Mohd Deepak: Upholding Fraternity Amid Worsening Amity

India is a country full of all types of diversities. The diversity of religions is astounding. The British used the Hindu and Muslim identity to sow the seeds of ‘divide and rule’. They harped on history to plant hatred, which became the base on which the communal stream of the Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh introduced their versions of history and created a hate element between mostly cordial relations between Hindus and Muslims. This hate created unusual violence in pre-Partition times and was the major factor for conceding to the Mountbatten plan for partitioning the country. The apostle of ‘Peace’, the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had to face three bullets on his bare chest on the accusation that he is ‘pro-Muslim’.

After Partition, Muslim communalism asserted itself in Pakistan, eroding the possibility of thriving democracy. Social and economic progress was the biggest victim here, diminishing the possibility of its transition into a modern state with progress, peace and amity.

India had a very secular leadership with Jawaharlal Nehru in the lead, who laid the foundations of a nation that till a few decades ago was a country known to have values, which progressed to reasonably good heights.

However, communal forces have come up powerfully since the past couple of decades and are undoing the achievements of the first four-five decades of peace and amity. Hate against Muslims has been their core method to increase their power and hold over society.

During this march of effort to convert an aspiring democracy into a sectarian nationalist state, the communal forces have devised newer and newer languages and slogans, against Muslims in particular and also against Christians. The situation is pathetic now. Social common sense is full of hate against Muslims and this is increasing by the day.

We saw Hindu communalism developing a mechanism to spread far and wide to the extent that Muslim ghettos are the order of the day, vegetarianism is being forced, ‘love jihad, land jihad, corona jihad’ have become commonplace words. Starting from the top leadership, the foot soldiers of Hindutva implement this hate into practical violence leading to the polarisation of society.

The top leadership throws up slogans like ‘Batenge to Katenge’, Ek hain to safe hain’, ‘they can be identified from their clothes’, ‘they proliferate like rabbits’, ‘Hindus will become a minority’, ‘Hindus are in danger’, to name just the few. 

On the top of this, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was earlier in Congress and is now in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has made statements against Miyas (Bengali-speaking Muslims), which exceed all the earlier hate speeches made against Muslims. On January 27, he said “four to five lakh Miyas will be removed from the electoral rolls through SIR’. He went on to say, "Vote chori means we are trying to steal some Miya votes. They should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh."

According to media reports, Sarma also openly instigated the public by saying, "In a rickshaw, if the fare is Rs 5, give them (Miyas) Rs 4. Only if they face troubles will they leave Assam."

To cap it all, the Assam BJP tweeted a video (now deleted) showing Sarma shooting through a rifle and the bullet going and hitting a skull-capped man and a boy standing close to him. Seeing all this, well-known human rights activist and eminent author, Harsh Mander, filed a petition against Sarma for his speech to "promote hatred, harassment and discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam." He said he had sought prompt action and registration of an FIR under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. To this Sarma responded that he would file multiple FIRs against Mander for helping Muslims during NRC (National Register of Citizens) process, and ensure that he was sent to jail.

So, what happened to the syncretic culture, which has been part of our land for centuries, where Azan Peer and Shankar Dev of Assam preached harmony and lived in Assam itself? What happened to the Hindu-Muslim interaction in all areas of life, food, literature, architecture and religious festivals?

One was feeling hopeless and despondent in this scenario. And then came the incident from Kotdwar in Uttarakhand. Here an old Muslim man was running a shop called ‘Baba School Dress’ for the past 30 years. Right-wing Bajrang Dal activists pounced upon him questioning how he could name his shop ‘Baba’, which for them means a Hindu figure. Seeing this, one Deepak Kumar intervened. As he was confronting the Bajrang Dal attackers, the police stood a mute spectator and later filed FIRs against Deepak Kumar and his friend. In another FIR against the Bajrang Dal activists (who were clearly visible in multiple videos), the police FIR named “unknown persons”.

One gets a lot of hope from this incident. The hope that humanism is not totally wiped out in the flood of hate created by the followers of Hindu nationalism. Deepak is a living example of the cordial Hindu-Muslim relations which prevailed here but have become an exception now. This exception shows the prevalence of the earlier amity.

Deepak Kumar’s act of humanism is worth a 100 salutes. Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, complimented Deepak Kumar and stated, "Deepak is fighting for the Constitution and humanity—for that Constitution which the BJP and the Sangh Parivar conspire every day to trample underfoot. He is a living symbol of a shop of love in the marketplace of hate, and that is what stings those in power the most. The Sangh Parivar is deliberately poisoning the country's economy and society so that India remains divided and a few continue to rule on the crutches of fear.”

Deepak Kumar himself had a very sweet answer as to why he called himself Mohammad when asked his name. It was an act of solidarity and he said, “Saraswati was sitting on my tongue, and that’s why, at that moment, the name ‘Mohammad Deepak’ came out of my mouth. I thought they would understand that I am Hindu, and that the situation, which was getting heated, would calm down. But instead, an FIR has now been filed against me.”

One only hopes and wishes we see more of Harsh Manders and Deepak Kumars, who represent the true ‘Idea of India’.

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.