Nupur Sharma’s tragic expulsion from BJP unequivocally vindicates the fact that BJP has set its own Lakshman Rekha of going thus far, yet no further: to convince the gullible Hindus that it is its saviour against the Islamic jingoism, yet when the push came to the shove, it had no qualms in throwing Nupur Sharma to the Islamic Wolves. Unequivocally then, much like other secular parties, BJP too sacrificed the national interest at the altar of political expediency; to buy peace with the Islamic zealots, BJP has genuflected before the Islamic fanaticism yet again, giving a message to one and all: it has no ballast or wherewithal to match the blood curdling cries of naked Islamic jehadis. In the process, the message that comes out is loud and clear: Hindus will invariably chicken out in the face of blood curdling cries of Islamic fanatics.
Vivekanand Jha Ranchi: India has lost out yet again, especially after decades, since the Rajiv Gandhi government had genuflected before the Islamic fanatics in the wake of Shah Bano judgment which had purportedly set right the age old prejudices of Muslim women under the obscurantist Islamic law. That the apex court sought to enforce justice as per the law of jurisprudence, even though it was the landmark in the history of jurisprudence and the law of the land, the brute majority of Rajiv Gandhi government –flaunting over 400 MPs in Lok Sabha, inexplicably pulverised like a pack of cards before the blood curdling cries of Islamic fanatics. Surprisingly, the then Prime Minister had given his commitment to Lal Krishna Advani that his government would steadfastly stand its ground and consequently would not be browbeaten into submission. But, unable to withstand the blood curdling cries of Islamic jihadis and its own solid Muslim vote bank, Rajiv Gandhi succumbed to the pressure tactics and nullified the judgment by passing another legislation. It was the despicable act of disgraceful pusssailanimity by the then government, which had emboldened the Islamic fundamentalists that, despite being hardly 18 percent of the total population, they still could browbeat the government into a meek submission. Hindus were left high and dry, with Rajiv Gandhi government sending a candid message: In a Hindu majority nation, ‘ Muslim First’ should be the policy of his government, where ethics, rule of law and the sense of equity–all will be thrown into winds when the question of appeasing Muslim sentiments was involved. Significantly, the monolithic vote bank of muslims was the pivot around which the decisions were made, with least regards to the national interest. Or, in other words, national interest was ostensibly presumed to be catering to the sectarianism of Islamic fundamentalists.
However, 2014 proved to be the new dawn for the republic where decades of wrongs wrought on the nation in the garb of lop sided secularism was expected to be set right. The government of a Hindu nationalist purportedly was expected to re-define the national interest. Significantly, the government had demonstrated its will when it outright refused to buckle when CAA(Citizenship Amendment Act) was passed by the Parliament. Yet again, even though Muslims had nothing to do with this act, nonetheless they sought to browbeat the government into an abysmal submission. So called peaceful protests across India was orchestrated to terrorise the government, yet the government refused to buckle under the pressure. Triple Talaq bill too was passed amidst the Islamic fundamentalists protesting against its implementation, for such a law, they contended, was incompatible with the personal law of Islam and therefore was not valid, stood punctured with a strong resolve of the Modi government to withstand its ground. Significantly in decades, albeit for the first time, it appeared that Modi government did possess 56 inch chest and, notwithstanding the famous jihadi tactics employed, it would not fall in line. The people of India felt that Modi government, notwithstanding its sundry other omissions and commissions, has the ballast and wherewithal to look into the jihadi eyes without blinking. Also, the people of India, especially the peace loving majority Hindus, felt that in Modi government lay their collective security, their future invested. Further, ‘ India First’ and ‘ Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikash’ were the prominent slogans widely resonated with one and all. Alas, the wishes were horses! Sooner, rather than later, the people realised their overwhelming enthusiasm over the male machismo and 56 inch chest of Prime Minister had its self- imposed Lakshman Rekha, proclaiming in loud voice, ‘ thus far and no further’ policy was tacitly put in place to ensure its vote bank without bruising the religious sentiments of Islamic jihadists which Nupur Sharma’s episode was awaiting to prove.
Nupur Sharma, a flamboyant National Spokesperson of BJP, was not the one to be subdued or browbeaten by her opponents in public debate on T.V. channels. Especially when it came to denigrating the Hindu gods and goddesses by the Islamic fanatics, she, unable to take it lying down, especially when the former was undermining lord Shiva in vilest of terms, she lashed out with her own recrimination: her vilification, if any, against prophet Mohammad, was only a retaliation to the provocation which repeatedly targeted her own god, Lord Shiva. Where was she wrong then? The decades of pusillanimity of Hindus brought about by their silence in the face of gravest of provocation, has become an institutionalised trend: you have a licence to abuse our god, while we have no right to react. And if you dare to react, we will not only shout you down, but fatwas too will follow where your head will be decapitated. This undeclared rule had guided the conduct of this nation till a brave girl, unable to take such a despicable rule positively in her stride, retaliated almost as poignantly as the vilification of Lord Shiva was purportedly made by an Islamic jihadist. But then, all hell broke loose: whereas the poor Nupur Sharma had borne the brunt of the jihadi propaganda from across the Muslim countries, while her own fellow compatriots, especially Hindus, shied away from backing her’– barring demagogue, Pushpendra Kulsreshtha and the class of twitterati. Worse still, the party she has been staunchly defending with her blood and sweat, in all public debates, ironically expelled her on the ground that she was the fringe element, not backing the ideology of the party in the public debates. Regrettably, the party suspended Naveen Kumar Jindal, the man who circulated the comment of Nupur Sharma on twitter. Ironically, Modi government, not too in the distant past, had thrown its weight behind Anurag Thakur, the BJP leader who is the incumbent minister of state for finance, for chanting the slogan, ‘ Desh kay gaddaron ko, goli maro salon ko’. No action ever was contemplated against him, despite there being a massive protest against such slogan raised during the assembly election in Delhi. Why then, BJP , had been so harsh in expelling Nupur Sharma when she had been facing such threats like rape and murder from jihadis, has its own twists and turns?
The matter, in the absence of the commensurate support from Hindus, has spread like a wild fire in the Arabian countries which provides jobs to millions of Indian expatriates and also is the formidable source for foreign remittance. Significantly, with all these gulf countries rising in protests, one of which being Quatar, banning Indian product from its super market, the government of India suddenly chickened out with diplomatic crises engulfing it from different sides. Moreover, Narendra Modi, having been conferred upon with the highest civilian awards from some of these countries, too panicked in no time. Interestingly, the government which went on for damage control exercise by expelling Nupur Sharma from the BJP, singularly failed to impress upon these countries the crucial fact that Nupur Sharma was only retaliating against the blasphemy towards her God and, therefore, if Prophet Mohammad was dear to these Muslims world, Lord Shiva is far more dear to Hindustan. Unfortunately, the abysmal diplomatic failure resulting in expounding India’s raison d’etre and summum bonum of Lord Shiva being eternal for this country, is the vindication of India ever being apologists for its own gods and goddesses and its religion, whereas Muslims relentlessly unleash their campaign to sell their own version of Allah or prophet being the only god and its messenger. Small wonder then, the expulsion of Nupur Sharma from BJP tantamounts to the defeat of BJP in the hands of Muslim fundamentalists yet again. Moreover, the whole episode brings into focus that how vulnerable India is when it comes to its dependency on the Arab countries. No wonder, this episode gives rise to another very important question: if this government failed to tackle Nupur Sharma’s case, leaving the brave girl at the mercy of Islamic wolves, how it would usher in the Uniform Civil Code or Population Control Bill, let alone so called Hindu Rashtra? Also, this unsavoury episodes unequivocally proves about BJP’s Lakshman Rekha beyond which it cannot go, or else it could have not allowed Nupur Sharma to be thrown to the Islamic wolves. Thus, if India has no option to throttle the pressure tactics of Islamic nation, it can never independently espouse the national interest that Prime Minister so evocatively talks about. Small wonder then, the so called national interest, as it was the case with Rajiv Gandhi decades back, so is with Narendra Modi in 2022, which stood subservient to political expediency, even though trumpeting the national interest behind their kowtowing to the Islamic fundamentalists. Prime minister cannot deny that his 56 inch chest shrank while dealing with Islamic world. Moreover, it was also the biggest setback for a national awakening. Meanwhile, Islamists are with a bright smile as the fragrance of a sweet victory engulfs them yet again in no ambiguous terms.
Vivekanand Jha, an Author, Academician and a Public Intellectual.
