Islamist ‘journalist and political analyst’ Saba Naqvi participated in a panel discussion on Satya Hindi YouTube channel run by former AAP politician Ashutosh, “journalists” Qamar Waheed Naqvi and Shailesh Kumar, and a few others.
This discussion was titled “Congress and Ram Mandir- Why party can’t decide to accept or reject Ayodhya Invitation?” led by Ashutosh.
In the viral video, she is seen saying, “Will you become an enemy to Hindus and Muslims? What Hindu Muslim? What is our country? What it was and what we thought of it? So this entire, I am not pointing to you, Ashutosh, the nonsense that we have been trapped in, the entire country. Think about it: there is a big war happening in Gaza, the world is changing, and we are stuck with Ram Mandir, Ayodhya. Everyone is touching their foreheads at the temple (maatha thek), and the news is showing that. Are we a joke to them? That we only talk about faith, religion, 500 years of history? This is what the headlines on TV are like. Now they are airing interviews of Sadhvi Rithambara. Everyone has forgotten Advaniji.”
Saba questioningly suggested that the party claiming credit for Bharat’s Independence and being the oldest political party is not obligated to attend the Ram Mandir Pran Prathishta (consecration) ceremony. She attributed the Congress’s indecision on accepting an invitation to a historic celebration on January 22, 2024, to the entire event and discussions surrounding the Ram Mandir.
She also claimed that the Muslim voter was becoming weaker by the day, that their names were disappearing from the voter’s list and that it was beneficial for the BJP in many places.
In fact, she called the discussion hosted by Ashutosh to be modelled on the “Godi media” framework.
Despite being pressed for a clear response to the invitation, Naqvi admitted that Congress is apprehensive about the BJP, adding to her frustration. She criticised TV channels for incessantly showing visuals and news related to the Ram Mandir, expressing discontent with the state of the country.
Towards the end of her response, Naqvi adopted a more secular stance, arguing against continuous coverage of religious news, whether about a mosque, church, or temple. However, her comments reveal a limited understanding of the significance of Ram Lalla’s Pran Pratishtha and the Ram Mandir inauguration for the Hindu community.
Statements hurting Hindu sentiments made by Saba Naqvi in the past
In 2022, Saba Naqvi also posted the same disparaging comparison, hiding behind the claim of it being a WhatsApp forward. Facing flak, she was compelled to take down her tweet and tender an apology.
In March 2020, she tweeted, “Yatras by Hindutva groups should never have been allowed…”. She used the word ‘Hindutva’ to voice out Hindu hate in public while maintaining political correctness.
In April 2020, as the country entered the lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saba was seen expressing “views” where she defended Muslims and criticised Hindus in a widely circulated video. In her statements, she accused the entire Hindu community of fostering animosity towards the Muslim community while not addressing the condemnable behaviour exhibited by certain segments of the Muslim community.
In her video, she “highlighted” a few positive examples within the Muslim community while simultaneously accusing the Hindu community of harbouring hatred. She was very picky in her choice of examples towards only their community to showcase them as the do-gooders and adopted a victim mentality as always. She was seen asking, “What do you want us to do?” with the ‘us’ referring to Muslims. She also suggests, “Should we all leave?” ensuring that her act of victim card exhibition is complete.
In the same month, she shared an old video of Hindus visiting temples to shield the Tablighi Jamaat, which was wreaking havoc in the country. Expressing concern, Saba Naqvi tweeted about a video news report, stating, “Worrying. Disturbing..no social distancing,” The video depicted a large number of Hindu devotees visiting different temples, seemingly disregarding the potential threat of the coronavirus in their communities. She later deleted the tweet.
Saba is known to share fake news repeatedly over the years, which blatantly exposes her Hinduphobia.
In 2019, Saba shared a report from the questionable website Caravan, claiming that a Muslim driver had been tied up and brutally assaulted for refusing to chant “Jai Shri Ram.” Once it was proven that the report was false, Saba unreservedly posted a conditional apology, urging Caravan and Altnews—two infamous websites known for spreading fake news—to fact-check the issue.
In 2018, Saba shared outdated fake news from 2015, claiming that a Dalit man was killed for entering a temple in Uttar Pradesh. Not only was the news from a time when Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister, but the man was actually murdered by a drunk individual and not because of entering the temple. Despite these inaccuracies, Saba persisted in exploiting caste fault lines, attempting to create division between Dalits and Hindus.
All said and done; it is admirable that Islamists like Saba Naqvi continue to thrive in the ecosystem and keep championing the cause of Palestine with so much passion. In contrast, Hindu Samaj, even though facing the brutalities day in and day out, fails to even speak at an audible decibel level about the atrocities faced by Hindu minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The way they push the narrative, even if they are not precisely facing persecution like our Hindu brethren, is really commendable. This is something we Hindus must learn from the Islamists.
