SULTAN M HALI
ONE would have expected Indian leadership to behave responsibly in the face of COVID-19 ad versity but contrarily, it continues to spew venom against Muslims. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy is facing backlash over his bigoted comments that Muslims in India do not deserve the same rights as everyone else living in the country. In an interview to a TV channel, when asked about India’s controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the BJP MP alleged: “We know where the Muslim population is large there is always trouble — because the Islamic ideology says so.” India has been stripping away its fig leaf of secularism and Gandhian principles of “live and let live” exposing its macabre Hindutva extremism. On 5August 2019, the BJP regime rescinded Articles 370 and 35A of its own Constitution, which had provided limited autonomy to India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) and prohibited non-Kashmiris from acquiring property in IoK. To forestall waves of protest, IoK has been in a state of lockdown for over 8 months now. To make matters worse, Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced draconian laws of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) meant to target Muslims and National Register of Citizens (NRC), which excludes 1.9 million of northeasternAssam state’s 33 million population andMuslims elsewhere. The controversial CAA promises to fasttrack Indian citizenship for religious minorities from the three neighbouringMuslim-majority countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan—but not if they are Muslim. The law threatens India’s secular foundations by marginalizing its 200 millionMuslim minority population. India, which is itself struck hard by the pandemic COVID-19, instead of attending to addressing the threat facing its own teeming millions, is indulging in petty politics. Its lawmakers are pointing out that India must castigate Pakistan for establishing Corona Virus quarantine camps inAzad Jammu Kashmir, where non-state residents i.e. from the rest of Pakistan are also being housed. India is now the world’s second most “Unequal Country” according to Global Wealth Report. Market Data confirms that Indian Rupee is now “Asia’s worst Performing Currency”. EPI 2018 discloses that India has become World’s Third Worst Country in Environment Protection. First time in the history of India, foreign funding and corruption is legalized according to Finance Bill 2017. Narendra Modi is the “Least accountable Prime Minister” in 70 years. For the first time in the history of India, CBI vs CBI, RBI vs Govt, SC vs Govt fights happened because Modi wanted control of all democratic institutions First time in the history of India, four Supreme Court judges gave a press conferenceto say, “Democracyisin Danger”. India has slipped by 10 places in EIU democracy index 2019, which has been the worst in the history since the inception of this index in 2006. Owing to “erosion of civil liberties”. First time in the history of India, top-secret Defence documents were stolen from the Defence Ministry office. If that were not enough, “Intolerance and Religious Extremismis highest in 70 years”. Indian “Media is now worst in 70 years”. Accordingto Global HungerReport 2019, India has slipped to 102nd rank out of 117 countries in Global Hunger Index;itis now behindits neighbours— Pakistan,Bangladesh and Nepal. In a first, NCRB report had a criminal delay of 2 years. The crime report for 2017 was released quite recently with certain categories skewed. IMF has raised concern over Indian govt’s data reporting norms, delays, India’s tax revenue estimates and GDP growth targets. On top of such challenges of mammoth proportions, Swamy claimed, “If Muslim [population] becomes more than 30 per cent [in any country], that country is in danger”. When reminded that Article 14 of the Indian Constitution ensures equal rights for everyone in India, he went on to say that this was a misinterpretation of the Article, saying: “The law ensures equal rights for equals.” “Are all people not equal? Are Muslims not equal in India?” asked the interviewer. Swamy’s haughty response was: “No, not all people are equal, Muslims do not fall into equal category.” Vinod K Jose, editor of The Caravan said that the CAA, the Delhi violence and the mass fleeing of the poor due to Corona Virus “is the practical demonstration of this dictum getting played out in India?” To make matters worse, on 31 March, the ‘Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (adaptation of state laws) Order 2020 was enacted, which relaxes domicile rules for the valley and eligibility criteria for employment in the region. The order – the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (adaptation of state laws) Order, 2020, – makes Indians, who have resided for a period of 15 years in the occupied region or have studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10/12 examinations there, eligible for domicile of the valley. This means that those who fulfil the new criteria will become permanent residents of Kashmir. PrimeMinister Imran Khan has reacted expeditiously, despite being overwhelmed by handling the COVID-19 crisis in Pakistan. He strongly rejected the new domicile law announced by the Indian Government for occupied Jammu and Kashmir territory and termed the move yet another attempt by India to illegally alter the demography of IoK,taking advantage ofthe world’s preoccupation with combating COVID-19 pandemic. Expressing solidarity with the people of IoK, Imran Khan stated that the new rulewill benefit children of Indian officials,who have served in the valley for a total period of 10 years. Those that pursue a policy of hate are destined to be doomed. —The writer is retired PAF Group Captain and a TV talk show host.
