Praggnanandhaa, the chess prodigy, was celebrated by Bharat a few days ago even though he had lost at the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship. Bharatiyas saw him as an 18-year-old boy, wearing his culture and religion on his sleeve and getting accolades worldwide. But some elements, the usual suspects as usual, couldn’t bear seeing a Vibhuti-wearing Hindu accomplishing so much at such a young age too.

People were eagerly looking forward to the final match with the expectation that Pragg, as he is fondly called, would win the title much like the Prag(Pragyan) that successfully rolled out onto the moon’s surface. However, leftists and Islamists were waiting for failure at both ends lest it popularise Hindus who were confident in their field of excellence and religion. While Chandrayaan shattered that dream, Praggnanandhaa’s loss at the FIDE World Championship final became a moment of triumph for them.

A Muslim handle named Mhm Abdullah posted on Facebook congratulating Magnus Carlsen, to whom Praggnanandhaa had lost, saying, “The great warrior who defeated the Sanghi.” In another post, “Lick you Sanghi..Oh how they boasted (about you)..now you keep those three lines on your forehead in your mom’s c*unt”. By “three lines”, he means the urdhva pundra as Praggnanandhaa wears Vibuti on his forehead without fail, so much so that he was questioned about it in an interview.

The innocent boy had merely said at the time that he wore it because his mom told him to. Praggnanandhaa and his mom always sport Vibhuti in public, which has become an integral part of who they are. There were times when ‘seculars’ shared pictures of Praggnanandhaa without Vibhuti, allegedly erased using Photoshop, and the whole internet took them to task for Hinduphobia. No wonder it has become a thorn in the side of anti-Hindus.

Abuser Mhm Abdullah changed his profile picture to that of Chandrayaan 3 after his post of Praggnanandhaa went viral and shared posts about the lunar missions’ success. If it had failed, he would have posted many vulgar messages about ISRO scientists who visited temples before the launch. The reason behind such deep-rooted hatred can be understood from another of his posts that has gone viral.

In reply to another Facebook user, Abdullah posted, “2047 Islamic Republic of India…Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka have changed…soon North will also change”. His timeline is full of posts supporting DMK and Islamic fundamentalism.

This is only a sample of the kind of abuse successful Hindus face from leftists and Islamists. Another Tamil post on X said, “Bhakt Sanghi sons who blabbered that he won because of Thiruneeru will now take solace saying that he lost because his Thiruneeru was a little crooked”. It completely escapes such people’s minds that one can be humble in attributing one’s success to divinity and taking responsibility for a loss at the same time. They won’t dare make such comments against their darling CM MK Stalin or his ministers, who repeatedly said that their party won because of Christian prayers.

Show them the power of Dharma#FIDEWorldCup2023#Praggnanandhaa pic.twitter.com/BU7ZrsZ9Kq

— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) August 22, 2023

Yet another post abusing Praggnanandhaa, but from a different point, also went viral along with the above. Sanjukta Basu, a darling of Congress IT cell, had tweeted in 2022 calling Vibhuti a marker of “top caste” and called for a ban on tilak and choti in public spaces. There is no credible publicly available information on the little champ’s caste. Yet abusers assumed him to be a Brahmin simply because he sports Vibhuti.

There were other social media posts as well, which slyly mocked him for wearing the Hindu symbol and losing against Carlsen. The common factor to all of them is supporting or sympathizing with the I.N.D.I Alliance, whose members are inherently anti-Hindu. Chess.com India’s X handle shared a picture of Praggnanandhaa at the end of the championship and was taken to task by netizens who mocked it, saying it was a close resemblance but not Praggnanandhaa as there was no Vibhuti.

It must be astounding to a layperson that an accomplished person like Praggnanandhaa faces such abuse for something as basic as wearing Vibhuti. But this is what Hindu children face every day even in schools. 

Iman, a famous TV personality, had made fun of Vibhuti in a children’s show creating a bad image of the Hindu symbol in impressionable young minds.

A Christian teacher at a government-aided Christian school punished kids for sporting Vibhuti, saying, “Only rowdies wear them”.

A Periyarist teacher at a government school cut kalawa worn by girls and made them erase Vibhuti ‘to teach atheism’.

Another government school principal banned kids from sporting Vibhuti, saying, “There is a GO banning it”.

Yet another government school was in the news when some of its teachers abused students for wearing Vibhuti.

A Hindu girl sporting Vibhuti every day was harassed by teachers in a government-aided Christian school.

Kids wearing Vibhuti were suspended by a government-aided Christian school which called it indiscipline.

All the above incidents are from a single state, Tamil Nadu. Having gone to a Hindu-run school, Praggnanandhaa might have escaped from such harassment in a state where the anti-Hindu rhetoric is the shrillest. However, social media has shown the kind of hatred Dravidianists and people influenced by their propaganda nurture for even humble folks like Praggnanandhaa.