The preamble to the Indian Constitution declares India to be a secular country, and Article 25 ‘guarantees’ religious freedom to all Indian citizens.
However, the Constitution is just a piece of paper, and the ground reality is very different. If the Constitution had said that India is a prosperous country, with rivers of milk and honey flowing in it, would such a statement make it so ?
The truth is that India is a highly communal country, most Hindus ( who comprise 80% of its population ) being communal, and also most Muslims ( who comprise 15% of its population ) being communal.
Let me prove this assertion.
1. Most Hindus are communal
To prove this, let us consider these facts :
(a) When a Muslim is lynched in India, most Hindus are indifferent, and some even happy ( one terrorist less ! ). The same happens when a Muslim is beaten up for not saying ” Jai Shri Ram ” or his house is bulldozed. How many Hindus have raised their voice against Umar Khalid”s incarceration in jail on a trumped up charge for 4 years, and of scores of other Muslims, whose only fault was that they had Muslim names ?.
In the great American writer Mark Twain’s famous novel ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ there is a scene where a bomb explodes, and Aunt Sally asks ” My God ! Was anyone hurt ? ”, to which Huck replies ” No ma’am, only a nigger killed ”.
In other words, a black man was not even regarded a human being then.
Similarly, for many Hindus, a Muslim is not even a human being, but only a devil.
(b) Israel has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, a large number of whom are women and children, in the ongong conflct, and destroyed thousands of homes, hospitals, etc.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/middleeast/gaza-death-toll-40000-israel-war-intl/index.html
Yet almost all Indian Hindus support Israel. Why ? Because Palestinians are almost all Muslims. Since 80% Israelis, being Jews, are mostly anti Muslim, and 80% Indians, being Hindus are also mostly anti-Muslim, Jews and Hindus are friends ( on the principle that an enemy’s enemy is one’s friend ).
A demonstration was held recently by some leftist parties at Jantar Mantar, Delhi against Israeli atrocities, but very few people attended. Most Hindus are indifferent to what happens to Palestinians, since they are Muslims. In fact many Hindus must be happy that Israelis are giving a thrashing to Palestininans.
(c) When I am sitting with my relatives, and they are sure no Muslim is present, they often spout venom against Muslims. I have to remain silent on such occasions, for how many people can I antagonise ?
(d) BJP wins elections since 80% Indians are Hindus, and BJP claims to represent Hindus. Of course BJP does not get votes of all Hindus, but it gets votes of a substantial number of them
2. Most Muslims are communal
Muslims raise a big hue and cry when Israel commits atrocities on Palestinians. But their lips were sealed when nearer home, 4 to 5 lac Kashmiri Pandits were hounded out of their homeland in the 1990s, where they and their ancestors had lived for centuries, and Muslim bigots killed and terrorised many, as explained in this article
When these atrocities on Kashmiri Pandits were taking place I was in Allahabad, and I went to a Muslim friend and told him that whenever any atrocity is committed against a Muslim my voice is among the first to rise against it. So he should also raise his voice against what was being done to KPs. He asked what he can do ? I said he should write a letter to the editor of a prominent newspaper, and I would get it published. But he never did.
Jab Hinduon par zulm hota hai tab Musalmanon par joo nahi rengti, aur jab Musalmanon par zulm hota hai tab Hinduon par joo nahi rengti
So is India not a communal country ?
