> Many Indians (majorly we secular Hindus) made fun of communal Hindus for claiming anything shaped like a phallus to be a "Shivalinga". I myself shared how in 1990s Hindus in San Fransisco started worshiping traffic barricade as "Shivalinga".

I will offer you a rhetorical choice. Either we agree on free speech: that you or Tasneem Rehmani or anyone else is allowed to publicly mock Hinduism by saying things like you just did: "Hindu Gods are phallic in shape" etc. and in return Hindus are allowed to mock your favorite religion or way of life in any way. Or we agree instead on no free speech: that neither anyone can mock Hindus in any way nor can Hindus mock others (as is enforced by HR departments in companies). Either way, we will make it a level playing field.

I say this choice is rhetorical because this choice does not really exist.

In reality, if Hindus are mocked, violence is rare. Hindus have no text or decree saying that if they are insulted they must engage in violence. In the rare cases there is violence, it is not due to mockery but in response to extreme acts of violence. And even so, there are groups within Hindus who will hold them to account. One oft cited example by people like you in the context of Modi are the 2002 Gujarat riots where Hindus retaliated on the streets after 59 Hindus were burned alive by a Muslim mob in a train compartment. For 20 years, every left-leaning Indian and Western publication, the usual suspects, likened him to 'fascist hitler', even though he has been exonerated at every level of court in India, including in the final appeal by the Supreme Court recently [1].

However, if Islam is mocked or even questioned, there will be threats, intimidation, violence. The Nupur Sharma case is not the first and will not be the last. As examples, see cases of Salman Rushdie [2], Ayaan Hirsi Ali [3], Geert Wilders [4], Samuel Paty [5], Charlie Hebdo [6], Mila [7], Asia Bibi [8], Salman Taseer [9], Taslima Nasrin [10] and countless more.

You are well aware of this double standard. You openly mock Hindu Gods because you are pretty certain nobody will hunt you down and kill you. You do not ever publicly mock or criticize the Islamic faith because you know you do not enjoy that same guarantee.

Winston Churchill summarized this quite well: "While the Hindu elaborates his argument, the Moslem sharpens his sword.".

I believe this double standard must change. Hindus must learn from Israel in this regard. If you hurt the Jewish people in any way, they will hurt you back. You are a 100 year old ex-Nazi in Argentina? Does not matter, the Mossad is on its way. You express an anti-Semitic opinion somewhere? You will never find meaningful work again.

> Here's the context- Hindu RW claimed a fountain in Gyanvapi mosque (situated in Kashi) as Shivalinga (God Shiva's phallus)[0] which is a part of larger campaign of claiming Muslims mosques as Hindu temples by RSS/BJP. Started with demolition of Babri mosque (situated in Ayodhya) in 1992.[1] The war-cry of the time was "Ayodhya to zaki hai. Kashi Mathura baki hai" (Ayodhya is just a trailer. Kashi and Mathura are remaining)

Simply put, you seem to be unaware of the fact that Islamic invaders destroyed places of worship wherever they went as a sign of religious conquest. In India, several waves of Islamic hordes over time destroyed tens of thousands of temples in addition to libraries and other cultural centers. The ones you list are some of the most prominent and sacred to Hindus. Islamic historians bragged about this in their own chronicles.

Upon gaining independence, any self respecting country would have restored all landmarks: city names, places of worship etc. tainted by signs of conquest to their original form. But for reasons I will not discuss here, India did not do so. Hindus must therefore fight these battles in court.

Hindus and India aside, see the cases of Hagia Sophia, converted from a church to a mosque in 1453 after the Islamic conquest of Constantinople, "the cradle of Orthodox Christian civilization"; and the Al-Aqsa mosque built at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem following Islamic conquest there. There are several other cases [11].

Samuel Huntington wrote: "Violence also occurs between Muslims, on the one hand, and Orthodox Serbs in the Balkans, Jews in Israel, Hindus in India, Buddhists in Burma and Catholics in the Philippines. Islam has bloody borders."

Just because you lack even the most basic knowledge of Indian history (due to no fault of your own; just the way it was taught or not taught to you), it does not make everything a 'Hindu RW' conspiracy.

[1] https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/supreme-court-reaffi...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses_controversy

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali#Al-Qaeda_hit_l...

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geert_Wilders#Death_threats

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Samuel_Paty

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hebdo_shooting

[7] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/french-teenager-in-hiding...

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Bibi_blasphemy_case

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Taseer#Assassination

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taslima_Nasrin

[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_of_non-Islamic_plac...