BLM movement matters, not violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, killing in Kashmir?
Ahead of the start of the high-octane clash against Pakistan in the Super 12s stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the Virat Kohli-led Indian side took a knee to showcase solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement had gained momentum after the death of an African-American man named George Floyd in May last year after police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck as suggested by viral videos. Ever since Floyd’s demise, many sportspersons have come out to talk about their experience with racism.
But the question raised in the minds of millions here is the Indian cricket team being selective in its outrage?
The entire world saw the atrocities on Bangladesh’s Hindu community. Hundreds of temples and houses were torched and vandalized. The incidents also took the lives of Hindus. Does anyone remember any cricketer speaking up against the hooligan’s act?
The selective outrage gang were not only contemptuous about everything traditional and cultural but were also scornful of Hindus and their belief systems, even though there is so much else to be ashamed of in our society. In the eagerness to uphold minority rights, the selective outrage gang turned blind to the terrorism of Islamic jihadis who killed Sikhs and Hindus in Kashmir resulting in a mass exodus.
It is very easy to target a community that has been put to deep slumber by a barbaric ruler regime of hundreds of years.
The Hindu festival of Diwali is often selectively criticized by many for the burning of firecrackers. But is it only on Diwali that firecrackers cause pollution? How about the Christmas and new year celebrations done worldwide? Are other occasions exempted from causing pollution?
Studies over the year have indicated that crackers at best play a marginal role in their contribution towards contributing to pollution in Indian cities. Many as a result have claimed that a ban on crackers is more of an escape mechanism by authorities against taking concrete and difficult steps against combating pollution.
Netizens were rightly irked by the hypocrisy. They questioned the hypocrisy of the celebrities, asking why can’t they speak up for animal slaughter around Eid?
Some also asked the ICC to stop using firecrackers in the tournaments, BCCI in IPL.
The selective outrage certainly raises a few questions in the mind of Hindus. William Shakespeare wrote these lines in The Merchant of Venice more than four centuries ago, but they hold true today.
If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?
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My take is slightly different. It is that our players are, well, how shall I put this – not exactly the brightest bulbs in the living room? Race is a complex issue and the BLM movement has several strands that have to be unraveled carefully. Let us say, you refuse to take the knee. You will be accused of supporting racism or worse, branded a racist. Do you have the intelligence to argue against the accusations – with a majority whose internet voices are so shrill you need ear protection? On the other hand, consider the alternative. You don’t need to spend your time or intellect on thinking about a complex issue. Anyway, you only have a few hundred characters and if you type them out carefully, (a) you will be seen to be part of a “universal”, “modern” and “liberal” civilization that claims to have transcended race, gender, family, country, and any and all other “social and cultural constructs”; (b) by tweeting and doing the fashionable thing, you become a hero in this alter-universe. Now tell me, which route would you prefer to traverse?
Nothing unusual about a society that has the lowest of the low in self esteem, that identifying itself with anything Hindu is like a show of bias and therefore very “noble” just to satisfy my insecurity. You can come kill my wife, rape my sister and daughter, but never will I show my pain and suffering simply because my low self esteem needs a boost and that can be got from thee, crying for any others in public. A lost dignity that is so much needed has gone forever with the loss of self esteem living amon traitors with. I detest the idea that brains is better then brawns as brawns is what that has won over brains eversince the Mahabharata war. The Lord engaged in a war as a lesson that in the dawn of the age of Kali brawns is the predominant virtue that needs the support of the brain rather then vice versa. Rather live out a short lived victory in ones lifetime then to live out one hopeful of a future victory. Hindus must act now to enjoy this lifetime or else get trampled as even those with brains will fall victim to one with the sword.