An Economics Professor at Yale University named Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak has sparked controversy with his social media post, wherein he blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh to justify the violence committed by Islamist outfit Hefazat-e-Islam against Hindus.
On Thursday (March 29), Mobarak tweeted, “Bangladesh appears to have walked into a clever trap set by Modi. He visits a temple of importance to some West Bengalis voting in a closely-contested TMC-BJP State election. His visit spreads communal violence in Bangladesh.” The Economics Professor tried to put the onus of the riots perpetuated by Islamists on the Indian Prime Minister.
Furthermore, he said, “Modi manages to communalise politics and society on both sides of the Bangladesh -West Bengal border on one visit. Ek Dhila dui pakhi (Killing two birds with one stone). Why are we behaving like clueless pawns in the destructive game of divisive politics between Hindus and Muslims?” The Yale Professor suggested that a supposedly polarising figure like PM Modi was responsible for communal violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.
After reports emerged on social media about how Hefazat-e-Islam targetted Hindu temples, the Professor turned ‘activist’ went silent on the micro-blogging platform. Following outrage by the Hindu community over the inhumane atrocities committed against them under the pretext of PM Modi’s visit, Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak desperately tried to prove his ‘secular’ credentials.
Without giving weightage to the matter at end, the Yale Professor resorted to whataboutery and tried to draw false equivalence between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. He wrote, “Good to see people engaging today, complaining about violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. It would be even better to see Muslims joining that chorus in defense of minorities (Hindus, Chakma, Ahmadiya Muslims..), and to see Hindus complaining equally vehemently about treatment of minorities in India.”
He further claimed, “If we can all get past our tribalism and protest equally strongly about the mistreatment of minorities regardless of their identity & religion, then Hefazat in BD or Modi in India or Mullahs in Pakistan wouldn’t be able to divide us this way.”
Netizens slam Yale Professor for his Islamist tendencies
Netizens, however, were quick to see through his desperate act of monkey balancing. They called him out on Twitter for displaying Islamist tendencies, maintaining a stoic silence on the ill-treatment of Hindus in Bangladesh and attempts to draw false equivalences.
Twitter user Pradeep wrote, “Tough luck. Rohingyas killed hundreds of Hindus in Myanmar but they are victims. If you drop the Islamist victim mindset, you will know that Muslims are safest in India. Shias, Ahmedias and Bohras are safe from Sunnis only in India.”
Another user pointed out the Yale Professor’s silence over 5 days. “Why bother with platitudes 5 days after your initial post? Because people called out your anti-Hindu bigotry, otherwise you’d have quietly slithered away? If Hindu/Christian students of yours go to their places of worship, please don’t act on your base and radicalised feelings,” wrote another user.
“You make no sense unless you have an Islamic upbringing and mental set up. Muslim leaders visit India and go to Jama Masjid or Ajmer Sharif. No Hindu ever objected or call that communal. You are either ignorant or Hinduphobic and nothing else,” a user pointed out the hypocrisy of the Economics Professor.
Sandy tweeted, “This pseudo sickular got badly exposed for his jihadi mindset. Now singing peans of coexistence. Btw, check the people of minorities in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh in 1947 and now. Minorites decimated in Pakistan, Bangladesh and doubled people in India. Stop false equivalence with Islamists.”
Another user wrote, “The Islamist extremist from Yale is lying again. Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh have been decimated completely. What is their population percentage now. Comparing them with Indian Muslims is an attempt to justify and normalise Islamic terrorism.”
Twitter user Anil Yadav pointed out, “That’s not engaging! That’s calling out your bigotry! A meaningful engagement has an exchange of ideas. Not a BS cooked up narrative like Modi visited Bangladesh and riots happened!”
Islamists attack Hindu temples, crematorium
During the official 2-day visit on PM Modi to Bangladesh, Islamists attacked Hindu Temples to protest against him. Violent protests have been underway in Bangladesh over the visit by the Indian Prime Minister and some protesters have died during attempts by the police to enforce law and order.
At the same time, three rooms of the 400-year-old Paruarkul Ashtagram Maha crematorium and Radhagobind Ashram were burnt down by unidentified miscreants in Mohammadpur Upazila of Bangladesh’s Magura district. Parts of three houses, chariots and idols were also reduced to ashes in the fire which was later brought under control.
Earlier, it was reported that Facebook services were down in Bangladesh in light of the violent protests. Border Guards have been deployed to enforce law and order on the streets. The Hefazat-e-Islami is a hardline Islamist organisation, whose members have been accused of persecuting Hindus in the past.