Whitewashing of Islamic Jihad Increasing Polarisation in Society

Sumit Arora

Let’s agree at the outset that both Casteism and Jihadi mentality of spreading Islam through violence are both degenerative and discriminatory practices in our history. Both have caused huge human suffering across generations. Both continue to exist even today.

However, one gets amplified and other gets whitewashed. And these terms are important, because they explain the relative gap in the treatment of the two diseases. It is also important highlight this gap because this discriminatory treatment is perhaps the biggest reason for polarisation of Indian society today.

The discriminatory treatment to the two evils by the so called liberals and seculars is astounding considering the on ground facts. The first most important fact is that there is widespread acceptance of horrors of casteism by the modern Indian and modern Hindu, which has led to both Prevention via stringent laws to prevent caste based discriminatory practices and Empowerment, through reservation in political representation, education and employment.

Though casteism continues to exist, it can be well argued that its intensity and spread is reducing with education, with urbanisation and with generational change. We are going in the right direction and hopefully we would become a much more equal and much less discriminatory society by 100 years of our independence.

However we don’t pay the same attention to the Jihadi mentality which continues to exist and shows some evidence of increase. Firstly, all the history of Jihadi conquest, destruction and genocide has been buried or whitewashed. Mass killers have been turned into freedom fighters, Temple and University destruction has been labelled as accidents or collateral damage of war. Genocide propagators are just a small mention in our history books. While our ‘secular’ historians have whitewashed it from books and media, it remains etched in generational history of the people.

This has led to unintended consequences, while Hindus (especially upper castes and Brahmins) are aware of the negatives and are conscious, guilty, embarrassed and are continuously taking corrective actions; the muslims have unfortunately taken to either jihadi chauvinism or victimisation mindset. On one hand we have the Ashrafs screaming chauvinist boasts on social media, on the other hand we have Ajlaf and Arzals brainwashed into victimhood, sitting in protests for ‘equal’ treatment. Nothing better illustrates the Ashraf Jihadi mindset then a popular filmstar naming his new born after an Invader and Genocide propagator, it is like a German filmstar naming his child Hitler. Imagine the global reaction it would cause, however here all outcry was successfully buried and infact it was defended by our ‘liberals’.

The biased reaction to both evils continue every day, caste violence is reported (as it should be) and amplified. While Jihadi chauvinism is whitewashed, buried in the back pages or sometimes even defended.

The biggest and unfolding consequence of this forced secularism and discriminatory treatment by our historians, media and the educated liberal elite is that it is leading to increasing polarisation instead of unification of the people. Facts and mindsets can no longer be hidden and manipulated in the highwalls of institutions by intellectuals, they are now being dug out, analysed and shared across our wifi democracy.