The Hindu fanatics used the occasion to portray their muscle power on the streets and terrorise the Muslims. In cities of Uttar Pradesh, the extremists even raised their oft repeated slogan, “after Kashi Vishwanath, Mathura is the next target”. It was really hard to comprehend and find any relation of the slogan with celebration of Holi. It obviously implied that the Hindu zealots were trying to coerce and threaten Muslims.

A week back BJP government of Uttar Pradesh had ordered to cover 10 mosques with tarpaulin during the Holi festival to avoid communal violence. Nonetheless in utter violation of this order, a large number of masjids were covered. It is a known fact that Hindus celebrating Holi throw coloured powder at each other to mark the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil. But this time BJP government, especially the chief minister Yogi Adityanath, on the plea of avoiding any communal violence opted for covering the masjids.

This year the holy day fell on a Friday during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, a concurrence that has not occurred for many years. The move of the government was appreciated by the common people and strange enough the Muslims did not come out of their houses. Nevertheless the BJP’s and Yogi government calling upon the Muslims to stay home if they are bothered by the colours was mainly aimed at isolating them and keep them away from interacting with the Muslims. It is a historical fact that in the past the Muslims used to actively participate in the Holi celebration and never any social or communal tension erupted.

The Yogi government not only intended to terrorise the Muslims, it also created frightened the Hindus. On the plea of protecting the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Benares, the symbol of new politics of Hindutva, massive deployment of forces was done. This was simply to create the impression that Muslims extremists would attack this grandeur. This is the part of its strategy to bully the Hindus and made them follow the diktats of RSS and Saffron ecosystem. Almost all the prominent Hindu shrines and temples were heavily guarded. Armed men are posted at every entrance and on every street.

But the Hindu fanatics were provided a free hand. The reports emanating from Aligarh and other areas reveal that the zealots at some places tore down the tarpaulin cover. They even used DJ which blared filthy and ugly songs. The Hindu radicals instead of moving around the city focussed specially the Masjids. Though earlier the Police Superintendent of Sambhal Shrish Chandra had said that the decision was made to ensure harmony and make it easier for the two communities to celebrate their respective holidays with joy and cheerfulness, the Hindu zealots created mess. It does not appear that this arrangement helped. Officials claim that the agreement was reached to change Friday prayers and “Chaupai” processions, so that the two sensitive events do not overlap.

There is a general feeling amongst the other minorities that Muslims are scared of the impending scenario. Fr Anand Mathew, a member of the Indian Missionary Society (IMS) in Varanasi, explained that the local Muslim community lives “literally in fear”. Days before the celebration, the minorities leaders had met the district officials and requested them to take all possible measures to keep peace and restrain the fanatics. But the manner in which the Hindu fanatics danced on the streets, simply exposes the failure of the state administration.

Undeniably Bajrang Dal and other organizations have freedom to do whatever they want. The leaders of these organisations control the administration and virtually dictate the officials. The RSS and saffron ecosystem do not intend to fetter them as any punitive action will hurt the RSS and act as obstacle in making inroad into the Dalits and lower middle class people. Social media is dominated by BJP huge amount of hateful content is being circulated online. Hindu hooliganism is of high nature especially in the north Indian states.

Friday’s incident is a grim warning to secular, democrats and liberal Hindus that time has come to protest and foil the nasty maneouverings of the fanatic Hindu elements. They must some mechanism to save Hinduism from Hindu extremists. If they fail to act fast, the entire Hindu population will be forced to follow their whims and diktats. These people ought to protect Hinduism from the threat of Hindu extremist. (IPA Service)