‘Resist Hindutva’, that is what the slogan rose among college students when the ‘Modi’ government occupied the centre.
I remember my Muslim housemaid shivering with fear in the name of BJP. She came one morning and said that people in her village were spreading rumours of riots. She said that some fanatic Hindu has become our Prime Minister.
Well initially to calm her down we said all will be okay. After all, it is not very easy to disturb democracy in India.
But the recent times is showing a different picture altogether. With Muslims from being lynched at the mere suspicion of consuming beef to Dalits being made naked for protesting, barbarism has reached a new level. When the whole world is at dismay with such outrageous incidents happening in the subcontinent, the government chooses to keep its voice low.
The Hindu fanaticism reached its summit when in Bengaluru an Australian law student was attacked by a group of people for sporting a tattoo of a Hindu goddess on his shin.
A group of people surrounded him and his girlfriend outside an eatery in Bengaluru when Mr. Mathew Gordon (Melbourne, Australia and the attacked individual) was out at around 2p.m.
According to Gordon, the group spotted them and along with harassing them, they also threatened him to skin his leg as the tattoo was disrespectful towards the Hindu religion.
Firstly let us get something straight. ‘Hinduism’ is not a religion, it is a way of living, more of a discipline of life. Our great forefathers have pieces written on this very idea of living. Hinduism is flexible. Here you can consume meat if your daily routine demands so. Therefore trying to bring within its folds an imaginary rigidity will not help. Hinduism accommodates everyone within it.
So the question that arises here is what are these impulsive mobs fighting for? Why are there such scattered incidents of cruelty and illogicality going all over India? The culture of tattoo in India is not something new. The practice of tattooing was prevalent within the indigenous communities from long back.
In the present world, tattoos are important because they are said to carry some story, some emotion, and people with the help of tattoos keep such personal things with them. So no one can possibly threaten any one for a tattoo he or she sports. It might just have a different resemblance for that individual.
But the main problem that still lies here is why in the name of a certain ‘religion’ such madness is being carried out? Why would suddenly a group of goons threaten an individual for no apparent reason? Many will say disrespect towards a goddess, but now if I say being a Hindu I feel threatened when such goons endanger the freedom that my religion or my way of living offers me, what answers will they provide me? Because they cannot deny the freedom Hinduism practices.
From circulating a ridiculous dress code in a co-ed college, to lynching people of other religions- intolerance has shown new colours in India. Now a person being rebuked for wearing a tattoo is something bizarre. According to the news sources, the police only helped the group to harass the couple even more. They detained the couple, forced them to write an apology letter and even lectured them on the Hindu culture. Though they were informed that they had not violated any laws. So all this harassment by the police was just to satisfy a mob who uses religion to keep people under pressure. Such insanity is tolerated even in the 21st century and it sure is a big surprise.
The spokesperson of the group of the activists, Ramesh Yadav, said that they found it insulting that Gordon had a Hindu goddess tattooed on his leg and therefore asked him to remove it in order to avoid any further hassles. Reportedly Yadav contested in the city civic election in 2010 on a BJP ticket and lost. His political inclination might as well indicate towards his immense ‘regards’ for Hinduism.
The problem is with the central government who is promoting Hindutva in a secular country. India has lots of people living inside of her, and imposing any one language or religion will be injustice to million others. That has to be understood. India is the largest democracy in the world and quite comically that democracy itself is being put to stake. People’s opinions are becoming secondary, the personal interest of the shrewd politicians is entering everywhere- be it education, life, food, dress.
This sectarian attitude of a few is pushing India on the verge of outbreak of violent riots where we- the common people will only suffer. Therefore we need to keep our individualism strong and never give into such madness. Political ‘Heroes’ will never fall into potholes themselves. Seldom will we have a politician coming out from his or her air conditioned room to stand by us. They will always try to divide and rule after all what else can be the easiest way to control a country as large as India. So whenever any such force comes in the way of the unity of common people we must join hands and resist it.
