Pariahs in their own Punyabhumi

By Murli

The latest humiliation to the Hindus in the form of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi's most ridiculous statements on Lord Rama over the Ram Sethu controversy, is not surprising really. What would be a real surprise - and shocking - is when these secular heroes pour ridicule on the "secular" gods - i.e. those dear to the non-Hindu faith. When it concerns the latter, these rent-a-quote secular heroes suddenly turn coy. All their courage and "rational" thoughts are preserved for the Hindus.

BJP leader and Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar made a valid point in a talk show on Suvarna Kannada channel. When Muslims pay their respects to Allah, they turn towards one side and pray. Will anyone dare to ask them a scientific basis for this and pooh pooh their beliefs? Christianity has references to Jesus Christ drinking wine, so will anyone dare to call him a drunkard (as Karunanidhi has reportedly described Rama)?
One can go on and on and give umpteen instances like these concerning other religions but you get the point. The question is, why have the Hindus, who form 82% of the population, become pariahs in their own punyabhumi?

What emboldens these people to humiliate the Hindus is the fact that the mainstream media is by and large with them and shares their aversion for anything that is of particular interest to the Hindus.

It's the biggest irony in our country's politico-cultural history. More than eight out of ten Indians are Hindus, but they have no "mouthpiece" of their own in the media. Forget mouthpiece, they have few, if any, "friends" in the media - if you leave aside papers like the Organiser, the official paper of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Probe further, and you could say, forget having "friends", large sections of the mainstream media are stridently "anti-Hindu".

In fact, there is nothing new about this. Ever since the time when Smt Indira Gandhi as PM in the early eighties wielded "secularism" as a political weapon to beat the "Hindu Jan Sangh" and later the BJP, it has been the bane of the Hindus to be a kind of unsung heroes - or deemed villains - in their own land.

No right-thinking person will dispute the fact that India is secular mainly because of its largely Hindu majority. This is especially borne out when we take a look at our neighbours, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The harsh truth is, a "secular" Islamic country is a contradiction in terms, while terming Hindustan "secular" is overstating the obvious.

No right thinking Indian of any persuasion, belief and faith will dispute this, but within the domain of Indian politics, the most accepted truth is the most disputed. Thus it is that secularism stands divorced from all Hindu interests, while the interests of the non-Hindus are wedded to secularism.

There cannot be a greater distortion of truth than this, but the mainstream media and the intelligentsia are quite willing to play along with this fraud on the people. Thus, while the minorities are feted and pampered, the Hindus are wooed only on the basis of their lowest common denominator, the castes to which they belong.

There's a simple talisman to test this anti-Hindu theory. Does anyone remember any political party having spearheaded a campaign for fulfilling the demands of the Hindus? None, except the BJP. That's why the BJP is forever condemned as a communal, anti-Muslim party. It's akin to the shoot-the-messenger syndrome. Keep the Hindus divided and hang the party that supports the Hindus. That's how and why the BJP has become a pariah for most of the media.

The BJP is no hero, but then it is also not the only villain of the piece, is it? And the rest of the Secular Parivar are no heroes either. Remember the rustic saying, 'hamaam mein sab nange hain', everyone in the washroom are naked.

In contrast to this, there are umpteen instances of how various political parties eagerly lineup to take up cudgels on behalf of the minorities, either in deed, and if not in deed, at least in word.

Democracy is a game of numbers, and so you will always find political parties pampering the minorities. But victimizing the majority? Distorting their history, deliberately ignoring their demands, reducing them to second-class citizens, making them feel like aliens in their own land? This only happens in India. This only happens to Hindus.

It's not just politics, the media too, is a willing and enthusiastic player in this anti-Hindu school of thought. Almost every major political party has a supporter in the media, both print and TV. The Hindu is edited by an avowed card carrying Communist. The Times of India, is a strong votary of secular parties and thinks supporting "Hindu demands" is gross and unbecoming of secularism. The Indian Express is a divided house in every sense of the word; one day it carries a drippingly secular piece, and the next day, it is pricked by its conscience enough to publish a signed article by Sangh Parivar ideology, Gurumurthy! Outlook magazine openly supports the Congress, its editor Vinod Mehta flaunts his fancy for Sonia Gandhi, routinely takes potshots at Atal Behari Vajpayee (even going to the absurd extent of ridiculing his poetry which is the height of silliness), and is even proud of his pro-Pakistan image. In fact, he takes obvious, nay obscene, pleasure in carrying readers' letters which openly speak of his anti-Hindu and anti-national (pro-Pakistan) identity. India Today's editorial policy is more influenced by the market forces of secular politics, so, the editor, Prabhu Chawla, who would otherwise not be seen dead beside a communist, feels compelled to play the secular game, and taunt the Hindus. As for the TV media, what's common between all the TV news channels, CNN IBN, NDTV, Star News, and top guns, Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Karan Thapar, Vinod Dua and Arnab Goswami? They are all pro-Secular Parivar - read anti-Hindu.