The hypermasculine Muslim is back as the scheming villain in the Hindu Rashtra programming of Indian news TV. But the script, at the risk of sounding repetitive, has moved far beyond the mob lynching years to cast itself around “garba jihad”. The anchors are at it again: almost championing vigilante violence through frames prioritising the Hindutva cause, ascribing motives to the minority community based on allegations against individual victim-suspects.
What has enabled this new vitriolic campaign is a series of attacks by Hindutva footsoldiers on Muslim men during Navratri festivities in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Ahmedabad in Gujarat and Akola in Maharashtra. Accused of entering garba venues and leching at Hindu women to carry out “love jihad”, these Muslim men have been beaten up by Hindutva vigilantes – nearly all of them identified as Bajrang Dal or VHP cadres – and booked under various criminal provisions. Although garba venues have long been contested grounds for Hindutva groups, the recent violence comes on the heels of Madhya Pradesh’s cultural affairs minister Usha Thakur declaring that the garba pandal has become a medium of “love jihad” and the state’s BJP government telling garba organisers to verify the identities of the visitors. Her party colleagues have made similar statements.
