Anti-Hindutva.demonstrators stage protest outside the Indian High Commission in London on September 22. Photo by M Ghazali Khan
M Ghazali Khan
Community activists and politicians from across the UK have condemned recently imported Hindu-Muslim violence in Leicester and Birmingham. London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, appealed to both communities “not to allow the politics of the subcontinent to spill over” into the UK.
“We should be eternally on our guard against extremist forces who seek to stoke up tensions between our communities for their own selfish ends. Everyone in the UK and around the world should have the right to live in peace and to practise their religion without fear or threats,” Khan said.
On September 20, community leaders and local politicians gathered outside Leicester’s Jame Mosque and issued a joint statement appealing to end “provocation and violence” immediately.
The joint statement read out by Pradyumna Pradipgajjar, President of the city’s Iskcon Hindu Temple, said, “We, the family of Leicester, stand in front of you not only as Hindus and Muslims but as brothers and sisters.
Our two faiths have lived harmoniously in this wonderful city for over half a century. “We arrived in this city together. We faced the same challenges together; we fought off racist haters together; and [we] collectively made this city a beacon of diversity and community cohesion.”
The statement appealed for an “immediate cessation of provocation and violence—both in thought and behaviour” and on “the inciters of hatred to leave our city alone.”
South Asia Solidarity Group organised a demonstration outside the High Commission of India (HCI) against Hindutva.
Its leader veteran human rights activist and writer, Amrit Wilson, told The Muslim News, “We are here today because we want to show that we are united, and we want peace. We do not want the BJP and the RSS and all their followers, together with the white fascists, who have come to divide our community.”
While several peace-loving residents of Leicester and the UK are aghast at what happened in this multicultural, multiracial and, until recently, an example of social cohesion, HCI, following the instructions of the Hindutva government in Delhi, issued a highly partisan statement displaying a lack of diplomacy, unprecedented in India’s diplomatic history.
“We strongly condemn the violence perpetrated against the Indian community in Leicester and [the] vandalization of premises and symbols of [the] Hindu religion. We have strongly taken up this matter with the UK authorities and have sought immediate action against those involved in these attacks,” HCI’s statement issued on September 19 read.
Ironically, India vehemently rejects even the mildest concern of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on its Islamophobic policies, calling its concerns “interference” in India’s internal affairs.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), came down heavily on HCI.
In a letter, dated September 20 and addressed to Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami, MCB’s Secretary General, Zara Mohammad, reminded him that, “Leicester is home to a thriving and integrated Indian diaspora of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, who have been living together in harmony for over half a century.”
Deploring the violence, Mohammad said: “What has turned this vibrant community, once a model of unity, into one that is deeply divided, where ordinary people are fearful for their own safety?”
She continued, “Whilst it is right that we condemn the desecration of Hindu symbols, you must represent all Indians and also condemn the deliberate targeting, intimidation and instances of assault of Muslims and Sikhs by large groups of thugs chanting far-right Hindutva slogans, mirroring tactics used by the RSS against communities in India.”
In a separate statement, MCB called on “all communities to exercise restraint and for local leaders, including the police and politicians, to listen to the concerns of locals objectively.”
Contrary to media reports that Leicester violence erupted following a cricket match between India and Pakistan, locals say that sectarian tension had been building up for quite a while.
Many blame it on the new arrivals in the city of Indians from Daman and Diu, who have brought with them the Hindutva ideology of hate.
The blame may or may not be accurate, and must be investigated. However, the fact cannot be denied that, over the years, British politicians, Conservatives, and Labour, have been courting Hindutva politicians.
Former PM, Boris Johnson’s love for his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, and his and his advisors’ insensitivity to the political environment of India he was visiting was widely reported and criticised when, in April, he posed on a JBC bulldozer, a machine used to demolish Muslim-owned properties and businesses in the capital.
The bulldozer became symbolic of the power of Hindutva over Muslims—a lesson taught to them by their Israeli friends—was displayed when in New Jersey they celebrated India’s 75th Independence day in August by marching on the streets with a bulldozer with large portraits on it of Modi and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Aditya Nath.
Following Leicester, Birmingham too witnessed some ugly and highly deplorable scenes when a group of protesters gathered outside the Durga Bhawan Mandir that had sent an invitation to a Hindutva leader, Sadhvi Ritambhara, named by the Government of India’s appointed inquiry Commission, the Liberhan Commission, as an accused in the demolition, on December 6, 1992, of the 16th century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.
Sadhvi has frequently visited the UK and the US, despite repeated calls by British Indian Muslims for the Home Office to stop her visits.
The erstwhile Council of Indian Muslims wrote a lengthy letter in 2007 to the then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, asking her not to allow her in the country, but to no avail.
However, since the Durga Bhawan Mandir in Birmingham had cancelled her programme and admitted that it was an innocent mistake, there was no justification for a protest and despicable scenes created in front of the temple.
Hindutva is an ideology or movement seeking to establish the hegemony of Hindus and Hinduism in India.
