Lies & Propaganda!

Los Angeles Times article falls flat on basics relating to RSS, Hindus & Bharat By Neha Dahiya In an op-ed write up headlined “As a Hindu, I can’t stay silent about injustices in India” that appeared in Los Angeles Times edition of August 15, 2022, the author Akhila L Ananth seem to have made a desperate attempt to falsify Hindus image and turned her arguments propagandist and away from ground realities in India. The writer seems to have been either a victim of misguided anti-Hindu and anti-Indian propaganda. Or, she may have a willing and active participant of such negative campaign rather than making an objective analysis of developments within and outside India. Contrary to the assumption that Hindu nationalists have brutalized different communities, India with over 1.3 billion people has millennial history of religious, caste and faith linked diversity. Hindus that believe in sanatan dharma have lived in harmony with Buddhists, Jains and the Sikhs that have had close civilizational links with the majority people. Barring a few sporadic incidents in a country of the size of European Union, Muslims and Christians that were either born in India or most that made India their home have freely practiced their religious faith without much of a hassle. To compartmentalize Indians and charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi waged a political war against the poor people, farmers, indigenous and caste based groups has very little or no basis whatsoever. If that were true, would Modi’s party secure thumping majority in two successive Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019. Is it not a fact that the right wing party was holding reins in 17 states and three others where it’s a coalition partner? Politics aside, India’s civilizational values do not have any room for attack on equality and plurality. In fact, there very values are cherished and embellished by RSS and the Hindutva forces. India proudly celebrates its diversity. Not only is it proud of its ethnic and religious diversity, all are equal before Indian laws that stood scrutiny for 75-years post-imperial rule. There’s hardly room for discrimination based on caste, region, religion, ethnicity or faith even in governance. In fact, India has over the decades designed projects, schemes and entertained ideas that gave better opportunities to communities and religious minorities in education, socio-economic progression. For example, minorities especially the Muslims, Christians and others like Sikhs have been big beneficiaries of such schemes and projects. Be it tribal, backward community, forest people or those living in hilly terrain or coastal areas, they are core of Hindu society and to say brutalize has no basis. To state that semi-sovereign status of Indian union territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh has been abrogated speaks poorly on scholarship and understanding the intricate nuances of the issue. Even before the 2019 amendment of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is examined, it is important to note that no single person makes decisions in a vibrant democracy like India. The amendment was outcome of a protracted legal and political process. In the first place, it’s incorrect to refer to “Kashmir” as “semi-sovereign” as Kashmir has been a division of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and J&K had no vestige of sovereignty outside of the Indian Constitution and its own constitution was subordinate to the Indian Constitution. To propagate that Kashmir was a “territory trapped between Indian and Pakistani military rule” reflects shallowness and understanding of the Kashmir Valley. For over 5000 years, Kashmir is a story in continuum and its history firmly aligns with the idea, identity, and culture of ancient Bharat. Hundreds of magnificent ancient Santan temples (Hindu Temples) like the Martan Sun Temple in Anantnag or Narayan Nag temple complex in Ganderbal district of the Kashmir Valley, thousands of Sanskrit scriptures like the Nilimat Puran and Rajtarangi are testament to Kashmir’s continuous relation, connection and basis of oneness with the rest of India. In contemporary times, two months after British India was partitioned, in an effort to take control of the Kashmir Valley by force, the then newly formed Pakistani Army launched “Operation Gulmarg” on October 22, 1947. The operation involved both regular Pakistani Army forces and tribal raiders assembled with the war cry, “Islam is in danger”. Simultaneously, the then lawful ruler of the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh reiterated his desire to accede his kingdom to the Dominion of India by signing an Instrument of Accession in accordance with the Indian Independence Act of 1947. Louis Mountbatten, who was British India’s governor general at the time, approved the accession on October 27, 1947. Indian soldiers launched a counterattack. By November 8, the Indian Army had taken control of Srinagar, the princely state’s capital. Up until mid-November, when scope of the war was reduced, the pushback persisted. Up until end of 1948, the war lasted longer but was less intense. In January 1949, the cease-fire agreement was officially signed wherein Pakistan remained to hold large parts of territory under its occupation. The area occupied by Pakistan is referred to as Azad Jammu and Kashmir by India’s neighbour. In 1963, Pakistan ceded some of its occupied territories of Baltistan, the Shaksgam Valley, Hunza-Gilgit, and Raksam to China.  Therefore, the only areas trapped as a result are those of Jammu and Kashmir that are occupied by Pakistan and Chinese military as opposed to a vibrant, democratic and developing  Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Contrary to claims made in Los Angeles Times, women of Islamic faith freely wear the Hijab across India including the southern state of Karnataka. Hijab row in Udipi was hatched and orchestrated by radical Islamist outfit Popular Front of India’s (PFI) student wing Campus Front of India (CFI) to create fear psychosis within Muslim minorities painting a dystopian picture about current state of affairs and drive oft-repeated myth that the state was against Muslims. Aliya Assadi, Ayesha Hajeera Almas, Ayesha, and Muskaan Zainab, the four initially stated victims of Hijab issue