Do We Want to Become Vishwa Guru or Vish Guru?

Alas, what cyanide suffuses the neo-bigot brain.

The merest mention of the Muslim, or of those who regard them as equal citizens of the republic, entitled to all the guarantees enshrined in the secular Constitution of India, brings forth the bite.

Thus even a minister who has taken his legitimating oath on that same constitution thinks nothing of spitting venom, be it even at a colonel-rank lady officer who happens to be a Muslim.

The nation waits to hear from the honourable prime minister as to what he thinks of the said minister's clever gambit of attributing the brilliant move of fielding “their own sister” to do dirt on the terrorists who widowed our Hindu sisters in Pahalgam.

Surely, it might be hoped that the numero uno ought not to waste a minute in calling out this allegedly authorising malignant reference to his alleged tactical brilliance.

Blessed be the High Court of Madhya Pradesh which, noticing that the law enforcement apparatus had not moved in the matter as imperatives both of the rule of law and national unity would have required of them, took suo motu cognisance of the so-heinous minister-speak, and ordered an FIR to be lodged against the offender within hours of the decree.

Do we not every hour of every day hear of the malicious echo system of them rotten secular liberals who willy nilly support the so-anti-Bharat elements still allegedly flourishing within the realm?

So if we may ask: what of the echo system that invariably supports, reinforces, propagates the venomous things said again and again by “nationalist” warriors, who brazenly include members of legislatures, of parliament and ministers alike, in utter contempt of the constitution and the rule of law?

Three cheers and more for Uma Bharti ji who has unequivocally asked for the culprit minister's ouster from the Madhya Pradesh cabinet –an upright voice no longer heeded in the upper echelons of the ruling BJP.

As stated above, not just Muslims, but any and all who speak for secular constitutional values, often risking life and limb, are fair game for this kind of bigot.

Imagine that even the wife of the slain naval officer, Himanshi Narwal, began to be trolled within hours of being widowed a week after her wedding for saying that she did not wish anyone to persecute Muslims and Kashmiris for the terrorists attack at Pahalgam.

Nor was the Kashmiri Pandit foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, spared for merely announcing the government's decision to agree to the cessation of firing.

We were to understand that, among other bad influences upon her of a liberal kind, Himanshi had been corrupted by her sojourn at – you know where – the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Remarkably, both India's finance minister and minister of external affairs, who both went to the same institution, seemed to have miraculously escaped the vile influence of the very same naughty institution.

This culture of neo-bigotry, it must be admitted, is not a tangential phenomenon, but one that draws breath from the predilections that afflict very high places, both local and central.

It is heartening that the vicious maligning of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi has drawn widespread pushback, even from sections of the sold-out media.

So may this be a tipping point?

The question is dying to be asked: do we want to be Vishwa Guru or Vish Guru?

Certainly Amrit and Venom are antipodal entities, and must yield nation-states and societies worthy of emulation or deserving of annihilation.

Bharat cannot be allowed to become a doppelganger of that which she abhors in theory.

Badri Raina taught at Delhi University.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.