GUEST COLUMNS
IIndian religious festivals are celebrated with enthusiasm at home and are world famous everywhere else. The crowd, the color, the din, the passion. Not to mention the hate, obscenities, bloodshed and broken bones. Bulldozers… There was perhaps a time when it could have been considered a blessing that the Navratra and Ramzan fast days coincided as closely as they did this month. A conjunction that could lead practicing Hindus and Muslims to reflect on their cultural affinities or even their common humanity.
It is not the moment. This is not this country. Instead, we had a slow-motion stack of Hindu-Muslim clashes that snaked across our country in a desolate streak we may not have seen since the days of the Rath Yatra in 1990. Nothing about this is no coincidence, of course. . Indeed, with so many decades of hindsight, it is hard to ignore the malevolence of this dismal route: from the boycott of Muslim vendors in Karnataka, to the intimidation of butchers in the NCR, to biker gangs waving flags displaying their machismo, rock-throwing and gunfire as they passed through the narrow alleys of a certain community. Yes, “a certain community”, “alleys”, “mandir-masjid”, it doesn’t take much to evoke the staging of this miserably familiar story. We know that riots don’t just happen, that polarization is political. Our eyes are trained to scan suspiciously past the headlines the names that will betray the religious affiliation of the latest victim or perpetrator in the morning papers. And we have learned to chuckle over the historical wounds of our wounded civilization. The many invaders. Our dividers to rule.
Ramnavami-Hanuman Jayanti riots shed light on ‘militarization’ of festivals
The thing is, they don’t rule us anymore, do they? Yet after more than seven years of a heavy-handed Hindu government in New Delhi, the lingering sense of grievance against Muslims remains fresh. For the “appeasement” policy, for Kashmiri separatism, for Islamic radicalism, for singing and dancing in the hijab. So why did the Ramnavami-Ramzan riots cause such consternation? Perhaps it was the “militarization” of the festivals (literally given the massive swords and firearms suddenly on display) or the eruption of an uninhibited extremist “fringe” of sants and sadhvis, a self-proclaimed vanguard militant majorityism. Do these phenomena signal an escalation of community hostility, a deepening of the “great divide”? Or are we witnessing one more episode of the perversely punctuated balance of our country?
This week, we reached out to a number of prominent, politically engaged voices to ask what omens they see in the boiling communal cauldron. Their responses, which range from desperation to muted warnings, are far from hopeful, but they do suggest that this festival of hate has been thought-provoking on each end of the polarized political spectrum. As peace returns – with the rumble of vengeful bulldozers, a ban on religious processions, an armed police presence on the streets and surveillance drones overhead, there is the unnerving realization that we are being taught to be grateful for order and authority.
Hate in times of prayer
Artwork by Tanmoy Chakraborty
The hijab
The hijab controversy first erupted on January 1 at Government PU College in Udupi, Karnataka, when six female students claimed they were not allowed to enter classrooms wearing hijab, a covering -face. Their protest against college authorities quickly became a national movement, with several states witnessing similar demonstrations. At a middle school in Mandya, Karnataka, when a Muslim girl was allegedly heckled by boys wearing saffron scarves chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, she reportedly replied “Allah hu Akbar”. The Karnataka government justified banning the hijab in classrooms under its Education Act of 1983, under which, it said, it can issue instructions to schools and colleges to maintain public order. The case reached the Karnataka High Court, which upheld the state government’s order, saying the hijab was not essential to Islam. The case is now pending before the Supreme Court.
Artwork by Tanmoy Chakraborty
Halal meat
The halal row began after the Ugadi festival on April 2, when some far-right groups in Karnataka, including the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, launched a campaign against the purchase of halal meat, traditionally eaten by Muslims. BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi even compared halal meat to an economic jihad. The protests turned violent in Bhadravati, Shivamogga district, where five men were arrested for assaulting a man at a meat shop and another at a restaurant. The following day, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the state would investigate the issue of halal meat as serious objections had been raised over it. In November 2021, a similar campaign against halal meat was launched on social media in Kerala.
Loudspeakers in mosques
Over the past year, several far-right organizations, including the Bajrang Dal, have demanded that “azaan” not be broadcast through loudspeakers. They even threatened to retaliate by playing “bhajans” over loudspeakers near mosques. On April 2, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray urged the Maharashtra government to remove loudspeakers from mosques and threatened to play ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ out loud if his demands were not met. not satisfied. On April 18, the Nashik Police Commissioner issued an order directing all places of worship to seek permission before using loudspeakers by May 3. The police also banned the recitation of “Hanuman Chalisa” within 150 meters of a mosque.
The Supreme Court had in July 2005 banned the use of loudspeakers and music systems between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in public places, except in a public emergency. In August 2016, the Bombay High Court ruled that the use of a loudspeaker was not a basic right. On May 15, 2020, the High Court in Allahabad ruled that the azaan could only be recited by a human voice, without using any amplification device. In November 2021, the Karnataka High Court asked the state government to explain the provisions of the law under which loudspeakers and public address systems had been permitted in mosques, and what steps were being taken to restrict their use.
Ram Navami processions
Several states witnessed Hindu-Muslim clashes during Ramnavami in April. In Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, Muslim residents reportedly threw stones at a rally in Ramnavami, sparking a riot in which homes and shops were burned and more than two dozen people were injured. Muslims claim that those in the procession were playing provocative songs. Similar, albeit smaller, clashes have occurred in Gujarat, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka and West Bengal. In Goa and Gujarat, two mosques were burnt down for allegedly housing diggers. At Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, ABVP students clashed with leftist students over serving and eating non-vegetarian food during Navaratri.
Hanuman Jayanti Processions
Artwork by Tanmoy Chakraborty
On April 16, nine people were injured in clashes between Hindus and Muslims at Hanuman Jayanti in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri district. Those who organized it would have taken a path next to a mosque located near a temple. The loud religious songs clashed with the azaan, leading to violence between the two groups. An FIR was registered against the organizers of the procession and nearly 25 people were arrested.