Sunday, May 07, 2006
To my son I will say, ' no my son, I cannot assure you that you will not be killed by them, for no fault of us
Shabnam Hashmi’s ‘Saffron Web of Fascism’.
The article published has stirred me enough to this response. This is a letter written by a mother to her 19-year-old son. I have a son of similar age; I must say that it created concern for me, ‘what should I tell to my son?’
‘She says, I can no longer assure you that they will not kill you one day’.
Should I say the same to my son also? Actually practically I should. As today, in India no place is safe. The hatred created by fanatics has created a situation where no place is safe for anybody. The fact remains that human race and specifically we Indians are not safe anywhere. The people killed by terrorist attacks in public places, railway stations, bus stations, cinema halls, religious places are not confined to Gujarat or BJP ruled states. Can anyone assure me that be it Delhi or Kolkata or Chennai or Hyderabad, my son is safe?
No Ms. Shabnam, none of us are safe anywhere any more. It is irrelevant whether the victim is a hindu, or muslim or christian, they are victims of terror, victims of hatred.
She says she is afraid of RSS, Shivsena, Bajrangdal etc.
- I say, I am afraid of them and am also afraid Maoists, Islamic terrorists, Islamic fundamentalists.
‘The memories of my last week’s visit to Jhabua, Dhar, Alirajpur, Amkhut, Jobut, Puniyavat and Indore do not let me sleep. I am totally shattered’
- I say, I am also shattered by the unwanted killing of innocent people at those places and also places like Jama Musjid, gullies of old city of Hyderabad, Kashmir, Bihar, Chhattishgarh etc. etc.
‘I have witnessed a well planned, fascist agenda in action: appropriation of Muslim and Christian religious places, by either occupying them or distorting history, clearing them in the name of clearing places, targeting well off Muslim economy, targeting the cultural symbols of the minorities, targeting their property and lives and inflicting violence women of the community.’
Ms. Shabnam, do not brush everything and everybody with black paint. I think a more sober, clear-headed rational analysis is needed. The human race has become crazy. The need of the hour is not to join the frenzy. You cannot fight the fanatics with fanaticism. You have to find a solution.
Actually I strongly oppose of your use of the word ‘fight’. Who are you going to fight with? The Hindu religious fanatics? Did you ever ponder how and from where these fanatics draw their strength? How these fanatics are able to get support from the general populace? Why Narendra Modi gets re-elected after creating one of the blackest chapters of the history of independent India?
It is you. Yes, Ms. Shabnam, it is people like you who are creating a divide in the Hindu majority. It is liberals like you who are alienating the vast majority of Hindus with your biased reporting, biased cry. Your cry is not helping the society; it is only strengthening the bigots. You are the people making heroes of paper tigers like Togadia, Singhal, Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi gets elected, not for the love they have for him, but because the Hindu majority do not trust you, they have generated a feeling that you liberals are against them. By your biased cries, you are only fuelling the alienation.
Your contribution to this craziness is much more harmful because, by your biased activities you are not only alienating the vast majority, but also making ‘us’ vulnerable. By ‘us’ I mean there are a vast populace of proud Hindus, who do not subscribe to the fanatics, but do not join the ‘liberal’ bandwagon, as they truly feel that solution does not lie in brushing everything with black paint. Who feel you cannot win this war of hatred by alienating the majority. Who feel, to win this war you need to take them with you. Who do feel that the blame lies somewhere in between. The solution needs to be found by not fighting, but by taking the people with. But because of liberals like you, our voices are seldom heard. As and when we try to raise our voice, they take us as part of you and discard us to the dustbin.
Whatever you say, you cannot make a person understand why there should be riot for destroying a dargah for road widening, leading to killing of innocent people. Why the Central Govt. has to go to the Supreme Court against the high court judgment? They do understand the need of army deployment, as they don’t have faith on the state govt. But they don’t understand the need for the Central Govt. going to the Supreme Court against the high court judgment. For the vast majority; it is a simple case of minority appeasement. And when you either keep quiet or talk about conspiracy of Narendra Modi, you loose your battle, you loose the confidence of the majority.
Ms. Shabnam, you lose your ‘fight’ from the beginning itself once you alienate the vast majority. You cannot fight the vast majority. You have to take them with you. To find a solution, you have to hear them; you have to get their confidence. Why should they listen to you? They will only listen to you once you build the confidence. You have to show your concern for them also.
Unfortunately to me your call is an unwanted cry for a war, where there will be no winners, only looser.To my son I will say, “son I know I can no more assure you that you will not be killed, for no fault of any of us. We are the victims of the situation we are in. But I will not succumb to the situation and I will ‘act’ and not ‘fight’ for making this earth ‘a better place to live’ for you”
The article published has stirred me enough to this response. This is a letter written by a mother to her 19-year-old son. I have a son of similar age; I must say that it created concern for me, ‘what should I tell to my son?’
‘She says, I can no longer assure you that they will not kill you one day’.
Should I say the same to my son also? Actually practically I should. As today, in India no place is safe. The hatred created by fanatics has created a situation where no place is safe for anybody. The fact remains that human race and specifically we Indians are not safe anywhere. The people killed by terrorist attacks in public places, railway stations, bus stations, cinema halls, religious places are not confined to Gujarat or BJP ruled states. Can anyone assure me that be it Delhi or Kolkata or Chennai or Hyderabad, my son is safe?
No Ms. Shabnam, none of us are safe anywhere any more. It is irrelevant whether the victim is a hindu, or muslim or christian, they are victims of terror, victims of hatred.
She says she is afraid of RSS, Shivsena, Bajrangdal etc.
- I say, I am afraid of them and am also afraid Maoists, Islamic terrorists, Islamic fundamentalists.
‘The memories of my last week’s visit to Jhabua, Dhar, Alirajpur, Amkhut, Jobut, Puniyavat and Indore do not let me sleep. I am totally shattered’
- I say, I am also shattered by the unwanted killing of innocent people at those places and also places like Jama Musjid, gullies of old city of Hyderabad, Kashmir, Bihar, Chhattishgarh etc. etc.
‘I have witnessed a well planned, fascist agenda in action: appropriation of Muslim and Christian religious places, by either occupying them or distorting history, clearing them in the name of clearing places, targeting well off Muslim economy, targeting the cultural symbols of the minorities, targeting their property and lives and inflicting violence women of the community.’
Ms. Shabnam, do not brush everything and everybody with black paint. I think a more sober, clear-headed rational analysis is needed. The human race has become crazy. The need of the hour is not to join the frenzy. You cannot fight the fanatics with fanaticism. You have to find a solution.
Actually I strongly oppose of your use of the word ‘fight’. Who are you going to fight with? The Hindu religious fanatics? Did you ever ponder how and from where these fanatics draw their strength? How these fanatics are able to get support from the general populace? Why Narendra Modi gets re-elected after creating one of the blackest chapters of the history of independent India?
It is you. Yes, Ms. Shabnam, it is people like you who are creating a divide in the Hindu majority. It is liberals like you who are alienating the vast majority of Hindus with your biased reporting, biased cry. Your cry is not helping the society; it is only strengthening the bigots. You are the people making heroes of paper tigers like Togadia, Singhal, Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi gets elected, not for the love they have for him, but because the Hindu majority do not trust you, they have generated a feeling that you liberals are against them. By your biased cries, you are only fuelling the alienation.
Your contribution to this craziness is much more harmful because, by your biased activities you are not only alienating the vast majority, but also making ‘us’ vulnerable. By ‘us’ I mean there are a vast populace of proud Hindus, who do not subscribe to the fanatics, but do not join the ‘liberal’ bandwagon, as they truly feel that solution does not lie in brushing everything with black paint. Who feel you cannot win this war of hatred by alienating the majority. Who feel, to win this war you need to take them with you. Who do feel that the blame lies somewhere in between. The solution needs to be found by not fighting, but by taking the people with. But because of liberals like you, our voices are seldom heard. As and when we try to raise our voice, they take us as part of you and discard us to the dustbin.
Whatever you say, you cannot make a person understand why there should be riot for destroying a dargah for road widening, leading to killing of innocent people. Why the Central Govt. has to go to the Supreme Court against the high court judgment? They do understand the need of army deployment, as they don’t have faith on the state govt. But they don’t understand the need for the Central Govt. going to the Supreme Court against the high court judgment. For the vast majority; it is a simple case of minority appeasement. And when you either keep quiet or talk about conspiracy of Narendra Modi, you loose your battle, you loose the confidence of the majority.
Ms. Shabnam, you lose your ‘fight’ from the beginning itself once you alienate the vast majority. You cannot fight the vast majority. You have to take them with you. To find a solution, you have to hear them; you have to get their confidence. Why should they listen to you? They will only listen to you once you build the confidence. You have to show your concern for them also.
Unfortunately to me your call is an unwanted cry for a war, where there will be no winners, only looser.To my son I will say, “son I know I can no more assure you that you will not be killed, for no fault of any of us. We are the victims of the situation we are in. But I will not succumb to the situation and I will ‘act’ and not ‘fight’ for making this earth ‘a better place to live’ for you”
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