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It started with two politicians exchanging loose canons on irrelevant issues. Both had traded words on homosexuality of RSS members and Prophet Muhammad. It all seemed to have been contained when people from both communities had condemned and demanded strict action against both the politicians i.e. Azam Khan, a minister in the UP government and Kamlesh Tiwari who is believed to be the working president of Hindu Mahasabha. However in the last few days, Malda district, a district in West Bengal with a high Muslim concentration, and acute poverty has seen unfortunate and highly condemnable developments. A Muslim mob which had gathered for the purpose of protesting ended up ransacking and burning properties. It resulted in injuring over 30 people including police officers. A curfew has been imposed and the situation remains tense but in control. Ten people have been arrested so far and more arrests are expected in the coming days.
Don’t shoot the messenger
Yes, prophet Muhammad is indeed an important person among Muslims who continue to inspire more than a billion people across the world. Despite legal, political and diplomatic recourses available, the mob chose arson and rioting. The incident does partly mirror the priorities among the poor of the Muslim community where small provocation leads to a self-destructive chaos, the biggest casualty being social harmony which is quintessential for the survival of the citizens and development of the country.
Let’s play politics with politicians
Is it right for 2.5 lakh people to gather for an issue as minuscule and irrelevant as this? Are politicians right in making those statements? etc. Answering the questions on these lines is futile for now. What we do know is that too often politicians have manipulated the mobs and instigated riots in our country. So for a change we appeal to people to play politics with politicians by ignoring unnecessary words coming out of loose cannons until they realise that people are not giving into provocations. As we know West Bengal is expected to face elections in the coming year and election times are always ripe for politicians to instigate hatred among communities and, therefore, it is very important we don’t fall into that trap. As citizens, we should know our priorities and most importantly the vote should be cast on the basis of issues rather than religion.
The Indian society yearns for is a peaceful life where they can pursue their dreams, ambitions and aspirations. The Logical Indian appeals to the political class and to the sensitive people not to feed upon each other and, in turn, spoil the country’s social fabric, harmony and its development. We appeal to the authorities to set right the situation and bring all the perpetrators including the group who led the mob to justice sooner rather than later. We appeal to all the peace loving people to stay together and not take sides. No matter what we stand for, let us stand together.