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A terrible red line was crossed with an open call to exterminate Muslims at a conclave in Haridwar, attended by a number of Hindu religious leaders. Such an open call to genocide is shocking and outrageous, but it is equally shocking that there has been no response from the Narendra Modi government and the BJP to it. What was articulated at Haridwar was the dream of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ where the minorities are not just reduced to non-citizens but are eliminated. The speakers also called for war against the Government of India and the Constitution to achieve their goal. It is difficult to believe that such fantasies exist, and the most terrifying part of it is that it is real for many people.
Similar views and ‘resolutions’ have been expressed in other places, though it was done most blatantly in Haridwar. Someone said he had wished he were Godse and could kill former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There were other provocative statements too, of drawing inspiration from the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Myanmar, and an invocation of the mass killings in 1857. There has been action, too. Christian churches were attacked in many places during Christmas. Muslims have for many weeks been prevented from doing namaz at a place in Gurgaon. All this is the culmination of a culture that has grown in the last few years, but it shows the worst is yet to come. Many of those who are not seen to belong to the Hindutva paradigm have been abused, threatened, lynched and jailed, and the victims range from minorities to activists to journalists to comics and academics to anyone thought to be critical of the majoritarian ideology and practices.
These are not stray expressions of hatred by fringe elements. The fringe is at the core now — the Hindu Yuva Vahini, the organiser of the conclave, was founded by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — and there is little resistance from those who are sworn to preserve and protect the Constitution. The Uttarakhand police have cared to file only a single FIR for all the hateful speeches made at Haridwar and have been very reluctant to initiate any action against the so-called religious leaders. The full force of the law should have been employed to book those who violated all the values and norms of a lawful State and society. But the issue involved is not just a violation of laws. No senior functionary of the State or leader of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has condemned the vile pronouncements as yet. Refusal to denounce such open incitement to violence amounts to tacit approval. That would mean that the government and the party are complicit in this project, which can set off a fire that can engulf the whole country.