Noam Chomsky is one of the leading peace workers in the world. In the wake of America’s attack on Vietnam, he brought out his classic formulation, ‘manufacturing consent’. The phrase explains the state manipulating public opinion to have the public approve of it policies—in this case, the attack of the American state on Vietnam, which was then struggling to free itself from French colonial rule.
In India, we are witness to manufactured hate against religious minorities. This hatred serves to enhance polarisation in society, which undermines India’s democracy and Constitution and promotes support for a Hindu nation. Hate is being manufactured through multiple mechanisms. For example, it manifests in violence against religious minorities. Some recent ghastly expressions of this manufactured hate was the massive communal violence witnessed in Mumbai (1992-93), Gujarat (2002), Kandhamal (2008) and Muzaffarnagar (2013). Its other manifestation was in the form of lynching of those accused of having killed a cow or consumed beef. A parallel phenomenon is the brutal flogging, often to death, of Dalits who deal with animal carcasses or leather.
Yet another form of this was seen when Shambhulal Regar, indoctrinated by the propaganda of Hindu nationalists, burned alive Afrazul Khan and shot the video of the heinous act. For his brutality, he was praised by many. Regar was incited into the act by the propaganda around love jihad. Lately, we have the same phenomenon of manufactured hate taking on even more dastardly proportions as youth related to Hindu nationalist organisations have been caught using pistols, while police authorities look on.
Anurag Thakur, a BJP minster in the central government recently incited a crowd in Delhi to complete his chant of what should happen to ‘traitors of the country...” with a “they should be shot”. Just two days later, a youth brought a pistol to the site of a protest at Jamia Millia Islamia university and shouted “take Azaadi!” and fired it. One bullet hit a student of Jamia. This happened on 30 January, the day Nathuram Godse had shot Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. A few days later, another youth fired near the site of protests against the CAA and NRC at Shaheen Bagh. Soon after, he said that in India, “only Hindus will rule”.
What is very obvious is that the shootings by those associated with Hindu nationalist organisations are the culmination of a long campaign of spreading hate against religious minorities in India in general and against Muslims in particular. The present phase is the outcome of a long and sustained hate campaign, the beginning of which lies in nationalism in the name of religion; Muslim nationalism and Hindu nationalism. This sectarian nationalism picked up the communal view of history and the communal historiography which the British introduced in order to pursue their ‘divide and rule’ policy.
In India what became part of “social common sense” was that Muslim kings had destroyed Hindu temples, that Islam was spread by force, and that it is a foreign religion, and so on. Campaigns, such as the one for a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Rama to be built at the site where the Babri masjid once stood, further deepened the idea of a Muslim as a “temple-destroyer”. Aurangzeb, Tipu Sultan and other Muslim kings were tarnished as the ones who spread Islam by force in the subcontinent. The tragic Partition, which was primarily due to British policies, and was well-supported by communal streams also, was entirely attributed to Muslims. The Kashmir conflict, which is the outcome of regional, ethnic and other historical issues, coupled with the American policy of supporting Pakistan’s ambitions of regional hegemony, (which also fostered the birth of Al-Qaeda), was also attributed to the Muslims.
With recurring incidents of communal violence, these falsehoods went on going deeper into the social thinking. Violence itself led to ghettoisation of Muslims and further broke inter-community social bonds. On the one hand, a ghettoised community is cut off from others and on the other hand the victims come to be presented as culprits. The percolation of this hate through word-of-mouth propaganda, media and re-writing of school curricula, had a strong impact on social attitudes towards the minorities.
In the last couple of decades, the process of manufacturing hate has been intensified by the social media platforms which are being cleverly used by the communal forces. Swati Chaturvedi’s book, I Am a Troll: Inside the Secret World of the BJP’s Digital Army, tells us how the BJP used social media to spread hate. Whatapp University became the source of understanding for large sections of society and hate for the ‘Other’, went up by leaps and bounds. To add on to this process, the phenomenon of fake news was shrewdly deployed to intensify divisiveness.
Currently, the Shaheen Bagh movement is a big uniting force for the country; but it is being demonised as a gathering of ‘anti-nationals’. Another BJP leader has said that these protesters will indulge in crimes like rape. This has intensified the prevalent hate.
While there is a general dominance of hate, the likes of Shambhulal Regar and the Jamia shooter do get taken in by the incitement and act out the violence that is constantly hinted at. The deeper issue involved is the prevalence of hate, misconceptions and biases, which have become the part of social thinking.
These misconceptions are undoing the amity between different religious communities which was built during the freedom movement. They are undoing the fraternity which emerged with the process of India as a nation in the making. The processes which brought these communities together broadly drew from Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar. It is these values which need to be rooted again in the society. The communal forces have resorted to false propaganda against the minorities, and that needs to be undone with sincerity.
Combating those foundational misconceptions which create hatred is a massive task which needs to be taken up by the social organisations and political parties which have faith in the Indian Constitution and values of freedom movement. It needs to be done right away as a priority issue in with a focus on cultivating Indian fraternity yet again.
"The commission is partaking of a large number of cases relating to women who have been at the receiving end of the practice of unilateral talaq. Triple talaq (talaq-e-bidat), nikah halala and polygamy are unconstitutional because they compromise the rights of Muslim women (or women who marry into Muslim community) to their disadvantage, which is detrimental to them and their children," the NCW said.
Comments
Arif.... U r right Talaq happens in all community but there is control over it & justice is there for both women n men, but here some Muslims just throw girls like a saliva, if need swallow it no need spit it. Talaq means her life is ruined forever bcoz ur community doesnt give chance or educate women which will lead her life miserable but in other community its not like that if a Women is divorced very next day she will be mingling with society as if nothing happened , life should move for everyone as we are all humans.
Mr Mujeeeb, control ur tongue , i am a proud namazi muslima ... i have great faith in my religion and i am also strong believer in my country's constitution . we need justice which is guaranteed in the constitution . you cannot understand the trauma , i wish ur sisters or daughters must face the similar situation , then you will understand the pain which i felt . Comment no 9, what do you think about women ? is marrying a change of dress ,even we have feelings . dont float irresponsible comments . be it handful of crores of women , we need common civil code , so that we can gril people who are evading responsibilities under the garb of religious laws .
@Lloyd Dsouza,
The people who mis-use the triple talaq is very few. It is minority within minority. Talaq is not a favorable thing in Islam, neither it is encouraged. It is last option for the couple to separate, instead of bearing each other f
God Almighty has revealed a separate Chapter on divorce - At-Talaq. (Holy Quran:65). Divorce in Islam is not as how you see in India or anywhere else. Also... It is in the Holy Quran that you can marry four wives ONLY if you can do JUSTICE among them.. Do read it..and understand. may He guide us all.
Triple Talaq.....means u can marry any women then Divorce anytime & find again anyone. U mean u r committing Adultery.
Someone above said we have to read Quran to understand Islam properly, agreed we will read but what u people doing after reading Quran properly if u read it properly u should have been good example to others so that people may inspire by you to read Quran.
Reasons for Divorce :
A NRI from Dubai married a girl from kerala after a month of enjoyment with her he went to Dubai & announced Divorce through phone ....y? Reason he fulfilled his sexual desire from her.
A women who cant give birth to Male child will also get divorced.
A Women became old then shez no more beautiful , u can divorce?
A Man found & love with other girl after marriage also will divorce in Name of triple talaq.
If these things are good according to u & Quran i really dont want to read it.
more or less Muslims are ignorant and uneducated about triple talak method....religious preachers should shed more light on this matter in every nukes and corners of India...like how it should be done etc....as far as Mrs. Shahida, she is right from her view point and experience....many women are suffering from misused way of giving talak in India....which is not at all good....if we cant fix this problem somebody else will easily put their nose in to it (BJP & RSS)...scary....
Dear Mr. Ponder, You told correct let all human being in India study Quran with meaning then they will understand the value of Triple Talaq. This Mrs. Shahida didnot practice Islam correctly and she do not know about Islam and Quran as well as Hadith. So let her first make the study of Islam properly before supporting such finger count women group..
Shahida, if you have no respect to Islam and Sharia, why dont you leave it and accept other religion which will give you more respect than islam. Why are you favoring change in sharia whereas 99.99 percent women are favoring it and dont want any change in Sharia. Dont be a Munafiq. None is forcing you to practice Sharia. You have no right to ask for change in Sharia. It will remain unchanged at any cost. We dont need name sake people like you. If you want to follow Saitaan go ahead and enjoy his company. If you have no respect for men, dont get married to any man and better marry a female or else. NCW has no right to interfere in Muslim personal law. NCW is not concerned about the tragedies being faced by muslim women and they are worried about Talaq. This is disgusting and unacceptable. It will be better if NCW keeps away from Talaq issue. This is not your headache. Its our issue and we will solve it. You should not and never change a rule in favor of 0.0000001 percent misguided and hired women.
Sister Shahida,
If your husband had given you divorce, forget him for ever. Live as dignified woman with respect and honor instead of leading life as his slave. Islam has given you right to remarry a man of your choice.
Our Moulanas need to study Quran , for the procedures laid down for Talaq .... If that is followed, there will not be such situations ....
Why the men are in a hurry to give the talaq in one saying .... let them wait for 3, 3, 3 months period and complete the talak procedures as per quran ....
Why boycott polygamy???
Bcos it gives security, clothing, food, shelter to more women and their children?
Bcos it upholds the statuses of women in the society?
Bcos it gives her protection and honor in the society?
Bcos it gives a widows a chance to lead a decent life?
Bcos it gives a un-married aged woman a chance to have a husband and have a decent life?
Why no boycott for having unlimited girl friends, live-in relationships???
Bcos it ruins the life of women?
Bcos it hardly gives any statuses to women in the society?
Bcos it doesn't guarantee security, clothing, food, shelter for women?
Bcos it doesn't give protection to the children after the affairs?
Polygamy is much more than fulfilling the sexual desire of men.
Just imagine giving divorce thru our existing slow lethargic judicial systems, you ask for divorce and wait for 2-3 years to get the response. If the women who happens to seek the divorce from a drunkard, she has to bear him till court gives the clearance.
I oppose instance triple Talaq which is not a part of Islam, but I appreciate the triple Talaq system which gives protection to family system from breaking away so easily without giving proper due process of mutual consultation and settling the scores between husband and wife, involving people from two parties and with the final arbitration from the local khazi of the place.
These are all the bunch of women who destroyed the life of their husbands. Merely a handful number are not representing 20 crores. Ignore them those who are ignorant about their religion.
READ QURAN:
Whole mankind will understand who is Ignorant and who's not?
QURAN is a manual for whole of Mankind and not just muslims or arabs...
There are many Laws that will be understood only when you use your intellect and find the reason and logic behind such divine law..
ALLAH(God) has given intellect to everyone of his creation i.e HUMAN... and we should utilize it ... Unless we find out by research and reason and logic we are ending up just like the animals which is also a creation of God...
May ALLAH guide us all and to understand the divine law better and to implement with faith...
Yes, Your name is Shahida.
ShahidaMMa, Please fight for equal rights under constitution. Uniform Civil Code is what you need - good for you.
There should be no gender bias, Let women get same treatment as men
Let us first start off with;
- Special bus, queues, seats for women, should be banned.
Then we can talk of implementing No gender bias under Uniform Civil Code!! LOL!
#2 Shahida, if you want to bring this law, and if you know the pain, then dont get delay go and marry Mr. Modi.
We want equal rights under constitution . How long can we sustain this great injustice ? me being a divorcee , i know the pain and mental trauma . Central govt must bring this rule .muslim women have faced and continue to face gender bias .
- Prostitution in India [ 3 Million women according to reports ] continues, breaking the existing law.
- Live-In Relationships, ruining lives of men and more of a women.
- Unmarried Females, Having no choice in personal life - God save them!
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