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Mother Of All Paradoxes: Muslims Indispensable For The Hindutva Project

Published

9 years ago

on

gujarat-election

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By: Saeed Naqvi 

The Hindutva project would come down like melting ice cream if there were no Muslims, no Kashmir and no Pakistan to hate. This is elementary. Muslims, in other words, are an essential requirement for the BJP to win elections. Results from Gujarat confirm this truth yet again. Why Congress has done better in the rural areas is because the Muslim population is thinly scattered – not enough to be a cluster or a “pole”. And Hindutva needs a pole to polarize.

Hindutva is also handicapped in the rural areas by the continued prevalence of caste identities. These are the identities in which rural folk are secure. Migration to the cities results in dilution and gradual erasure of caste. In normal course this would result in a cosmopolitan identity with a talent to accommodate many strands.

What disrupts this possible secularization process is the all enveloping growth of sects – Narayansawamy, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and so on. Unlike the Brahmo Samaj which reached out like a ballet dancer, the sects popular in Gujarat are inward looking. From this platform, it is not difficult to whip up communal polarization against those faceless Muslims in old cities and ghettoes – Pakistan’s fifth column, love jihadis, slaughterers of cows, terrorists.

Islamophobia riding a crest of terrorism is not Narendra Modi’s invention. Modi just happened to be lucky even as George W Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld ordered a post 9/11 global order custom made for Modi’s machinations.

US occupation of Afghanistan, accompanied by the world’s biggest fireworks, a televised war, created superb conditions for rampaging Islamophobia anywhere. Modi who became Chief Minister on October 8, exactly the day when the retribution for 9/11 began to be visited upon the hapless Afghans, took full advantage. The televised global war on terror reached a crescendo in February. On February 27, 2002, occurred the burning train mishap at Godhara. Ahmedabad was ablaze by way of retribution. Never was an anti Muslim pogrom mounted on this scale. The global din of terrorism and Islamophobia gave the pogrom a backdrop with which it merged.

The pogrom exorcised the city of another ghost. For decades, an underworld don Abdul Latif, had terrorized the political establishment in Gujarat on both sides of the aisle. Even though he was killed in a staged encounter some years ago, the scale of the pogrom was for Hindutva an equalizer.

From Aurangzeb, to Abdul Latif, Dawood, Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar is a rapidly expanding rogues’ gallery. In the deepest recesses of their heart, Muslims are sympathetic to this gallery. It is against this growing fifth column, Hindus must consolidate towards a Hindu Rashtra in which the past shall be the future.

Just imagine, where would Hindu Rashtra be if the country’s Muslims by some superior incantation disappeared one day, vamoosed. The Hindu caste structure, exposed to electoral democracy, social justice, upward mobility, would be inverted in no time. Overwhelming numerical superiority would bring the base of the pyramid on top.

Muslims as a foil is therefore indispensable to the Hindu ruling class purpose.

Rahul Gandhi grasped this essential point to good purpose in Gujarat. He realized the BJP would communally polarize a situation if Muslims were visible on the Congress side. Muslims were therefore advised to steer clear of his line of vision. The Muslim Congress worker who navigated me to the Radisson Blu hotel where Rahul was holding his final press conference would himself not come up. “Ahmad bhai (Ahmad Patel) will also not be there”, he explained. Rahul was flanked by Ashok Gehlot and Randip Singh Surjewala. One spotted Rajiv Shukla and Jiten Prasada but no Ahmad Patel, who was in Ahmedabad though.

Even token visits to Muslim enclaves in the walled city or Juhapura were taboo for Rahul. The trick obviously worked. It drove the Hindutva think tank to distraction. They began to invent dark conspiracies with Pakistan. Poor Mani Shankar Aiyar came in handy for no fault of his. His friend former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri turned up for a wedding at the Nawab of Loharu in Jaipur. That evening Ambassador Surendra Kumar organized a high powered seminar on Pakistan at the India International Centre addressed by Gen. Deepak Kapoor, former High Commissioners TCA Raghavan, Sharat Sabharwal, whom Aiyar hurriedly enlisted to ginger up his guest list for Kasuri on his way from the Loharu wedding. Aiyar speaks Hindi but his control on the language can falter. He meant to describe Modi as “mean”, but the way he used the term “neech” or “low” lent itself to the interpretation that he had described the Prime Minister of “low birth”. There is an irony in the BJP targeting Aiyar as their most hostile Congress critic. Sonia Gandhi has not spoken to Aiyar for the past six years.

That Aiyar, out in the cold with his party, had to be resurrected by Modi to provide him with contrived themes for communal polarization shows that Rahul’s tactical aversion of Muslims is unsettling the opposition. Add to this the double whammy of incessant temple hopping and Rahul is well on the way to stealing the BJP’s platform.

So, cheer up Indian Muslims. What will the Congress not do for you?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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3 dead, several trapped after six-storey building collapses in Delhi, rescue operations continue

Three people died and two were critically injured after a six-storey PG building collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan. Several others are feared trapped.

Published

6 hours ago

on

September 6, 2026

By

Three people have died and two others are critically injured after a six-storey building collapsed in Delhi’s Satya Niketan on Sunday afternoon. Several more people are feared trapped under the debris as rescue operations continue at the site.

Nine people have been rescued so far, while authorities are searching for others who may still be trapped. The building, which was being used as a 75-bed paying guest accommodation, collapsed at around 1:30 pm, according to officials.

Building was being used as a PG accommodation

According to police, the building was around 40 to 50 years old and consisted of a basement and five upper floors. It was being used as a paying guest accommodation, with repair work reportedly underway in the basement when the collapse occurred.

The building was located in Satya Niketan, near Delhi University’s South Campus, an area with a large student population.

An eyewitness said at least 50 students were believed to have been inside the building when it collapsed. A student at the scene also reported hearing cries for help from beneath the rubble.

Rescue operation underway

Teams from the Delhi Police, National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Fire Service and Delhi Disaster Management Authority have been deployed for the rescue operation.

At least 12 fire tenders have been sent to the spot. An excavator has also been deployed, while additional machinery is being brought in to remove concrete slabs and girders from the debris.

Locals were also seen helping with the initial search before rescue teams and machinery reached the site.

The adjacent building has been vacated as a precautionary measure, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said. She added that rescue work was being carried out on a war footing and that authorities were coordinating efforts to assist those affected.

Government agencies coordinate rescue efforts

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu said concerned agencies, including the Delhi Police, Delhi Fire Service and DDMA, had been directed to work together to ensure swift rescue operations.

Local BJP MLA Anil Sharma, who was at the site, said some students were still believed to be trapped and that some were reportedly making calls from inside the collapsed structure.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj blamed alleged corruption for the incident and raised questions about building safety and inspections. His comments were political allegations and no official cause for the collapse has been established in the report.

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PM Modi takes aim at critics with Dimagi Naxal remark at SRCC centenary address

PM Modi revived his dimagi Naxal remark at SRCC’s centenary celebrations and spoke about India’s development journey.

Published

14 hours ago

on

September 6, 2026

By

PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi revived his ‘dimagi Naxal’ remark while addressing the centenary celebrations of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) in Delhi on Saturday, using the term to criticise his opponents.

Speaking to students at the Delhi college, PM Modi described the phrase as a “homeopathic pill” and said it had prompted those he described as “dimagi Naxals” to come forward and reveal their views.

The prime minister also used his address to speak to Gen-Z about India’s development journey and asked students to consider the challenges the country had faced in the past.

PM Modi recalls past crises

During his speech, PM Modi referred to the 2013 Kedarnath disaster and the 2008 global financial crisis while criticising the handling of national emergencies by previous governments.

He said the government at the time of the Kedarnath disaster was shaken and questioned its ability to respond to the crisis.

Referring to the 2008 banking crisis, PM Modi alleged that the government of the time failed to effectively deal with the situation and claimed that India’s banking system was pushed close to collapse.

Prime minister lists challenges faced by his government

PM Modi also highlighted several major global crises that occurred during his government’s tenure.

He mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, disruptions to global trade and supply chains, and the crisis in West Asia.

The prime minister said there had been concerns that India would struggle during these crises but argued that the country had continued to move forward.

PM Modi’s earlier SRCC visit

PM Modi had earlier visited SRCC in 2013, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. His speech at the college received significant attention, particularly on social media, ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

His latest visit came during the college’s centenary celebrations, where his address focused on young people, India’s development ambitions and the challenges faced by the country.

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India Metro Rail Network May Overtake US in 2 Years

India’s metro rail network has reached 1,170 km across 26 cities. Union minister Manohar Lal said the country could overtake the US in network length within two years.

Published

1 day ago

on

September 5, 2026

By

Manohar Lal Khattar

India is on track to become the country with the second-largest metro rail network in the world after China, with Union Minister Manohar Lal saying the country could overtake the United States within the next two years.

India’s metro rail network has now expanded to 1,170 km across 26 cities. The network is only 216 km shorter than the US metro rail network, which stands at 1,386 km, according to figures cited by the minister.

India’s metro network expands rapidly

Speaking after the inauguration of an extended metro service in Indore, Manohar Lal highlighted the pace at which metro connectivity has grown in India.

He said metro services were operational across just 245 km in five cities when Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014. The network has since expanded to 1,170 km across 26 cities.

The minister said India could overtake the US in terms of metro rail network length in the next two years and become the world’s second-largest country in this segment after China.

China currently has around 8,000 km of metro rail lines, according to the figures cited by the minister.

Indore metro extension inaugurated

The minister made the remarks after inaugurating an extended section of the Indore metro. The project was built at a cost of around Rs 2,850 crore.

The Indore metro was earlier operating commercially on a six-km stretch between Gandhi Nagar and Super Corridor-3 stations. Following the extension, the service will operate on a 17-km route between Gandhi Nagar and Malviya Nagar Chauraha.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the metro service would mark a new phase in Indore’s development. He also said the network would eventually be extended to Ujjain and other nearby areas.

India’s metro rail network: Key figures

  • India currently has 1,170 km of operational metro rail network.
  • Metro services are operational across 26 cities.
  • The US has around 1,386 km of metro rail network.
  • India is currently 216 km behind the US.
  • China has around 8,000 km of metro rail lines.
  • India’s operational network stood at 245 km across five cities in 2014.

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