JAIPUR – The campaign of political parties and their candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in Rajasthan, due on November 25, is witnessing a disturbing trend of Muslim bashing, which has increased to an alarming level. The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have brought the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict to the election turf in the desert state and used it to target and ridicule Muslims and question their patriotism.
The BJP leaders from outside Rajasthan, such as Yogi Adityanath, Sudhanshu Trivedi and Manoj Tiwari, have praised Israel as well as its action of firing missiles at the Gaza Strip and described Hamas as a terrorist organisation in their election rallies while accusing the ruling Congress of supporting Hamas for its “vote bank politics”. In their election speeches, the BJP leaders’ explicit target is the Muslim community.
Taking a cue from the national politicians, the state BJP leaders are busy finding more pretexts to target Muslims and accuse the Congress of pandering to “unjust demands” of Muslims and appeasing them. The entire election campaign, laced with communal slurs and abuses, has changed the political landscape of Rajasthan, with the BJP expecting to reap political dividends from polarisation of the society.
In a highly provocative speech, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath praised Israel at a rally organised in support of BJP candidate and MP Baba Balak Nath in Tijara on November 1 and said its action had suppressed the “Talibani mentality” of Palestine. He asserted that Bajrang Bali Ki Gada (Lord Hanuman’s mace) was the only panacea for Talibani mindset which had been crushing the countries in the Middle East.
While affirming that terrorism was a menace to society, Adityanath said: Taliban ka upchaar toh Bajrangbali ki gada hi hai. He further said: Dekh rahe hai na is samay Gaza mein Israel Talibani mansikta ko kaise kuchalne ka kaam kar raha hai. Sateekk tarike se bilkul sateek nishana maar maar kar kuchal raha hai. (Have you seen how Israel has been crushing the Talibani mentality in Gaza? They take the right measures to ensure their targets are neutralized.)
This story was originally published in indiatomorrow.net. Read the full story here .