State-sanctioned pogrom

Despite assurances from govt, new clashes are still being reported, and the death toll continues to rise

New Delhi is still reeling after four days of the worst sectarian violence the city has seen since the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. At least 38 people are dead, and over 200 have been injured in religious rioting, dozens of whom were shot by Hindutva mobs supporting Narendra Modi’s CAA. While opponents of the law had peacefully protested for weeks, quoting the revolutionary poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Habib Jalib, and others, the law’s supporters have a simpler mantra — “goli maro [expletive] ko (shoot the [expletive]”. Not quite as poetic, but certainly much more effective at drawing the world’s attention, especially when ‘recited’ by sitting ministers.

Despite assurances from government and police officials on Wednesday that the situation was under control, new clashes are still being reported, and the death toll continues to rise. Residents in the hardest-hit areas are afraid to live their homes. Many countries have begun issuing advisories to their citizens, urging them to “exercise caution”, “keep a low profile” and “avoid all areas with demonstrations”. But India’s media is claiming that this is all foreign propaganda. Everything is fine, they say, and in all honesty, if we were to ignore the wanton murder of Delhiites by forces aligned with the government, everything else is probably fine.

The official and unofficial defences have often been outrageous. When the US government’s Commission on International Religious Freedom condemned the “brutal and unchecked violence” in Delhi and urged the Indian government to “take serious efforts to protect Muslims and others targeted by mob violence”, India’s External Affairs Ministry dismissed the comments as “factually inaccurate and misleading” and claimed the commission “aimed at politicising the issue”. Perhaps the ministry is unaware of the fact that bloody riots are going on in India’s capital because of an overtly political decision taken by its bigoted ruling party. Even the judiciary is not safe. A Delhi judge who accused the police of failing to cite politicians for hate speech was transferred to a different court the same night. His much more compliant replacement gave the government one month to tell the court what measures it has taken to address the issue. Meanwhile, the killing continues.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 29^th, 2020.

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