Vinod Mehta in Outlook Out Of True
To ignore clear and present danger is foolish. A Goebbelsian campaign has been gathering strength over the past six weeks or so. The people who gave us the Gujarat carnage are assiduously spreading a canard: they say what we are witnessing in the country today is Hindus vs The Rest of India. The demonisation of the Hindus en bloc (Narendra Modi accuses the media and others of portraying the entire 50 million population of the state as rapists, assassins and thugs), thanks to relentless vilifying and relentless accusations of exclusive responsibility for the riots, it seems, is total. This, of course, is a manifest and preposterous lie. Unfortunately, on the ground, it is to some degree working. Increasingly, one finds mild, moderate, sensible Hindus—Hindus who feel a sense of revulsion over the Gujarat barbarism—come up and complain that they are greatly perturbed, even incensed, at what they perceive is non-stop Hindu-bashing. The 100-odd letters I get every day and the feedback from Outlook correspondents suggests that the propaganda is finding some takers. I understand quiet satisfaction prevails in certain quarters at the success of the brilliant strategy—a strategy they believe is certain to fetch many votes. How should we counter the lie? First, one must emphasise on every possible occasion that the perpetrators of Gujarat and their associates outside constitute no more than 8 to 10 per cent of India's population. The vast majority of Hindus, including those Hindus who vote the BJP, are as sickened by the events of the past two months as the rest of us. Thus, it is not Hindus vs The Rest of India, it is a tiny minority of Hindus vs The Rest of India. Secondly, those who are on the side of the angels would do well to reduce the decibel level of their denunciation. The perpetrators, happily, stand fully exposed and our combined energies might now be usefully channelled into seeing how the rehabilitation of the riot victims can be speeded up. Hinduism, one of the world's great religions, is in grave danger of falling into the hands of extremists determined to pervert its sublime truths. We cannot allow that to happen. Repositories Of Grace How has secular India faced up to the onslaughts against the Constitution? All things considered, pretty well. The government pretends, or likes to pretend, that without media mischief they would have "managed" the fallout, but the reality is that civil society—of which media is just one part—has stood shoulder to shoulder in defence of settled national values. What has embarrassed the rulers most is not so much the media coverage as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Us English-speaking hacks, writing in our out-of-touch English publications, could be dismissed as self-hating Hindus. However, you cannot easily dismiss the investigations and conclusions of a statutory body headed by a retired chief justice of India. I believe Justice J.S. Verma and his team worked with exemplary courage and professional integrity and had the guts to take on both the state and the Union government. The credibility of the nhrc currently is on par with the Election Commission. The highest court in the land has played a salutary role too, as have scores of NGOs and the Minorities Commission. Independent media bodies such as the Editors' Guild have substantiated what the nation already knew. The institutions protecting secular India may be slightly battered and a trifle demoralised but at moments of crisis they come through. Help Lines Lots of enquiries from friends and readers about where they can send money for the Gujarat riot victims. If you are reluctant to send cheques to the CM’s relief fund or any other official relief agency for understandable reasons, here are three organisations which will make good use of your money and concern: · Aman Ekta Manch: C/o Jagori, C-54, South Extension-Part II, New Delhi 110 048 · Citizen’s Initiative: Opposite St Xavier’s School, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380 009 · ActionAid India Society: ActionAid, 71 Uday Park, New Delhi 110 049 ____ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=- To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet ================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
