The observance of Zero Discrimination Day worldwide on March 1 every year is worthless till Muslims in India and occupied Jammu and Kashmir remain particular target of the Hindutva forces with no concrete effort by the international community to prevent the menace.
Zero Discrimination Day aims to promote equality before the law and in practice throughout all of the member countries of the UN.
Whereas, India is concerned, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, Jayshree Bajoria says, “BJP government at both central and state levels have adopted laws and policies that discriminate against minorities and vulnerable communities, especially Muslims”.
Under BJP’s leadership, India has become one of the most dangerous countries for minorities in the world. Human Rights Watch in its annual report has criticized BJP-led government for adopting discriminatory policies against minority communities, including Muslims in India who are being persecuted physically, psychologically and economically.
In 2021, three hundred incidents of persecution of minorities have been registered in India. The hijab ban “is the latest example of Indian authorities increasingly seeking to marginalize Muslims, exposing them to heightened violence”. India is on the path to self-destruction with its Hindutva policy targeting all minorities living in India and occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
President Genocide Watch, Dr Gregory Stanton has warned of an impending genocide of Muslims in India, comparing the situation of the country under PM Modi government to events in Myanmar and Rwanda. He explained that an enactment of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is especially for targeting Muslims.
Human Rights Watch in its latest World Report 2022 unveiled that Indian authorities had intensified their crackdown on activists, journalists, and other critics of the government using politically motivated prosecutions in 2021.
India must also be compelled to halt its state-sponsored terrorism in the IIOJK, immediately cease human rights violations, lift the inhuman military siege, and let the people of IIOJK exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.—KMS
