Communal tensions have erupted in the Maharashtrian town of Satara after chilling posters goading Muslims to prepare for the ‘Battle of Karbala’ were propped up at a busy square, sparking anxieties over a possible law and order situation.
Popular X account Legal Rights Observatory shared pictures of the alarming posters bearing inflammatory slogans that call on Muslims to prepare for the ‘Battle of Karbala’ in Satara against non-Muslims, presumably Hindus.
“Don’t be afraid, Muslims. The honour of the Almighty remains, Islam is still alive, and the Quran endures. What do these tyrants think of themselves for clashing with us daily? The final battle of Karbala is yet to come,” read a slogan on one of the posters.
“Huge banners propped up at #Karad in #Satara dist under @SataraPolice advising Muslims to prepare for the battle of Karbala n obliquely terming #Hindus as Zaalim i.e. atrocious, tyrant! Now all eyes are on SP Samir Sheikh whether he cracks the whip or lets them go on rioting to wipe out “tyrant” kafir Hindus!” the official X account of LRO tweeted along with pictures of the posters.
Huge banners propped up at #Karad in #Satara dist under @SataraPolice advising Muslims to prepare for battle of Karbala n obliquely terming #Hindus as Zaalim i.e. atrocious, tyrant!
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) July 9, 2024
Now all eyes on SP Samir Sheikh whether he cracks the whip or lets them go on rioting to wipe out… pic.twitter.com/Imvm0pvhrW
Calling on Devendra Fadnavis, Amit Shah, PM Modi, and Police officials among others to act against those who put up the posters, LRO tweeted, “Last time same SP flatly ignored action against those providing mobile numbers of local Hindu activists to #Pakistani radicals who called n threatened them with dire consequences!”
Kabala battle was fought between Shia and Sunni Muslims, but it is often used as a rallying cry to mobilise Muslims against infidels
For the uninitiated, the Battle of Karbala was a conflict in which adherents of Islam’s two main sects, Shias and Sunnis, bayed for each other’s blood to establish religious authority. Shias were considered heretics and apostates by Sunnis. The Battle of Karbala was fought between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, representing the Sunni sect and a small army led by Husayn ibn Ali, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Sunni and Shia Muslims have distinct perspectives on the Battle of Karbala. For Shia, it represents the irrevocable split with Sunni Islam.
While the battle of Karbala pertains to conflict between Shias and Sunnis, it is often used as a rallying cry by Islamists to dog-whistle against Hindus. Islamists often cite the predicament of Karbala, which was laid to waste in the battle, to intimidate the kafirs (infidels) with genocidal threats.
On 31st January this year, Mufti Salman Azhari made derogatory remarks against the Hindu community during his 56-minute-long speech in Junagadh city of Gujarat. In the contentious video that went viral on social media, the radical Islamic preacher was heard saying, “The final battle of Karbala is yet to come… a moment of silence, then there will be noise again. The dogs are having their time today. Our time will come tomorrow.” Azhari’s remarks came just days after the conclusion of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, the place that Hindus reclaimed almost three decades after the demolition of the Babri structure, which in turn was built during the Mughal era on the ruins of a pre-existing temple.
“If you keep idols inside a mosque, then, it will not become an idol-worshipping place (referring to temples),” said Azhari, defending the tendency of Islamic invaders to appropriate religious structures of non-Muslims and pagans.
“You have kept one idol ( at Ram Mandir) but there were 360 idols at Kaaba. Even then, the Kaaba belonged to the Muslims. This did not stop the Islamic pilgrimage of Hajj,” he continued. “…Dear Muslims, the revolution will begin from your homes. They (Hindus) do not dare to convert your mosques to idol-worshipping places (referring to temples). You have yourself abandoned the mosques,” Azhari further added.
While referring to the Hindus as ‘dogs’, he emphasized, “We have a saying – When the ground is left open, dogs take over the place. But if you keep using the ground, then, they won’t become the shelter for dogs.”
Similarly, in January 2023, Gulam Rasool Balyavi, a Janata Dal (United) MLC Thursday, vowed that Islamists would wage a war and turn every city into a ‘Karbala’ if any finger was pointed at Prophet Muhammad. Balyavi remarked while addressing a crowd in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.
During his address, he alluded to the benign remark made by former BJP politician Nupur Sharma last year about Prophet Muhammad and Islam, which triggered a sequence of death and rape threats directed at her by Islamists across the world. He stated that Muslims will not tolerate insults to their master.
“We are in Karbala ground…if you disrespect our Prophet, we will turn cities into Karbala,” The JDU leader said, essentially calling upon Islamists to kill anyone who is branded a blasphemer by Islamic fundamentalists.
