Comment
Ashraf Ansari
Ever since BJP assumed power in India, headed by Nirendra Modi, more and more evidence has been emerging of a neo-Faschism based on Hindutva ideology that means an ideology of Hindu supremacy over all minorities especially 200 million Muslims living in India. Hindutva also means supremacy of Hindu religion over all other religions being followed in India. Not only the followers of non-Hindu faiths are being targeted by the Hindu extremists but also their places of worship. Recently Delhi, the Indian capital witnessed horrible anti-Muslim carnage marked by killings, arsoning and looting by the Hindu extremists. Mosques were also desecrated and pulled down. While all this was happening, police did not move and looked on as was the desire of the Fasist rulers. More recently a statue of Prophet Christ was removed from a Christian enclosure by police themselves on behest of the Hindu extremists. The state machinery is toeing the line of Fascist ruling BJP. Even the judiciary has fallen in line following the notorious model of so-called People’s Courts of Nazi era Germany. The Indian Supreme Court seems helpless in the face of legislation violative of the Indian constitution. The military is the ultimate arbiter at a time when the state structure is torn apart and the constitution is trampled. But in the Indian case the military itself is involved in committing acts which may be amounted to reflection of Hindutva based state terrorism as in occupied Kashmir.
Ideology of Hindutva is rooted in the pre-Partition Hindu extremist movements. These movements gave birth to the BJP. The exponents of the Hindu extremist movements were inspired by the circumstances that led to fall of Muslim rule in Spain in the medieval era. The BJP has found a model in Israel when it came to the suppression of an uprising in occupied Kashmir. But the BJP government has gone much beyond the Israelis in its bid to suppress the Kashmiri people who are struggling to exercise their right to self-determination. The Indian forces have been killing unarmed Kashmiri civilians including men, women and children. The number runs into thousands. They are picking up civilians and torturing them to death. The bodies are dumped in unmarked graves. Their number is in hundreds. The Indian forces have been using pellet guns to shoot the peaceful demonstrators. They have blinded hundreds of people, mostly youths. The Indian military forces have motested thousands of girls and women, using rape as weapon of war.
The Indian forces commit all these crimes under the cover of black laws forced on occupied Kashmir. The victims are deprived of judicial remedy. All what has been happening in India against the Muslims and other minorities needs to be weighed against the present world order which was based on lessons learnt from the horrors of WWII. This world order is guided by a cherished covenant known as the UN charter. The United Nations stands as a monument to the modern day world order. The basic purposes of the UN are saving humanity from conflicts, promoting peace and security as well as promoting democracy and human rights. The UN system has been enriched and empowered by institutions which are dedicated to punishing the culprits involved in violation of human rights, especially the crimes against humanity. Recent trial of a Serb leader and his conviction is a proof. The human rights body of the UN is taking remedial steps in the Rohingya case. Another proof. The same body has issued two reports to highlight serious violation of human rights in occupied Kashmir. Another proof of UN obligation in respect of human rights. However the UN system needs to enlarge its focus on violations of human rights in India where crimes against humanity are being committed under a Fascist regime. The world powers, especially the United States must not ignore the lessons of Nazi Germany. The world powers ignored fascist policies of Nazi Germany. The world powers ignored for long the crimes that were being committed by German Fascists led by Hitler.
If Fascism of India was ignored by the UN and world leaders, there is a clear chance of conflict in South Asia. The world will not remain immune to the spill-over effects of the conflict in South Asia where India and Pakistan, the main adversaries are nuclear powers. History of Nazi Germany should not be repeated in South Asia.
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