They come in varied hues – social activists, ‘noted’ historians, journalists, advocates, litterateurs and of course prominent citizens. They are over active and reactive when it comes to the protection of evangelists, jehadis and Maoists and their silence is articulate in any matter that concerns the sentiments of the Hindus or the nation.
They browbeat the governments and have of late taken to bullying the judiciary. When the Ayodhya verdict came and all sides concerned were relieved and happy, this brigade was beating their chest and crying for the ‘loss’ of Muslims. The invasion of faith. The Raipur court verdict on their beloved colleague Binayak Sen brought tears of blood to their eyes. They who had not shed a tear for the hundreds of tribals killed and security forces blown up like flies were proclaiming the innocence of Sen, appropriating more knowledge and information on the case than the investigative officers and the judge who heard the trial. When the Supreme Court made an observation against forced and coerced religious conversions by evangelists that are creating social tensions, in the Staines murder case, these chorus singers saw ‘danger’ to India’s pluralism and pressurised the court into deleting the reference.
The fact that India is plural and secular because of the Hindus is never acknowledged by these pamphleteers, who re-write India’s history to suit the convenience of their bias. Hence, the marauder invader Ghazni becomes a routine plunderer who was attracted by the wealth. That each of these foreign Muslim invaders broke our temples, set on fire our libraries and attempted to spread Islam through the sword is never mentioned in any of their history text book.
Kashmiri Pandits who were thrown out of their homeland are not sympathised with by this crowd. But they take to podiums and wax eloquent on the ‘missing’ children in Kashmir. Ask these characters if they have ever attended the funeral of one soldier killed defending the nation. The answer would be a no. They even forget that they can talk about Kashmir so freely in the air conditioned halls in the metros only because these jawans are guarding the borders.
They never condemn the naxalite violence. During TV debates they in passing mention, of course we do, and hastily add, but we must go to the root cause of this. They would never call Afzal, Kasab and scores of other terrorists as Muslim terrorists. The 26/11 attack is not described as Islamic terror. But persons like Sadhvi Pragya, Col Purohit have been branded as Hindu terrorists. They rave and rant about ‘draconian’ terror laws and campaign for the human rights of terrorists.
The media, especially some of the English newspapers, magazines and TV channels are the oxygen that keeps this motley crowd alive. Kashmir separatists have more supporters in Delhi than in the state. So they survive. There are some regulars who are seen in this club. The National Advisory Committee has been filled with these people by Sonia Gandhi to direct and dictate to the nominated Prime Minister of India. They of course operate in different circles and routes but come together as if on cue on Pakistan, Maoists, jehadis and the evangelists. Some of the most familiar faces are Arundhati Roy, who declared she is no more a citizen of this country, but continues to hold the Indian passport, Ramachandra Guha, whose heart bleeds selectively for the threat to pluralism (from Hindus!), Swami Agnivesh, forever looking for an opportunity to run down the handful of Hindu organisations, N Ram, who wears multiple hats as social activist, journalist and Hindu baiter, members of the Tehelka club, who also pass for journalists, Teesta Setelvad with a Modi obsession, Kuldip Nayyar too senior to change his ways and the loud and brash Pak admirer at large Mani Shankar Iyer. This group has of course shed the jhola and the coarse cotton and the unkept look that used to be the group identity. Their fashion and style have changed with official patronage. English is their lingua franca, for maximizing international impact.
Between India and Pakistan, they would take the side of our neighbour. They would campaign against India going nuclear and yet refuse to see the threat from our east and west. Their love for freedom and human rights does not extend to the Tibetans. The religious persecution of Tamils in Malaysia and their plight in Sri Lanka are non-issues as far as these club members are concerned.
They attempt to divide the Hindu society by declaring tribals as non-Hindu, wean away the dalits and other socially deprived classes as outside the Hindu fold. Without a drop of understanding they discuss the caste issue. Paradoxically, they support reservation to Christian and Muslim converts from SC/ST. RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal are the proverbial red rag for them. Politically, their preference is Congress, since the communists have no presence outside Kerala and West Bengal. Outside that they support anyone who can defeat the BJP, because it is tinged by saffron and hence a huge no-no.
What is clear is that they are playing to a gallery that is not India. The issues they select, the positions they highlight and the posturing they assume are all so consistently against the sentiments of an ordinary Indian. They are perched in their comfortable chairs, not having to go anywhere near the poor and the wretched of this country, but to speak for them in sound bites for TV and produce articles for cohort publications. It is high time we identified and recognised these intellectual terrorists and isolated them, so that we can live in a free society, with a system that is unmindful to their ilk.
