Modiji , please tell us why there is so much hatred against Muslims?

Why Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately address the nation on the issue of mob lynchings against Muslims

Whenever something goes horribly wrong in a family, it's the father (baap or baba in Hindi)--the head of the family--who immediately steps in to avoid the situation from going out of hand.

In a village, it's the village headman (mukhiya in Hindi) who presides over all affairs of importance--from local administration to family feud.

So, when the nation faces social, political, economic or moral crisis, it's the responsibility of janata's (people's) mai-baap (mother-father)--the Prime Minister of the country--to intervene to take charge over the matter.

Today, PM Narendra Modi, the countrymen are patiently waiting for your response on the ongoing brutal attacks on Muslims in the form of mob lynchings. We understand, you are a busy man, you have many issues to attend, including managing India's foreign relations with countries like the US.

We appreciate your passion to turn India into a world superpower. But in your chase for global dreams, somewhere the locals of India are feeling left out, especially the Muslims, who of late are getting murdered because of their faith and food habits.

The most recent attack against Muslims happened against a group of five young men, who were on a local train in Haryana after finishing their Eid shopping in the national capital.

The attack led to the death of teenager Hafiz Junaid, who was stabbed multiple times by his killers. The attackers before stabbing the victims, called them "anti-national" and "beef-eaters", and made sure to insult them by pulling their beards and throwing their skull caps (things considered sacred by the Muslims) on the floor.

The death of 16-year-old Junaid left his father so traumatised that he ended up asking a newspaper journalist as why there is so much hatred against Muslims.

"He was a child. He was just 16. How could they hate us so much to have killed him so brutally?" Junaid's father, Jallaluddin, told The Hindustan Times. "When I reached the spot, my son Hashim (who also sustained injuries) was sitting on the station with Junaid's body soaked in blood in his lap," he said.

The very public killing of a teenager by a group of 15-20 odd men happened on Thursday (June 22), just four days before India celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the ending of the holy-month of Ramzan, when Muslim devotees fast from dawn-to-dusk.

This Eid, the usual fun and fervor was missing as many decided to wear black bands on their arms as a mark of protest against regular crimes against Muslims.

The murder of Junaid is not an isolated case. In the last three months, a total of nine cases of mob assaults against Muslims have been reported from various parts of the country.

The attackers targeted the victims either on suspicion of cow smuggling or beef eating. Thus the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's usual excuse against such attacks as an aberration or one-off episode by fringe elements proves totally wrong.

Not only such savageries have become regular, but the fringe is the new mainstream, these days.

Modiji, it has been six days since Junaid was killed, neither you nor any of your cabinet colleagues have spoken against the incident. The chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, decided to break his silence on the murder on Monday (June 26)--four days after the world came to know about it.

We know you were on a three-nation tour till Tuesday. So you didn't address the nation directly over an issue that is concerning all of us. But you have been tweeting regularly, right from congratulating badminton player Kidambi Srikanth for winning the Australian Open, 2017, on Sunday (June 25), to tweeting in local Portuguese and Dutch languages after you landed in Portugal on Saturday (June 24) and the Netherlands on Tuesday (June 27).

Modiji, you did not forget to address the nation through your monthly radio broadcast, Mann ki Baat, even during your sojourn to the foreign countries. In Mann ki Baat too, there was no mention about these incidents.

We understand it was a recorded programme, but you could have spoken about attacks on Muslims as the incident happened two days before you left for Portugal.

We are insisting on a tweet from you to condemn the brutal murders of Muslims as you have been always very active on social media. Even American President Donald Trump said that both of you are "world leaders in social media".

Why there is so much silence regarding crimes against Muslims? Are Muslims, who constitute 14.2 per cent of the country's population, don't matter to us? It is not just the ruling parties at the states and the Centre who are guilty of practicing an eerie silence over the matter.

The civil society and opposition parties too have not come out strongly against such barbaric acts against a group of people just because they follow a different religion or have different food habits as compared to the majority Hindus.

However, it looks like a group of like-minded people have decided to break the silence surrounding communal and caste-based attacks by staging protests in 11 cities of the country, and in London and Toronto on Wednesday.

The protest--"Not in My Name"--is the brainchild of Gurgaon-based filmmaker, Saba Dewan, who posted a message on Facebook calling for a protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Wednesday evening against the recent spate of lynchings of Muslims and attacks on Dalits.

Like Dewan, Delhi University professor Prem Singh too wants to see an end to the cycle of violence against the minorities. The Hindi teacher is currently observing a week-long fast at the Jantar Mantar to protest against mob lynchings.

We don't know what kind of an impact these protests against violence and inhumanity would make on the authorities. But we know one thing for sure; we need to break our silence against regular atrocities against the minorities and underprivileged to call ourselves a secular and a democratic country in the future too.

Modiji, you too please join us and speak against these barbaric killings and ensure us that the guilty would be punished and the future would be better than the current gloomy scenario.

OneIndia News