Bhartiya Janata Party considers itself nationalist and Narendra Modi has built a tall statue of Sardar Patel near the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat which is called Statue of Unity. However, the entire politics of BJP revolves around Hindu-Muslim polarisation. The latest incident is very shameful. BJP has given a memorandum to Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, demanding cancellation of admissions in M.B.B.S. programme at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Katra as 42 out of 50 students admitted are Muslims. In general, Hindutva minded people are opposed to policy of reservation and give impotance to merit. However, they are demanding 100% reservation for Hindus as they say that it is Hindu devotees who have contributed towards setting up of this university. The Leader of Opposition in J&K Assembly Sunil Sharma has said that sentiments of Hindus would have to be kept in mind. In the Manjakote tehsil of Rajouri district of J&K there is only one Hindu family, who run a grocery store. All the customers are from Muslim population. Now will the income of this family be considered Hindu or Muslim?
The J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has clarified that this university received Rs. 24 crores from the state government last year and this year it received Rs. 28 crores. It is shameful that BJP is demanding reservation on religious lines rather than merit. How dangerous the implication of such an idea will be can be only left to imagination. In this matter one must praise Madan Mohan Malviya who founded the Benaras Hindu University. He said, ‘This country doesn’t belong to Hindus alone. It belogns to Muslims, Christians and Parsis too. This country will remain strong and progress only if various communities living in India observe harmony with each other. I hope and pray that this centre of life and light will produce students who’ll not only match the intellectual capacity of students coming out of other institutions but will live a fulfilling life, will love their country and be faithful to the supreme power.’ Malviya, even though he was associated with Hindu Mahasabha, was a true nationalist. However, for the current BJP leaders the concept of nationalism is restricted to the domain of Hindutva. No need to say which philosophy is in the interest of the country. BJP is able to mobilise votes on the basis of this divisive politics hence it is furthering this kind of politics. It doesn’t have any concern for the nation. However, fortunately everybody has not fallen for this kind of politics. An incident has happened in J&K which explains why Mahatma Gandhi said that there is a ray of hope from Kashmir, when India was embroiled in the communal violence during partition.In the Narwal locality of Jammu, the Jammu Developent Authority, whose Vice-Chairman Rupesh Kumar has been appointed by the LG Manoj Sinha, recently demolished the 40 years old house of journalist Arfaz Daing built over 3 Marlas or 0.01875 acres of land which was described as encroachment. CM Omar Abdullah has informed that this action was taken without the permission of his government. This demonstrates who is actually running the Union Territory. However, as a welcome surprise neighbour Kuldeep Sharma came forward to offer 5 Marlas or 0.0312501 acres of land to Arfaz to rebuild his house. Kuldeep Sharma says people who came to demolish Arfaz’s house were insensitive and he could not bear witness to Arfaz’s family thrown on the road. Kuldeep Sharma is not a rich man. In spite of this Kuldeep says that if the JDA came again to demolish the house which will be built on his donated land he would offer double the size of land to Arfaz’s family. He says Arfaz is not a stranger but his neighbour and even if he has to beg he will see to it that a house is rebuilt for Arfaz’s family. In times when BJP indulges in negative politics Kuldeep Sharma has shamed BJP by giving a befitting reply. Impressed by Kuldeep Sharma’s decision a businessman from Pampore, who wishes to remain anonymous, as donated 1 Kanal of land worth Rs. 1 crore as a reward to Kuldeep Sharma. He said in times when people are fighting over caste, creed, religion and race, Kuldeep Sharma has proved that humanity is still alive. He said he is even willing to give his blood for Kuldeep Sharma who rose above religious lines and donated land to a Muslim. Another gentleman from Shopian, Mohammad Iqbal Shah, inspired by Kuldeep Sharma’s gesture has decided to donate 10 Marlas of land to him to strengthen Hindu-Muslim unity. He firmly believes in the slogans ‘Religion doesn’t teach us hatred between human beings’ and ‘Hindu Muslim Sikh Chritian are all brothers.’ This is probably what is referred to as Kashmiriyat and Mahatma Gandhi was perceptive enough to recognise it. Also, Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke about Kashmiriyat, Humanity and Democracy in the context of J&K. People in the rest of country need to take inspiration from Kashmir. Hate cannot be the answer to politics of hatred, only love and communal harmony can be. If the people want to avoid falling in the trap of communal politics being practised by BJP they must continuously practice communal harmony in the manner in which Kuldeep Sharma and two Kashmiri businessmen have done. This is the only way to blunt the politics of BJP. Communal harmony in response to hatred.
By Sandeep Pandey and Shahnawaz Mir
Phone: 0522 2355978, 3564437, 9622436571
E-mail ids: ashaashram@yahoo.com, shahnawazmir72@gmail.com
Note: Sandeep Pandey is Secretary General of Socialist Party (India) and Shahnawaz Mir is General
Secretary of People’s Democratic Party.
Leave a Reply