By Justice Markandey Katju
Arfa Khanum Sherwani and the godi media are two sides to the same coin |
The Senior Editor of the portal thewire.in, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, recently spoke at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi
In her speech she spoke of the atrocities on Muslims in India, hate speeches against Muslims, voters being polarised, etc
It is true that atrocities on Muslims have increased after the BJP came to power in 2014. However, Arfa did not mention a word that this was the inevitable and logical outcome of Partition of India in 1947 on the basis of the bogus two nation theory, as I have explained in this article :
Arfa has never condemned Partition. What she advocates is more Muslim representation in legislatures, local bodies, etc. She said in her speech '' Jo hamaara haq hai hamein dila deejiye ''.
She also said that Muslim representation '' Inmein jaan baksh deta hai ''.
Everyone knows that persons in legislatures and local bodies in India, whether Hindu or Muslim, are mostly a set of rogues and rascals who have no genuine love for the country, but are there only for power and pelf. So according to Arfa, looting of the people should not be done by Hindus alone, but also by Muslims, and this will solve the country's problems.
Arfa says that the voice of 20 crore Muslims in India has been crushed. What she deliberately does not say is that the voice of 100 crore poor Hindus in India has also been crushed, because poverty is destructive of all rights.
Arfa said that being identified as a Muslim journalist '' ab main taaj ki tarah pahanti hun ''.
While the godi media keeps harping on atrocities on Hindus, Arfa keeps harping on atrocities on Muslims. I submit that these are two sides of the same coin.
In India there is massive poverty, record and rising unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition (Global Hunger Index has said that every second child in India is malnourished), skyrocketing prices of food and other essential commodities, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, etc.
These socio economic evils are common to both Hindus and Muslims, and not to Muslims alone.
To abolish them a mighty historical united people's struggle, led by patriotic, modern minded leaders, is needed, which will be protracted, and in which tremendous sacrifices will have to be made.
As to who will be those patriotic leaders determined to raise the standard of living of our people and give them decent lives, how will that struggle be conducted, how much time will it take to achieve success, what will be the alternative to parliamentary democracy under which India will rapidly industrialise and modernise, etc no one can predict. One cannot be rigid about historical forms. The enlightened sections of the people will have to use their creativity in solving these problems.
Arfa has no understanding of all this, yet, like the godi media, she keeps strutting around like a peacock dispensing to the public her pearls of wisdom.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)