THE population of Muslims in India is more than 13.4% according to official data, making it the largest Muslim minority population in the world and the third-largest Muslim population overall. However, India, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, is currently busy implementing fascist ideas, with Muslims being a special target. Despite calling itself the world’s largest secular state, the ruling BJP is following the agenda of the Sangh Parivar to eradicate Muslim identity. Thousands of Muslims are being subjected to violence through incidents related to Gau Raksha (cow protection), Love Jihad, the controversial Citizenship Law, the prevention of Quran education, and anti-Muslim riots. The Muslim massacre is being hidden from the world by masking it under the guise of mob lynching and promoting an image of pacifism, secularism, and democracy. If this is not a Muslim holocaust and genocide, what is it?
The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) will complete a hundred years in 2025. Before that, it aims to pave the way for making India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and is swiftly progressing towards fulfilling its dangerous ambitions. Similarly, history reveals the character of ‘Shivaji,’ a ruler of the Maratha Raj whose birthday is celebrated with great fanfare in so-called secular India today. From 1947 till today, the repeated instances of Muslim riots in India clearly demonstrate extremist thinking. Narendra Modi’s followers have started a new cycle of killing Muslims by chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram.’
Dr. Gregory Stanton, the head of the international organization Genocide Watch, has warned many times that the genocide of Muslims is actually happening in India. He claims that India has entered the final stage of genocide and the complete annihilation of Muslims living in India is only a step away. According to Dr. Stanton, the persecution and systematic massacre of Muslims in Kashmir and Assam was its first stage. The destruction of the Babri Masjid and the construction of the Ram Mandir in its place is also part of this nefarious chain.
Under the leadership of the RSS and Narendra Modi, extremists in India are fully prepared for Muslim genocide. While Hindu youth are being mentally conditioned to see Muslims as enemies, they are also being practically trained in weaponry. The display of weapons and the shouting of hateful slogans in processions in the name of Ram and Hanuman have gone beyond mere harassment to actively terrorizing Muslims. The identity of Muslims is being erased through issues like Vande Mataram, Surya Namaskar, Yoga, cow sanctity and triple talaq. The Indian state’s interference in Muslim personal law is further evidence of this hostility. Extremist organizations such as Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Hindu Maha Sabha, and Ram Taran Mandal are fundamentally anti-Muslim. Attacks on mosques, amendments to Muslim Personal Law and the humiliation of Muslims are key elements of these extremist teachings. A Muslim intellectual in India noted that “in a way, the message is being given to Muslims silently that they should leave here.”
Despite Muslims constituting about 15% of India’s population, there is not a single Muslim Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet. For the last nine years, the influence of Hindutva has been pervasive across India and international experts are warning of the threat of a Muslim genocide. Why is the Islamic world oblivious to its responsibilities? Is it not the duty of the Muslim Ummah to exert economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Israel and India to stop the ongoing atrocities?
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Rawalpindi.
