Assam Madrassa Bill: Bidding Adieu to Flawed Secularism

A Bill that discovered another unapologetic Hindu leader from the far East of India.

 

 

Since 1947, Indian political discourse revolved around a flawed definition of Secularism. Though the word ‘Secularism’ officially entered Indian Constitution much later, having any symbol of Hinduness was condemned, looked down upon and everything, even distantly relating to Islam and Christianity was honoured by Indian politicians as a symbol of Indian Secularism, for which a ridiculous term ‘Ganga- Jamuna Tehzib’ was coined too. Hindus incessantly felt the pressure of this one-way Secularism, in which saffron tilak, bangles and holy thread tied on the wrist were condemned as a communal gesture of asserting majoritarian arrogance, parallelly, wearing skull cap by the Hindu leaders and throwing lavish Ifataar parties during the Muslim month of Ramadan were portrayed as a symbol of Secularism.

 

 

Shah Bano Verdict Reversal and Unlocking Ayodhya Temple:

 

 

On 15th January 1986, Rajeev Gandhi Government went to the extent of reverting Supreme Court verdict of ordering alimony to Triple Talaq victim Shah Bano to please radical Islamists. It had triggered outrage amongst Hindus who were mute spectators and on the receiving end of this flawed one-way Secularism since 1947. As a result, when Rajeev started feeling the heat of Hindu anger, he ordered to open the locks of Ayodhya Ram Temple on 01 February 1986 as a counterbalancing act, to ameliorate perceptual damage to Congress Party post-Shah Bano verdict reversal. It was for the first time since centuries that Hindus got to know, their anger counts. Resurgent Hindu confidence further imploded, engulfing central government and toppling the Babri structure in 1992. But the national quest for an unapologetic Hindu leader continued on.

Godhra 2002...

 

 

The year 2002 saw an incident of massacre of Hindus; a train carrying Ayodhya Kar-sewaks was burnt down at Godhra Railway Station killing several Hindu Kar-sewaks. Secular media and political circle monotonously targeted the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to corner the then PM Atal Behari Vajpeyee. Hindus discovered an unapologetic Hindu leader in Narendra Modi and the collective Hindu psyche felt the pain of every attack on Modi as an attack on them. The Secular rant, continuing its notoriety, went on to target the then Home Minister of Gujarat, Amit Shah. Shah was humiliated, jailed and prosecuted, for speaking and acting on truth. However, Shah's perseverance paid multiple dividends, and invariably Hindus found one more unapologetic leader to rely on. Baseless attacks and propaganda by the pseudo-secular brigade on the duo from Gujarat catapulted them both to the national stage, with the resultant of Modi winning the 2014 General Elections with an absolute majority. For the BJP though, ‘It was a first-ever single-party majority, post-Indira Gandhi!’

 

 

The Scrapping of Article 370 and CAA!

 

 

The Hindu psyche, which was suppressed for centuries under the Mughals, then British and later on under secular dementia, celebrated Union Home Minister’s decision of scrapping the divisive Articles 370 and 35A in the month of August 2019. All notions of BJP being a minority in Rajya Sabha was junked in a single stroke. The special status to Jammu and Kashmir which ensured persecution and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus and was a lacerating wound for the Hindus for seven decades seemed to have been done with. Hindus found an emotional solace in this abrogation and celebrated it as nothing less than a National festival. Within months after scrapping Article 370, Modi Government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act paving the way for citizenship rights to Hindus, Sikhs and Christians persecuted in the neighbouring Islamic majority countries. Deadly agitations and riots ensued all over India, Uttar Pradesh bore the brunt of it as this was where India's most vibrant political Islam thrived since the success of the Two-Nation Theory that conceived the fruit of an Islamic only Pakistan.

 

 

Massive rioting and vandalism shocked the Hindus as they watched Muslims mobs in thousands roaming the streets, looting and burning private and public properties. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath derived an effective tool of dealing with this perpetrators, by confiscating rioters' private properties and auctioning them to compensate for the losses incurred. It worked like magic and riots stopped all of a sudden. Thus, the Hindus had one more unapologetic Hindu leader; one of a much younger age than they expected any politician to be usually! Also, this one was had already renounced every material desire, he was a ‘Yogi’.

 

 

Assam: Love Jihad, Miya Museum and the Madrassa Bill:

 

 

A public debate on Hindu girls' fraudulent religious conversions was triggered in Assam when its Education Minister, Mr Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his commitment to bring in a law to end such fraudulent conversions by Muslim youths who conceal their religious identity for the sake of luring in Hindu girls. The debate took centre stage in other BJP ruled States too which saw similar regulations coming into place to regulate this crime, the seeds of which were sown in Assam!

The popular secular theory amuck was that- North Eastern states will not buy BJP's Hindutva brand because of their sizable Muslim population and Christian pockets. But, Amit Shah, then the President of National Party BJP turned the tables and empowered his Man in North East; Mr Himanta Biswa Sarma was given a free-hand to employ his political skills on the ground. Sarma won almost all of North East for the BJP by forging alliances and creating the BJP's organization from scratch to win elections. On the other hand, Sarma played his political prowess very carefully, pushing his unapologetic Hindu agenda forth which was an exact replica of Home Minister Amit Shah's Brand Hindutva. He did not waste even a single opportunity to deliver a reassuring message to the suffocating Hindus of Assam. This is how the Assamese Hindus found a leader who on their behalf spoke their mind out fearlessly. He incessantly targeted brazen minorityism played by Badruddin Ajmal and warranted that even such a time-tested tactic meet its doomsday in Assam!