On August 8, the Sunday preceding Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Mohandas Gandhi and those who participated...
On August 8, the Sunday preceding Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Mohandas Gandhi and those who participated in the Quit India movement. The prime minister was observing the 79th anniversary of the Quit India movement. With his usual rhetorical flourish, he said that the spirit of the movement had reverberated across India and energised the youth of the country.
So much for the lip service paid to a man considered the apostle of non- violent protest. For on the same day, another gathering was taking place in Central Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, the designated site for protests, which is actually a 15-minute walk from India’s Parliament, which is currently in session. In broad daylight, with complete confidence and quite fearlessly, a group gathered there chanted slogans that basically said that Muslims would be cut down and as that happens they will shriek “Ram Ram”. If Muslims wish to live in India, they must shout Jai Shri Ram.
Even by the standards of hate speech we have all become used to, this was chilling stuff. The daily din of abuse against the world’s third-largest Muslim population, was being taken a notch higher. This was nothing short of genocidal language and it was...
