In response to an Islamist's abuse of Hindu beliefs, Nupur Sharma made 3 remarks after observing that she too could pay back in kind :-
(a) The Quran says the earth is flat.
(b) The hadiths claim that Muhammad undertook a nocturnal journey to heaven on a horse.
(c) The hadiths say that a 53 year-old Muhammad married a 6 year-old Ayesha.
All three are factual remarks because that's what Islamic scriptures say. However, she received death and rape threats which are real. She has been suspended by the BJP. Why? Because Arab countries allegedly threatened the Government of India that it would block oil exports to India and that Hindu workers would be expelled from Gulf countries. The former threat is more pertinent because India imports over 50% of its oil from the Gulf. In the wake of the Ukrainian crisis, alternative oil sources are non-existent.
Elsewhere, EAM Jaishankar has pointed out that there's a real physical shortage of oil around the world. If India faces an oil crunch, it would adversely impact the economy thereby putting millions of Indian lives, especially those of the poor, in jeopardy. So, the government has acted prudently out of compulsion. That's understandable. You sometimes lose a battle to win a war.
None of these make Nupur Sharma a fanatic as some leftists have proclaimed. The unpalatable facts she has mentioned are in Islamic scriptures. Muslims believe those as literal truths. Especially, the Ayesha episode has been used by Islamists to advocate child marriages. Al-Razi, writing in the 9th century, declared that whenever the truth claims of Islam are challenged Islamists respond with violence, blood-letting and intolerance. A millennium later, little has changed. The only way this would change is when societies are free to discuss and criticize Islam.
Unfortunately, sections 295A and 153A of the IPC invoke blasphemy and preclude such discussions. They punish the peaceful critic and privilege the sentiments of the one who is predisposed to react to criticism and violence. Without free speech, no civil society can function. A society which enacts laws to uphold street power of the intolerant is doomed. The blasphemy laws were enacted by the British to shield Islam and Christianity from criticism while enabling attacks on Hinduism under the guise of the intent to reform society. Nehru continued the shameful colonial legacy in his pursuit of communal politics.
What's the way out?
First, as Vivek Kaul has often remarked, India should invest in solar-energy on a war footing. Invite the private sector and give it a 10-year tax break. Supplement it with nuclear and hydrogen fuel. Set up nuclear reactors in Karnataka, Orissa, UP. MP and Bihar.
Second, most Hindus would baulk at the idea of criticizing other religions. They don't understand the importance of free speech. We're a wounded civilization which is yet to come out of the colonial mindset. So, enacting free speech laws would always be challenging. However, most Hindus also baulk at the prospect of street violence. So, free speech laws should be coupled with strict laws which have zero tolerance for violence. That would resonate better with society.
Third, Hindus are a fragmented society. We don't have congregations. However, there's cohesiveness within jati groups. There's a crying need to mobilize jati groups using shared practices eg. yoga camps, akharas, where our youth of both sexes come together and have a skin in the game.
It's easy to criticize the BJP. However, BJP didn't create this problem, which is a legacy of the colonial rule. The way out has to be a joint Hindu initiative.
- Kalavai Venkat
Now let me show you the timelines - connected to the above story - from what has been gleaned from the What'sApp posts.
27 May Nupur Sharma makes her statement. Nothing happens but Kanpur's planning starts.
28 May
to
02 Jun Kanpur scheme has been put in place.
03 Jun The violence in Kanpur provokes but is controlled. Planners fail to achieve their goal of
riots.
But how does Qatar come in picture?
Here :-
01 Jun * ED summons Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case. Lobbying begins with the oil
daddies.
* AAP money bag Satendra Jain arrested and ED raids start. GHQ kicks in.
02 - 03 Jun * JP Nadda meets ambassadors of all major foreign nations at the DDU office. This is the
third such meeting in three months.
04 Jun * Lobbying ends., Twitter is full of hashtags and calls for support.
05 Jun * Qatar summons Indian envoy.
06 Jun * 13 countries join the bandwagon. BJP suspends Nupur Sharma and immediately
controls the fire. The 'planners' fail to achieve their goal, again.
07 Jun * Indian MEA starts firing, the whole issue backfires on Qatar regarding food. Prominent handles start deleting tweets against Nupur Sharma. The oil lobby starts
worrying about Indian oil imports from Russia.
But the cat is out!
06 - 07 Jun * The toolkit cabal starts asking for calm and let go of the issue because now, everyone
in the world knows about it and if it goes to court, the man in question will be naked
with proof.
There's always more than what the eye sees. Nupur Sharma was just a tool and the BJP snatched that tool from the crooks. This ecosystem is a well oiled global machinery. Don't be fooled by propaganda and trust your leadership.
- Pradhan Gaurav
Tailpiece.
Got up at 6, the chores and we were ready by 9. Sajish, with his car, was at the gate on the dot. Meanwhile, Ramesh and his group had brought the clothes-washing-stone and installed it at our backyard.
Anjali Krishna and Abhiram make a handsome couple. Their wedding at the Hotel Horizon International was a nicely conducted event. Blessed the young couple, had the 'sadya' and made a get away to Narayanan's house.
He's going for an angioplasty, to have 5 stents put into his system, at the Sree Chithira Medical Institute, Thiruvananthapuram on 01 Jul. He seems to be overwhelmed by the situation.
A quiet evening. Washed down the Chevy with Lekha's help.
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