Politics
Swarajya Staff
Mar 29, 2020, 06:25 PM | Updated Mar 30, 2020, 11:51 AM IST
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If you indulge in social or political debates on social media platforms and dare to differ with the leftist stand on some or most issues, it’s highly likely that you have had the ‘go drink gaumutra’ jibe thrown your way.
Gaumutra or cow urine is considered by some Hindus as being rich in medicinal value. A large number of Hindus treat the cow itself with reverence and consider its slaughter as a sin. It has been so since centuries and thus, the protection of cow and her progeny finds a place in the Directive Principles of Indian Constitution.
‘Gaumutra drinker’ has, in recent years, become a slur for anybody who identifies himself as a Hindu. The Leftists and the Islamists began to use it first — as a slur for ‘Internet Hindus’. Now, those who call themselves as liberals, but almost always stand on the same side of issues as the Leftists and the Islamists, use it liberally to mock their ideological opponents or simply as a joke.
That the phrase is loaded with Hindu hate became obvious when 19-year-old Adil Ahmad Dar, member of a jihadi group Jaish-e-Mohammad, killed around 50 jawans last year. The suicide attack was preceded by Dar’s recorded message for Muslims where he called upon them to similarly rise up for jihad.
It was not in uncouth ‘cow urine drinkers’ to break their chain of jihad, said Dar.
Days after the terrorist attack, a Pakistani minister repeated Dar’s gaumutra jibe in a hate speech against Hindus and India.
Fayaz-ul-Hasan Chohan was heard clearly saying in a speech, “O cow urine drinkers, we are Muslims. We are under the banner of valour of the likes of Maula Ali's and Shaheed-e-Karbala Hussein Ibn-e-Sali, you are not. Don't live in the belief that you are seven times our size as you don't have what we do. O idol worshippers, you cannot have the valour we do.”
Far from dropping it, the Leftist-Islamist-Liberal groups have made the gaumutra slur their favourite comeback for Hindus and Hindu supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In the ongoing lockdown over the Coronavirus pandemic scare, a slur that is in vogue however is ‘Go watch Ramayana’.
‘Go watch Ramayana’ is the new ‘Go drink Gaumutra’, even if it is temporarily so.
Its use follows a spate of hate messages against the Centre’s decision to re-telecast Ramanand Sagar-directed iconic television series ‘Ramayan’ on Doordarshan, based on the epic Indian text, during the 21-day lockdown. The series “planted the seed of Babri demolition”, several users claimed.
For instance, Ladeeda Farzana, an Islamist who was hailed as a ‘Jamia shero’ by journalist Barkha Dutt before she deleted her past posts following outrage, wrote in a Facebook post, “From tomorrow Doordarshan is going to be re-broadcasting Ramayanam serial to entertain the masses during this lock down. The bringing back of a narrative that spurred on Hindu nationalists and planted the seed for the demolition of Babari Masjid is a certain indicator that surely we will soon have bigger things than Corona virus to worry about.”
Now, on social media platforms, the Leftist-Islamist-Liberal groups are ridiculing Hindus and BJP supporters by asking them to watch Ramayana.
Read these posts, for instance:
Please watch Ramayana, followed by Mahabharata with a couple of glasses of Gaumutra. You will forget about pornhub!
— à¦à¦¶à¦¿à¦¤à¦¾ মà§à¦à¦¾à¦°à§à¦à¦¿ (@Ishcomic) March 28, 2020
Madam ji Aap Ramayan dekhiye ghar pe baith kar
— md jiyauddin ansari (@md_jiyauddin) March 29, 2020
in a country where our central govt is fighting COVID-19 with Gaumutra and Ramayana, maybe Arvind's readiness to do the bare minimum of interacting with the public and solving their problems will finally shut up the people calling AAP "budget RSS"
— Leaping Shibs (@lordoftheshibs) March 28, 2020
Do bhakts realise they can be affected too ? Ramayana won't save them ?
— ðð»ð²ððªð¼ð±ð¶ð²ð½ðª ðð¾ð±ðª (@priyashmita) March 28, 2020
The slur is being liberally used to decry any inconvenience or deaths arising out of hunger or travel amid the crisis, even when they have nothing to do with the serial.
For instance,
Hundreds of migrant workers waiting to reach home to watch Ramayana on DD National. @IndianExpress video via - @abhinavsahapic.twitter.com/ExkglJNkd2
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) March 28, 2020
First hunger death. Eleven year old Rahul Musahar. Let's watch Ramayan on TV pic.twitter.com/sdM15aowvk
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) March 28, 2020
‘Ramayan’ is now being talked about as derogatorily as ‘Gaumutra’.
For instance,
My entire family has started preparing their janeus for Sunday Ramayana. We'll be sitting in our pushpak vimans, munching on cowdung chips, sipping ice cold gaumutra, and cheering on for our homies vashistha and vishwamitra.
— fallendownawell (@fallendownawel1) March 27, 2020
When you vote in hindutva then solution to all problems will be gaumutra, gober and Ramayana.
— Qkhattana (@qkhattana) March 28, 2020
Well said Sanjay.
— Shunyacipher (@shunyacipher) March 28, 2020
Hr should sit at home and eat Gobar, watch Ramayana and drink Gaumutra
Lagta h tu gaumutra piya h aj ð¤£ðð ja Ramayan dekh ramanand sagar ki ya fir antakshari khel
— i_m_b_k (@koolbikrant) March 28, 2020
Which PM has ever listened to the public. I only wish that along with Ramayana, he should also distribute gaumutra as prasad. Several of his ministers recommended that as a cure
— SavvyPriya (@SavvyPriya) March 27, 2020
The decision to re-telecast ‘Ramayan’ on Doordarshan was taken by the information and broadcasting ministry for its iconic status and the assumption that crores of Indians, who have loved the series in the past, would like to watch it again. Indeed, a large number of social media users shared that they loved the family experience.
The telecast of the series is not eating into any other effort being made by the government. The hate directed at it reeks of hate for Hindus.
No wonder that it is being used along with the ‘gaumutra‘ slur and by the same groups.