Islamophobia surges in India after Taliban triumph

Muslims vocal about atrocities against the community are being labeled Taliban sympathizers

ISLAMABAD:

The Hindu right wing has unleashed a new hate campaign targeting Indian Muslim minority in reaction to the capture of power by Taliban in Afghanistan.

Muslim politicians, writers, journalists, social media influencers and everyday citizens have become the target of a new hate campaign launched by extremist groups backed by the Hindutva government.

Hindutva narrative prevailed in India that projected the real image of the world’s biggest democracy to the international community.

Persecution and vilification of minorities in India have raised questions about the basic bedrock of India’s democratic credentials and its secularism.

Modi’s fascist government has created a culture of impunity for nationwide campaigns of harassment and violence against religious minorities.

The agenda of BJP-RSS regime is driven by hatred, exclusionism and majoritarianism.

BJP politician Ram Madhav called the 1921 Moplah rebellion one of the first manifestations of a “Talibani mentality” in India, and state government of Kerala was trying to “whitewash” it.

Hashtag #GoToAfghanistan began trending on Indian social media, a repeat of the #GoToPakistan campaign launched by right-wing groups who want to turn India into an ethnic Hindu state.

International experts on genocidal violence have warned that India is preparing for a “genocide” of the 200 million Muslims in India.

Read 'India will soon know Taliban's capability to run Afghan govt', Taliban tell Modi

Muslims who counter hate or are vocal about atrocities against the community were being accused of being Taliban sympathizers, even if they condemn the group.

BJP leaders and spokespersons in India called the Taliban “terrorists”.

A group of activists, journalists and Muslim intellectuals condemned both Taliban’s acts and the “euphoria” in a section of Indian Muslims” over the Taliban’s capture of power.

UP government is busy in making anti-Muslim policies, calling Deoband a terror hub.

Hate attacks on India’s Muslims, including public lynching and targeting of their businesses have become a daily affair in India.

Last year, as the coronavirus pandemic erupted, a group of Islamic missionaries, called the Tablighi Jamaat, was blamed for spreading the virus in India.

In its 2020 report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called India a “country of particular concern”.

Allegations of “barbarism” and atrocities against women by Muslim men were used by Hindu supremacists to “reactivate hysteria” against the Taliban and continue humiliating Muslims.