The motivation to write this article came from Ram Madhav's writeup in The Indian Express on August 10, 2024- "A Time for Healing". The sum and substance of the article, as given in the newspaper, is "Muhammad Yunus must work on building a modern, secular Bangladesh." The first thought that came to my mind was the saying, "Doctor, heal yourself." Ram Madhav has to ask himself whether his organisation, the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), believes in secularism. Has the BJP rule from 2014 to 2024 contributed to strengthening secularism in India or obliterated it?

There is no doubt that during the 15 years of rule of Sheikh Hasina, the Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh were kept in check, and the minorities, especially the Hindus, felt safe and secure. However, the dramatic political upheaval that led to the sudden resignation of Sheik Hasina and her fleeing from the country changed the scenario for the minorities. Violence against Hindus in the form of killing and destruction of houses and temples was widely reported in Bangladesh. Muhammad Yunus, who took charge as the head of the interim government in Bangladesh, was forced to appeal to people to "stop attacks on minorities; otherwise, I will resign". "If you trust me to lead your country, the first step is to cease all attacks on people, especially minorities. Without this, my efforts are futile, and it would be better if I stepped aside," said Yunus in a video message that went viral.

On August 10, as a response to a large-scale protest by Bangladeshi Hindus on violence against them, the 84-year-old Muhammad Yunus declared, "Are they not the people of this country? You have been able to save the country; can't you save some families?... You must say - no one can harm them. They are my brothers; we fought together, and we will stay together."

The statement of Yunus reminds Indians about the attitude of PM Modi towards Indian Muslims when they were attacked by the Hindutva forces. When social media was flooded with hate speeches against Muslims, when innocent Muslims were lynched by cow vigilantes, and when a Dharm Sansad made a call to Hindus for the genocide of Muslims, no word of empathy or support came from PM Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while congratulating Muhammad Yunus, made an appeal to him to stop violence against minorities, Hindus and others. The main opposition party, the Congress, also made a fervent appeal to the authorities in Bangladesh to stop violence against the minorities. "While noting that there have been influential voices within Bangladesh calling for the preservation of the country's multi-religious heritage, the Indian National Congress expresses its concern at reports of targeted attacks on minorities there and their properties and places of worship," Congress' communications chief Jairam Ramesh said.

The BJP leaders, particularly our prime minister and home minister, should pay attention to what Mohammad Yunus, the head of the interim government in Bangladesh, told a group of Hindu representatives after visiting a temple. "In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why such issues arise. institutional arrangements need to be fixed," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Star, a Bangladeshi newspaper.

Ram Madhav is one of the RSS think tanks and served as the General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during 2014-20. He is familiar with the ideology of RSS and the BJP - Hindutva. He also knows that secularism has nothing to do with the ideology of Hindutva, a Hindu Rashtra in which Muslims and Christians will be treated as second-class citizens as per the views of MS Golwalkar, whom the RSS considers Guruji. He is also aware of the statement of a few BJP leaders just before the 2024 Lok Sabha election that the BJP needed 400 seats to change the Constitution of India. The opposition parties made it a key election issue with a small twist, and the BJP couldn't get even an absolute majority; it had to depend on the allies to form the government.

In a globalised world, Indians, especially Hindus, live in different countries of the world, and they play a crucial role in the politics and governance of certain countries. The Indian-origin Rishi Sunak was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. With a following of 2.23 million, Hinduism is the fourth-largest faith in the USA. Naturally, India has to be concerned about the safety and security of Indians and Indian-origin people anywhere in the world. At the same time, those who rule India have to introspect how they treat their minorities, especially Muslims and Christians.

This is a time for the BJP and RSS to soul-search and ask certain questions concerning the safety and security of minorities in India, their share in education, employment and governing structures, from Gram Panchayat to the Union Government.

Why did the BJP not condemn the lynching of innocent Muslims by cow vigilantes and make a law for preventing vigilantism as well as punishing vigilantes? Human Rights Watch found that at least 44 people - 36 of them Muslims - were killed in cow-related violence between May 2015 and December 2018. The independent, New Delhi-based Documentation of the Oppressed database found 206 acts of cow-related violence involving 850 victims, mainly Muslims, between July 2014 and August 2022.

Why did the BJP not stop ministers, MPs, MLAs and other leaders of the party when they indulged in hate speeches and spread the venom of hatred against the minorities? According to a report (Hate Speech Events in India) released by India Hate Lab, a Washington DC-based group, out of 668 documented hate speech events in 2023 that targeted Muslims, 75% of them took place in BJP-ruled States and Union Territories. While 36% (239) of the events "included a direct call of violence against Muslims", 63% (420) included references to "conspiracy theories, primarily involving love jihad, land jihad, halal jihad and population jihad".

Why did the Prime Minister and the BJP not condemn the call in 2021 by a Dharm Sansad in Haridwar, UP, for the genocide of Muslims? According to a video released by Trinamool Congress leader and RTI activist Saket Gokhale, one of the speakers said, "Like Myanmar, our police, our politicians, our Army and every Hindu must pick up weapons and conduct a Safayi Abhiyan (ethnic cleansing). There is no other option left." (NDTV News on December 23, 2021 - Hate Speech-Givers in Haridwar Tell NDTV "Neither Regrets Nor Fear")

Why did the BJP state governments unleash violence on the people who protested against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act, which, for the first time, makes religion a basis for citizenship? The protesters were called traitors by the BJP supporters. According to a news report published by Human Rights Watch on April 9, 2020, at least 30 people, mostly Muslims, were killed during protests in the BJP-governed states, particularly in Uttar Pradesh. The report says that the police and other officials repeatedly failed to intervene when government supporters attacked those protesting the new citizenship policies.

Was not secularism ridiculed when the new parliament building of a secular country was inaugurated with a purely Hindu religious ritual by a group of Brahmin priests? Was not the principle of secularism violated when the Prime Minister of a secular country adorned the role of a chief priest during the consecration of an incomplete Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, despite strong objection from the Shankaracharyas?

Why did not the BJP take any action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he indulged in hate speeches during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections? While addressing a Lok Sabha poll rally in Rajasthan's Banswara, PM Modi said that if the Congress came to power, it would redistribute the wealth of people to Muslims. He also said that the Congress would even snatch 'mangalsutras' from women and give them to 'infiltrators.

Why does the BJP support its state governments that indulge in "bulldozer justice", a blatant violation of the Rule of Law. Bulldozer Justice has become a model of retributive violence popularised by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in which bulldozers are deployed by the authorities to raze down the house of an accused before a case or a dispute reaches a judicial closure. Muslims are the main targets of bulldozer justice. Other BJP state governments have copied the Yogi Adityanath invention.

Why did the BJP not oppose the discriminatory and divisive order of the UP and Uttarakhand governments that all shopkeepers and eatery owners on the routes of Kanwar Yathrees should display their names and the names of their employees? Doesn't the stay by the Supreme Court on the order of two BJP governments expose the hidden agenda of the BJP to discriminate against Muslim traders and shopkeepers?

It was reported in the media that during the protest by the Hindus in Bangladesh on August 10, they demanded special tribunals to expedite trials of those who persecute the minorities, allocation of 10 per cent parliamentary seats for the minorities, and enactment of a minority protection law among others. In a democracy, these are demands that deserve a positive response from the government. In the context of India, there is no Muslim representation in the Union Cabinet, whereas Muslims constitute 14.2% of the Indian population, and there is no Muslim representation among the 240 BJP Lok Sabha MPs. While the scheduled caste people among the Sikhs and Buddhists are given reservation, Christian and Muslim Dalits are denied reservation. Is this not a discrimination?

This is a time for Ram Madhav to advise the BJP and RSS to get rid of the policy of hate and revenge against Muslims and Christians in India and adopt a policy of accepting and respecting all religions without any discrimination. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole world is a family) is not a theme meant for the consumption of foreigners when the PM makes a speech in a foreign country, but it is to be practised in India. India should protest the violence against Hindus not only in Bangladesh but also in any country in the world. At the same time, if the BJP government led by PM Modi adopts a policy of inclusion, giving equal respect for all religions and promoting harmony among the followers of different faiths, the protest of India will carry a high level of credibility.