India’s anti-Muslim crisis

Hindu nationalists instigate hatred against Muslims with evident impunity

An article on religious intolerance in India appearing in a Pakistani newspaper can be construed as an illustration of demonstrable Pakistani antagonism towards its larger neighbour. Nonetheless, it is hard to deny the fact that ground realities in India are becoming untenable for its two hundred million or so Muslims.

The growing intolerance of Muslims in India is confirmed by findings emerging from varied external sources. The DC based think-tank, Freedom House, has dubbed India ‘partially free’. While much can be said about the varied forms of state repression and authoritarianism evidently undermining democracy in India today, the focus here is on the plight of Indian Muslims.

Another prominent think-tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, rightly notes how Muslims are not only the prime target of communal violence in India but they also experience discrimination in terms of employment, housing and education.

Writing for The Indian Express, two scholars of modern India, Christophe Jaffrelot and Maulik Saini, have pointed out how Muslims, who form over 14% of the Indian population, have half this proportion of representation within the public sector. Using government statistics, the researchers have also demonstrated how joblessness for Muslims in India has jumped from 2.62% in 2009-10 to 7.16% in 2018-19. Besides institutional and economic discrimination, Muslims in India are being actively persecuted. The Indian NGO, Common Cause, found half of its surveyed police respondents to exhibit an anti-Muslim bias. Researchers have also repeatedly pointed to widespread impunity for Hindu nationalists who target Muslims.

The creation of ‘anti-Romeo squads’ to prevent ‘love-jihad’ or the public lynching of Muslims suspected of consuming or selling cows are perhaps the most drastic examples of communal hatred being fueled by prominent BJP leaders.

Modi’s move to limit Muslims’ rights via the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 which excludes Muslim migrants from being given fast-track citizenship has been widely criticised within and outside the country. After the controversial revocation of Kashmir’s special status, the Indian government has decided to allow non-permanent residents to vote in Kashmiri elections. This move will fuel further restiveness and more state repression within the Kashmir valley. The Modi regime has also increased the number of assembly seats in the Hindu-majority Jammu area while not doing the same for Kashmir valley – a move which has no justification given that 68% of the Kashmiri population is Muslim.

During Modi’s two terms in office, India seems to have achieved significant geostrategic significance. India’s growing global prominence is also being aided by America’s compulsion to use India to counterbalance China. Yet, the democratic credentials of ‘the largest democracy on Earth’ have taken a simultaneous nosedive. It will only be a matter of time before India’s other accomplishments will begin unravelling, lest the Indian polity relinquishes its divisive Hindutva ideology.

Genocide Watch has warned of the risk of genocide of Indian Muslims which should be a wake-up call for the world community to pay more attention to this festering problem. The US Congress mandated Commission on International Religious Freedoms has been requesting the State Department for three years to place India on a list of ‘countries of particular concern’.

America’s attempt to serve as a moral policeman of the world is understandably contentious. Yet, it is the only country which can convince India to pull back from its dangerous trajectory.

Pakistanis are understandably agitated about the mistreatment of Indian Muslims, especially about the situation in occupied Kashmir. While the world remains wary of escalating cross-border hostilities between India and Pakistan, Pakistan itself possesses little affluence or international leverage to draw attention to India’s intolerance. Another major reason why Pakistan’s warnings are paid little heed is due to its own dismal record of discrimination and persecution of religious minorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2022.

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