This morning at WhatsApp U, there was the following exchange:
My Brahmin Modi-worshipping friend: “Bhagwat is right. Soon, the Muslim population will overtake Hindus in India. He has warned us of consequences if we don’t act now.”
Me: “How many years did you say the Muslims ruled India?”
MBMWF: “1,000 years.”
Me: “And did they use the threat of the sword to convert Hindus?”
MBMWF: “Of course!”
Me: “And how many years did the Christian British rule India?”
MBMWF: “Well, at least 200.”
Me: “And did they use missionaries and guns to convert?”
MBMWF: “What do you mean? It is all documented.”
Me: “I see. And yet, at the time of independence, in a United India, Hindus were 73% of the total population (85% after partition). For over a thousand years, Muslim rulers like Ghori and Mughal Emperors with their swords or the British with their missionaries could not convert all the Hindus of India. For those thousand years, Hindus were not in danger (which is apparent because they remained the majority). But you are saying that in Modi-raj they are now?”
MBMWF: “Let us agree to disagree.”
Me: “I think you are insulting our Yashasvi Pradhanmantri Parampujya Modiji.”
MBMWF: “…”
Me: “Given the facts, do you not think Modiji might actually be responsible for the khatra to Hindus, if not the cause himself?”
MBMWF: “Bola na, let us agree to disagree. You are now arguing for argument’s sake.”
So, this would have ended here. But a follow-up happened later when he figured out a riposte to my reasoning.
MBMWF: “It is because and only because of our beloved PM, Modiji, that Hindus, who would have been in danger, are safe. Take him away, and Hindus and Hinduism will be in khatra. The Muslims and Christians will take over and overwhelm us. It is only the wall-like Modi who stands between Hindus and their total annihilation.”
Sigh! My dear MBMWF, let me tell you a story:
On his regular patrol across Trafalgar Square, a Bobby comes upon a sincere-looking man standing under the Nelson’s Column, clapping his hands slowly, rhythmically, and vigorously but with a great sense of purpose and gravity, looking serious, as if doing a great duty. The Bobby stops and looks at him quizzically. The man returns the stare, holding it for a moment, and then going back to his clapping.
Sincere Man: Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
London Bobby: “Ahem, Sir, may I ask what you are doing?”
SM: “I think you can see that clearly. I am clapping. It keeps the statues from turning into man-eating lions and protects the general public from harm.”
LB: “Huh?”
SM: Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
LB: “Sir, there are no real man-eating lions in Trafalgar Square. Only statues.”
SM: “I know. You’re welcome.”
LB: “…”
SM: Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Just to clarify, MBMWF, the clapping man in this joke is mentally ill. He truly believes he’s scaring away lions from Trafalgar Square. This is a joke because his stupidity is evident to the listener. The trouble with Modi and his cultists like you is that you don’t get the joke. Because, in this case, you are the joke. Just that it will take some distance, maybe a generation or two, for people to see it. And I’m not joking. I wish I were. But I’m not.
P.S.: Jokes apart, if you are really interested in the possibilities of Muslims overtaking Hindus numerically in India, I highly recommend this book. Or you can read well-researched articles like these. Or, if reading is too much, you can watch this excellently produced video. Of course, if you aren’t interested in educating yourself but only in fearmongering, I cannot help you. You see, there’s a saying in Marathi: “झोपलेल्याला जागा करता येतं. झोपेचं सोंग घेतलेल्या नाही.” meaning that while one may wake up a sleeping person, it is well nigh impossible to awaken someone merely pretending to sleep.
