This is an article I wrote for the Hindu Students Council at the UIUC. [NOTE: There are alleged incidents that happened on the train that provoked the immolation. This was not premeditated as previously though, and I had thought. Regardless, the issue I address is communalism, and specifically the attack on Muslim minorities.]Agni discriminates not between innocent, guilty, Bramhin, Dalit, Hindu, Muslim, women, children, men. 27 February, a train of kar sevaks coming from the disputed Ayodhyah were burned alive by Muslims. From afar it was a let down. As one who is against the razing of holy places, like the babri masjid, I could understand where resentment towards the kar sevaks arises. The barbarous inhumanity, however, remains inexcusable.

As if to further torment my heart, instead of a ‘civilized’ round-up of those guilty there was a witch hunt for Muslims. Again, agni discriminates not. In only a few days, Gujrat was set aflame with a total of almost 600, mostly Muslim victims. Many burnt alive. A man trying to save his children was burnt to death. His children were burnt out of existence.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s soldiers of Hindutva, mobs of anger-driven Hindus, unleshed its fury. Police would not interfere. Police blocked Shanti-sena (Gandhian) activists from rescuing their Muslim brethren. A few Muslims were saved by lower caste Dalits, but the toll was great none the less.

This was not done in the name of God, Hinduism or India. This was done in the name of hatred. The Hindutva has been a movement to focus and direct this hate of the masses unto the underclasses, specifically the religious minorities, more specifically the Muslims.

As Hindu and Desi diaspora, it is easy to condemn this attrocious acts as typical communal violence. "This happens all the time, it’s happened for centuries." This is a hopeless perspective, and a historically inaccurate one. This perspective makes inaction seem like the only course of action. It is contradictory to our dharma (moral duty) to have a policy of inaction in regards to injustice.

While the task of ending racism may seem a bit daunting, it truly is our duty. We are privileged amongst others in the world. We really do have a moral obligation to speak out against injustices by any means necessary. When our saffron clad "leaders" tell us to hate our brothers and sisters because they are Muslim, when they tell us that someone is less than human, or less than our standards because of their beliefs, we need to stand against that and rebel.

However, we also have a duty to understand and to educate ourselves and others. We must understand concepts like nationalism and racism. We must understand how Hindutva is not for the good of the Hindu people, but rather for the good of the ruling class.

We must also look at the roots of communal tensions. Hindutva movement is one of opportunists who take advantage of communal tensions. We must learn about our Indian history in a critical way and see how concepts of caste and class have lead to such a situation.

We must not seek to only hold hands with Muslims, and think all is done. That does nothing for the people in India. We must understand the greater problem of racism, we must seek out and support those groups that try to educate, and end eliminate racism. We must understand the class struggles that face the "backwards castes" of India.

This is our dharma. We will not eliminate racism overnight, but we will can make significant strides