 "BJP Bengal protest on the Tuktuki Mondal case")
As far as it is possible to ascertain, the facts of the Tuktuki Mondal case are as following. Mondal, a minor, suddenly disappeared from her home in rural Bengal approximately two months ago. Hindu activists allege that she was kidnapped by a local Muslim goon closely linked to the ruling Trinamool Congress. They launched an extensive social media campaign demanding her ‘return’ backed by agitations at the ground level. The local police is said to be in collusion with the aforementioned Muslim goon and finally the activists approached the Calcutta High Court. Quite unexpectedly, Mondal made a sudden appearance in the local police station and was subsequently produced before the magistrate. In her statement, Mondal claimed that she was physically abused by her father and she had no desire to return to her parents. To make the situation even more murky, an elopement angle allegedly involving a Muslim boyfriend has been hinted at but there is no clear evidence either way.
BJP Bengal protest on the Tuktuki Mondal case. Photo courtesy: BJP Bengal Facebook page.
Most certainly, the police story has multiple holes. If Mondal was indeed a victim of parental abuse, what about her whereabouts for the last two month? How did she suddenly materialize after the High Court took cognizance of the matter? In a state as thoroughly compromised as Bengal, it is hardly inconceivable that if she was kidnapped by a politically powerful leader, the police would actively protect him. One can only hope that the truth will emerge soon and carry the impartial judicial imprimatur.
As one would expect, the debate on social media platforms has taken an entirely different direction. The Hindu activists are convinced that the police are lying to serve powerful political interests. Some have even suggested that Mondal is trying to protect her parents from wrath of domineering Muslims allegedly active in her district. Liberals, citing the exact same evidence, are equally convinced that this is another instance of the Hindu Right communalizing the assiduously secular environment of Bengal for narrow electoral gains. As they have done previously in UP with frantic calls about Love Jihad which have mysteriously disappeared since the last election in India’s most politically charged state.
If the purpose of this entire debate was merely to establish liberal hypocrisy, it is easily enough accomplished. There is little doubt that liberals—usually skeptical of the state—are willing to believe the police version mainly because it involves a Hindu girl and a purported Muslim offender. If a similar incidence occurred in Gujarat with a Muslim girl as the alleged victim, liberals would have been leery of the arguments offered by the state government.
But hypocrisy aside, why are liberals so willing to believe the official version in this particular instance. Is it because they condone abduction or rape as long as the alleged offender is a Muslim as many on the Hindu Right implicitly believe? The very idea is absurd and deserves no further consideration. Rather, it is the Hindu Right’s attempt to link every alleged crime committed by a Muslim directly with Islam which leads to the liberal reflex reaction. Because it is no longer about an individual Muslim but the larger community and protecting minorities is the first principle of modern liberalism.
A Hindu accused of criminality is merely an individual who is depraved and no reflection of the religion he purportedly professes. But the same consideration does not extend to a Muslim especially if he is accused of sexual crimes against Hindu girls. He automatically transmogrifies into an Islamic warrior discharging his religious duties. A Muslim does not rape a Hindu girl for the same reasons as a Hindu —it is intrinsically linked to his duties as the sword of Islam. Or as some crudely argued at the height of debate about Love jihad: Muslims have a higher ‘propensity’ to rape . It is hardly surprising that many Hindu activists have linked this incident to religious conversion and theocratic fascism of the states likes Pakistan. Tuktuki Mondal is another Rinkie Kumar or else why would a Muslim allegedly rape a Hindu girl? Indeed, unfair as it may be in particular instances, It is hard to take Hindu activists seriously when they simply cannot countenance a Muslim girl falling in love with a Hindu boy except as a giant conspiracy designed to alter India’s demographics. That was the entire logic of Love Jihad which as noted above has entirely disappeared from political discourse waiting no doubt to be resurrected in 2017 when UP holds its assembly elections.
Where does this paranoia step from? A deep antipathy and suspicion of Islam as a religion and the fundamental belief that it is incompatible with Indian civilization best explains it. It is not a war against Jihadism or even Islamism—it is a battle cray against Islam itself which naturally extends to its adherents. Obsessed with political correctness and being invited to the next swish party in Lutyens Delhi , the liberals are apparently unable to appreciate the hegemonic designs of Islam; the Hindu activists are the canaries in the coal mine whose voice is being constantly suppressed. But the Hindu activists need to ponder: how do they propose to reconcile their revulsion towards Islam with their imagination of India as a modern Society? The 150 million odd Indian Muslims have shown no interest in marching towards Pakistan. And Muslims are not willing to give up their religion either despite the dark deeds it apparently dictates. So what is the solution? What is the end game?
Nothing is likely to satisfy the Hindu activists in the Tuktuki case. If it is shown that she was indeed abducted by a Muslim goon, it would merely buttress their argument that Hindu annihilation is currently underway in states like Bengal. And if the courts conclude that she had walked out of her home because of parental abuse, it would reflect how biased the system is against ordinary Hindus. Heads I win; tails you lose. There is simply no answer which can satisfy those obsessed with conspiracy theories and victim hood.
Perhaps, one need not take social media so seriously in a country as vast and varied as India. That is certainly a fair and important argument. Nevertheless, those who believe in a pluralistic India cannot but worry that the instances like Tuktuki Mondal case underline the almost insurmountable religious fault lines in modern India.
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This article first appeared on Rohit Pradhan's personal blog www.retributions.in
