Ankit Saxena. Ankit Sharma. Ratan Lal. Kamlesh Tiwari. Rinku Sharma.
59 Kar Sewaks in Godhra. 15 Hindus in Delhi. 400+ policemen on Republic Day.
Without them, all of the incidents involving them would be pogroms and genocides by Indian media semantics. A wave of Hindutva savagery, led by bloodthirsty hoodlums of the Indian right, searing into homes of Indian Muslims and Sikhs. But thanks to their sacrifices, the scales have been balanced and we can all go back to vanilla discussions about how secular our roots are, how we must keep preaching and how we shall repeat these exercises over and over to feed the demons of our secularism.
Every time there is a communal incident in this great nation of ours, we immediately look for the fulcrum and our own balancing act. Hindu? Must have been ‘naughty’ and chanted Jai Shri Ram and tormented poor Muslims. Muslim? Must have been tormented by the Hindu or questioned on patriotism. Sikhs? Must have been challenged by the Government and backed into a corner by Hindus. Christian? Must have been tormented by Hindus for duping tribals and encouraging conversions. Suddenly, the scales start tipping in favour of everyone not a Hindu.
Just when you were thinking that it is time to shun your religion in this intolerant nation, a Rinku Sharma will take a knife in the back and tip the scales again, force you to think again. Now, both sides have lost people. Must have been the fault of both…stupid communal events. Good secularism is back in the discussion.
This cycle continues till you have another Muslim hurt or allegedly so. But, what happens the day the Hindutva savages have no Rinku Sharmas left? Factually, an incorrect argument to start with because there are close to 100cr Hindus in India as per the last census. But, what happens when they no longer wish the scales to be balanced or offer their sacrifices for good secularism?
With no good secularism in the picture, what would distinguish us from Pakistan or Syria? Would we not disgrace this country forever? Would we not shame our founding fathers and mothers of the Indian Constitution? The price this nation would pay is much bigger than what some of us would endure to keep good secularism alive.
The goal is clear. India comes first. And for that, good secularism must be protected at all costs. My Hindu brothers and sisters, we must become the samagri in this havan, the ashwa of this ashwamedha.