Certain western media outlets have painted the recent Delhi riots as a “pogrom” against Muslims of India. Even prominent politicians and intellectuals like US Senator, Bernie Sanders and UK Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, were quick to issue statements about the riots being an anti-Muslim mob violence. But, let’s look at the facts:

A man identified as Shahrukh has been caught on camera firing eight rounds during the riots. Head Constable Ratan Lal was among the initial few who died due to these bullet injuries. A young Intelligence Bureau Officer, Ankit Sharma, was brutally stabbed 400 times as per forensic reports. His body was recovered from a drain close to a municipal corporator’s house, Tahir Hussain. Videos have surfaced where a large mob had gathered on the terrace of Tahir Hussain’s house and were hurling stones and petrol bombs, Ankit had gone unarmed to assess and plausibly dissuade them from engaging in these activities. He, in turn, became a victim of the barbaric mob. A forensic team has further seized petrol bombs, acid, stones and bricks from Tahir Hussain’s house. Both Shahrukh and Tahir Hussain are currently not traceable.

A 51-year old man was brutally assaulted with his son and killed for simply carrying a “Jai Shri Ram” sticker on his motorbike. A journalist, Akash Napa, was attacked by a mob of protestors opposing the citizenship bill. A young boy, Vivek, had a machine drilled into his head when he showed the rioters his ID card. Several Hindu houses and shops were hand-picked by the rioters and set on fire or vandalised. Schools and petrol pumps were not spared. Acid was thrown on paramilitary forces from the top of houses.      

As per early reports, equal number of casualties were reported among both communities. Attempts to portray it as a “pogrom” against Muslims is outright false and display sinister intents at play. The fact is left leaning forces worldwide have never given up their attempts of tainting PM Modi and the ruling party’s image to that of an anti-Muslim jibe. Their latest grouse was India’s Citizenship Amendment Act which was also twisted for purposes of suiting their narrative. The Act, which aims to expedite citizenship process for religiously persecuted minorities from three neighbouring Islamic countries has been projected as (a) Indian Muslims losing their citizenship status and (b) human rights violations of persecuted Muslims in these Islamic countries for failure to grant them the same benefit. India has repeatedly clarified that its doors have never been shut for any immigrant including the Muslims from these countries. They just have to go through the normal process of availing citizenship that any sovereign country entails

The support of western media has bolstered the efforts of Indian left intellectuals, ill-informed activists and certain factions of opposition parties who seem to have a single point agenda of opposing PM Modi. The radical faction of Islam has joined hands with them too. They peddle lies on the act and have managed to create an anticipatory fear among the Muslims – when the facts are pointing against the narrative. When their half baked knowledge of CAA was debunked, they resorted to a narrative on CAA in combination with NRC to wreck havoc on Muslims, when the draft for NRC isn’t out yet. These can just be viewed as efforts to incite the Indian Muslims and urging them to come out on roads to fight for their rights and survival. 

In addition, many inflammatory speeches have been making the rounds in the past two months by key leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mani Shankar Aiyer. Opportunistic Muslim leaders like Amanatullah Khan and Waris Pathan reminded Muslims that they ruled India for thousands of years and soon 15 crore Muslims will overpower 100 crore Hindus. They also remembered the Battle of Badr, Uhd and Karbala where the polytheists were killed or converted. Influential Muslim leaders like Faizul Hasan, former Aligarg Muslim University Student Union’s leader, commented that if they wish they can kill lakhs and destroy any country. Small children at the protests were fed that Muslims will be kept in camp and will be deprived of food and clothes. They were also taught to abuse the Prime Minister and Home Minister. Slogans like “Kafiron se Azaadi” (freedom from infidels) were routinely chanted! Sharjeel Iman who led the Shaheen Bagh protests had plans of cutting off Assam from the rest of India. He had admiration for Jinnah – the creator of Pakistan. He believed Muslims stayed back in India to complete the unfinished job. These were narratives and the ways the minds got groomed and influenced that led to the Delhi riots. The vast population of Muslims believed they were fighting for their rights and an imaginary future oppression. 

Media houses have not condemned these speeches and remained silent under the garb of freedom of speech. On the other hand, when a BJP leader Kapil Mishra urged the Delhi Police to take action to relocate the protestors who have been disrupting the daily lives of common people thru road blockages etc., it has been widely publicised by national and international media houses as a speech that instigated the riots.

In reality, Trump’s visit to Delhi provided a perfect opportunity to scale up the protests to riots and internationalise the Citizenship issue in the US Congress, European Union parliament and elsewhere. However, it failed to create the required optics, in spite of continued attempts by western media. President Trump considered the Citizenship Act as an internal matter of India. With the devastation brought about by the riots as dozens of lives among Hindus and Muslims were lost and several property and means of livelihood destroyed, the new narrative was to paint them as a “Hindutva” agenda and give a clean chit to the anti-CAA protestors. Whereas the truth is reports have emerged of riots having the backing of Popular Front of India (PFI), an extremist and militant Islamic fundamentalist organisation. Further, a pro-ISIS group had recently launched an India-specific publication, titled — ‘Voice of Hind’ to tap on the volatile emotions/mind-set of Muslims.

Contrast this to the way the terrorists in London were recently eliminated. The miscreants were immediately gunned down as safety and security of a country cannot be jeopardised. The media equally praised the move. In India, the policemen first try to control things with a lathi or a stick and that too is criticised as excess when the media feels a need to protect the affected like when the riots were emerging in Uttar Pradesh post the CAA. 

Recently, the Home Secretary of UK has taken measures to contain terrorism and the related outfits. Immigration laws have been modified to a points based system so that the right people can come and contribute to the economy rather than being a burden. These efforts are hailed. But if India decides to take steps for citizenship criteria keeping in mind the security of the land, it’s put under the radar. There is an expectation that India shouldn’t distinguish between illegal economic and religiously persecuted migrants and should probably have open borders with its neighbours. The duplicity of western media and left intellectuals then stands exposed! 

Author: Sweta Bhatia

Sweta was part of the financial and equity research industry.

She is deeply inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. She is currently focusing her research efforts towards Indology studies including philosophy, history, politics. She hopes to positively contribute to the society at large through her writings.

She is also part of Friends of India International in London – an organisation that aims to strengthen the Indian diaspora network, arrange events and develop relationship with MPs.

Feature Pic Credit: Zee News and @RahulKu61402058 on Twitter

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