics, keep your head down, say nothing, do nothing and a mentality to keep the peace no matter what is also in our DNA. Hindus seem to be weak, singular minded and selfish. We Hindus don’t have much organization skills, funding, and prefer to stay totally silent on issues (UNTIL IT HITS HOME). By then, no one listens to their cry. Why don’t Hindus bother about protests, prayers, candlelight vigils against anti-Hindu and anti-India propaganda?
Does anyone possibly think, these issues are isolated to India? And perhaps think, the United States is immune to them? Do you remember, President Trump has been labeled as anti-Muslim because of the travel ban he issued specifically to some countries? Intellectuals have argued that this act was anti-Muslim and was unfairly targeting one religion. See the pattern?
I am not against any religion, but I am strongly against extremism, terrorism and establishment of superiority. As a Hindu, I constantly question this blatant bias and propaganda against Hindus. You cannot separate Hindus from India or Hinduism from India – as ancient India is the birthplace of Hindus, Hinduism and modern India. Hindus are everywhere, in every country, in every sector – have we ever seen a global alliance for protecting minority Hindu rights and even the interest of Hindus? Does India & the United States have a supreme leader like Iran? These are for your thoughts – so you can ponder upon what is at stake. Clearly, in the United States, the ‘Democrat’ elected officials have sided with biased anti-Hindu anti-India force. Will you the Hindus of the world do anything NOW? I urge the Hindus of the world, how long this must go on? How long will you keep mum and let the world persecute you?
