The current situation in Tripura and our responsibility

By Najeeb ul-Hassan Zaidi

Faraan: Violent incidents have taken place in the Indian state of Tripura in recent days. Looking at the violence, we need to think about how long will we continue to be oppressed by certain people in our own homeland? How long will it be a crime to be a Muslim in a free country? How long will we endure oppression? If we are by the way safe in some parts of the country, so should we forget our brothers in the other areas, where they are? If we are safe in different parts of the country, should we forget our brothers who are being persecuted in other parts of the country on the basis of their thought and religion? Do we have any responsibility or not? Every sensible person will say in answer to these questions how we can forget our brothers? And why we have to remain silent on the planned and systematic oppression? So we all have to think together and think deeply that in a country where there every person has the freedom to live with any religion and school of thought, how some people are free to spread hate in the country, in the result of which the innocent people are being constantly murdered and harassed. The giant of terror and harassment is roaming around gnashing his teeth. The despicable slogan of (Allah forbid) “The name of Muhammad (SAWA) will not be allowed”, the hateful slogan of “The name of Muhammad (SAWA) will not be acceptable” are being chanted.
Meanwhile, it is unfortunate that no specific action has been taken by the government so far, and the opposition parties are silent except for one or two, and the whole thing is confined to Twitter. There is no coherent and organized voice from either side while what is happening is very dangerous.
According to credible reports, at least a dozen mosques have been vandalized or burned, and Muslim homes and businesses have been attacked in several place, and in spite of all this, no one knows who these attackers are. Who are these people who burn mosques and who are these desecrators of the Holy Qur’an?
Pictures of some extremists are also circulating on social media, but no arrests have yet been reported. Isn’t it a tragedy in itself that people go out with the flag of a certain extremist group and set fire to the settlements, burn the mosques and put their flag on the minarets, even after that the police do not see any evidence, that who should be prosecuted and how should the miscreants be restrained?
This is a fact that the majority of the Tripura’s population is Hindu, this is also a fact that the minority was never harassed by the majority in past, but this time it is happening. Is not it necessary to consider that all this is happening in a planned way; because a significant number of the people living here are Hindu migrant from Bangladesh, the destitute who themselves migrated here from another country? So, what the media is saying about the recent violence in Tripura by locals, as a reaction to the recent violence against Hindus in neighboring Bangladesh, is completely wrong and provocative. But will they destroy someone’s house? why will they loot? Of course, if some of them are willing to resort to violence, then surely, they have been instigated and what is being reported through the media, that the locals are seeing the recent violence in Tripura as a reaction to the recent violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. This is completely wrong and provocative.
Do they not understand or are they also part of a conspiracy? They are trying to show them wearing the glasses of hatred. All the just people have condemned the violence against the Hindu brothers in Bangladesh strong words and we condemn it once again but we want to say, it does not mean that one wrongdoing justifies another wrongdoing.
Violence is violence whether it is here or in any part of the world. Burning the houses of the innocent, punishing someone for someone else’s actions, is this a justice?
As far as Bangladesh is concerned, the world also felt that the main difference between the riots in both places is that the government of Bangladesh took immediate action on what happened and took stern action against those involved in the violence and indicted them. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh met with the country’s Hindu community immediately after the violence and learned about their problems. In addition, the government made several arrests and the ministers met with the affected Hindus. But the Indian government has remained a silent spectator to the oppression and barbarism being perpetrated on Muslims by Bhagwa terrorists in Tripura. This is the thing that gives a dangerous shape to the Tripura riots. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all of us to consider and come up with a solution, that what can be done to rehabilitate these people, whose houses were demolished? How can we support those who have been brutally oppressed?
This is even more important, because there are some efforts underway to prove that the oppressed people of Tripura are the oppressors! So, when Muslims protested in the area, the priests of hatred tried to link them with sectarianism. After the peaceful protests of the Muslims, the police and the administration enforced section 144; thus the protests of the Muslims were also banned. These are all things that make every human being think about where the country is going. Justice is nothing more than a wish for the oppressed, even if one raises his voice for the oppressed, his voice is suppressed.
On the other hand, in the areas where terror is being created by mischievous elements and vandalism and arson are being carried out, there is no such thing and no provision has been made to curb the miscreants, the people who were setting fire to houses and settlements are not being arrested while the government and the state administration are trying to show that everything is under control, by showing the deployment of police in only a few sites.
In view of all these facts, we all have to stand up for the sake of our country, for the sake of our homeland, for the sake of our national identity, for the sake of the teachings of religion. And we have to register our protest peacefully, create unity among ourselves, gather under the banner of monotheism and launch a systematic campaign against those who insult our Holy Prophet (SAWA), otherwise we will always be facing the same situation in future.