When Indian secular journalists and  intellectuals (irrespective of religious background) condemn cow vigilante in India, they do not talk about continual attrition of Hindu/Buddhist/Sikh population in neighboring countries, the blasphemy law in Pakistan that caused Asia Bibi face death penalty (she later got asylum in Canada), burning of temples in Ramu, Bangladesh, or hacking of secular writers just to name a few. They feel obligated to lecture Hindus to celebrate water-less Holi, milk-less Shivratri or fire cracker-less Diwali but forget lecture about blood-less EID or tree-less Christmas. 

We think Bollywood is all about Hindi movie, but most screenplay writers are of Islamic background who normalize Urdu words, defame Thakurs (most villains, money lenders and rapists hail from this community), Brahmins (liars, greedy and castist), objectify women (Madhuri Dixit tells us how she got raped in mustard field through song and dance), admonishes “kufr”, lionizes Muslims (good people, most common quote being he doesn’t lie because he is a Muslim). 

When Islamists burned hundreds of Durga murty & pandals, killed at least 5 people, looted Hindu & Buddhist properties, Indian journalists started whataboutery, comparing situation of Hindus Bangladesh with Muslims in India. May we remind them Hindu population fell from 15% to less than 2% in Pakistan and from 30% to 8% in Bangladesh. They continue tell us shamelessly India should be a secular nation in spite of Pakistan and Bangladesh having the freedom to be Islamic republic.  

Why? Do they feel guilty to mourn for the Hindus? 

What is this strange fascination of the left media to perpetually see Muslims as victims? Does it stem from some unconscious sense of superiority? My liberal Jewish & Christian friends always criticize Israel but ignore the atrocities of Hamas or Palestinian Authority. I asked why. With a smug smile, she said, “I expect better from the Jews than Palestinians.” So, she considers a Palestinian to be inferior to Jew! Similarly I asked my feminist Hindu family member on why she does not speak against triple talaq or nikah halala. I encountered the similar smug smile, “They have those stuff in their religion – it is not our concern.” So, she will fight for equal rights of a Hindu woman but does not care if a Muslim girl is suffering. She treats  “our daughters” and “their daughters” differently. Few years back Taslima Nasrin had written she wished Muslim girls has people like Muslim reformers Raja Rammohan Roy or Vidyasagar to liberate them. I wish that too, since Non-Muslims do not care about the plight of Muslims. 

I heard an incident from a friend about duplicity of a liberal Hindu intellectual from India. His family is from Dhaka, Bangladesh but, he grew up in Santiniketan, India. In private he would refer to Muslims as “Molla” (a derogatory term for Muslims) and complain about Muslims calling Hindus Malauns (a derogatory term Muslims use for Hindus in Bangladesh). He maintains a very pro-Muslim stance in public domain. 

Secular Muslim intellectuals on the other hand have very clear understanding. Around 2005, a famous Bollywood actress and activist had been in US to raise awareness about Godhra in the west. Her father was a famous Urdu poet, a communist party member who supported creation of Pakistan in 1947 but chose to stay back in India. A Bangladeshi Hindu attending the session requested her help regarding 2001 atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. Her reply was curt and direct – she said she fights for Muslim minority in India. Bangladeshi Hindus should fight their own fight. I really like this attitude – not the hypocritical, confused attitude of secular Hindus of India! She has clarity of thought, she fights for Muslims in India only, she will not waste her time on Bangladeshi Hindus. 

Even when common Hindus protest, often it is unprofessional and full of rogue and emotionally charged slogans. There is no long term strategy and most of the activities are short lived and emotional outbursts! 

Resistance & protest needs long term strategy, diplomacy and vision. Muslims in Indian subcontinent act as if they are perpetually afraid (in spite of huge population growth) of their existence. “Islam khatre mein hain!” is their excuse. To combat this attitude, Hindus need to have similar existential fear 25/7 – Hindus have to be paranoid and work for survival and expansion (population growth, ghar wapasi to counter dawa, wealth creation etc) concurrently. It is a long term strategic war – not a short lived desperate emotional outburst! 

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.