Hindu Terrorism

As David notes the Today programme set out to ‘prove’ the BBC’s contention that Narendra Modi’s election would be the start of persecution against minority communities in India was correct….Modi apparently being a ‘mass murderer’…a claim that went unchallenged on the BBC.  It is notable that the BBC is keen to link Hinduism to terrorism and extremism (not to mention its same approach to Buddhism)…but reluctant to link Islam to ideologically based terrorism….not just reluctant, it in fact sets out to completely deny the very obvious link.

Timing is always relevant when looking at what the BBC does.  Why for instance did the BBC choose today to broadcast this attack on Modi?  After all it based the attack on a report that came out on May 1st.

The Today programme running order doesn’t include this report….why was it suddenly squeezed in?  Could it be that the BBC is trying to counter the BJP’s allegations against the Congress party in India made on Saturday?

If so why is the BBC involving itself in Indian politics?

If it is going to report alleged attacks on minorities by Hindus it should also be making quite clear that Muslims are by far the most likely terrorists in India along with the Communists….Wonder why the BBC doesn’t want to make that clear.  Two of its favourite fellow travellers?  The BBC will however find time and space to list the Palestinian casualties in Gaza in just about every report from Israel however tenuous the link to the conflict there.

Why has the BBC specifically chosen India to target when mentioning that report?  After all India is in the second tier of concern, where it has been since…2009….not 2014….Pakistan is in the first tier, the report noting…

Key Findings

Pakistan represents one of the worst situations in the world for religious freedom for countries not currently designated by the U.S. government as “countries of particular concern.” In the past year, the government grappled with a challenging security environment and initiated efforts to fight the Pakistani Taliban. However, despite these efforts, Pakistan continued to experience chronic sectarian violence targeting Shi’a Muslims, Christians, Ahmadi Muslims, and Hindus.

Why has the BBC set its sights on Hindu India and not Muslim Pakistan?…after all the biggest number of asylum claims to the Uk come from…guess where…not India, but Pakistan.

So India has been of on the second tier of concern for a while, meaning that attacks against minorities are nothing new…in 2010 this was being said..

“In controversial comments, Rahul Gandhi has told US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that growth of “radicalised Hindu groups” posed a bigger threat to the country than militant groups like LeT, according to a leaked American diplomatic cable.” 

There is definitely Hindu based violence against other minorities but the other minorities aen’t innocent of exactly the same.

When the BBC quotes Hindu politicians making Hindu nationalist statements perhaps they should consider if that is a response to the Muslim attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001? The BBC normally loves a good ‘blowback’ conspiracy theory when explaining away Muslim terrorism.  Perhaps the BBC should consider all those other Muslim attacks on India such as the Bombay bombing in 1993 and Mumbai recently….‘Murder in Mumbai: There was nothing remotely random about it. This was no hostage standoff. The terrorists didn’t want to negotiate. They wanted to murder as many Hindus, Christians, Jews, atheists and other “infidels” as they could, and in as spectacular a manner as possible. In the Jewish center, some of the female victims even appear to have been tortured before being killed.…So why are so many prominent Western media reluctant to call the perpetrators terrorists?’

…….along with many many other attacks.

The report that the BBC uses to attack Modi says this…

Despite the country’s status as a pluralistic, secular democracy, India has long struggled to protect minority religious communities or provide justice when crimes occur, which perpetuates a climate of impunity. Incidents of religiously-motivated and communal violence reportedly have increased for three consecutive years.  

The country has experienced periodic outbreaks of large-scale communal violence against religious minorities, including in Uttar Pradesh in 2013, Odisha in 2007-2008, Gujarat in 2002, and Delhi in 1984.

Based on these concerns, USCIRF again places India on its Tier 2 list of countries, where it has been since 2009.

 In light of these concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in support of religious freedom made after the close of the reporting period (discussed more fully below) was a positive development.

So the report recognises that such events have been happening for a long time and then goes on to praise Modi…the Today programme didn’t report that bit.

Oh and to finish….as for Hindus forcefully converting Muslims as mentioned by the Today programme…Muslims converting people by force is rampant in Pakistan…and not just Pakistan…

Police protect girls forced to convert to Islam

Extremist Muslims who force vulnerable teenage girls to convert to Islam are being targeted by police, Met chief Sir Ian Blair has revealed.

Police are working with universities to clamp down on “aggressive conversions” during which girls are beaten up and forced to abandon university courses.

The Hindu Forum of Britain claims hundreds of mostly Sikh and Hindu girls have been intimidated by Muslim men who take them out on dates before terrorising them until they convert.

Ramesh Kallidai, of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said: “Some girls are petrified because they are constantly being phoned up, having their door knocked.

“One girl was beaten up on the street and others have been forced to leave university.”