Dr Anand Ranganathan highlighted the sorry plight of Hindus in their own country and how they have been made victims of state-sanctioned apartheid. In his talk organized by Prabodhan Manch Parle, Anand pointed out discrimination so entrenched, in our constitution, policy, laws, and judgments, that it makes Hindus not just second-class citizens but, rather, eighth-class citizens.

Anand began his address with the words “Ever since Mahatma Gandhi succeeded in controlling this nation’s pulse we have witnessed minority appeasement on an unprecedented scale, sometimes as virtue signalling at other times as placation of victimhood”.

Anand further highlighted Gandhi’s appeasement policy that comes through in the latter’s speech where he says Hindus shouldn’t harbour any anger or hatred for Muslims even if Muslims wanted to destroy and kill Hindus. Gandhi wanted Hindus to give up their lives for ushering in a ‘new world’. Anand says that vision has been realized.

“Right from the Khilafat movement to the cushioning of the Mopla massacre to the Rangila Rasool incident to discriminatory state and central articles and amendments to school curriculums to Hajj subsidy to ignoring prohibition of Child Marriage Act to Shah Bano to the declaration by a sitting Prime Minister that minorities have the first right to resources, every single time the minority has been appeased it has only emboldened their leaders and political fronts for further extortion and blackmail”, he says.

Furthermore, he opines that while appeasement in itself is discriminatory, active discrimination of the ‘majority’ is worse than appeasement of one community. He added that Hindus have accepted appeasement as a ‘political compulsion’.

It is this ‘political compulsion’ that makes governments handout 31.3 per cent of homes under the Awas Yojana, 33 per cent of funds under the Kisan Saman Nidhi Yojana, and 36 per cent of loans under the Mudra Yojana in the last eight years to a community that is 14.2 per cent (according to the official census) of the country’s population. Anand further listed schemes for Muslims under the current Modi-led BJP dispensation.

Anand reiterated that the point he was trying to make wasn’t about appeasement but about apartheid and the discrimination entrenched in the constitution, policies, legal framework, society and psyche that makes Hindus eighth-class citizens. Anand also listed eight reasons why Hindus are eighth-class in their own country, a so-called Hindu Rashtra.

1) State control of Hindu temples and their properties: Secularism means total separation of state and religion but in Bharat only Mandirs are controlled by the government. Mandirs have been centres of worship, learning, community living, trade & economy, statecraft, and even defence. Hence, invaders believed that to dismantle Bharat, its temple ecosystem had to be dismantled.

The British passed this trait to Brown Sahibs who are continuing to carry forward the British legacy since independence in the form of various regulations. Hindus have been at the receiving end of state-sponsored loot and pillaging of Mandirs due to these regulations. The Congress government passed the Hindu religious and charitable endowments Act 1959 to further snub Hindus when the draconian provisions of the Hindu religious and charitable endowments Act 1951 were challenged and struck down by the courts.

2) Injustice towards Kashmiri Hindus: “Terrorists are targeting Hindus settled in Kashmir and not tourists which is evident from the fact that this year has been the highest. They want Hindus to return as tourists and fill their coffers but not settle in their own land as Kashmiri Hindu”, says Anand. Furthermore, he quotes Sushil Pandit who says tourism in Kashmir funds Jihad.

Anand also questions the state which allows Rohingyas to settle across Bharat including Jammu & Kashmir but not Kashmiri Hindus. He highlights that the Kashmiris continue to live as refugees for more than three decades in ugly inhospitable transit camps.

“It is not just a film but a recollection of memories of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus who were betrayed by their own friends”, Anand points out why the truth about the 1990 Kashmir Hindu Genocide as shown in The Kashmir Files movie is being hidden by Islamist apologists.

Anand says he is bothered by the government, judiciary, and society forgetting what Islamist Jihadis uttered and did. He poignantly adds that this nation hears complaints through the barrel of a gun not the ink of a pen, it believes inaction is medicine, believes time heals, and believes wounds don’t fester.

3) Waqf Act of 1995: Waqf is the third largest land owner in India after defence and railways. Interestingly, much of its land holding is pre-independence and a result of the British placating Muslims. The insidious give-and-take between the British and Muslims resulted in Waqf Board being at the receiving end of British generosity.

The Congress government in keeping with its appeasement policy decided to withdraw its claim on 123 Prime Central Delhi properties and gifted them to Waqf Board on March 5, 2014. These were endowed to the government by the departing British and their status remained unchanged for 70 years. According to the Waqf Act, every donated land belongs to ‘Allah in perpetuity’ and it is the Waqf Board that decides which land is fit to be declared Waqf property which can be used for any ‘Sharia-compliant purpose’.

4) RTE (Right to Education) Act: The Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government passed the RTE Act in 2009. The preamble of the Act states it aims to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the 6 to 14 years age group. RTE has and continues to destroy Hindu schools and institutions.

“Perhaps that is the overarching goal of secularism – to allow the prospering of every other religion, its belief systems, way of life, cultural values, educational methods, wisdom, books & scriptures except Hinduism”, Anand rues.

There are numerous Provisions under the RTE that selectively apply only to non-minority schools. RTE’s order stating that 25 per cent of seats must be allotted to children belonging to economically weaker sections and other disadvantaged groups is proving to be a death knell for privately run Hindu educational institutions.

5) Legislations favouring non-Hindus & discriminating against Hindus: Bigamy is punishable under Section 494 of IPC (Indian Penal Code) but is permitted for Muslims under the Muslim Personal law Sharia application Act 1937, Communal violence bill (Prevention of communal and targeted violence access to justice and reparations Bill 2011) which fortunately didn’t translate into an Act, and 1952 Hindu court bill adopted in 1956 are some such legislations.

6) Judiciary that exclusively tries to reform only Hindu Dharma: Anand highlighted several instances where the judiciary discriminated against the ‘majority’ such as in the Nupur Sharma and Sabarimala cases.

7) Celebrating those who killed and converted millions of Hindus: Anand highlighted how invaders have been glorified and honoured by naming cities, railway stations, and other places after them. Furthermore, leftist historians (read distortians) have whitewashed the crimes of these barbaric invaders and how this whitewashing has weakened Bharat.

8) Places of Worship Act 1991: Anand believes this is the most barbaric legislation passed in Bharat. He further maintains that the Supreme Court (SC) wilfully ratified this Act in its 2019 Ayodhya verdict. The Act obligates maintaining all religious places except Ram Janmabhoomi as they were on August 15, 1947. This makes it almost impossible to reclaim temples that have been encroached on by invaders.

(Featured Image Source: Anand Ranganathan’s Twitter account)