PEOPLE in Occupied Kashmir and Muslims of India are passing through one of the most difficult phases of their life as brutish violence continues unchecked against them both at societal and governmental levels. Under a systematic plan, they are being eliminated physically, assaulted psychologically and their properties and businesses are being destroyed.
In such horrible conditions, it was not surprising that Kashmiris all over the world and Muslims of India observed India’s Republic Day on January 26 as ‘Black Day’ as they have lost all hopes of getting justice in an environment of violence patronized by the Modi Government. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is opening praising the role of police in its brutal handling of peaceful demonstrations, there is a general impression that the BJP was openly at war with Muslims, and that people were so scared they were not going to the police stations to file reports about missing relatives. The crackdown against Muslims has been the harshest in the heartland state of Uttar Pradesh, where Muslims comprise 20% of the population of 200 million. Muslims across Uttar Pradesh say that Hindutva elements were carrying out “deliberate and targeted violence” with a vengeance, more often than not in connivance with and the active participation of police. The affected people alleged police provocation in several instances. A report in the British newspaper The Guardian gave a clue of what is happening to Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. It said in a freezing windowless room of a police station about 150 Muslim men and boys sat huddled, bloodied and bruised. Some of the shivering prisoners had raw gashes across their hands and faces; others had broken limbs splayed out at awkward angles. The beatings from police came frequently, according to multiple corresponding accounts; to those who asked for water or closed their eyes in drowsiness or simply did nothing at all. Over and over, metal rods and bamboo canes hit soft human skin. Some had been stripped of their clothes. The youngest among them was just 12 years old, said witnesses. This is not propaganda but a neutral account given by a credible newspaper and should serve as an eye opener for champions of human rights.
