Ever since Islamists in Leicester attacked Hindus and their temple, propagandist and sympathisers of the assailants have fallen over themselves to weave perverse propaganda under the pretext of conducting dispassionate analysis of the communal violence that roiled the British town. One such apologist of Islamists is Dr Rakib Ehsan, who identifies himself as a ‘Research Analyst and Culture Writer’ and has contributed opinion pieces to media organisations such as The Telegraph.
In the wake of the anti-Hindu violence in Leicester, Ehsan took to Twitter to sanctimoniously claim that he would take an “independent project” investigating the Leicester disorders. Proclaiming that he has no team and his side is Britain, Ehsan tweeted, “I will be doing this as a non-affiliated researcher and expert in social integration.”
However, like the prejudiced researchers who often try to reinforce their confirmation bias by resorting to skewed interpretations of incidents, Ehsaan, too, passed off his innate convictions as profound insights to water down the role of Islamists responsible for the Leicester violence.
As such, Ehsan, who proclaimed “neutrality” in analysing the Leicester violence, has credentials that run counter to his claims. He has been consistent in his unwarranted demonisation of the RSS. In a recent article, he erroneously described the social group as a “paramilitary volunteer organisation” and accused it of undermining the security of the country’s Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians.
In light of #DrRaqibHasan pledging complete “neutrality” and putting Britain first, here’s an excerpt from a recent article by him, calling the #RSS fascist, saying it makes #Muslims insecure, & repeating that #India is not a “thriving pluralistic democracy.” Neutral? You tell. pic.twitter.com/npcqNIjNTk
— Professor Oopalee Operajita (@OopaliOperajita) September 30, 2022
To assume facts underpinned Ehsan’s contentions would be a grave fallacy, for RSS is anything but a paramilitary group working toward sowing social divisions. It is an organisation that has tirelessly worked to uphold the country’s cultural heritage, besides presiding over social work and disaster relief volunteering.
The so-called “Research analyst” also propagated the leftist notion of RSS, which entails making ludicrous parallels with Nazi Germany and Italian fascism—probably because the empirical evidence falls short in justifying the demonisation of the group.
Ehsan also employs another tool that the leftist propagandists have skillfully mastered over the years. He selectively quotes ideological opponents without mentioning the context. Ehsan goes on to cherrypick a quote by RSS ideologue Gowalkar in his longstanding exercise of defaming the Sangh without bothering to provide context to his readers.
And his Twitter timeline lays bare the blatantly naked propaganda against the RSS and, by extension, the Hindus. In response to his tweet announcing that he would carry out an independent investigation into Leicester violence, one of the social media users shared a screenshot of one of his tweets where he blatantly calls the United Kingdom “a hotbed of Hindutva”.
“The UK government needs to shake off its romanticised idea of India. It’s now a Hindutva hotbed—and liberalising immigration rules for the country is a threat to community cohesion in the UK. India—especially under PM Modi—is not an advanced pluralistic democracy,” Ehsan’s tweet had said.
Keeping aside his anti-India drivel, what Ehsan cunningly tried to accomplish here is pin the blame for the UK’s immigration problems at the feet of Hindus. Instead of holding Islamists responsible for the violence and tearing apart the secular fabric of the UK, he blames Hindus, who have had no problems assimilating into the dominant British culture, for the challenges posed by the immigration.
Throughout Europe, Islamists are finding it hard to acculturate themselves into the native culture, given that European beliefs run counter to the orthodox notions harboured by the immigrants from Islamic monarchies in the Middle East. From France in western Europe to Sweden in Northern Europe, nations across the length and breadth of the continent are grappling with the immigrant issue, primarily because of the immigrants from the middle east.
By contrast, Hindus and those from India not only enrich European society with their superior educational qualifications but also add to the cultural enhancement of the continent with their pluralistic and tolerant ethos. Ehsan is gaslighting his readers into believing that the UK’s immigration problem is due to the resident Hindus. On the contrary, the problem is due to Islamist immigrants, and the Leicester violence was a testament to it.
In a nutshell, when usual suspects such as Dr Rakib Ehsan and his ilk profess to carry out “neutral” investigations of violence targeted at Hindus, it is reasonable to assume that such exercises are a means to garner credibility toward their blatant propaganda of shielding the Islamists and blaming the victims.
Leicester violence and the rising spate of anti-Hindu attacks in the United Kingdom
In the past couple of months, the anti-Hindu attacks in the United Kingdom, especially in Leicester and Birmingham, increased by several folds. What appeared to be a reaction to the defeat Pakistan faced in the T20 Asia Cup match against India, it was later found that Islamists were just using the match as an excuse to attack the Hindus as they did not stop even after Pakistan defeated India in the same series a week later.
The attacks intensified to the extent that Hindu families left Leicester, and some of them reportedly have not returned so far. The houses, businesses and properties of Hindus were vandalised. Contrary to what was happening, mainstream media and Islamists tried to cover up the anti-Hindu attacks and blamed Hindus for the clashes.
In Birmingham, they used an event where Sadhvi Ritambhara was scheduled to appear as an excuse to attack a Hindu temple. The event was postponed owing to Sadhvi’s health. However, the Islamists did not back off and attacked the temple. It was evident that they were well aware of the fact that not only that particular event but the whole tour was postponed, but they moved ahead and called to circle the temple to intimidate Hindus. More such so-called “peaceful protests” at Hindu temples and establishments in the UK have been planned by the Islamists in the coming days.
