Being economical with the truth is one of the key hallmarks of Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker. From whitewashing Islamist violence to overtly defending it, as in the case of the Delhi riots last year when the entertainer took up the cudgel for the prime accused Umar Khalid allegedly responsible for orchestrating the macabre anti-Hindu violence that swept the streets of northeast Delhi. On February 28, 2021, the actor gave yet another pass to the Islamist violence when she shared an image of a Muslim man to say ‘never forget’, casting aside the Godhra massacre of Hindus that preceded the communal riots in Gujarat on this day, nineteen years ago.
Never forget. pic.twitter.com/8apPA7YmB3
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) February 28, 2021
Bhasker had shared the image of a Muslim man to allege that one should not forget the Gujarat riots that roiled the western state of India starting 28 February 2002. However, what she conveniently forgets to mention is that the riots were precipitated by a spine-chilling incident of train burning, reportedly by Muslim mob, a day before the riots gripped the state.
On the morning of 27 February 2002, the Sabarmati Express carrying 59 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the train near the Godhra railway station. In the aftermath of the incident, a commission set up by the Government of Gujarat to investigate the train burning incident spent 6 years going over the details of the case and finally concluded that the fire was a result of arson committed by a Muslim mob.
Not only did Swara try to sweep under the rug the Islamist barbarism that led to the death of 59 innocent Hindus, but she instead proceeded to imply that one must not forget the riots that were essentially a consequence of the Godhra Train Burning incident.
Moreover, the whitewashing of the Hindu deaths was effected by Bhasker by using the image of a Muslim man, Qutubuddin Ansari, whose crying image had involuntarily become the face of the Gujarat riots. It is pertinent to note that in 2016, Ansari had pleaded with political parties and people with vested interests to stop using his image for political gains and propaganda purposes.
Lamenting his ordeal in an interview with the Mumbai Mirror, Ansari had then said, “I am 43 and in the past 14 years, I have been “used and misused” by political parties, Bollywood and even terror outfits. I wish I had died in 2002 because I am not able to answer my children when they ask me “Papa, every time we saw your picture, why are you crying and begging?”
However, Swara, being the quintessential propagandist she is, did not let the enduring trauma of the man come in her way of peddling propaganda. The man’s entreaties fell on deaf ears as left-leaning liberals continue to use his image to deny the massacre of Hindus in the Godhra Train Burning incidents.
Swara Bhasker defended Umar Khalid, the prime accused in the Delhi Riots case
This is a classic trick out of the left-Liberal playbook where the adherents of the left ideology exploit deaths and sufferings of innocent people to defend the Islamist violence. This trick was most recently used in the anti-Hindu Delhi riots where the leftists tried to spin the gruesome violence directed against Hindus as an anti-Muslim pogrom.
And unsurprisingly, Swara Bhasker has been one of the enablers who passionately advanced this bogus claim. Bhasker has also been a staunch supporter of former JNU student Umar Khalid, a prime accused in the Delhi riots case.
Soon after Khalid was arrested for his alleged role in inciting the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi in February last year and charged under UAPA, Swara went into overdrive to defend the embattled ‘activist’. The Bollywood actor has been pretty vocal in her support for Khalid on social media websites and had even demanded to scrap the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
According to an FIR registered in the case, Delhi Riots were a preplanned conspiracy that was hatched by the former JNU student Umar Khalid and his associates. As part of the conspiracy, Umar Khalid is accused of giving provocative speeches at two different locations and appealing to people to take to the streets during the visit of US President Donald Trump so that the propaganda that minorities are oppressed in India can be internationalised.
