In the last one month, there have been several instances of violent communal clashes all over India between the Hindu and the Muslim communities. The latest clash between the two broke out in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on Saturday. The procession taken out that day to mark Hanuman Jayanti resulted in the communal clash. Whether it is a clash in MP, Rajasthan, or Delhi, the pattern seems the same. In the name of religious procession, the right wing Hindutva supporters take out religious processions carrying weapons and playing provocative slogans while passing through Muslim areas, in particular mosques. The provocative slogans and music result in clashes between the two communities. The growing religious tension is creating a sense of fear all over India. It seems like the country is now on the edge.
The growing tendency of peddling a Hindu sense of siege and dubbing other communities as tormentors can no longer be dismissed as the fringe. Already, the NDA government is presiding over an increasingly corrosive climate of fear and insecurity. The manufactured sense of fear about the future of Hindus and Hinduism in India has been the hallmark of right-wing politics. It would be a grave mistake to let these purveyors of hate off the hook and keep projecting them as fringe elements. Stringent action must be taken against all those who spewed venom against the Muslim community, calling for ‘genocide’. It must be pointed out that every person has the right to practise and preach his or her faith freely in the country. All those who have faith in the Constitution must speak out strongly against the attempts to ridicule other religions and create dissensions in society.