On March 21, Bhadu Sheikh, a TMCs deputy pradhan in Bogtui village of West Bengals Birbhum district, died after four men on two motorcycles allegedly lobbed crude bombs at him. This incident sparked off a chain of events that led to at least eight houses in the area being attacked and set on fire, resulting in eight deaths, including that of women and children, reported The Indian Express.

Police told The Indian Express two FIRs have been filed one over Bhadus killing and the other over the attack on the houses. Eleven people have been arrested in the second case. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is expected to visit the violence-affected district on March 24, and the centre has sought a report of the violence within 72 hours.

Also Read |CBI to interact with people injured in Birbhum violence

Against the backdrop of this, BJP MLA Raja Singh released a video statement saying innocent Hindus were burnt to death in Bengal. He requested Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to enable a law that provides guns to every Hindu in Bengal for self-defence because they face threats from the increasing population of Bengali Muslims, Rohingya and Pakistan Muslims under Mamata Banerjee. These claims have been shared on social media with various hashtags, such as #_____, #BengalBurning, and others. Multiple Facebook accounts have shared this clip on pro-BJP Facebook groups and pages such as I Support Raja Singh [86K followers] and Sudarshan News Fans [56K followers].

Ranjit Savarkar, chairman at Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, also made the same claim and reminded that this was a wake-up for the Hindus. He alsotweetedtwo images, of which one of them shows charred bones. This tweet has gained over 2,000 likes.

Twitter user @doctorrichabjp made the same claim on Twitter. BJP leader Uday Pratap Singh shared identical text as posted by Doctor Richa in form of a screenshot. Alt News has documented multiple instances of misinformation shared by Richa in the past.

Hindu Yuva Vahini Gujarat in charge Yogi Devnath, Sudarshan News journalist Santosh Chauhan, RSS member Sunil Mittal.

Fact checkThe Telegraph published reports on March 23 and March 24. The latter includes details narrated by Mihilal Sheikh, whose family members were killed in the above-mentioned attack. He ran over 10km through paddy fields, along with his elder brother Banirul, after their homes were set ablaze. Mihilal told The Telegraph that [sic] he had lost faith in police and would back whichever party that brought the CBI to investigate the killings.

Also Read |Birbhum violence accused: From mason to 'uncrowned king' of Rampurhat

The eight deceased include Sheli Bibi, 32 (Mihilals wife), Tuli Khatun, 7 (his daughter), Nurnehar Bibi (his mother who Mihilal claimed was a 75-year-old widow), Rupali Bibi, 44 (his elder sister), Jahanara Bibi, 38 (his sister-in-law), Lili Khatun, 18 (his niece), Kazi Sajidur Rahman, 22, (Lilis husband) and Mina Bibi, 40 (Mihilals sister-in-law).

As per March 23 report, the first seven were relatives and their bodies were found in the one-storey house of Sona Sheikh. Kazi Sajidur and Lili Khatun were the newlyweds. These names establish they were from the Muslim community. Thus, social media claim that Hindus were targeted in Birbhum violence is false.

The March 24 report added [sic] that Mihilal, Banirul and two other survivors of the massacre are currently at Gopaljal in the Sainthia police district. They were reportedly offered large amounts of money by Trinamul agents.

A day prior, the West Bengal Police tweeted, No Hindu Women or Children has been killed at Village- Bogtui, Rampurhat, Birbhum. Legal action is being initiated against the persons who are trying to communalize this tragic incident through misleading posts to create social unrest in the state of West Bengal.

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Fact Check: Claim by BJP members that Hindus were killed in Birbhum violence is false - Deccan Herald

The festival of Holi in many parts of India turned violent following the communal ferocity exhibited by the Islamists, who harbour deep contempt for the Indic faiths and believe in the supremacy of Islam. Several incidents of attack on Hindus were reported amid the joyous festival of colours, manifesting their clear hate against the Hindu community.

Reportedly, the festival of Holi this year appeared on Friday and happened to coincide with the Muslim festival Shab-e-Barat. While a few people belonging to the Hindu community celebrated Holi, the Muslims were seen visiting the nearby Mosques to offer Namaz. With loud DJ music being played in the background, the Namazis who usually make use of loudspeakers in the Mosques daily happened to object to the once-in-a-year celebrations of Holi.

Here are the recent six major episodes of attack on Hindus during the festival of Holi.

The Uttarakhand Police on March 19 registered an FIR against Najar Hasan Ansari, Arbaz Ansari, and Mustakim for attacking a group of Hindus while they were playing Holi in the Laldhang area of Shyampura. According to the reports, the people from the Muslim community had arrived on the spot to offer Namaz and brutally attacked the Hindus with bricks. Laldhangs BJP chief Alok Dwivedi lodged an official complaint against the Muslims and said that Hindus were attacked with stones and bricks while peacefully playing with the colours on the occasion of Holi.

The Muslim community has however blatantly lodged a cross-complaint saying that the Hindus allegedly attacked them while they were returning to their home after offering Namaz. The police have registered both the FIRs and are investigating the case.

On Sunday (March 20), the people of the Hindu community were forcefully asked to stop the celebration of Holi by the Muslims who wanted to offer Namaz at the due hours. The Muslims accused the Hindu people of deliberately playing with colours during the Namaz hours and asked them to call off the Holi celebrations. As reported, the Hindu people refused to conclude the celebration following which the Muslims registered an official complaint to the Police.

Based on the complaint of the Muslim community, the Police ceased the DJ sound and directed the Hindus to discontinue the event. Reports mention that the DJ sound was returned to Hindus at night only after the Muslims finished observing the Shab-e-Barat. Vishwa Hindu Parishads Vinod Bansal tweeted the video of the incident and said that the Hindus were suppressed and Muslims were given priority by the Police. The festival of Holi is being celebrated by suppressing the Hindus. Jihadis are given shelter, priority, and encouragement!! Are Hindus second class citizens for UP Police?, he tweeted.

The UP Police however clarified that the Hindus were not stopped from playing Holi. We had received complaints that people (Hindus) were forcefully throwing colours at the locals. We reached the spot and tried to pacify the matter. Later at 9 pm, we again received a complaint that they (Hindus) were playing heavy sounds on the DJ system and the locals were getting disturbed, the Police said post action.

On Friday, the people from the Muslim community attacked two persons who were playing with the colours in the areas surrounding a mosque. The people from the community in Behari claimed that the two had allegedly thrown colors at the mosque in the city. The youths were allegedly dragged by the mob and were kicked, beaten with sticks while they were on their bike, heading home after playing Holi. The youths somehow saved their lives.

Himanshu Patel, Bareilly chief of the Rashtriya Yogi Sena tweeted the video to Bareilly Police and said, Muslim people surrounded and attacked two bike-riding Hindu brothers passing through the road, badly hit them. Police must take cognizance of the matter and take action against the culprits

Tensions aroused further as more people from the Muslim community joined the argument and blocked the streets and the Nanital Highway. The video of the incident went viral over social media where people from the community could be seen pelting stones and disrupting the law and order of the city. The Police, further trying to control the situation carried out a baton charge and dispersed the crowd.

In the Amroha on March 18, the celebration of Holi was disrupted as the members of the Muslim community took offense to the DJ music being played by Hindus as a part of the Holi festival. They pelted stones at the Hindus dancing to the song made on CM Yogi Adityanath while celebrating Holi, in Mohalla Chhanga Darwaza of Amroha UP. Two Hindus- Adesh and Bunty were reportedly injured in the stone-pelting incident.

The video of the incident had gone viral over social media. In the video, many Muslims could be seen pelting stones from the roofs of two adjacent buildings. The stones were aimed at a building in the opposite direction which could not be seen in the video.

The Amroha Police later stated that they had identified the accused from the viral videos and had arrested 3 persons under relevant sections of the IPC.

The Muslim community in Begusarais Rajour attacked the Hindu community with sharp swords and knives, severely injuring more than 20 Hindus. According to the reports, a petty fight between small children of the two communities led more than 300 Muslims to unite and attack the Hindus on the occasion of Holi. The Hindu organisation in Rajour revealed that the area is considered to be sensitive and now Hindus are feeling unsafe. The Police also didnt take action against them, the organisation had said. The injured are reported serious and are being treated in the hospital.

On March 18, the people of the Muslim community pelted stones at the Hindus during the celebration of Holi in Topchanchi, Dhanbad district of Jharkhand. According to the reports, the Islamists first disallowed Hindus celebrating Holi to pass through their area and then resorted to stone-pelting when the latter resented. Police vehicles were also damaged by the stone-pelters. The police resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control.

Though peace prevailed after police intervention, a large police contingent had been deployed to avoid any further untoward incidents. Reports mention that the vehicles of CO Vikas Kumar Trivedi and Baghmaras SDPO Nisha Murmu were damaged by the stone-pelters. The SDPO was also hurt in the incident.

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Halting celebratory procession, pelting stones on Hindus and more: 6 incidents when Islamists displayed Hinduphobia during the festival of Holi -...

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Friday to facilitate the establishment of a museum to commemorate the genocide against the Kashmiri Pandit community in Jammu & Kashmir. The decision seems to have irked the Gandhi family loyalist and Congress leader Digvijay Singh.

Taking to Twitter, Digvijay Singh said that he does not support the establishment of a Genocide Museum in Bhopal.

Digvijay Singh said in a tweet, I am totally against the creation of Genocide Museum in Bhopal. Will not let the communal harmony of Bhopal get disturbed. I oppose it.

It is pertinent to note that the announcement of the establishment of a Hindu Genocide museum comes after the release of the movie The Kashmir Files which shows the truth about the Hindu genocide in Kashmir in the 1990s.

CM Chouhan made the announcement in response to a request made by Vivek Agnihotri,filmmaker of the film The Kashmir Files, he said, Today Vivek Ji has given the idea to build Genocide Museum. The state government will give you all kinds of cooperation including land. I respect your sentiments.

Essentially, by opposing the Genocide Museum, Digvijay Singh, probably with the sanction of his party, is opposing a museum that would show the reality of how Islamists massacred Hindus in Kashmir in the 1990s, leading to their genocide and exodus from the state.

The Kashmir Files has proven to be a transformative experience for Hindus. The film, which is based on true accounts of Kashmiri Pandits, takes viewers to the early 1990s when turmoil in Kashmir began as a result of escalating Islamic Jihad, pushing the great majority of Hindus out of the valley. Those who refused to leave were killed by Kashmiri Jihadi Muslims.

The audiences reaction to the film has been extraordinary. The film has become the talk of the town since it tells the heartbreaking account of thegenocide of Kashmiri Panditsin the 1990s by Islamicterrorists in the valley.

However, Congress has been opposing the movie tooth and nail.

While Digvijay Singh says that a museum showing the genocide of Hindus would hurt communal harmony, it is important to remember that he was one of the greatest proponents of the fake saffron terror bogey. Digvijay Singh was also present when Aziz Burney had released his repugnant book that claimed that the 26/11 terrorist attack by Pakistani terrorists was actually a conspiracy by the RSS. The books name was 26/11 RSS ki Saazish. During the launch, Digvijay Singh was present on the stage and made remarks against Hindus, propagating the mythical saffron terror bogey.

After trying to implicate Hindus in terror attacks by Islamists, the Congress is now voicing its opposition to a memorial that would remember the victims of Jihad specifically in Kashmir that led to the genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus.

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Gandhi family loyalist Digvijay Singh opposes memorial for Hindus killed by Islamists, says it will disturb communal harmony in Bhopal - OpIndia

A controversial YouTuber named CM Shahbaz Khan was seen issuing threats and derogatory abuses to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and other senior BJP leaders in the state.

In a video that has gone viral now, CM Shahbaz Khan, who claims to be a motivational speaker, used derogatory slurs to target the Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai as a response to the Karnataka High Courts judgement on hijab row that upheld the rights of educational institutions to mandate a uniform dress code for students.

A week after Karnataka High Court delivered the judgement stating that wearing the hijab is not an integral part of Islam, the Youtuber CM Shahbaz Khan threatened CM Bommai and referred to him as a Son of a b*tch. Shahbaz Khan, who was arrested for protesting outside Vidhana Soudha in connection with the hijab row, was given a platform by a Youtube news media outlet AK News to hurl abuses and issue threats against the Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

In the video, it was seen that Khan was referring to CM Bommai as a BJP dog and asserted that he would hit the Chief Minister with sandals. Using derogatory words against CMs family, Shahbaz Khan said that the BJP dogs had come into power due to Muslim votes.

Saying that he is spitting on the face of the Chief Minister and other BJP leaders, Shabaz Khan challenged the Karnataka government to arrest him and added that he would single-handedly deal with 5,000 police officers.

We, Muslims, are born with the blessings of Hazrat Ali, unlike you, who are born without any address, said CM Shahbaz Khan in his hate speech against Hindus, while claiming that the Muslims have built and ruled the country for the last 700 years.

The Youtuber also disclosed dangerous details of him receiving support from foreign countries, especially from Pakistan, the United States and Kuwait, to protests against the High Courts order on the hijab ban. CM Shahbaz Khan also said that the Muslims outside the country were asking them why was Indian Muslims were silent against the hijab ban.

If Muslims unite, the consequences be worse, threatened Shahbaz Khan, whose video has now gone viral across the state.

Not just Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, even senior BJP leaders from the state Mysuru Lok Sabha MP Pratap Simha, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, and Karnataka Minister Eashwarappa were at the receiving end of Shahbaz Khans abuse. Calling them Son of B*tch, Khan threatened them by saying that he would visit the BJP leaders house to attack them with sandals.

Hey Pratap Simha, you son of a b*tch, I will hit you with sandals. Do whatever you want in front of Modi, not with us Muslims. So how long should we Muslims keep quiet? said Shahbaz Khan targeting the young MP from Mysuru, who was in support of the hijab ban in colleges.

Shahbaz Khan further said he would urinate in Pratap Simhas mouth. Abusing Hindus, he said that the Hindus, who according to him were sons of prostitutes, had unloaded materials even before Babri Masjid was built.

I do not know what I will do if you go against us, Shahbaz Khan cautioned Hindus in the video that AK News has uploaded.

At the end of his video, Shahbaz Khan also incited the Muslims to stand up against the state government to protest against the alleged atrocities being committed against them. He said its time to respond strongly to the state and urged Muslims to join the Bharat Bandh.

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Karnataka: Youtuber Shahbaz Khan calls BJP leaders including CM Bommai as son of a b*tch and dog, calls Hindus as sons of prostitutes - OpIndia

A Hindu posing as Muslim, spreading hate against Hindus.

As if hate and propaganda by those radicalised (from both majority and minority communities) was not enough, now there's impersonation that needs to be identified before propaganda warfare can be tackled. Following complaints by right-wing organisations, Bagalkot Police, on Thursday, arrested a man accused of opening and operating a Facebook account under the Muslim name and identity of Mushtaq Ali. Then on, he regularly posted hate speeches and hate content against Hindu community.

On a complaint by the MLC, the cyber wing of the police caught his digital footprint and found out his real identity. The 31-year-old Siddharoodha Shrikanth Nirale is, reportedly, a resident of Gokal taluk of Belagavi district and had even threatened BJP MLC D.S Arun. He'd post communally sensitive comments in response to news reports and announcements by political leaders, including a series of hateful messages after the murder of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha in Shivamogga.Siddharoodha also posted a message on BJP legislator D.S Arun's media handle commenting, "You may think that a Hindu activist is dead today. But in the coming days, we will target your wife and children." To build on his profile and make it appear real, Siddharoodha also used some pictures from the social media profiles of random people. The accused belongs to a farming community and apart from cultivating crops, his family also runs a nursery.

Image--Twitter@KeypadGuerilla

The big question

The man, who was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody, is reflective of a much larger issue of fake accounts and hateful speeches. There are thousands of fake Mushtaq Alis and Ram Manohars operating under fake identities and spreading hate, communalism and misinformation. The regular hateful posts and screenshots, in no time, get shared on other platforms. So much so that every law and order situation gets a communal twist to suit the agenda and from thereon, it's a downhill ride. In several media interviews, Bagalkot SP Lokesh Jagalasar, requested people not to believe everything they read or see on social media.

When the Supreme Court intervened

Taking note of a plea, a year ago, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre and Twitter to check content on Twitter and social media accounts spreading hatred through fake news and communal speeches. The plea argued that a total number of Twitter handles in India were around 35 million and a total number of Facebook accounts were 350 million and according to experts around 10 per cent of Twitter handles (3.5 million) and 10 per cent of Facebook accounts (35 million) were fake/bogus/duplicate accounts. The petitioner also argued on the dangerous outcomes of these accounts. How they were the root cause of many riots and were being used to promote communalism.

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A Hindu posing as Muslim, spreading hate against Hindus; Who is the 31-year-old man arrested by Bagalkot Police? - IBTimes India

The debate over the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has been reignited after the release of 'Kashmir Files'

Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday sought to corner the ruling BJP over the exodus of minorities from Kashmir in 1990s, saying then Leader of Opposition Rajiv Gandhi had urged the then VP Singh government to intervene and stop the "atrocities" being committed on Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs.

The exodus of people from Kashmir Valley began only after then Jammu and Kashmir governor Jagmohan asked them, especially Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs, to leave, saying he would not be able to protect them, Chowdhury said in Lok Sabha while raising the issue during Zero Hour.

"Terrorists and jihadis began committing atrocities on all Pandits and Sikhs," he said, adding "The V P Singh government was then running with the support of the BJP."

At that time, Mr Chowdhury said, the then Congress president and Leader of Opposition Rajiv Gandhi had raised his voice against the exodus of people from Kashmir, and asked the then government to stop it "anyhow", warning that people of the country would not accept it.

"At that time, Rath Yatra of Lal Krishna Advani ji began and (Narendra) Modi ji, our (current) Prime Minister, became event manger of this yatra," he charged.

Raising the issue later during Zero Hour, BJP member Sunil Kumar Singh demanded that the government start a probe into the "large scale atrocities" committed on Hindus and Sikhs in Kashmir from 1980 to 1990, especially in the period between 1984 to 1989 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister, and culprits be punished.

He also demanded that a probe be conducted to ascertain on whose orders a total of 70 terrorists were released in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.

"These terrorists played a role in genocide....nation wants to know," he said.

The debate surrounding the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits has been reignited following the release of a film on it -- 'The Kashmir Files'.

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Rajiv Gandhi Urged VP Singh Government To Stop Exodus Of Hindus From Kashmir: Congress - NDTV

Thousands of Hindus were killed in different parts of Bengal during August 1946 when violence broke out after Muslim League targeted its political opponents.

The unabated political violence in the state of West Bengal brings back the horrific memories of many such gory incidents spread over almost a century, one of the most prominent among them being 'The Great Calcutta Killings'. This is also a relatively lesser talked about chapter of Indian history which needs to be remembered so that we do not repeat our earlier mistakes.

Thousands of Hindus were killed in different parts of Bengal during August 1946 when violence broke out after Muslim League targeted its political opponents.

The Muslim League had demanded, since its 1940 Lahore Resolution, that the Muslim-majority areas of India in the northwest and the east, should be constituted as 'independent states'. The resolution passed on 23 March 1940 said, it is the considered view of this session of the All-India Muslim League that no constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principle, namely, that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority, as in the North-Western and Eastern Zones of India, should be grouped to constitute Independent States in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.

The divide between Congress and the Muslim League continued to widen between 1940 and 1946. The 1946 Cabinet Mission to India for planning of the transfer of power from the British Raj to the Indian leadership proposed a three-tier structure: A centre, groups of provinces, and provinces. The "groups of provinces" were meant to accommodate the Muslim League demand. Both the Muslim League and Congress in principle accepted the Cabinet Mission's plan. However, Muslim League later withdrew its consent to the plan in July 1946 and decided to launch Direct Action to achieve Pakistan and to organize the Muslims for the coming struggle to be launched as and when necessary.

The Muslim League passed a resolution on 29 July 1946 declaring 16 August as a Direct Action Day, to be observed all over India as a day of protest. Immediately after the adoption of this resolution, Jinnah, in the concluding session of the Council of Muslim League, declared, Today we bid goodbye to constitutional methods We have also forged a pistol and are in a position to use it.

In a press conference on 31 July, Jinnah said that while both the British and the Congress were armed in their own way, one with weapons and the others with a threat of mass struggle, the Muslim league felt the need to forge its own methods and be prepared for a struggle to enforce its demand for Pakistan. He declined to discuss the details of the proposed Direct Action saying, I am not prepared to tell you that now.

Bengal being the only province in India under Muslim Leagues rule was apparently chosen by the Muslim League leadership as the suitable place for demonstrating Direct Action. The general public was vaguely apprehensive but nobody had any idea what-so-ever about what was going to happen on the Direct Action Day of 16 August 1946.

However, the stage had been apparently set when in pursuance of their resolution of 29 July, the Muslim League had set up a Council of Action. It met behind closed doors but the programme of action which it drew up was subsequently elaborated by the Muslim League press was clear enough. A leaflet containing a special prayer for this Direct Action announced that ten crores of Indian Muslims who through bad luck had become salves of Hindus and the British would be starting a jihad in the very month of Ramzan. Another leaflet bearing a picture of Jinnah with sword in hand said: We Muslims have had the crown and have ruled. Be ready and take your swordsO Kafer!... your doom is not far and the general massacre will come!

A Muslim League government with Saheed Suharawardy as the Chief Minister was then power in Bengal. After this rupture between the League and the Cabinet Mission, Suhrawardy had already declared that if the Congress were put in power at the Centre, Bengal would rebel and send up an independent state owing no allegiance to the Central government.

The Great Calcutta Killings

The Direct Action Programme triggered what has come to be known as The Great Calcutta Killings. From the midnight of 15 August up to 19 August 1946, massive anti-Hindu riots took place in the city of Calcutta. The death toll in these riots was estimated to be between 5,000 and10,000, and around 15,000 persons were wounded. These riots are probably the most notorious single massacre of the 1946-47 period, during which large-scale violence occurred in many parts of India.

These riots that started in Calcutta with the observance of Direct Action Day, spread like a chain reaction, rapidly transferring contagion from Calcutta to the rest of East Bengal. One of the worst riots took place in Noakhali, where almost every Hindu house was destroyed. The place was later visited by Mahatma Gandhi himself. The communal riots in the aftermath of Direct Action Day also ravaged Bihar, United Provinces (modern Uttar Pradesh), Punjab, and the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP).

These events had a significant impact on Indian polity especially when it came to the decision of partitioning India. Due to the massive communal violence triggered by the Direct Action Day, several leaders of the Congress Party, who had initially opposed Partition, started thinking that the only way to get rid of Jinnah and his Muslim League, which they found troublesome, was to go for partition of India. The British also felt that they had lost any remaining vestiges of control so they started speeding up their exit strategy.

The Viceroy Lord Wavell, after returning from Calcutta, met Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru. The official records of the British indicate that his attitude had changed in wake of these riots and he pushed for Gandhi-Nehru to concede to Muslim Leagues demands. Wavell wrote on 27 August 1946 in an entry in Viceroys Journal, I am determined to make an attempt to induce the Congress to state clearly their intentions about Grouping the Constituent Assembly, since this was obviously one of the main obstacles to cooperation by the League.

In the aftermath of Calcutta Killings and other communal riots triggered by Direct Action Day observance, Gandhi and Jinnah met again where what has come to be known as Gandhi-Jinnah formula was put together that resulted in Congress conceding major ground to Muslim League on the principle issue of not considering it to be the sole representative of Muslims in India. This formula stated: The Congress does not challenge and accepts that the Muslim League is now the authoritative representative of an overwhelming majority of the Muslims of India. As such and in accordance with democratic principles, they alone have an unquestionable right to represent the Muslims of India.

This was a major shift in the Congress stand on Muslims that it had stuck to throughout the freedom struggle. This formula formed the bases of Nehru-Jinnah talks in October 1947 that failed to reach a peaceful solution. This was followed by the Attlee-Wavell-Jinnah-Nehru Conference on 3-6 December 1946 in London which again failed. The impact of violence instigated by Direct Action Day was quite apparent in this context also as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel wrote to Sir Stafford Cripps on 15 December 1946, You called the League delegation there to (London, December 1946) at a time when there was some realization that violence is a game at which both parties can play and the mild Hindu also, when driven to desperation can retaliate as brutally as a fanatic Muslim. Just when the time for settlement was reached Jinnah got the invitation, and he was able to convince Muslims once again that he had (got) more concessions by creating trouble and violence but I will only say that if strong action had been allowed to taken here, when Direct Action Day was fixed by the Muslim League and when 16 August was fixed as the day of demonstration in Calcutta, all this colossal loss of life and property and bloodcurdling events would not have happened.

The Viceroy here took the contrary view, and every action of his since the great Calcutta killings has been in the direction of encouraging the Muslim League and putting pressure on us towards appeasement.

It is clear that the tide couldnt be turned after the communal riots of 1946 which were an outcome of the Direct Action Day. British Prime Minister, Clement Atlee, announced on the afternoon of 20 February 1947, before Parliament that British rule would end on a date not later than June, 1948. If Nehru and Jinnah could be reconciled by then, power would be transferred to some form of central Government for British India. If not, they would hand over authority in such other way as may seem most reasonable and in the best interests of the Indian people. This was followed by the partition of India.

The writer, an author and columnist, has written several books. Views expressed are personal.

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Right Word | The Great Calcutta Killings: Hindu genocide and the road to Indias Partition - Firstpost

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

An Indian American advocacy group is keen on spreading awareness on the raising Hinduphobia, that has been scaring the community across the world. One of the main perpetrators of this new fear is the popularity of Narendra Modi-led BJP party, which has been force-feeding the idea of Hinduism.

In order to clear this negative image of the Hindus, Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is heading a campaign targeting universities across the US inviting them for a virtual conference titled Dismantling Global Hindutva (DGH), scheduled for September 1012.

The petition to university and college authorities raises concerns over Hinduphobia. The DGH organizers trade on the prestige of your institutions name to host, not an academic conference, but a partisan event related to politics in India. The event platforms activists with extensive histories of amplifying Hinduphobic discourse even while denying the existence of Hinduphobia, the petition states.

A prominent Indian American state senator from Ohio, Niraj Antani, has thanked HAF for leading the charge against this bigotry, in a statement. He has himself strongly condemned hosting the Dismantling Global Hindutva conference.

HAFs executive director, Suhag Shukla told reports that while the organization was not asking that the event be canceled or that scholar-activists from the institutions not be allowed to participate; but institutionally, there was a duty to encourage a diversity of viewpoints alongside academic freedom and free speech.

We need to be sure that Hindu students, staff, and faculty at each of these institutions are supported through all of this. The recent example of Rashmi Samant, a student from India in the UK, being stripped of her position as the student union president at Oxford University is an overt example of the harm this kind of political activism promulgated by scholar-activists can result in, Shukla said.

The initial effort by HAF to send emails to university presidents delivered slightly more than 928,000 emails in the span of 48 hours. The response was so robust that HAF was forced to move to collect signatures for a petition to be delivered to the same group of university administrators.

We support the rights of academics in their individual capacity to engage in political activism concerning India. But leave universities, and by extension university departments, centers, and institutes out because, aside from potentially violating tax-exempt status, it stifles open enquiry, said Shukla. Students and faculty must have the freedom to explore questions, posit ideas, and express opinions without being viewpoint policed or fear of being labeled a supremacist or extremist by the loudest amongst them and then paying a professional price.

Four universities responded to HAFs campaign and confirmed their name and logo was used in an unauthorized manner and that event organizer were requested to remove the logos. These include Boston College, Dalhousie University, Princeton University, and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

According to HAF: What was alarming about this event, was the way in which they try to mask the latent Hinduphobia of the stated purpose of the event, the speakers, and the topics. The Hindutva harassment manual actively denies Hinduphobia when there is incontrovertible evidence of anti-Hindu hatred. The organization has launched a multi-pronged effort on this issue, both national and local in America, which includes an unprecedented response through letter-writing campaigns, petitions and individual stakeholder outreach to students, faculty, alumni and donors of the universities.

We urge universities to take this entire episode seriously and understand that their faculty irresponsibly and falsely labeling tens of thousands of people exercising their own right to free speech and assembly as fascists and supremacists is endangering an ethno-religious minority in the US, Shukla said.

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HAF on a campaign to dismantle negative image of Hinduism - indica News

By Maria Wirth

It shocked Hindus: a conference on 'Dismantling Global Hindutva', supported by 38 US universities. Speakers are the usual leftists mainly with Hindu names. And of all dates, it is scheduled from 10-12. September.

The title is brazen or is it just truthful? Do they say now openly what has been the plan since over 1000 years? The plan to rid the world of ancient pagan cultures? Inka, Maya, Egypt, Greece, Babylon all are gone. Yet Hindus still exist. Hindus still chant Vedas in their mandirs, still celebrate festivals, still revere great personalities from past ages and even now take more pride in being Hindu thanks to the realisation that Hindu Dharma is most profound and the best of all options.

This must be painful for the enemies of Hindus. Christianity, Islam, Communism and their faithful followers may have felt that a clear sign is needed: Hindutva must be dismantled globally.

No difference between Hinduism and Hindutva

There is no difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, except that the fundamentals of Hinduism are inclusive and beneficial. Photo by Shubhro Jyoti Dey on Unsplash

To obfuscate the issue, a distinction is being made between Hindutva (= Hinduness) and Hinduism. Hinduism is okay, but Hindutva is bad, as bad as ISIS as it also uses terror to achieve a Hindu Rashtra where minorities have no place, so it is claimed.

It's a lie. But media and the leftist academia rely on the ignorance of people and that a lie becomes truth if it is repeated often enough.

There is no difference between Islam and Islamism, and there is no difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, except that the fundamentals of Hinduism are inclusive and beneficial, whereas the fundamentals of Islam clearly divide humanity between good believers and bad unbelievers.

Maligning Hindutva

Hindus believes 'Satyameva Jayate' or Truth will triumph. Photo by Onkarphoto on Unsplash

The media onslaught in recent years against Hindutva was unrelenting. RSS was compared with ISIS and Arundhati Roy hinted on Deutsche Welle in Februar 2020 that the genocide of Muslims by the Hindu-nationalist Modi government has already started. A research scholar from Italy asked me to reply to heavily loaded questions on RSS, for example "Why does RSS draw inspiration from Hitler?"

What can Hindus do against Christianity, Islam and the Left, all of whom drive the false narrative of Hindus being dangerous, and who have a military-style strategy to achieve their goal of dismantling the most benign faith and culture?

Hindus usually rely on 'Satyameva Jayate'. Truth will triumph. But this doesn't mean that we should sit idle and not help truth coming to light.

Not wanting to be controversial

Unfortunately, Hindus seem to have one trait which their compatriots in the left and the converts to the Abrahamic religions don't share. It is the desire not to be controversial and to be nice to others, even if those others are not nice to them.

This trait developed due to their painful history when Hindus had to lie low in the face of brutal Muslim and Christian oppressors. Yet this trait continued after 1947 and this does not help India.

It's time to be clear and truthful, and we must not be afraid to call out the basic faults of Christianity and Islam in a proactive manner.

What are the basic faults?

Arti at river Ganges during night time. Photo by ADITYA PRAKASH on Unsplash

The most prominent fault is that they got the nature of ''the one true God' or Creator very, very wrong.

Hindus, Christians and Muslims, all agree that there is one true 'God' or cause for this universe. In fact, Hindus claimed this long before Christianity and Islam. It can be assumed that this Vedic knowledge about the one Brahman was copied/ stolen by Christianity and Islam. This claim of one God is the positive aspect of the Abrahamic religions. They also tell their people, like Hindus do, to have faith and trust in a great God who looks after them if they are "good". This makes sense and would give children an anchor, if the clergy of those two religions had not made a huge error.

Their texts claim that the one true God is jealous, that he loves only their own group and hates Hindus and other Kafirs. And being 'good' means to believe in their book and to be nice to people from their own religion. Others are seen as inferior who will be rejected by God.

For Muslims being good also means to do Jihad and make the whole world for Allah (Q 9.29, 8.39) and for Christians it means to try by hook or crook to convert 'heathens' to save them from eternal hellfire.

Christianity is not any longer as blunt as Islam, but the same mindset drives them, too, like "We alone have the truth. God loves us. Unless 'they' accept our true religion, 'they' won't be saved. So let's help them and finish off their demonic pagan culture"

This is unacceptable and of course not the Will of 'the one true God' whom Hindus call Brahman.

The Human Rights Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of many countries do not allow to demean anyone on the basis of religion. Yet Christianity and Islam demean all Hindus and others as Kafirs and pagans/ heathens and predict a terrible fate for them in future. Such attitude makes genocide possible.

Driving the narrative instead of being driven

Lord Shiva idol in 'Rudra avatar'. Photo by Ankit Dandhare on Unsplash

Can Hindus for a change DRIVE the narrative, instead of being driven and of only reacting and defending?

Can we demand that Christianity and Islam drop untrue divisive dogmas and that these dogmas must NOT be allowed to be taught to children? For example, Hindu representatives could submit a petition to the UN or to the International Court of Justice demanding this. Can we, including well-known Gurus, support courageous people like Waseem Rizvi that many ayats in the Quran are indeed hateful? Or do we still have doubts if they are hateful? If so, please get a copy in a language you understand.

Or do we feel "Let Muslims sort it out among themselves"? Such attitude is in all likelihood cowardice and not some virtue.

Can the Hindu panellists call a spade a spade in TV debates and can we also, in talks with friends from different communities, dare to be controversial if truth requires it?

Those who support this conference need to realise that it doesn't pay to attack Hindus. And Hindus need to realise that we are alone in this. But we have a great advantage: we have truth on our side. The 'true God' is not a despot who wants to roast us in hell.

If only there were genuine debates, like in ancient times Like between Adi Shankara and Mandana Misra. The Christian and Muslim representatives would have no other option but to accept Hindu Dharma, and the dark shadows of the Kali Yug would end.

Some day it will happen

keywords: Hindus , Global Hindutva, Hindu, Hindutva, Abrahamic religions, Islam, Left, Christianity.

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A conference against Hinduism 'Dismantling Global Hindutva', supported by 38 US universities. Speakers are the usual leftists mainly with Hindu names....

Accusations of Hinduphobia in those who do not see eye-to-eye with Hindutva have reached new heights in recent years. An obscure 19th-century concept is now the default mantra for Hindutva-vadis against all critiques of their ideas.

The recent furore against the upcoming conference called Dismantling Global Hindutva (September 10-September 12) has made me wonder whether, ironically, these same individuals might also if they had the patience and capacity to read his large corpus of writing need to identify Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as Hinduphobic.

After all, a basic truth made clear in Savarkars writing is that Hindutva is not Hinduism. They are not equivalents. In fact, you do not have to read Savarkar all that carefully to see the clarity with which he argued that Hindus should consider abandoning the concept of Hinduism as part of their lexicon.

One does not need to search deep into his oeuvre to discover Savarkars distinction between Hindutva and Hinduism. In Essentials of Hindutva, published in 1923, he begins by clarifying that Hinduism is only a derivative, a fraction, a part of Hindutva. He declared Hinduism as one of the many isms that had plagued modernity, by calling it a spiritual or religious dogma or system.

He not only argued that Hinduism was inferior in comparison to Hindutva, he also stated that it was more limited, less satisfactory and essentially a sectarian term.

The Marathi intellectual and Marxist scholar GP Deshpande had long argued that Hindutva-vadis do not actually read Savarkar. I think we should take Deshpandes claim seriously, despite the increasing number of celebrations of Savarkars life as exemplary for Hindus. I suspect that Savarkars arguments about Hindutva and Hinduism would create an existential crisis among those who claim to be his supporters.

If their logic is that any critique of Hindutva or Hinduism is a form of Hinduphobia, then certainly Savarkars call to abandon Hinduism he believed it was an inferior concept created by Western Orientalists should also be viewed in the same framework.

Does this mean that Savarkar himself was Hinduphobic?

There was once a period in the 1930s when Sanatanis in Maharashtra decided to stage protests against Savarkars call for temple entry for, and inter-dining with, Untouchables. Petitions were circulated to British officials demanding that Savarkar be prevented from speaking because it was believed he posed a threat to social order, that he was hurting the sentiments of Hindus. Rocks and chappals were regularly thrown at Savarkars processions.

Does this mean that these adherents of Sanatan Dharma were Hinduphobic? Or does it mean, conversely, that Savarkars advocacy of social reform linked to Hindutva was Hinduphobic as it was hurting the sentiments of Hindus?

If the adherents of Hindutva actually read Savarkar, they would know that he also advocated the need for Hindus to kill other Hindus. Savarkars intended Hindu victims were individuals who promoted ahimsa. Savarkar saw ahimsa as a kind of weakness that needed to be weeded out. In similar vein he identified as effeminate all Hindus who lacked a theory of warfare.

Was Savarkar Hinduphobic in celebrating the killing of Hindus? When Savarkar and Gandhi publicly disagreed with each other on interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita or the meaning of the Ramayana, did this mean that both were Hinduphobic?

To push this argument further, are all disagreements between Hindus merely expressions of Hinduphobia? By this logic, the only end to Hinduphobia would be the annihilation of all Hindus, which would happen when there could be no critique of Hindus, Hinduism, and Hindutva. Perhaps this is what all Hindutva-vadis actually desire: reductio ad absurdum.

I do wish that those Hindutva-vadis who decided to burn copies of the Kama Sutra in Ahmedabad recently had read Savarkar on what he called the sexual urges of mankind. As also the importance he attached to Hindus celebrating their rich literary traditions. They would then learn what Savarkar clearly argued, namely, that the libido was more powerful than the claims of any man, god, or prophet. They would also then understand that Savarkar celebrated textual pluralism, and that he had a deep affection for the Bible.

Will these Hinduva-vadis who burned the Kama Sutra now seek to destroy the temples at Khajuraho based on their same argument of indecency? Is the artistic magnificence of Hindu temple architecture to be made hostage to Victorian notions of sexual correctness?

The question that in fact comes to mind by carefully understanding Savarkars sophisticated and clear-headed mind, as evident from his Marathi and English writings the vast bulk of which I have read over many years is this: are these modern Hindutva-vadis who claim Savarkar as their hero in fact themselves Hinduphobic?

In 1937, the Marxist revolutionary MN Roy shared a stage in Mumbai with Savarkar. Roy wanted to introduce Savarkar as a great revolutionary who had influenced him in his childhood. But Roy also publicly disagreed with Savarkars interpretations of Hindu-Muslim relations and his conceptualisation of Hindutva. Savarkar did not denounce Roy as Hinduphobic.

On the contrary, he shared a stage with this Marxist and stated that Roy was more interested in structural inequality based on class differences, and not in the divisions between Hindus and Muslims. Savarkar added that he was willing to accept Roys description of socialism as long as it meant equality for all Hindus.

The fact is that Savarkar himself exemplifies a liberal principle and broad-minded intellection when he shows, by his presence alongside MN Roy, that political enemies could and should have a debate about ideas. Modern Hindutva-vadis betray their own hero Savarkar when making it clear that debate is no longer possible.

The purpose of an academic conference on Dismantling Global Hindutva is exactly meant to debate interpretations about the very meaning of Hindutva in the 21st century. Those who oppose the conference without even knowing what scholars will actually say by declaring all participants Hinduphobic is a sign that those who promote Hindutva no longer have the capacity for intellectual exchange. Instead, Hindutva-vadis have mastered intimidation and threats of violence, rape, and murder as a way to shut down any intellectual engagement, all the while claiming victimhood in the process.

Hindu fragility is something that Savarkar had anticipated during his lifetime. He claimed that the more the Hindus worshipped cows, the more the Hindus would behave like cows.

Savarkar also wanted to harness what he saw as Hindu fragility into excessive or cruel violence as a form of vengeance, which is why he promoted the lion as the spirit animal of Hindus, and celebrated Narasinhs savage killing of Hiranyakshipu. The fact is that without the claims of victimhood and hurt sentiments, the entire edifice of contemporary Hindutva-vadis falls apart. The endless repetition of Hinduphobia as a chant against anyone who provides a critique of Hindutva is todays tactic to reinforce the idea that those Hindus who support Hindutva are victims.

I cherish this simple irony: that if Hindutva-vadis actually read what Savarkar had to say about Hindutva and Hinduism, we would be one step closer to the declaration that Savarkar was Hinduphobic.

Vinayak Chaturvedi is at the History Department, University of California, Irvine. His Essentials of History: VD Savarkar and the Meaning of Hindutva will be published in 2022 by Permanent Black and Ashoka University, and subsequently by the State University of New York Press.

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Reading Savarkar: Was the Hindutva icon actually Hinduphobic? - Scroll.in