The fringe has become the mainstream since 2014 as far as hate and hostility towards common Muslims and Muslim Emperors and Kings are concerned. The first time it happened was the honouring and the garlanding of the lynchers of Muslims by Narendra Modi’s pet Ministerial colleague and the Western-educated Jayant Sinha, produced by the fallen from grace, discarded Sanghi leader Yashwant Sinha. The official national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nupur Sharma, who abused Prophet Muhammed (Peace Be Upon Him) was rewarded with no arrest, provision of high security, and a license for a weapon! Is abusing the Prophet (PBUH) not hurting the religious feelings of a community? For the police and the judiciary, it is not! They have allowed her to go Scott-free! But Aurangzeb as the WhatsApp Status has not only landed Mohammed Momin of Sarwade Village in Maharashtra not only behind bars but there is a demand for the exile of Momin’s family from the village by the violent Hindutva hotheads, who protested at the police station after taking out a rally and allegedly burning down Momin’s relative’s sugar sack warehouse and a tempo. This was after the village Sarpanch did not agree to the atrocious demand to exile the family. Nobody was arrested for the violence as the BJP and the disgraced Shiv Sena factions seem to be competing to generate hate, polarize and come to power by defections if need be, after the coming elections also.
It was a double whammy for Mohammed Momin. The brave Maharashtra Police arrested Momin on Sunday under Section 295 for ‘injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class’ of the Indian Penal Code. Which place of worship was injured or defiled by Momin? The police have not specified! Why is there a dichotomy in the application of law to different communities? Those who really hurt religious feelings are not convicted by the judiciary but given bail whereas a mere WhatsApp Status makes the police terribly conscious of punishing the innocents with jail. The Telangana High Court let off the habitual Prophet Abuser Raja Singh. He has been roaming in different states like Karnataka and Maharashtra spreading hate against Muslims and even allegedly calling for violence in violation of court orders. The Maharashtra Police only booked a case. Why did the Maharashtra Police not arrest Raja Singh? Why is there no judicial activism in Maharashtra?
The jailing of Momin and the demand to exile Momin’s family from the village has incensed all the right-thinking people, who care about India’s unity in diversity and equal application of the law. The Deccan Heritage Trust Founder, Trustee, and Historian Dr. Mohammed Safiullah has termed the demand to exile Momin’s family as ‘extremely unfortunate and highly condemnable.’ Safiullah bats for the correct depiction of history and not a fabrication of history into a fake narrative. He avoids extreme positions on history.
Avid history researcher Ahmed Shareef Askander was disturbed by the demand to exile Momin’s family from the village. He concurred with Safiullah that the exile proposal was indeed unfortunate and highly condemnable. He recollected the harmony during his school days thus: ‘Throughout my childhood in school, I used to recite the pledge daily in the school and hundreds of students behind me used to repeat ‘India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters.’ BeyondHeadlines could not agree more and we flow with Askander’s patriotic flow — Verily, India is our country. All Indians are our brothers and sisters.
Let me end this analysis by saying in clear terms that jailing and portraying those with Aurangzeb as WhatsApp Status will pit one community against the other and may hurtle India towards chaos. The dividers-in-chiefs and the polarizers-in-chiefs should not demonize Aurangzeb to peddle hate as it will not lessen unemployment, inflation, and hunger in our country in 2024! Let love continue to bind Hindus and Muslims of our country in one strong thread. As Rahim says:
Don’t break the thread of love. If it breaks, it cannot be joined again. If it joins, there would a knot!
रहिमन धागा प्रेम का, मत तोड़ो चटकाय।
टूटे से फिर ना जुड़े, जुड़े गाँठ परि जाय॥
Rahiman Dhaaga Prem ka, Mat Todo Chatkaaye!
Toote Pe Phir Na Judey, Judey Gaanth Padiy Jaye!
