Where were these protesters when a 40-year-old dentist, Pankaj Narang, was brutally murdered in Janakpuri area of Delhi? Why this hypocrisy?
There were many protest demonstrations at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and in many other places in the country, including Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru against the lynching of Junaid Khan, a juvenile at Ballabhgarh station in Harayana on eve of Eid. It was timely and justified. The protesters read out couplets of Kabir and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. It was good. Now I am tempted to raise a few questions.
Where were these protesters when a 40-year-old dentist, Pankaj Narang, was brutally murdered in Janakpuri area of Delhi? Why this difference in incidents of murder and in complexion of killers? It was said that murder of Narang did not have any communal overtone. This reminder was by the same class of so-called secular forces which is shedding tears over murder of Junaid Khan.
A man who saved the life of others is killed in public view and the so-called intellectuals maintained silence. This group was silent even when a serving police officer in Srinagar, Mohammad Ayub Pandith, was lynched to death by mob at a mosque during a Friday prayer. The murderous mob beat him up, tore his clothes and lynched him to death.
Note the shameless augment. The so-called intellectuals, after Narang was killed last year, were telling that it was a different case and could not be compared with the lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. They are not bothered how the widow, seven-year old son and his aged mother have been living after the death of Narang in West Delhi. Narang’s only fault was that he had tried to stop some unruly youths driving motor-cycles on road dangerously and with reckless speed.
The youths, Bangladeshi Muslims, were so enraged that they attacked Narang and his brother-in-law, resulting in the death of Narang. Someone known to me, who had gone to attend the prayer meeting of Narang, pointed out how a large section of media beat its chest over any incident of killing of a person belonging to the minority community.
But the large same media hardly mentions or gives adequate coverage when a person of majority community is killed by Muslims. Such incidents are dubbed as “road rage” by the media. Those who had gathered at the mourning of Narang voiced this double-standard of the media and society.
The killers of Junaid Khan have been arrested and they must be given severe punishment. At the same time, those Hindu youths who were killed — their killers should also be arrested and punished. Where is another opinion on this! It is hurts when, in the case of murder, people start interpreting the incident along communal lines.
Those seen demonstrating at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and at the Gateway of India in Mumbai, are the same class of people who were seen supporting Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (these students had accused our Army personnel of raping women, who were looking Afzal Guru as a martyr and were appealing to the people to not give a communal colour to Narang’s death.
Then Jt CP of Delhi Police Deependra Pathak had admitted that the killing of Narang was not a case of road rage. It was a clear case of premeditated murder. He was done to death in presence of his seven-year old son. Just imagine the trauma the young child would have suffered then. It should be seen as falling human values in our society and not only as a case of murder. The ‘secularists’ were silent then.
How come the so-called intellectuals were not disturbed by the heinous murder of Kashmir’s DSP Ayub Pandith by the mob led by separatists and pro Pakistani elements in Srinagar? This class has nothing to do with such ‘murder’. The secular section is apprehensive of India becoming a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Remember the case of Akhlaq in Dadri. This class did not say a word against the State Government of Uttar Pradesh then headed by Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, although law and order is a State subject, and the State regime should have been condemned.
The manner in which this class was active in case of murder of Junaid did not care to do anything in case of murder of Narang or the lynching of Kashmir police officer Ayub Pandith. This so-called intellectual class will have to answer these questions.
This select group is also indifferent to killings of Sangh workers in Kerala by CPI(M) activists. Its members are also silent on the killing of Hindi-speaking people in the North-East. Earlier, this class was seen standing and opposing the death sentence of Yakub Menon in the Mumbai serial blast case of 1993.It has been exploiting Ayub ‘s murder purely for political reasons.
It is time now that these so-called intellectuals find out when the country is in danger, with its secular fabric threatened, and when it is safe as a secular entity. But try as they might to hide it, the people have seen their real face. The mask of secularism is off. The people know the truth. The nation has to be cautious against such divisive and disruptive forces.
By RK Sinha
Courtesy: The Pioneer
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