Let us fight against radical elements

A youth was arrested on Thursday for firing at the protestors at Jamia University in Delhi where protest against CAA was going on. The incident comes days after union minister Anurag Thakur was seen in videos, delivering hate speech and encouraging people to shoot the traitors, during a political rally. This deeply disturbing incident shows that India is heading towards disaster. General Zia-ul-Haq, who ruled Pakistan from 1978 to 1988, till he died in a plane crash, is the man who destroyed Pakistan with his religious politics. He passed broad-ranging legislation as part of Pakistan’s Islamization, curbed civil liberties, and heightened press censorship. He gave a free hand to radical Islamists and made life hell for the minorities as well as liberals. Since then Pakistan has not recovered and today the Pakistani society is deeply radicalized.

But people should remember that though Pakistan was founded on the basis of Islam, it was not like the way it is now. In fact, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the man who founded Pakistan, wanted it to be a modern Islamic country. The Congress leader Shashi Tharoor last year said India is becoming a Hindu version of Pakistan, and he was attacked by right wing supporters. But if the present trend of radicalization of Hindus continues, and also if the government of the day does not take steps to end religious division, perhaps India may end up proving Tharoor right. The radicalization happening among the youths should be taken seriously. Here in Arunachal too, radicalization among innocent tribal people is happening because of the influence of outsiders, and it is a serious issue. A society once broken on religious ground will be hard to mend again. Pakistan is a classic example. Therefore let us take pledge to fight the radicalization.