The Controversial Hamid Ansari Speech on Hindu Nationalism
Asia News Agency
The government has slammed the event organised by Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), where former vice president Hamid Ansari and four US lawmakers including Senator Ed Markey from Massachusetts, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Andy Levin, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of Mauritius and Nadine Maenza who chairs the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) among several others took part. The event took place on India’s Republic Day - 26th of January.
The event was co-hosted by 17 American groups in Washington, including Amnesty International US, Genocide Watch, Hindus for Human Rights, New York State Council of Churches and others.
Ansari expresses concerns over human rights, religious intolerance
Ansari expressed concerns about the human rights situation in India. He had said the “emergence of trends and practices that dispute the well-established principle of civic nationalism and interpose a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism”.
According to Ansari, religious intolerance is encouraged in India by portraying the religious majority as a political monopoly. “In recent years, we have experienced the emergence of trends and practices that dispute the well-established principle of civic nationalism and interpose a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism,” said Ansari.
“It seeks to present an electoral majority in the guise of a religious majority and monopolized political power. It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis of their faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness, and promote disquiet and insecurity,” he added. “Some of its recent manifestations are chilling and reflect poorly on our claim to be governed by rule of law. It’s a question that has to be answered. These trends need to be contested and contested legally and contested politically,” Ansari further said.
Strong rebuttal by MEA
In a strong rebuttal, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India was a vibrant democracy and that the track record of the event’s organisers was as well known as the biases and political interests of the participants.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the union minister for Minority Affairs, responded to Ansari’s comments by saying that the frenzy for Modi hate is evolving into a plot for India hatred. Such voices can be expected if one goes into India bashing while criticizing Modi, according to Naqvi.
About IAMC
The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), formerly Indian Muslim Council-USA), is an advocacy organization of Indian American Muslims, with multiple chapters across the United States. It was established on August 15, 2002, in response to the 2002 Gujarat riots. The group works on strategic advocacy to promote pluralism and social justice in India. It monitors the political developments there and raises issues pertaining to the safety and security of Muslims in India. (Wikipedia)
The organiser of the event, writes OpIndia “the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), is alleged to be linked to the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI and behind a plot to foment riots in India. From the platform of this institution, Ansari took a shot at the Modi government.”
In its brief to the Supreme Court, writes OpIndia “the Tripura government has blamed IAMC for the state’s communal riots. Not only that but this group is suspected of having ties to the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. Aside from that, it has ties to a number of other terrorist organizations. The IAMC, on the other hand, has refuted these charges though.
“IAMC has often taken stands against the governing Indian government in order to battle ‘civil rights and liberty concerns in India’ and to reassert the ‘rights of religious minorities.’ However, contrary to its assertion, the organization was seen lobbying against India in 2013 as well — a year before the current BJP government came to office in 2014.”
