‘Many Holocaust films, none on India’s Islamic invasion’: Why Tejasvi Surya’s words sparked row
At an event in Australia last week, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya reportedly sought to compare the historical conquests in the Indian subcontinent by Muslim rulers, with the Holocaust.
Surya was in Australia to take part in a series of events, including the Australia India Youth Dialogue (AIYD). The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president was in Melbourne and Sydney from 31 May to 4 June.
His remarks were made at a private event that was organised after a public “interaction with students” at the ECA College in Parramatta, which also houses the Swinburne University of Technology, was cancelled. The Swinburne Islamic Society had asked the university’s intervention in the invitation.
There were also several protests prior to his visit to Australia, with many referring to his earlier views on minorities in India.
Some of the AIYD organisers had pulled out from the event later. Deakin University, the University of Sydney, Macquarie University and Monash University had reportedly pulled out their sponsorship and dissociated from the event after the protests.
“If you just go on Netflix…you can at least find 10 movies based on the Jewish Holocaust. How many stories do we have that we have put on Netflix or on such streaming platforms which tell the gory story of the Islamic invasion of India — zero, zero,” Surya told the audience at the private event.
Holocaust was the Nazi Extermination Policy that claimed the lives of at least six million jews across German-occupied Europe.
Surya also invoked the works of American writer and historian Will Durant to claim that the “Islamic invasion of India” was the “bloodiest chapter in the history of the world”.
“Many of you have read Will Durant. Durant, on starting the chapter on India’s medieval history, starts with this line he says that Islamic invasion of India is the bloodiest chapter in the history of the world. The Ghazni story needs to be told, the Ghori story needs to be told, the story of Alauddin Khalji, the Tipu sultan story must be told. The Kashmir Files was a good attempt,” he added.
“We have started a movement called Satvik Prasad, where we make people aware what our practices are when we go to temples. We should not be serving food which has already been served to somebody else, in this case halal food and Kosher as well…We might need support from our Hindu community to take it further,” Surya had said.
‘Most bloody invasion’
Surya’s comments came over a month after Karnataka was hit by protests against halal meat by Right-wing groups. The BJP MP represents the Bengaluru South constituency in the state.
At the event, Surya also asked all Hindus to spread awareness about the Islamic invasion in India, which he said was full of “bloodshed”.
“We have seen the history of this particular (Islamic) community from the times of its existence and its history has been large with bloodshed and violence. I think there are two things we must do as a community…The Hindu people, the residents in India and diaspora to very very clearly articulate the most bloody invasion,” he said.
Reacting to the protests he faced for his comments in Australia, Surya said, “You know the whole ecosystem tried to do what it is best at doing. In a way it was good because now all of you know I was coming here but that’s how the ecosystem works.”
