This first appeared on Facebook on 30 March 2025.
Too often, liberals, otherwise thoughtful, well-meaning people, have made Faustian pacts with fundamentalist Islamists, Maoists, and Khalistanis. These are not misunderstood rebels, nor are they champions of the oppressed. These are movements that openly and proudly glorify murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, hijacking, bombings, sabotage, mutiny, and other acts of terrorism that tear through the fabric of any civil society. And yet, because they oppose the Hindutvawadis, they are embraced as fellow travellers. The enemy of my enemy, it seems, gets a seat at the table, a column in the paper, and an invitation to the literary festival.
I’ve warned against this before. I have quoted Hillary Clinton’s observation about Pakistan: “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours.” Every single time, I’ve been met with earnest eye-rolls and condescension. I’ve been told I’m being alarmist, that I’m misunderstanding these “complex” movements, that the ones I’m criticising are merely fringe actors who don’t represent the whole.
And each time, I’ve been told to be quiet. To hold my tongue. To not “distract from the real enemy.” To be patient. That there is a hierarchy of evils, and I must wait my turn.
No. That was my mistake. Assuming that silence in the face of barbarism could ever be virtuous or strategic. I will no longer pretend that alliances with murderers and extremists are somehow excusable because they wear the right hashtag.
I will not extend tolerance to those who advocate or excuse violence, kidnapping, assassination, sexual assault, arson, acid attacks, hijackings, bombings, sabotage, mutiny, or other acts of terrorism. Nor to those who ally with, shield, or speak in the defence of those who do. Enough is enough.
Recent events have ripped the mask off. I have seen, on my own posts, the apologists crawl out. The Islamists, emboldened and unashamed. The Maoist revivalists who fantasise about purges and executions. The Khalistani nostalgists who pine for an era of blood. Those that speak of blasphemy without realising the irony of their own blasphemous ideas. They are here, in my feed, on my lists, speaking in sly half-truths and faux-radicalism. Sliding into my comments and DMs, telling me how, as an ally, I should ‘understand’ their need and justification for violence, whether because someone ‘provoked’ them by speaking of their Guru or Prophet, or because of generational oppression, which can only be wiped clean with the blood of the bourgeoisie.
Let me be very clear: I have no problem with your demands. You want wealth redistribution? Higher taxes? Sharia law? Patriarchal modesty codes? A merger with China? Secession? Be my guest. Organise. Protest. Write articles. Raise funds. Petition Parliament. March peacefully. This is a democracy. You have every right to campaign for the most ludicrous ideas imaginable. And I have a right to oppose you, mock your ideas, and stand against them.
What you or I do not have the right to do is pick up a gun. Not here. Not in this country. Not in Gandhi’s country.
(Note: And before the Akhand Bharat brigade jumps in to shout that it was the INA or the Naval mutiny that gave us freedom, kindly remember who those brave men still called Bapu. So spare me your whataboutery. And spare me your rebranding of violence as justice.)
And now, for the final word. I do not want you here. I do not want your company. I do not want your complicity. I do not care what the Indian liberal mainstream thinks. I think it is wrong. I am an Indian liberal. And precisely because of that, I want no part of your alliances with bigots and butchers.
I do not want to share space with you, online or offline. I do not want to breathe the same air as you. You are not my friends. You are not my comrades. You are not my people. I am not your ally.
Just go.
Leave.
Unfollow me. Block me. Erase me from your digital life.
Just fuck right off.
And now, to those of you who still hold truth dear. To the kind, tolerant, peace-loving Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists, agnostics, and others who still believe in decency over dogma—thank you. Thank you for not losing your humanity in this tide of rage. Thank you for refusing to let your pain become poison.
To my liberal peace-loving Hindu friends, Happy Gudhi Padwa and Ugadi. May this be the start of a beautiful new year.
And to my gentle non-violent Muslim friends in particular: Eid Mubarak. May your home be filled with light, your table with food, and your heart with peace and barkah. May your days be joyful and your nights tranquil. I wish you piety, laughter, new clothes, good company, and an overwhelming sense of grace.
But I must also tell you this: beware the shaitaans in your midst. The ones who quote scripture to justify cruelty. Who recite the Quran and the Hadiths and the Sunnahs in the service of vengeance, not mercy. Their words are dipped in honey, but they speak with the tongue of the devil. You are better than them. You are wiser than them. You are stronger than them. Do not let them drag you down into the pit they call revolution.
You do not need to speak their language. You do not need to match their rage. You do not need to bow to their version of Islam.
We can be angry without becoming monsters. We can resist without becoming beasts. We can win without picking up a weapon.
Let them preach vengeance.
Let us stand for compassion.
Let them call for war.
Let us be stubborn in our peace.
And let us never forget:
In a world this broken, to be kind is to be radical.
To be just is to be revolutionary.
To love is to fight back.
P.S.: To those who come at me, asking me to define this or that, especially the left-liberals who have sympathies with the Naxal movement and the Sikhs and Punjabis who are too scared to say anything against the terrorists in their midst, to those who want to ask me if I mean this or that, to every person who wishes to split hair, sealion me with, “But what about…” and “Who did it first to us…”, ask me to clarify my stand about this nuance or that, whether you support a separate Sikh state or Sharia law, whether you openly admire Bhindranwale or Stalin, I don’t care. All I ask is this one question: Do you support violence in your quest for whatever it is you wish the world to look like? If the answer is yes, get off my timeline. There is no “Yes, but…” in this case. Go and make your arguments elsewhere. Take screenshots if you want. Mock me, deride me, call me chaddi, bring up my caste & gender, cancel me, denounce me, dance on my grave. But on your walls & timelines. Ye meri deewar hai. Yahaan peshab karna manaa hai.
P.P.S.: We have a pre-festivity tradition. On the night before Eid, Diwali, and Christmas, we go and pig out on ice cream from Naturals. So, that’s what we did today. I had four flavours. The girls had two each. And now, we have brain freeze. But in a good way!
