The ‘liberals’ and ‘seculars’ in India have often taken pride in the ‘Ganga-Jamuni’ tehzeeb (the peaceful coexistence of two different communities – Hindus and Muslims) in India where usually the onus of maintaining such ‘tehzeeb’ is squarely on the shoulders of Hindus.
It is usually the ‘secular and liberal’ Hindus who would gleefully participate in Eid celebrations and sing paeans about the biryani and sevaiyan, but the ‘secular and liberal’ Muslims would hardly attend Pujas of Hindus, bow their head before the deity, or even respectfully eat the prasad you serve them because for a ‘believer’, idol worship is the biggest sin as per their holy books and participating in festivals of such idol worshippers is shirk (disallowed in Islam).
Whenever this is pointed out, the ‘secular liberal’ elites of the country will call you communal and bigoted. This, when you are doing nothing but stating facts. Apparently, any comment on the Muslim community in India is like walking on eggshells because as we have seen in recent past even quoting their religious text about their divine figures (peace be upon them) leads to riots and beheading.
Speaking of riots and beheading, here is a reminder that not a single Muslim celebrity or celebrity journalist has said it in as many words that the ‘Gustakh-e-Rasool’ (blasphemy of Prophet Muhammad) should not be punishable with death. They may have condemned threats and attacks and hateful ‘sar tan se juda’ slogans, but will NOT say it in as many words that blasphemy in the name of their divine figures should NOT be punishable by death. Ask any of them to say and watch them obfuscate.
However, in recent times, the ‘secular liberal’ elite Muslims celebrities have shed any kind of pretence and have finally come out in the open to display their own bigotry in full glory. They are now trying to pass off their bigotry under the veil (pun not intended) of perpetual victimhood.
Eidgah/Idgah is an open land where usually the people of Muslim community congregate to celebrate Eid, for Ramzan and Bakri Eid. On other times, the land is used for playing cricket, football and other such activities. In recent past, it has been used as the ground for protests by Islamists where anti-India ‘Azaadi’ slogans are chanted. In an Idgah ground at Deoband, a 43-day-old child was allowed to die by ‘protestors’ back in March 2020 while protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
CAA only fast-tracked the Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from the neighbouring Islamic countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. However, Indian Muslims gathered in large number to protest against fast-tracking Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis who have fled from these countries to seek refuge in India.
But then there are some Islamists like financial fraud accused Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub who would rather not have the idol worshippers to celebrate their festival on a ground which is currently not hosting any festival or protest, both of them usually end up in violence.
If you are so inclusive and welcoming of other person’s faith, the way you pretend, why not ‘allow’ Hindus to celebrate the festival in a vacant ground? Is it because the ground, where the people from Muslim community offer their prayers, will have a temporary moorti installed there and idol worship is a sin?
This when the ‘secular liberal’ Hindus have opened their temples to let people from Muslim community to offer namaz on Jumma (Friday). In many places in India, for the Jumma namaz, Muslims gather on road and offer the prayer. To quote Rana Ayyub herself, imagine having so much land at disposal but choosing to block roads every week to offer prayers. Maybe the Hindus can learn a lesson or two and occupy Ram Leela Maidan and make sure no loser is allowed to hold dharnas there which evolve into a trash political party that could end up forming government in national capital.
The Waqf board in India owns the land of Idgahs and other mosques, graveyards, madarsas and other religious places for Muslims in India. As per some estimates, after Indian defence forces and Indian Railways, the Waqf owns the highest number of properties in India. Speaking of Waqf, here is an interesting statement by former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who had famously argued against existence of Lord Ram in the court.
Kapil Sibal, while arguing for Waqf said that while the Idgah ground has been sometimes used for celebrations like Republic Day or for children playing, how can it be allowed for celebration of festivals of others religions? How? HOW?
Sibal then put up a rhetorical question to the judges, that if other religious festivals are allowed on ground owned by Waqf, where only Islamic religious festivals are held, ‘Your Lordships know that what will happen’.
Hello, Mr Sibal, please tell us what will happen? Or is saying that the celebration of Hindu festivals will ‘provoke’ people and it will likely lead to riots (as it has time and again during procession of Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Rath Yatra) a blasphemy too? Are you, too, afraid of ‘sar tan se juda’ enthusiasts? I wouldn’t blame you if you are, though.
Everyone knows what ‘samuday vishesh’ is capable of doing. And that is definitely not ‘Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb’ compliant.
