sharad🧐!

Why the issue of hostility towards Muslim men at the Navratri-garba celebrations cannot be explained by lazy and prejudiced theories of ‘Hindutva-wadis fanning anti-Muslim sentiment under the current Bharatiya Janata Party rule at the centre’: 1. Concerns of ‘love jihad’ are not figments of imagination: When Hindus object to one-way interfaith love relationships with Muslims (where men are Muslims and women are Hindus), so-called ‘liberals’ deride them as 'regressive' and being against love itself. But would the same liberals deride BR Ambedkar for expressing similar concerns in his seminal 1945 work Pakistan, or The Partition of India, where he wrote, …the Hindus are right when they say that it is not possible to establish social contact between Hindus and Muslims because such contact can only mean contact between women from one side and men from the other. To substantiate his point, Ambedkar compared this concern of Hindus with that of Europeans. He wrote, “It is interesting to note the argument which the Europeans who are accused by Indians for not admitting them to their clubs use to defend themselves. They say, ‘We bring our women to the clubs. If you agree to bring your women to the club, you can be admitted. We can’t expose our women to your company if you deny us the company of your women. Be ready to go fifty-fifty, then ask for entry in our clubs’.” This skewed interfaith relationship pattern between Hindus and Muslims was one of the many reasons that Ambedkar cited to advocate complete transfer of India’s Muslim population to the proposed Pakistan. As per Hindu groups, many Muslim men have used Garba venues during the nine-days of Navratri to trap Hindu women in relationships by introducing themselves with fake (Hindu) names, with an eventual aim of their religious conversion or sexual exploitation. Cases of this pattern are often described with the phrase ‘love jihad’, a term coined by Christian groups in Kerala more than a decade ago. Allegations against Muslim men of trapping non-Muslim women for their conversion have been made by Christians including senior members of the Church in Kerala, Jains, Adivasis, Sikhs and Buddhists besides Hindus. Several women have filed police cases against men for either posing as Hindus to enter into sexual relationships with them and revealing much later that they were already married or harassing them after marriage to follow Islamic faith and customs. An alarming number of such cases have ended up in the women either committing suicide or getting murdered by such men. Even in the recent arrests at Garba venues, several Muslim men were found to have used fake Hindu names to enter, which only justifies the concern of Hindus. However, it is not desirable for a multi-cultural society to paint the entire community as potential ‘love jihadis’ for wrong-doings by some. What about genuine Garba revellers? It is pertinent to note here that all Muslim men restricted from Garba venues in the past were found to be single, that is, unaccompanied by women at the time of their entry. In the parlance of hotel-and-restaurant industry, such men are called ‘stags’, and their entry is restricted at most pubs for concerns that they come to the venue only for women. Perhaps the young Muslim men wishing to dance at Garba venues should bring young women from their families along. It would be “fifty-fifty”, as Ambedkar put it. 2. Attacks on Hindu processions for music, refusal to chant Vande Mataram, treating worship of Hindu deities as haram: In almost every season of Hindu religious processions, communal violence is witnessed when such processions pass by mosques. Such violence has been a fixture of Hindu religious processions for more than a century, that is, since more than three decades before the partition of India to create a separate Muslim country. The trigger was, and continues to be, the Ulema’s insistence that music is haram in Islam. In the same book on Pakistan, Ambedkar wrote, “…Music may be played before a mosque in all Muslim countries without any objection…But in India the Musalmans must insist upon its stoppage for no other reason except that the Hindus claim a right to it.” Even if this diktat on music by the Ulema is flawed, hypocritical and bigoted, the fact remains that police in all corners of the country bend to this diktat and force Hindu processions to adjust to it. When the police chart out route for a Hindu procession, they insist that the accompanying DJ must be switched off when devotees pass by a mosque. Even the slightest digression from this rule triggers in stone-pelting on the processions in so-called ‘Muslim areas’. If even the administration endorses this bigotry, if the only reaction from major Muslim voices to these attacks is to criticise the playing of music and entering in ‘Muslim areas’ and not the attacks, then how are Garba organisers expected to not suspect a temporary show of love towards devotional music during Navratri? Navratri is annually observed in honour of Goddess Durga. As per the Ulema, the festival and its celebration, thus, is haram for Muslims. As per the Ulema, believers of Islam cannot bow to anyone other than Allah. So forceful and effective this diktat is that the prohibition on Muslims against chanting of ‘Vande Mataram’ enforced by the Ulema at the beginning of 20th century in British India, continues even today. The poem contains references to goddess Durga. In 1908, Sir Syed Ali Imam of All India Muslim League called Vande [or Bande] Mataram as a “sectarian” cry and a propaganda of “Hindu nationalism”. The Congress Party, then the largest representative of Hindus, gave in to the Ulema and declared that “only the first two stanzas should be sung” as National Song since these do not have any religious connotations. In the post-partitioned India, prominent Muslim seminaries such as Darul Uloom and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind continue to stand by their fatwas that singing Vande Mataram is haram for Muslims. Attempts by various administrative bodies to popularise Vande Mataram have been met with vehement opposition from Muslim political parties and social organisations. A fatwa by Darul Uloom on worship of goddess Saraswati, made in the context of a controversy over Saraswati Puja in West Bengal government schools, says, “It is haram for a Muslim to participate in it. It is not lawful to help in the Puja (worship) or make donation. Hence Muslims should be concerned and try to save the children from such acts so that Muslim children are saved from polytheistic practices in the school. Or they should establish such schools that are free from such acts.” If opposition to any gesture of piety towards any Hindu goddess is officially the position of the Ulema, if the diktats are religiously followed by the Muslim community, if even the administration gives in to their stand, then how are Garba organisers expected to not suspect a temporary gesture of devotion towards goddess Durga during Navratri? 3. Future of religious syncretism: The question then is, what about those Muslims who do not adhere to these religious rulings? Should they be turned away from Navratri celebrations? This question needs to be addressed in a larger context. Again quoting from Ambedkar’s book on Pakistan, such Muslims can at best be described as those whose conversion to Islam is incomplete. He wrote, “…What are pointed out as common features [between Hindus and Muslims] are not the result of a conscious attempt to adopt and adapt to each other’s ways and manners to bring about social fusion. On the other hand, this uniformity is the result of certain purely mechanical causes. They are partly due to incomplete conversions. In a land like India, where the majority of the Muslim population has been recruited from caste and out-caste Hindus, the Muslimization of the convert was neither complete nor effectual, either from fear of revolt or because of the method of persuasion or insufficiency of preaching due to insufficiency of priests. There is, therefore, little wonder if great sections of the Muslim community here and there reveal their Hindu origin in their religious and social life…” Ambedkar called this “religious amalgamation” between Hindus and Muslims the “result of a dead past which has no present and no future”. Already, several organisations are actively pursuing the task of completing the ‘incomplete conversions’. Global movement Tablighi Jamaat, headquartered in New Delhi, is one such. It’s an aggressive proselytising organisation that takes converts as far as possible from their Hindu roots in the name of “Islamic revivalism”. Instead of being criticised for its goals and activities, the organisation enjoys massive support from the community including its most elite section. The ongoing demand of Hijab in government-run schools is another manifestation of growing popularity of an orthodox interpretation of Islam that rejects any Hindu connection of the Muslim converts as haram. This means that for so-called syncretism to be preserved, all markers of Islamic orthodoxy must be condemned and discarded. These would include opposition to Vande Mataram, Saraswati Puja and slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram', and insistence on Hijab, no music outside mosques and cow slaughter. These would also include popularity of slogans such as ‘sar tan se juda’ for so-called blasphemy of Islam. Unfortunately, the outrage from the Muslim society of India against Islamic orthodoxy continues to be very cautious and quite inadequate. If voices form within the society that stand against orthodoxy strengthen, that would be a sustainable and healthy foundation for communal harmony. As long as these sentiments continue to be dismissed as “Sanghi agenda”, there cannot be peace. There will only be suspicion and mistrust.

swati_gs's tweet photo. Why the issue of hostility towards Muslim men at the Navratri-garba celebrations cannot be explained by lazy and prejudiced theories of ‘Hindutva-wadis fanning anti-Muslim sentiment under the current Bharatiya Janata Party rule at the centre’:

1. Concerns of ‘love jihad’ are not figments of imagination:

When Hindus object to one-way interfaith love relationships with Muslims (where men are Muslims and women are Hindus), so-called ‘liberals’ deride them as 'regressive' and being against love itself.

But would the same liberals deride BR Ambedkar for expressing similar concerns in his seminal 1945 work Pakistan, or The Partition of India, where he wrote,
…the Hindus are right when they say that it is not possible to establish social contact between Hindus and Muslims because such contact can only mean contact between women from one side and men from the other.

To substantiate his point, Ambedkar compared this concern of Hindus with that of Europeans.

He wrote, “It is interesting to note the argument which the Europeans who are accused by Indians for not admitting them to their clubs use to defend themselves. They say, ‘We bring our women to the clubs. If you agree to bring your women to the club, you can be admitted. We can’t expose our women to your company if you deny us the company of your women. Be ready to go fifty-fifty, then ask for entry in our clubs’.”

This skewed interfaith relationship pattern between Hindus and Muslims was one of the many reasons that Ambedkar cited to advocate complete transfer of India’s Muslim population to the proposed Pakistan.

As per Hindu groups, many Muslim men have used Garba venues during the nine-days of Navratri to trap Hindu women in relationships by introducing themselves with fake (Hindu) names, with an eventual aim of their religious conversion or sexual exploitation.

Cases of this pattern are often described with the phrase ‘love jihad’, a term coined by Christian groups in Kerala more than a decade ago. Allegations against Muslim men of trapping non-Muslim women for their conversion have been made by Christians including senior members of the Church in Kerala, Jains, Adivasis, Sikhs and Buddhists besides Hindus.

Several women have filed police cases against men for either posing as Hindus to enter into sexual relationships with them and revealing much later that they were already married or harassing them after marriage to follow Islamic faith and customs.

An alarming number of such cases have ended up in the women either committing suicide or getting murdered by such men.

Even in the recent arrests at Garba venues, several Muslim men were found to have used fake Hindu names to enter, which only justifies the concern of Hindus.

However, it is not desirable for a multi-cultural society to paint the entire community as potential ‘love jihadis’ for wrong-doings by some. What about genuine Garba revellers?

It is pertinent to note here that all Muslim men restricted from Garba venues in the past were found to be single, that is, unaccompanied by women at the time of their entry.

In the parlance of hotel-and-restaurant industry, such men are called ‘stags’, and their entry is restricted at most pubs for concerns that they come to the venue only for women.

Perhaps the young Muslim men wishing to dance at Garba venues should bring young women from their families along. It would be “fifty-fifty”, as Ambedkar put it.

2. Attacks on Hindu processions for music, refusal to chant Vande Mataram, treating worship of Hindu deities as haram:

In almost every season of Hindu religious processions, communal violence is witnessed when such processions pass by mosques.

Such violence has been a fixture of Hindu religious processions for more than a century, that is, since more than three decades before the partition of India to create a separate Muslim country. The trigger was, and continues to be, the Ulema’s insistence that music is haram in Islam.

In the same book on Pakistan, Ambedkar wrote, “…Music may be played before a mosque in all Muslim countries without any objection…But in India the Musalmans must insist upon its stoppage for no other reason except that the Hindus claim a right to it.”

Even if this diktat on music by the Ulema is flawed, hypocritical and bigoted, the fact remains that police in all corners of the country bend to this diktat and force Hindu processions to adjust to it.

When the police chart out route for a Hindu procession, they insist that the accompanying DJ must be switched off when devotees pass by a mosque. Even the slightest digression from this rule triggers in stone-pelting on the processions in so-called ‘Muslim areas’.

If even the administration endorses this bigotry, if the only reaction from major Muslim voices to these attacks is to criticise the playing of music and entering in ‘Muslim areas’ and not the attacks, then how are Garba organisers expected to not suspect a temporary show of love towards devotional music during Navratri?

Navratri is annually observed in honour of Goddess Durga. As per the Ulema, the festival and its celebration, thus, is haram for Muslims. As per the Ulema, believers of Islam cannot bow to anyone other than Allah.

So forceful and effective this diktat is that the prohibition on Muslims against chanting of ‘Vande Mataram’ enforced by the Ulema at the beginning of 20th century in British India, continues even today. The poem contains references to goddess Durga.

In 1908, Sir Syed Ali Imam of All India Muslim League called Vande [or Bande] Mataram as a “sectarian” cry and a propaganda of “Hindu nationalism”. The Congress Party, then the largest representative of Hindus, gave in to the Ulema and declared that “only the first two stanzas should be sung” as National Song since these do not have any religious connotations.

In the post-partitioned India, prominent Muslim seminaries such as Darul Uloom and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind continue to stand by their fatwas that singing Vande Mataram is haram for Muslims.

Attempts by various administrative bodies to popularise Vande Mataram have been met with vehement opposition from Muslim political parties and social organisations.

A fatwa by Darul Uloom on worship of goddess Saraswati, made in the context of a controversy over Saraswati Puja in West Bengal government schools, says, “It is haram for a Muslim to participate in it. It is not lawful to help in the Puja (worship) or make donation. Hence Muslims should be concerned and try to save the children from such acts so that Muslim children are saved from polytheistic practices in the school. Or they should establish such schools that are free from such acts.”

If opposition to any gesture of piety towards any Hindu goddess is officially the position of the Ulema, if the diktats are religiously followed by the Muslim community, if even the administration gives in to their stand, then how are Garba organisers expected to not suspect a temporary gesture of devotion towards goddess Durga during Navratri?

3. Future of religious syncretism:

The question then is, what about those Muslims who do not adhere to these religious rulings? Should they be turned away from Navratri celebrations?

This question needs to be addressed in a larger context. Again quoting from Ambedkar’s book on Pakistan, such Muslims can at best be described as those whose conversion to Islam is incomplete.

He wrote, “…What are pointed out as common features [between Hindus and Muslims] are not the result of a conscious attempt to adopt and adapt to each other’s ways and manners to bring about social fusion. On the other hand, this uniformity is the result of certain purely mechanical causes. They are partly due to incomplete conversions. In a land like India, where the majority of the Muslim population has been recruited from caste and out-caste Hindus, the Muslimization of the convert was neither complete nor effectual, either from fear of revolt or because of the method of persuasion or insufficiency of preaching due to insufficiency of priests. There is, therefore, little wonder if great sections of the Muslim community here and there reveal their Hindu origin in their religious and social life…”

Ambedkar called this “religious amalgamation” between Hindus and Muslims the “result of a dead past which has no present and no future”.

Already, several organisations are actively pursuing the task of completing the ‘incomplete conversions’. Global movement Tablighi Jamaat, headquartered in New Delhi, is one such.

It’s an aggressive proselytising organisation that takes converts as far as possible from their Hindu roots in the name of “Islamic revivalism”.

Instead of being criticised for its goals and activities, the organisation enjoys massive support from the community including its most elite section.

The ongoing demand of Hijab in government-run schools is another manifestation of growing popularity of an orthodox interpretation of Islam that rejects any Hindu connection of the Muslim converts as haram.

This means that for so-called syncretism to be preserved, all markers of Islamic orthodoxy must be condemned and discarded. These would include opposition to Vande Mataram, Saraswati Puja and slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram', and insistence on Hijab, no music outside mosques and cow slaughter. These would also include popularity of slogans such as ‘sar tan se juda’ for so-called blasphemy of Islam.

Unfortunately, the outrage from the Muslim society of India against Islamic orthodoxy continues to be very cautious and quite inadequate. If voices form within the society that stand against orthodoxy strengthen, that would be a sustainable and healthy foundation for communal harmony.

As long as these sentiments continue to be dismissed as “Sanghi agenda”, there cannot be peace. There will only be suspicion and mistrust.

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meinengineer retweeted

हर्ष वर्धन त्रिपाठी 🇮🇳Harsh Vardhan Tripathi

@MediaHarshVT

about 8 hours ago

जय भवानी, जय शिवाजी

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Mohan Sinha 🇮🇳

@Mohansinha

about 23 hours ago

300 flights were cancelled in the UK and Ireland due to a glitch in the Air Traffic Control system. This is all because India is a dead economy with 2% GDP and Mudi must rejine.

452

Who to follow

He/him, 29. I'm probably not doing anything. Big Survivor/Big Brother fan

Neela Girgit

@Dheeraj84_Ind

Kejriwal ka Jabra Fan.

meinengineer retweeted

SagasofBharat (talesbymiirabelle)

@SagasofBharat

about 15 hours ago

If you are a white you have no right to complain about anyone trespassing. You guys have tresspassed every where in the world like bugs and stolen much more than a few grapes.

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meinengineer retweeted

India Against Reservation @IAReservation

about 16 hours ago

मोदी की शह पर SC ST के गुंडे सवर्ण वर्ग की माँ-बहन,बहू-बेटियों का धड़ल्ले से गैंग रेप कर रहे हैं रेप की शिकायत करने पर फ़र्ज़ी SC ST के केस दर्ज कराए जा रहे हैं क्या देश का सवर्ण मोदी को इसलिए वोट दे रहा है ताकि उसके घर की महिलाओं की इज़्ज़त SC ST के गुंडे सरे आम लूटते रहें ?

IAReservation's tweet photo. मोदी की शह पर SC ST के गुंडे सवर्ण वर्ग की माँ-बहन,बहू-बेटियों का धड़ल्ले से गैंग रेप कर रहे हैं

रेप की शिकायत करने पर फ़र्ज़ी SC ST के केस दर्ज कराए जा रहे हैं

क्या देश का सवर्ण मोदी को इसलिए वोट दे रहा है ताकि उसके घर की महिलाओं की इज़्ज़त SC ST के गुंडे सरे आम लूटते रहें ? https://t.co/lwUg3LBdQ2

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meinengineer retweeted

Ajeet Bharti

@ajeetbharti

about 12 hours ago

जो नेता अपनी माँ को ले कर पड़ी गालियों को जेन जी को लुभाने के चक्कर में ‘बड़ा दिखने’ के लिए क्षमा करता हो और उसके समर्थक चूतियों की तरह जेल में लात खा रहे हों, फिर उसे कितना फर्क पड़ता होगा किसी सवर्ण के गैंगरेप और मोदी एक्ट की बकचोदी से!

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हर्ष वर्धन त्रिपाठी 🇮🇳Harsh Vardhan Tripathi

@MediaHarshVT

about 13 hours ago

मौलाना पर एक टीवी एंकर ने टिप्पणी की और उसके विरुद्ध मामला दर्ज हो गया। मलयालम टीवी चैनल की महिला एंकर पर केरलम में यह मामला दर्ज कराया गया है। अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता की रक्षा ऐसे की जाती है, समझे!

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meinengineer retweeted

The Pamphlet

@Pamphlet_in

6 months ago

1965 में एक civilian विमान को military समझकर पाकिस्तान ने गुजरात के CM Balwantrai Mehta को मार गिराया। आज West Asia crisis पर केंद्र सरकार की आलोचना करने वाली कांग्रेस, अपने शासनकाल में पाकिस्तान के प्रति इतनी नरम क्यों थी? @shreya_arora22

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meinengineer retweeted

Nupur J Sharma

@UnSubtleDesi

almost 4 years ago

Dear Muslims, garba is a deeply religious affair - it’s not entertainment. It’s a celebration of Navadurga, of the mighty Devi and her nine forms. If you want to participate, please do ghar wapasi and submit to Maa. Else, pls stay away. Thank you.

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OpIndia.com

@OpIndia_com

1 day ago

25% compensation can be released at the FIR stage under the SC/ST Act, before a court establishes whether the allegation is true. What happens when a law meant to protect victims becomes vulnerable to exploitation for revenge or financial gain? Read the cases that reveal the darker side of alleged SC/ST Act misuse. https://t.co/RCHsotX96D

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meinengineer retweeted

Ajeet Bharti

@ajeetbharti

2 days ago

चिंता मत करो भोंसड़ीवालों, मैं तुम्हारी गांड तोड़ता रहूँगा।

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Nupur J Sharma

@UnSubtleDesi

1 day ago

BAPS handed Hinduphobia on a platter to the West, adding to the needless racism Hindus face. BAPS temples abroad are targeted by Khalistanis because they are perceived as Hindu places of worship. As they come under fire in France, Hindus are going to be called out for being 'regressive', even as a section of BAPS wants to prove they are NOT Hindus. I personally don't like what BAPS has done. If they have a problem with women, they should stay in their ashram. There is a reason why men spent their days in the mountains after taking a vow of Brahmacharya. But I truly detest the fact that Hindus are going to face needless hate because of their actions, even though a section of them insult Hindu Gods and Goddesses at will. https://t.co/pPMAB0fLB4

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meinengineer retweeted

Rishi Bagree

@rishibagree

1 day ago

Most loved people in 2026* 1. Rahul Gandhi 2. Arvind Kejriwal 3. Mahua Moitra 4. Shobhaa De 5. Rana Ayyub 6. Swara Bhaskar 7. Ravish Kumar 8. Supriya Shrinate 9. Arundhati Roy 10. Sonia Gandhi 11. Akhilesh Yadav 12. Abhijit Dipke *In Pakistan

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meinengineer retweeted

Zafar Choudhary

@ZafarChoudhary_

1 day ago

While Delhi debates how much of Vande Mataram should be sung, Kashmir seems to have settled the matter rather effortlessly - the full song, followed by the full anthem. No debate, no drama, no fuel for the idiot-box. Just music. 🙂 From the inaugural event of the film festival in Srinagar last evening,

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sharad🧐! @meinengineer

1 day ago

RT @KanwalSibal: Self- inflicted wound . Why want to visit the Eiffel Tower if you want to reduce contact with women? This is a red rag t…

sharad🧐! @meinengineer

1 day ago

@coolfunnytshirt Dhikkar hai ... jai marx 🤲😭

meinengineer retweeted

Ritika J Chandola

@RitikaChandola

1 day ago

Hi everyone! we have been covering intense ground stories through https://t.co/DiptRwRTfc I have been travelling and bringing you such stories that could never make it to the mainstream, story of an ideology that has inflicted years of violence and bloodshed in Chattisgarh. Our latest coverage includes an interview with surrendered Naxals and a ground report on a Ram temple that was attacked by Naxals. Keep watching and follow our latest ground reports on our channels. Keep supporting https://t.co/qNGR4Vkj2q https://t.co/vZPya69moP

RitikaChandola's tweet photo. Hi everyone! we have been covering intense ground stories through https://t.co/DiptRwRTfc

I have been travelling and bringing you such stories that could never make it to the mainstream, story of an ideology that has inflicted years of violence and bloodshed in Chattisgarh.

Our latest coverage includes an interview with surrendered Naxals and a ground report on a Ram temple that was attacked by Naxals.

Keep watching and follow our latest ground reports on our channels. Keep supporting
https://t.co/qNGR4Vkj2q

https://t.co/vZPya69moP

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meinengineer retweeted

Rajiv Malhotra

@RajivMessage

1 day ago

BAPS policy is that it’s Swamis can’t be near women. Therefore, the swamis must avoid public places, rather than removing women from public places. What happened at the Eiffel Tower was unfair to the local staff. This is bad for Hindu dharma in France. https://t.co/MsVVLZ9PR9

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