Bajrang Dal, ‘Muslims, widen your hearts’

Bajrang Dal's head talks to Tehelka.com. Some excerpts

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=hub081108Muslims_widen.asp

What is it you are alleging Muslims and Christians are doing in India?

It is in front of you to see! Under whose shelter are the terrorists in India operating today? Who were the Muslims who gave patronage to the terrorists in Batla House (in Jamia Nagar, New Delhi)? They are not from Pakistan or Bangladesh, they are people born out of this very land. You tell me, why can’t the Muslims of this country forge a collective forum and speak against terrorism? Who is planting Pakistan’s flags on Kashmiri soil? During the Amarnath yatra issue, who were the people shouting, “Jo Bharat ka yaar hai, samjho woh gadaar hai” (Those who befriend India are traitors)? Who are advocating allegiance to Pakistan? Even if the Kashmiris were upset with the Jammu road blockade – I don’t concede it was a blockade – but if they felt it was one, why not march towards Delhi, why march towards Muzzafarabad? I believe Muslims have to come out and take on these questions frontally. Until they do, this question will remain in people’s minds: true, not all Muslims are terrorists, but why are all terrorists Muslim? Read the India Today story where three terrorists were interviewed. Hear the Sahara TV interview with Abu Bashr and note all their talk of jihad. Why do Muslims feel they have to stake all of India and the world with Islam’s flag before they can rest in peace? They have to give up this way of thinking. As Hindus, we tolerate everything. But you tell me, where in the Bible is it written – “Sarve bhavantu sukhinaha” – The universe should be happy. The Bible divides the whole world into believers and non-believers. So does the Koran. But not our shastras.

(Good one)

If that is the case, why do you want to change this tolerance among Hindus?
Who is trying to change it? I am saying they can be happy here because Hindus tolerate everything. But they don’t want peaceful coexistence, they want to instate Islamic rule. That is why their community rises up to defend terrorists like they have in Azamgarh and Batla House. See, Hindus believe god can have any name, and the paths to god can vary. We have 32 crore gods and goddesses; it won’t hurt us if one more Mohammaden or Christian is added to the ranks. So what difficulty do Indian Muslims have in saying they are “Mohammamed panthi Hindus” or Indian Christians have in saying they are “Christ-believing Hindus”? After all, this is a Hindu nationality.

You just said another path to god should not bother Hindus. Converting is an act of choice, Christians aren’t forcing it.

Choice? How can there be choice where there is deceit. And, of course, there is force. You tell me, what is so special about Christianity that the entire Hindu population of a district will convert to it? The proof is in your face. When Gujarat, MP, Orissa and Rajasthan brought in the Anti-Conversion Bill, why was there such uproar among Christians? If you are not robbing, why should you fear a law against robbery? People call us communal; it is the Christians who have communalised education, not us. 95 percent of Hindus pay fees and study in missionary schools, but just because the management was Christian, they closed schools across the country to protest the incidents in Kandhamal! Did they ask whether Hindu students wanted that protest?

Maybe that is because recently it has been proved that too many innocent Muslims are being falsely arrested. But let’s get back to your ideal society. Does it have any place for people of other faith?

I have already told you -- we want a society in which everyone is prosperous. Our chant is, may the righteous prevail, may the unrighteous be destroyed. What is the anti-Muslim sentiment in this? Are we saying Muslims or Christians should be destroyed? We are only saying all traitors should be destroyed. Those who live on this land and kick its womb, those who live on this land and praise Sadaam Hussein –

You brought up Kashmiri Muslims leaning towards Pakistan, but that has a complex history. Why mix Indian Muslims with Kashmiris?

It is not at all a separate issue. When the Amarnath land transfer issue came up, did any influential maulvi or Muslim leader issue a statement saying this pilgrimage is a centuries-old tradition going on from a pre-Islamic time, so what is the problem if a mere 100 acres of land is given for two months to build temporary constructions that will make the yatra smoother? And this is not new. In 1996, terrorists had threatened to stop the yatra itself. It is because of the Bajrang Dal’s determination that 50,000 Bajrangis went for the yatra despite that.

But it is local Muslims who help the yatra as well.

What helping! It’s just a source of income for them. If there was no yatra, they would have no income. (Don’t mind me shouting – I am from the Bajrang Dal, so my voice automatically becomes loud.)

(LOL)

Your action-reaction theory has no end. By that logic, the Muslim girl eve-teased on the platform can excuse the burning of the Sabarmati. And if Muslim radicals are behind the blasts, one can excuse it by saying they are reacting to the Babri Masjid demolition, and Bombay 1992 and Gujarat 2002 riots.
There is a big and fundamental difference between action-reaction at a personal, local level and one that seeks revenge at a national level. If in reaction to what happened in Gujarat, Muslims want to create Islamic rule at a national level, there is a huge difference in the two reactions. The karsevaks were returning home, some locals burnt them, the reaction happened locally. If in revenge you use Pakistani money and guns, there is a huge difference.

You spoke with pride about our 32 crore gods and myriad ways of life.
No, no, it is because of conversations like this that our families and values are breaking down. Elopements are on the rise. Licentiousness has never been tolerated in our culture and this holds true for men and women. You talk of Valentine’s Day – do we have to import a foreign concept to teach ourselves how to love? There is love and love and only love everywhere in this country. Mother’s Day! Father’s Day! Are we going to learn how to love our parents from a culture that dumps its parents in old people’s homes?

(What happened to famed Hindu tolerance here??)

Let us move away from specific incidents. Which three or four big issues would you pick which, if addressed, would create peace in your eyes?
There is the Ram Janmabhoomi, Krishna Janmabhoomi and Kashi Vishwanath issue. There was a lot of discussion with the Muslims over this. They should have understood then that no Indian Muslims have come from outside of this soil. Several generations back, everybody’s ancestors were Hindu. So Ram cannot be compared with Babur; Krishna and Shiv cannot be compared with Aurangzeb. I think the Muslims squandered a big opportunity to create an atmosphere of goodwill at that time. If they had compromised over these three things, many issues today would have lost their teeth. Of course, we can still discuss things, but do any maulvis have the guts to come out and say vande mataram is not idol worship, merely an invocation to this land, Bharatmata? Do they have the guts to say, what is the need for Islamist jihad? Do they have the guts to say, everyone should respect the Indian flag unequivocally, especially Kashmir which enjoys special status under Article 370? We are ready to meet them halfway. I am ready to invite them to offer namaaz in the most holy temple of India. Our Ram or Krishna will not mind. But do they have the guts to invite us to read the Hanuman Chalisa alongside them reading the namaaz in any of their mosques? Where is the fight? Let them widen their hearts, our hearts are not small.

(Still stuck in old temples, cow issues? Grow up)

What are your other issues?
They must not challenge India’s sovereignity. They are welcome to pray and live in any way, but why must Indian Muslims take their directional cues from Arab countries? If Hindus live in America and look towards India for their cues, I will deem that wrong as well. If they are citizens of that country, they must abide by the norms of that country. Why do they revere Osama and Sadaam? Why was the ruling on Shah Bano subverted? All encounters are probed as a matter of routine to find out if the police made a mistake, what was the need to make Batla House a pilgrimage spot?

(Exactly)

No appeasement, handle terrorists with an iron hand

For decades India has been facing the scourge of terrorism, but so far, it was limited to either North-East, J&K and Punjab. Though bomb blasts happened in Bombay , rest of India has been insulated from its effects. But the recent series of bomb blasts in Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra etc. has finally shaken up the establishment and ordinary people (a bit).

For a long time, every terror incident was blamed on ISI and its agents in India. But interestingly in this case, no govt. security agency has accused any foreign intelligence agency openly like they did in the past. This time terrorists belonging to SIMI (now Indian Mujahideen) are the prime suspects.

There are many voices among the "secular & liberal" sections claiming that these bombings are not acts of terror but response of disgruntled muslims against "atrocities and discrimination" against the community. Intellectuals in many newspapers and TV channels routinely talk for hours spreading this propaganda.
Two of the apprehended suspects found many supporters, most prominent being VC of the state-funded Islamic university where they studied. He claimed that he'll hire lawyers (paid by university/government funds of course) to defend them.
Similarly instead of showing any appreciation for personnel of security agency who already work with one hand tied behind their backs, liberals have been pointing fingers and accusing them of malpractices,fake encounters etc.
The thing that gets really annoying is when these anti-Indian terrorists (including Hurriyat in Kashmir) are being compared to freedom fighters of the Indian freedom struggle like Bhagat Singh, Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and also with IRA of Ireland.

Its beyond any sane person's comprehension, how can a guy who kills innocent civilian in the name of waging war against "oppression" can be compared with stalwarts of Indian freedom struggle.
Only motive of these terrorists is to spread fear, hate and insecurity among people by mindless acts of violence. How can bombing of a crowded market place which kills dozens of innocent people be ever justified? No matter what the cause.
Talking about revolutionary freedom fighters who used gun as a tool for their cause, for example Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajguru , S.C. Bose etc, none of them ever killed any innocent. Their struggle was against imperial British empire. They never used terror tactics for intimidating authorities to give in to their demands. Their dream was of a nation free from oppression of a foreign colonial empire which treated them as cannon fodder and second class citizens.
What are these terrorists fighting for? Is it a form of protest against how Muslims are treated in India ? Even with examples like A.P.J.A. Kalam Azad, M.H.Ansari, Abdul Hamid, numerous sports persons, artists, etc. widely acclaimed and loved by all sections of society irrespective of their religion?

Some "intellectuals" had the balls to compare Kashmiri separatists with Gandhi. Its quite evident that they don't know anything about either. These Kashmiri militants of Hurriyat, Gilani, Lone, Shah are openly pro-Pakistani and rabidly anything related to India. Still its the Indian government which is paying their bills.

Gandhi and his followers forsake their comfortable lives to wage a peaceful non-violent struggle against the British. They abandoned their government jobs, state funded educational institutions, boycotted anything British. Only time they had British government "facilities" was when they were in jail. Can these Kashmiri separatists do the same? If they draw parallels from Indian freedom struggle, they should stop accepting money from India, abandon all govt. jobs, seats in state funded schools and colleges, properties in
rest of India and start peaceful protests for "Azaad Kashmir". While they're at it, why not ask for independence of Pak Occupied Kashmir too? How many ethnic kashmiris are left there anyways?
They ethnically cleansed whole region of everybody except muslims, still fancy themselves as non-violent freedom fighters.

Gilani recently had another surgery in Delhi paid for by Indian tax payer. This expense running into lakhs for a guy who just 3 months ago burnt Indian flag and called for Kashmir's merger with Pakistan.

This government refuses to increase salaries and pensions of security personnel who die everyday 1000s of kms away from their families, but has no qualms paying for every comfort and survival of the very people who are fighting against Indian state. Compare this to how their counterparts in Pakistan, China/Tibet, Chechenya, US , Israel are treated. Aerial bombings, shelling, commando raids, imprisonment and torture without any proof and much more. Glory to Indian democracy and secularism. :\

Then there are some people who are comparing terror groups like LeT, HUJI, HM etc with Irish Republican Army of Ireland. Some of former IRA members are now prominent politicians in power. The most important fact that the "intellectuals" conveniently fail to mention is that after years of fruitless violence, IRA realised that dialogue is the only way out. They lay down their arms, engaged British in talks and negotiated a solution that was acceptable to everyone.
Compared to IRA, these fanatic Islamic terrorists wage war only for on cause, their narrow minded version of Islam. and this war is not limited to one region only. Its spread all over the world.

Response of ordinary Muslims to these events has been very curious. We often hear this lines, "Islam is a peaceful religion, a person who kills cannot be a muslim". That can be believed while, but now its becoming only a cliche with no meaning. Most people now interpret this line as "A person is a muslim freedom fighter till he is fighting for Islam, but ceases to be so when he is caught/killed".

One day we hear some news reporting that a Muslim organisation condemned all acts of terrorism. Next day we see some Imam protesting against arrest of some suspects and almost threatening the whole country with dire consequences if they are not released. This brings nothing but confusion in the minds of people. Its common knowledge that Indian police isn't the best and there are many areas where they need improvement, but bullshit like this is totally uncalled for. If engaged in debate many Muslims get defensive and try to justify the actions of terrorists. If this is how educated Muslims think, its scary to even think about the condition of uneducated, poor ones.
Indians are living in absolute denial about the threat they are facing. Its time that we wake up and stop this policy of appeasement. People who kill innocent civilians are terrorists and deserved to be treated as such. There is a limit to which you care for human rights of a terrorist who has no respect for basic rights of others

Unfashionable to be a Hindu

I was born in a Hindu family, but turned atheist a long time ago. First it was disgust with the miseries that all religions cause and then God and his existence became less and less important to me.
Media made me believe that Hindus due to their majority status should be more tolerant of minorities, especially Muslims. Any terrorist act is a handiwork of a few rotten apples, not the whole community and I agree with it whole-heartedly. Then there is a constant stream of intellectuals, liberals and self-important celebrities who repeatedly bash Hinduism on points like casteism, lack of unity, superstition among others. I agree with them on these too.
After Gujarat riots, attacks on missionaries Hindus were proved to be a violent blood thirsty mob that could go out of control on least provocation. VHP, Bajrang Dal etc. were  villains and I still don't like them.
Some missionaries were attacked and killed by Hindu extremists just because they were luring people into conversion with offers of money. It was bad Hinduism in first place that people were tempted to convert.
So called backward categories now enjoy almost 40% reservations. Its sins of their forefathers that upper caste Hindus of current generation have to pay for now.
Bomb blasts, riots happened in Bombay, Gujarat,.. it was intolerant Hindus who pushed Muslims into violence. I could swallow all that.

To sum that all up, Hindus are a bunch of casteist, discriminatory, intolerant religious bigots who deserve to be punished, mocked at and given same amount of respect that is reserved for Taliban. In their need to be seen as fashionably cool, liberal and cosmopolitan, most Indians think the same. Its always fault of Hindu majority.

But why are there double standards when our intelligentsia talks about Muslims? Inspite of so much violence based on Islam ( in India only) how come they are always poor, under-represented, righteous minority who deserve to be protected from Hindu majority?
Let me explain here in case of J&K:

1) J&K is only Muslim majority state in J&K. See what they did to Hindus here. 4Lakh+ Kashmiri Pandits living all over the Kashmir division were driven out of their homeland of thousands of years after sustained violence that included rape, arson, killings and robberies on gun-point. A large no. of them are still living in refugee camps with single room tin shacks or tents even after 20 years of their displacement. 

Compare the news space that suffering of  4 Lakh Hindus gets as compared to 3-4000 Muslims(more or less) of Gujarat.

2) During recent protests in J&K over Amarnath land issue, dozens of Hindu pilgrims were attacked and beaten up by Muslim mobs in Kashmir. 3 Sikh truck drivers from Jammu region were critically injured in different places there. 30 buildings belonging to Hindus were burnt down in Poonch. There were grenade attacks on Hindu processions in Kishtwar. Hindus were attacked in Rajauri too.
FYI, Rajauri, Poonch, Kistwar , all are Muslim majority ares.
Compared to this in Jammu city, where Muslims are in minority, there were no attacks on any Muslim. Many of my neighbours are Muslims. Even when protests were at their peak, they were freely visiting mosques wearing skull caps and no Hindu bothered any of them.
In Jourian(Akhnoor), local Hindus chased out a few miscreants who were trying to stone a mosque. News of a few burnt mudhuts of Muslims was national news, but intimidation and attacks on 100s of Hindus was not  .

3) How many Hindu temples are left in Kashmir? Of a few temples buildings still intact, how many are still used as temples?

4) Why Kashmiri Muslims are whining about Azadi when J&K is one of the richest states in India, receives more aid than many of states combined, has a separate constitution, flag and article 370?
Compare condition of Indian Kashmir with PoK in these links

http://www.kashmir-information.com/KashmirStory/chapter5.html

http://www.hvk.org/articles/0603/276.html

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-996411_ITM

Why don't KMs ask for Azadi of Pak Occupied Kashmir too?

One of the most obvious reasons seems to be that Pakisatan is an Islamic country while India is a secular democracy where kafirs and muslims have equal rights . Apparently kafirs can't have same rights as a Muslim.

5) KMs raised bogey of economic blockade by Hindu extremists. Rest of India was stupid enough to beleive this bullshit. Everywhere on TV, newspapers etc there was this so called economic blockade of Kashmir which was just false propoganda. I travel on Jammu - Srinagar highway daily for work and only day when there was  complete blocakade was on 1st August. After that Army was out everywhere blocking protesters from even reaching the highway. Figures from State, Centre and Army prove this fact. Shortage of any of commodities in KAshmir was due to strikes called by Hurriat and PDP goons, not protesters in Jammu.

Infact it was Jammu which was under economic seige due to strikes. No truck  loaded or unloaded in Jammu for whole month. But Jammu agitation was for a "Hindu" cause, so this fact was ignored easily.

Read archives of dailyexcelsior.com and earlytimes.in for news reports

5)  KMs say that it was a Muslim shepherd who found the cave and are still taking care of pilgrims. So management of yatra should be in Muslim hands only. One thing not many people know that this cave was known to Hindus for thousands of years. That shepherd only rediscovered it. Going by their logic, owing to their share in population, Hindus pay more than 75-80% of taxes in India. So 70-80% of posts in govt's haj yatra management should be reserved for Hindus. 

The buzz around is like KMs serve pilgrims for free. While truth is like this 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Columnists/Tarun_Vijay_Reclaiming_India/articleshow/3333783.cms

6)    KMs openly burnt Indian flags, hoisted paki, Islamic and black flags and raised anti-India and pro-paki and militant slogans. Gilani openly says that he is a pakistani. Compred to this in Jammu, leaders of agitation blocked any politician from all parties including BJP from either participating or addressing any rally. Only flag they carried was national Tricolour.  But since Jammu was fighting for a "Hindu" cause, that agitation was communal and politically motivated  and worth derision of secualr Indians. While KMs were fighting for their azadi from iron-hand of Indian Army, so they deserve our understanding and love

7) Hindu extremists like VHP, Bajrang Dal etc are a nuisance at worst. All they do is annoying protests against imaginary insults to Hinduism like Valentine's Day, some art etc.  SIMI and related organistaions on the other hand are accused of treason and terrorist acts all over India. Still  there is a talk of unbanning SIMI and banning VHP, Bajrang Dal.  Apparently, bombing of a gift gallery by Muslim terrorists is more Halaal than ransacking by a few rabid Hindu goons. Why don't such people look around Islamic countries to see how many allow Valentine's Day and paintings like that of Hussain in their territory.

Every moron terrorist justifies his acts by saying, Islam is in danger and he is fighting to protect it. They bomb, maim, kill, rape and torture people regardless of nationality, age, gender or even religion. Still according to liberals, Islam is a religion of peace and these people need to be treated with kid-gloves not iron-fist.

   IMHO, best Indian in India right now is a Muslim, our top rocket scientist and former President Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam Azad. Minorities in India have achieved success in every field, politics, industry, sports, science, art. You name it. Still, minorities are unsafe here.

Shabana Azami says that she couldnot find a flat for herself because she is a Muslim. Has it ever occured to her that her snobbish attitude could be one reason? Where was she living for so long in Mumbai all this time?  If her religion was a factor, how come Khans are top dogs in bollywood? How many Indians refuse to see a movie because it has a Muslim actor, director, singer in it?

You cannot talk about taking a strong stance against China and Pakistan, no matter what the provocation. Reason, We are peacefulGandhian people, war is bad,  its bad for economy, blah blah.I agree war is bad , but since when its accpetable to sell national self-respect and soul for money?  It  is accpetable to loose 1000s of soldiers every year in proxy war but taking strong actions against pakistan is haraam.

I don't have anything against any religious group. They are free to practise their religion, as long as they are reasonable, don't force their ideology on others and respect sovereignity of nation. Is it too much to ask for?For how long a nationlist who by chance happens to be a Hindu is supposed to bend over backwards to be considered liberal and tolerant? 

Muslims supporting nationalist agitation in Jammu

Here are some more videos recorded off local channels of Jammu. First Video is of a protest rally being taken out. If you see closely you'll find many Muslim Gujjars and Sikhs protesting along with Hindus. You can see one Gujjar carrying an Indian flag in 15th second and some more later.

2nd, 3rd and 4th videos are partial recordings of a talk show involving a BBC journalist, a doctor and a muslim advocate who lives in Old City area. Same place which saw most intense protests.
He clearly declares his allegiance to cause of Jammu, while denouncing discriminating and unfair Kashmiri policies. He also takes pains to make it clear that inspite of rumours being spread by Kashmiri separatists, Muslims in Jammu are completely safe and whole-heartedly support current agitation in Jammu. Kindly forward these videos to as many people, media person as possible who have little knowledge of current situation.
Participants also talk about exaggerated threats of separatists regarding blockage of National Highway.
Also take note of the fact, Rajauri district inspite of having a Muslim majority has elected 3 Hindu MLAs out of its 4 seats.

Biased reporting by media

On 8 Aug(9:30pm)IBN7 did a news report on a protest rally being taken in Shastri Nagar, Digiana area. People from every religion participating in it, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs openly supporting current agitation in Jammu They even interviewed a few people who clearly said that they support current agitation.
Then the news reader took over and started harping on damage being done by communal parties to secular fabric, trouble for common man, with clips of people damaging railway tracks.
Moron easily forgot to mention that a section of crowd in Samba started damaging railway trackes only when 2 more people were killed in police firing again and 3 more critically injured. Why didn't they mention secessionist and openly anti-India policies of Kashmiri politicians?
I'm disgusted the way this channel twisted facts to suit its own agenda. Anybody having any idea who owns this channel?

I have a small video of that protest rally recorded off local TV channel and uploading it. Further I have lots of friends and relatives in that area who vouch for what I've written here.

Then there was this report on Jourian, where a mob burnt a police chowki. Nobody ever mentioned that Jourian is the same place where local Hindus(majority) prevented a few miscreants from damaging a mosque during early days of agitation. Now after non-stop agitation for 1 month people frustated by police atrocities and govt's inaction go volatile and they show it off as violence instigated by "communal forces"