Official Silence Is Shocking
While Xi Jinping was at Mahabalipuram admiring Indian art and listening to Modi's 'political wisdom,' the People's Liberation Army was pushing the Chinese frontier in the Galwan Valley. The Chinese spokesperson offered only a simple explanation: their soldiers were performing their 'normal' duty at the LoC. Xi had learned from the fifth century BC Sun Tzu's 'Art of War' the strategic importance of cleverly concealed action. While we Indians excel in Mann ki Baat, the Chinese are ahead in Kaam ki Baat. Armed men doing their duty at the borders is 'normal.'

Modiji may have learnt a lesson. While he was devoutly attending Christmas service at the Cathedral Church of Redemption in Delhi, with prayers for the nation and wishes for inter-community harmony, Christians were being harassed at their celebrations in Delhi, Haryana, Odisha, Kerala, Assam, MP, and Chhattisgarh. Video shots speak for themselves. When leaders remain serene and silent in the face of tragedies under their inspiration, horrors become 'normal.'

The allegation of the Bajrang Dal in Nalbari (Assam), while attacking Christmas celebrations at St. May's School, was that such celebrations hurt Hindu sentiments! What we would like to ask is this: 'What convictions are those sentiments based on? Who has passed on those convictions to them?' Have minority communities ever complained that the celebrations of the majority community, like poojas, melas and yatras, with stampedes, deaths, accidents, and violence, hurt their sentiments?

Mounting Inconsistency
The BJP-RSS leaders regularly congratulate the Bajrang Dal for their courage and dedication, but never have a word of condemnation for their acts of violence. Thus, communal violence has become 'normalised' in India. Violence against minorities, Dalits and tribals grows more and more 'normal' in the absence of a rebuke from BJP leaders or RSS spokespersons. The appreciation that Hindutva youth receive for their "brave" deeds (which are truly inhuman) emboldens them further. All they long for is recognition from their elders. So, violence has increased in the country. The United Christian Forum referred to more than 600 violent incidents that Christians have faced at the hands of Hindutva activists during the last few months.

We are all seriously concerned about the mob rule that continues in Bangladesh under Muhammad Yunus. Unfortunately, minorities have suffered a great deal; their places of worship have been attacked in many places. There have been protests in Bangladesh and many parts of India. Voices have been loudest in India, with no impact on Bangladesh. What is puzzling most is the silence of the protestors against the same type of injustice that minorities suffer in India. Indian protesters seem to be merely saying, "Don't do in Bangladesh what we are doing in India..."

Bangladesh radicals seem to reply, "Thank you for the lessons you taught us. We will try to one-up you." Mohan Bhagwat wants India to be "Vishwaguru." His dream has been fulfilled. RSS-shaped "cultural nationalism" is being faithfully copied by majority communities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives and now Bangladesh. Majoritarianism has been 'normalised' in South Asia, possibly in the wider world as well. America's national security strategy is a Trumpian version of the same 'cultural nationalism.'

The tragedy is that inconsistency has destroyed India's credibility. When Modiji speaks about equality, fairness, peace, and attention to the weak, no one takes him seriously. Those who count on India's large market may flatter him a wee bit, but those who take his words seriously are heading for self-deception. When India proposes to Bangladesh to hold "free, fair, inclusive and participatory elections" next February, the Bangladeshi reply may be, "Thank you for your kind suggestion. Yes, we too are planning a 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) of our voters' list and effective booth control! Bihar elections taught us a great deal!"

Lynchistaan
There is never a dull day in India. Daily, we hear of violence against Minorities. For example, Mohammed Athar Hussain, aged 40, was mob-lynched near Nalanda; a schoolteacher was shot dead in Aligarh University; a worker was lynched in Odisha. There were these and other instances that made Iltijia Mufti exclaim, 'they have turned India into 'Lynchistaan.' Lynching has become 'normal.'

Similarly, the rape of minority women is getting 'normalised.' Hardly any voice is heard in protest. Mehbooba Mufti was shocked at the judicial 'leniency' shown recently to certain notorious rapists. She alleges that the Indian Judiciary is excessively politicised. Rape is 'normalised.' The police have turned discriminatory everywhere: the perpetrators are protected, and the victims are arrested. The Bajrang Dal forces people to shout "Jai Shri Ram" or other BJP slogans.

Deeper Consequences, Wider Fallout
Yashwant Sinha and a group of committed citizens visited Kashmir recently to study the prevailing situation there. They found that an anti-India feeling was spreading in Kashmir and taking deep roots. Boasts about Operation Sindoor have only strengthened the trend. What they perceived was a "volcano of suppressed anger" which could erupt at any time. People hate the present "majoritarian" order that is pressing hard upon the minorities. More and more young people are being radicalised, including educated and well-placed people.

There had been loud Hindutva bombasts about a 'surgical strike' against Pakistan. VHP is asking for a similar performance against Bangladesh. Whether it is in keeping with International Law is not asked. 'The strong is always right." If America could hit Iran, India can hit Bangladesh: the Big Fish devours the weak. But remember, anger crosses borders, remains buried for centuries. A reply comes. As the Roman Empire fell, so did the Spanish, Austrian, French and British empires fall.

The Americans never forgot the surprise attack that the Japanese made on them at Pearl Harbour in 1941. The Atom Bomb that was made against the Nazis in Germany was used against Japan in 1945: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Indians still remember the 1962 humiliation at Chinese hands. Pakistan accuses India of 'weaponising water," manipulating the Chenab flow. In what form the response will come one day is another matter.

Anger can be reborn in a thousand incarnations in a thousand places. The Anti-Bangladesh protesters of Indian origin in London were confronted by Khalistani activists. Protesters met protesters. Alienate people at home, and you alienate the same people abroad! The anger that has emerged in the International sphere is a many-headed monster. The RSS-BJP administration has drawn anger towards harmless Indians in Australia, Canada, California, London, and many other places. They have made Mohan Bhagwat's Vishwaguru a "Vishwa-victim." It is good for respected Bhagwat to remember that a Guru who poses as a Vishwaguru ceases to be a Guru. He will be considered no more than a clown.

Social Order Does not Come through Imposition
It is good for people like Amit Shah to realise that social order is not created by sturdy imposition. Singing the praises of Modi in Kashmir or the Northeast only aggravates the situation, not reduces it. Loud claims of achievement sound hollow. Pretensions to self-importance turn merely counterproductive. How long did the peace imposed by the Trump administration last between Cambodia and Thailand, and between India and Pakistan? A Thai Minister only commented on Trump's total ignorance of the situation. The less we claim, the more we succeed in doing. Exaggerations make people stumble. Protesters in the US against Trumpian autocracy carried the poster: "No Kings." Protesters in India may need to carry a poster: "No Majoritarian Supremacists."

India must learn from history. But unfortunately, our majoritarian leaders are repeating the same mistakes of earlier colonial masters: arrogance, pride, claims of superiority, imposing homogeneity, and racism. Just recently, Angel Chakma, a student aged 24 from Tripura, was killed in Dehradun as though he was an infiltrator from China! He had repeatedly affirmed that he was an Indian. He was stabbed to death. There have been protests against racism from Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi and Minister Temjen Imna Along of Nagaland. But our sovereign masters are determined to pursue their Hindu rashtra goals: the top classes/castes must remain dominant.

Subjugation of Indigenous Communities
As the Aryan hordes pressed hard into India around 1500 BC, they 'hanumanised' all indigenous people. Those conquered were reduced to servitude as Dalits. The Hanuman figure, according to anthropologists, speaks eloquently of the invading race's attitude to the natives, extremely similar to what the Westerners thought about Africans or American Indians: subhumans. They were assigned diverse tasks, and their humble role was given religious sanction in the Manusmriti and other Pauranic texts. Tribals who remained in inaccessible areas were described as Vanaras (Hanuman image), Rakshasas (fierce fighters), and Kiratas (Mongolian races).

The subdued races, the Dalits, contributed greatly to the prosperity of the Iron Age (1300-300 BC), from which the Aryan landlords profited the most. Kshatriya fighters, unskilled in other areas, donated large tracts of land to Brahmins who introduced the Jajmani system, in which lower castes were provided only sustenance while enriching the higher castes. The call for "Hindu rashtra" is a pressure for a return to this system within the changed economic order.

South and East under Threat
Rulers of the South and East, unskilled in organised agriculture, invited North Indian Brahmins and placed vast rural spaces under their supervision. While making enormous profits for themselves, these Brahmins helped to suppress flourishing Buddhism, Jainism and tribal faiths in those areas, change their shrines and monasteries into Hindu sacred institutions, and build temples especially to Hanuman so that "servant mentality" may be fostered among the Dravidians of the South and Mongolians of the East. This trend continues. However, a resistance was bound to come. The demand for secession from India by Periyar (South) and Phizo (East) must be understood in this context.

The sense of non-belonging created among the Dalits and tribals made many of them become Muslims during the Muslim domination. Fortunately, there was an ongoing conversation between the dominant majority and these regional or ethnic minorities during the Independence struggle and the early years after Independence. Congress, under the leadership of Gandhi, Nehru and other Founding Fathers, achieved a great deal in the area of National Integration over the years. It is this achievement that has been shattered during the brief period of BJP-RSS rule: alienation of South and East, Kashmir and Punjab, and tribals of Central India. The threat to their future has only intensified.

Karbi Land in Deep Peril
Tribals from the Northeast have been humiliated, harassed or killed during their stay in other parts of India, as it happened to Angel Chakma from Tripura. Today, the people of the Karbi tribe are called 'foreigners' in their own native land. Their own tribal leaders, Karbi Council Chief and others, were the first to betray them by allowing the Government of Assam to sell off tribal land to big companies owned by Adani, Ambani, Hinduja, Godrej, Ramdev, and Ravi Shankar; 150,000 bighas have been alienated. We hear of the Aravallis being distributed to real estate and mining companies. Such forms of exploitation have become 'normalised'.

What was heartbreaking for the Karbis was hearing encroachers from Bihar at Kheroni shout at them, "Karbi Chinese go back." Outsiders have become masters of their land. No wonder the Karbi peaceful protesters turned violent. The Army was called into action. Several were killed and others wounded.

Assam's civil society leaders (Nagarik Samaj) accuse the State government of the present situation in Karbi Anglong. Bodo Students' Union has done the same. The leaders of Assam Jatiya Parishad expressed deep anxiety. It makes little difference for the indigenous people of the Northeast whether the encroachers are from Bangladesh, Bihar or UP, Muslims or Hindus. Their homeland and heritage are being threatened. What happened to the Karbis can happen to the Ahoms themselves tomorrow.

"Using" People
Thus, Hindurashtra shows its real colour: casteism aggravated by racism. Ambedkar saw no emancipation within Hinduism. He opted for Buddhism. Brahminism is ever-evolving as a socio-intellectual force, remaining strong amid new compulsions. Sun Tzu's strategy of cleverly concealed action makes them "use" subordinates to perform risky or unpleasant tasks: Bajrang Dal in the front line before Babri Masjid or cow defence to get the bullets, face a lathi charge or a jail term; a Rijuju, Murmu, Momin or Temjen to make statements unacceptable to the public; women in protest marches.

According to Immanuel Kant, using people as a means is the greatest of all crimes. But there is always a response. Albert Camus exclaimed, "I rebel, therefore I exist." Yes, indeed, we rebel, we protest. But more than protest, we weep. We weep for the victims of harassment, we weep for the persons who were used as "tools" to do this injustice, we weep for the strategic planners of such injustice.

We shall not be Defeated
These last-mentioned, too, are our brothers. They are damaging their own personality, destroying their dignity. But more than anything else, they are ruining our shared civilisation. The most precious values of our civilisation are being eroded. We condemn this immense harm that they are doing to our society, but we promise to join hands with them (would you believe it?) in undoing it!! Wrongdoing shall not be 'normalised.'

We echo Maya Angelou's resolve, "We encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated."