The latest blasphemy controversy has once again highlighted the fact that the Muslims of India are suffering because of the majoritarian impulses of the Hindu voter. The Muslims have engaged in protests against the blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (PBUH) committed by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and its Delhi media chief Kumar Jindal, and though the BJP has removed both from their posts, as well as from membership of the party, there has been no official condemnation of their action, nor any criminal action, not even under the relatively mild provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
The communal rioting which has ensured shows that there is at least a section of mass opinion which feels that the duo’s blasphemy was protected by the freedom of speech, and made points that deserved to be made. That such a mindset exists explains why the BJP has received a sympathetic enough hearing for its RSS-inspired Hindu chauvinism for its spokesmen to have committed blasphemy. The BJP government has taken the little action it has because of a protest by Arab countries, whose citizens are also very sensitive about the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and who have boycotted Indian products. There is also the fear that India might have to face the expulsion of its workers from those countries.
It is not a matter of Indo-Pak rivalry, but Pakistan must use this event to highlight the fact that the pandering to India, which has included a neglect of the Kashmir cause, by Arab countries, has led to Hindu extremism getting room to expand, which it has done in the fashion that has been shown. At this point, Pakistan has to keep uppermost the honour of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), whose honour has been insulted, for which redress has not been provided. It should also be remembered that the insult came in the course of a programme on a Benares mosque, where Hindu extremists claim there was a Hindu temple, just as the claimed about the Babri Mosque.
