– Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam –
The Dussehra address of the RSS chief is by now an established ritual to which Hindutva votaries look forward with great excitement and expectation. Even common Indians, not affiliated to the Sangh, are interested in it as it shows the Sangh mind and its prospective targets among religious minorities. This year’s address was no different as it subtly hinted at the Sangh’s attitude towards the victims of its myriads of secondary organisations.
Under the NDA government different kinds of attacks on Muslims and Christians have grown tremendously. With the Sangh propaganda against Muslims and Christians at peak, functionaries of Sangh’s affiliate organisations have created havoc. Anti-minorities venom has been spread all over the country and riots have become a common occurrence.
On one hand, over the last 16 months or so, the Sangh has brainwashed Dalits against Muslims and used them in anti-Muslim violence, on the other, Dalit women have been publicly and routinely raped and subjected to violence. The recent murder of Dalit children in Haryana has brought the cruelty against the weak to a new height. The Haryana chief minister, a hardened RSS man, does not think much of the murder. In an extraordinary show of cruelty the children were burnt to death as others were subjected to grotesque violence.
This case of insane barbarity followed in the wake of the Dadri murder, in which a man was killed on the mere suspicion of keeping beef in his fridge. The unlucky man, Akhlaq, in his, 50s, was lynched by a Hindu mob which also attacked his 20-year old son, who had been battling for his life in ICU of a hospital in the national capital for days when we heard the last of him. Preliminary police reports said the animal flesh in his fridge was mutton, not beef. Samples of the flesh were sent by the UP government to a forensic laboratory to determine whether it was beef.
Now, the point is, if it was beef, does the law prescribe death by lynching for keeping or eating beef? If not, who are these Sangh-trained goraksha (cow protection) volunteers to lynch someone? Who are they to take the law in their hands? This year Sangh men created great violence countrywide over this issue against Muslims. Does the law permit it? If not, what has the law done to contain this mischief? The plain answer is: nothing, which shows that it will grow in years ahead.
In his Dussehra address the RSS chief, who heads the family of Hindutva organisations, complained that the media had blown non-issues out of proportion. That forces one to ask, “Is mob justice and lynching an ordinary issue? Is murder a non-issue? Is the public burning of Dalits a day-to-day, petty event? What scale of barbarity will satisfy you and fulfill your criteria for a major issue?
We must keep it in mind that trivialising a heinous crime and anaesthetising people to it is a more serious crime than murder itself. Claiming that a barbaric lynching by a criminal mob, or burning Dalits to death is a non-issue is an attempt at normalising extreme violence against the weak. Once we normalise murder, it will become routine. Even law enforcement agencies will take it as something ordinary which does not need attention, much less protest, not to talk of justice.
By trying to normalise violence against the weak, Shri Mohan Bhagwat has done a great disservice to India.
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About the Author
Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam
Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam is an erudite Islamic Economist and Social Scientist. He has been associated with Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) as its Chairman for over 25 years now. Dr. Manzoor Alam, a Ph.D. in Economics from Aligarh Muslim University, has held various high-ranking positions in many international organizations such as Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Associate Professor Deptt. of Islamic Economics, University of Imam Mohammad-bin-Saud, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Chief Coordinator for the Translation of Meaning of the Holy Quran in different languages of the world at King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex, Madinah Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia; Chief Representative of International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM) in India; Member of the General Committee of the IDB Scholarship Program for Muslim Communities in Non-Member Countries, Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah, K.S.A.; Consultant of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, USA in India; Founder Member of International Islamic Charitable Organisation, Kuwait; and Member, Steering Committee, Istanbul Talks, Civil Solidarity Platform, Istanbul, Turkey.
Dr. Manzoor Alam holds membership on the board of many international journals as well. He is Member of the Advisory Board of MEDAD, published from the KSA; Member of the International Advisory Board of American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, published from the USA; and Member of the Advisory Board of Awqaf, published from Kuwait.
In India, apart from being Chairman of Institute of Objective Studies (IOS), Dr. Manzoor Alam is ably guiding the Indian Muslim community with his vast experience by serving in different capacities such as General Secretary, All India Milli Council, New Delhi; President, Indo-Arab Economic Cooperation Forum, New Delhi; President, Indian Association of Muslim Social Scientists, New Delhi; and Member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Under his stewardship, Dr. Manzoor Alam has successfully transformed the Institute of Objective Studies to being India’s foremost, pioneering and only organization in the country engaged in generating knowledge in Islamic Perspective, Educational development of Indian Muslims, Research, holding Conferences, seminars and workshops on vital issues, Publications and Advocacy for Muslims and other weaker sections’ causes.
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*Disclaimer : The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of INVC NEWS.
