By AW Siddiqui
In recent results of the Indian UPSC Civil Services exam, Muslim candidates have shown a slightly better performance than previous years, though still insignificant when compared to their population. They secured about 4% of the seats - significantly under-represented when looking at 13.4% of the population they share.
But that was enough for Suresh Chavhanke to start a stir campaign with a ‘warning’ of “bureaucracy Jihad”, calling it “Muslim infiltration in civil services”.
Outrage and condemnation from sane Indians quickly followed, demanding actions against Chavhanke. He “must be stopped” suggested RK Vij (IPS), it’s ”despicable… should also be dealt with strictest legal provisions” asked Niharika Bhatt, another IPS.
In my view however, the question is not just what can be done about Chavhanke’s teaser of the ‘report’, it should be more about how to stop him, his clones, and his TV channel from future episodes like this?
But before we explore that, let’s see who Suresh Chavhanke is?
“Chavhanke was a long-term volunteer of a Hindu nationalist organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, having held multiple designations and was also associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of RSS”. He “prefers that the news-programs over his channel be viewed as opinionated campaigns.”[1]
Chavhanke is an RSS activist hiding behind journalist attire, and Sudarshan News is an un-official channel of RSS to spread its ideology and hate against minorities. He is the chairman, managing director, and the editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News, and his channel seems to be well fed and looked after by RSS and the current regime in the centre.
For some, Chavhanke is a living Goebbels who divides the society of India by spewing venom and peddling fake news.
Chavhanke could also be a mild case of psychopath. His modus operandi is to cater ever hungry sadist ‘bhukts’, and keep them in a constant state of schadenfreude.
“In April 2017, Chavhanke was arrested for inciting communal hatred through multiple episodes of a flagship program before securing a bail, two days later.”[1]
“bureaucracy Jihad”, is just one of a series of past and future reports aimed to arouse anti-Muslim rage, and make the task of Muslim Civil Servants difficult.
“Imagine if the ‘jihadi of Jamia’ will be your district collectors and secretaries in ministries, what will happen then?” Chavhanke asks in the teaser video.
The teaser of the ‘report’ “bureaucracy Jihad” has been widely criticised by several civil services officers and the IPS Association is demanding action against Chavhanke. Several FIRs are expected to follow, but, will that help and stop him doing what he seem to enjoy doing, especially with the RSS and current regime’s backing? No.
So what could be other avenues to stop him – the methods that may prove to be effective?
One way could be a lawsuit asking for damages. After all, apart from creating hatred, his actions have affected the quality of lives of Indian Muslims. The claim may not be easy to prove, but let lawyers work that out.
Also, the damage amount has to be big – in order of millions of dollars. It has to hit the hip pockets of his supporters hard.
If they win the case, the surplus money could be deposited in a trust fund, and can be used in future lawsuits of similar nature.
They have tried this method in USA, and it was found to be useful.
An organisation similar to Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) can be established for the purpose to help, not just Muslims, but to all those individuals, groups and communities which have been disadvantaged by the current regime, and their supporters like Sudarshan TV.
A perception needs to be created that every irresponsible and dangerous statement in mass media, which targets minorities and vulnerable will have a cost.
All those interested to stop our beloved country from further degradation can chip in towards a seed money to form an organisation like MLFA in India, or support one that already exists.
One issue though; when money gets involved corruption may creep in. That somehow will need to be checked – possibly by creating proper governance rules and transparency.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudarshan_News
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of UMMnews.
