I would like to start this blog dedicating to the most esteemed philosopher cum jurist that this nation had ever produced. He died 283 years before the birth of Christ. As a result of which the question of his bigotry doesn’t arise. I am talking about Chanakya or more popular as Kautilya in popular culture. It is from this name of his the word got a diplomatic meaning in every Indian language. He was the first political scientist cum economist of the country. He once said, “If there is unrest among intellectuals & criminals, assume that King is doing right”.
The country never produced a better economist or a political scientist ever after. Then who the hell are these intellectuals? Honestly speaking I’ve hardly heard about most of them. Maybe my nous has gone for a toss. But I really don’t care. I want to linger with my daily work. That’s it! I follow a religion that makes me forbearing by default. But how safe is my religion? I presume it isn’t. This country was invaded by outsiders since the middle ages. The last day we heard the most saleable actor in Hindi movies lamenting about the mounting intolerance in the country. A century ago a Nobel Laureate had given up his knighthood in protest against the Jalianwala massacre. He is still a cultural icon of the country and the greatest poet ever to have born in this nation. It was undoubtedly a genuine demurral. A century later some forgotten literary figures with an insignificant contribution to our culture decided to play to the gallery.
They started returning all the state awards conferred to them. One of my school mates recently pointed out something that deserves special mention. What he said is extremely pertinent about the surroundings. According to Bhaskar Bhattacharya my friend, we would have appreciated if they all not only return the awards but all research grants/fundings that they have received from our Nation so far.
We as a nation want them to return all travel allowance they might have used for their overseas travels. The scientists, in particular, must provide a detailed account of their research so far by utilising Government grants and whether such research has resulted in tangible and societal benefits for the Indian people. These pseudo-intellectuals (our resident scientists, writers and filmmakers) all should return their Nobel Prizes and Oscars because they have worked with Government funds. Oops! Sorry! Forgot we don’t have any to our credit even seven decades after independence. They must teach us the art of selective outrage. They need to explain how conveniently they all have forgotten the history of the worst ever genocide during Bangladesh liberation. We demand that they explain how Dialectical Materialism, the philosophical paradigm most of them believe in, can accommodate political appeasement and resistance to nationalism. They should also explain how murder and lynching can be categorized, for the display of outrage in some and not in others. We also need clarification on rumours that many amongst them have political affiliations not favourable to the current dispensation.
These humbugs are answerable to the ordinary citizens, who have unequivocally condemned the recent incidents of lynching and murders. Why wouldn’t we demand apologies from them for adding fuel to the fire and further vitiating the atmosphere simply to appease their political and ideological favourites? Please also make it clear why the citizens of India should not condemn them for intellectual sedition and partisan attitude when it is expected that people of their stature should maintain neutrality, at least in public perception. Did they all return the awards when Taslima Nasreen was thrown out of the country ore Salman Rushdie not permitted to be present in Jaipur Literary meet? If not then, then why now? This post makes the sickulars naked I know. But they are sick buggers who all take pride in being nude.
Coming back to the joker – There are still many who say that Shah Rukh Khan did not speak about intolerance in India. In this interview with Barkha Dutt in NDTV, he goes even further, stating that “Religious intolerance will take India back to the Dark Ages”. Does he mean the dark ages when Timur killed one hundred thousand Hindus in ONE DAY? Does he mean the Dark Ages when Aurangzeb had the Satnamis of Alwar massacred UNTIL THE LAST ONE, leaving an entire region empty of human beings? Or when he had Shambuji, Shivaji’s son and his Minister Kavi-Kulash, tortured scientifically for THREE weeks and then cut in small pieces & fed to the dogs on 11 march 1689? Does he mean the dark ages when Nadir Shah attacked Delhi in 1739 and for one whole week his soldiers massacred EVERYBODY, ransacked everything and razed the entire countryside so that the survivors would have nothing to eat? Does he mean the dark ages like the sack of the magnificent city of Vijayanagar, which was like an island of civilisation, chivalry, and beauty, in the midst of a shattered and bleeding India, by Husain Nizam Shah: “During FIVE MONTHS, the Muslims set themselves to the task of destroying everything, the temples, the palaces, the magnificent residences. The scenes of terror and massacre were unparalleled and mightier than the imagination can ever fathom”, writes historian Alain Danielou.
Mr Khan should be careful with the use of words, for there is something in the human brain called logic: how can you compare Hindus, whose tolerance is unparalleled in the history of the world – otherwise, he a Muslim, would not be such a star in a 80% Hindu majority country, where every persecuted minority in the world has found refuge, where a Hindu still does not mind entering a church or even a mosque, while the opposite is nor true – to his ancestors, who were the bloodiest butchers in the world ??? Historians have roughly evaluated that 80 MILLION Hindus died during the Muslim invasions, from the Hindu Kush to Mumbai 2008, the biggest Holocaust in the History of the World. It’s the Hindus who should speak about intolerance and cry like babies.
Note also how NDTV has fully embraced this slanderous and untruthful campaign on so-called Hindu intolerance. The funny and ironic thing is that when Narendra Modi came to power, NDTV expected to be taken to task, especially for the 100 crore scam investigation case going against them. But Mr Modi, for his own reasons, decided to leave NDTV alone, which has emboldened the Barka Dutt ‘s to go full steam against the PM. What is the moral of the story, please tell us?
Have beef with state support in a public domain and prove your solidarity and support with the victims of illiberality! But the moral custodians will book you for consuming pork as it may incite communal tension. What a logic cited? A town in West Bengal named Nalhati doesn’t allow the celebration of Durga Puja for the last four years it hurts the sentiments of the religious minorities. Not to mention that it is the biggest festival of the state. That’s why I feel vulnerable in a country where I’m supposedly a part of the majority. So the insularity and sectarianism bother me as a citizen of this land.
anirbanobserves 