INDIA prides itself on being biggest democracy of the world and the founding fathers such as Nehru, Gandhi and other top leaders of Indian freedom movement had established a modern secular and democratic state. India is a land of many cultures and religions. Hinduism is the dominant religion but it has Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and many other religions. The India of Narendra Modi today presents a very different picture. India today is no longer a secular society but steeped in the curse of Hindu Fundamentalism called Hindutva.
Human rights groups like Human Rights Watch state that the rise of Hindutva—a Hindu nationalist political ideology promoting Hindu supremacy—under India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has resulted in increased discrimination, hate speech, and targeted violence against religious minorities. Hindutva has become the curse of Indian political, culture. This term means that the Hindu identity and the Hindu religion should have a dominant position in defining the Indian nation. With this idea in politics members of the minority religions specially Muslims now face the question of whether they are being treated as equal citizens or as communities expected to live within a Hindu majority national framework.
During past few years the Human Rights Watch in India has documented numerous instances of vilification and discrimination against Muslims. Many cases of unlawful demolition of Muslim shrines, shops and homes have been reported and the recent reports talks about the same treatment regarding the Christian community. The continuing demolition of Muslim religious and historic sites makes the question even more uncomfortable. Indian authorities have generally cited encroachment, unauthorized construction or development requirements in individual cases. But when mosques, shrines and other Muslim sites are repeatedly removed or challenged, it inevitably raises a larger question: is India merely dealing with illegal structures, or is a new political narrative also attempting to reduce the visible presence of its Muslim history? Recent demolitions of mosques in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have intensified that debate.
“The Indian government has normalized violence against religious minorities, marginalized groups, and critics through discriminatory policies, hate speech, and politically motivated prosecutions,” said the Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of reversing its abusive policies to promote the country as a global voice on human rights, the BJP government has undermined India’s standing around the world. There is no denying the fact that the use of religion to promote a political philosophy results in disaster and according to a wise sage “When the government puts its imprimatur on a particular religion, it conveys a message of exclusion to all those who do not adhere to the favored beliefs. A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some.”
In the run-up to this year’s elections in India, it appears that tensions have escalated between Hindu and Muslim communities, leading to a 30 percent increase in incidents of communal violence as compared to 2012. The central government’s Ministry of Home Affairs reported 823 incidents of communal violence in 2013, in which 133 people died and over 2,000 were injured.
One of the worst such incidents involved mass violence in September 2013 in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, events in which at least 60 people died. The events began with an altercation on September 7, which led to the deaths of two Hindus and a Muslim. Inflammatory speeches by right-wing Hindu leaders and allied groups led to three days of violence, which spread to neighboring districts and only ended after a curfew was imposed and the Indian army was deployed to restore law and order. In addition to the 60 people killed, at least six cases of gang rape and sexual violence were reported. Muslim citizens from more than 150 villages were compelled to flee their homes, and even today, thousands of them remain displaced, fearful to return. The state government claimed in December that 5,000 people were then still displaced, but local aid groups have said the number is more than five times that, about 27,000 people.The World Evangelical Alliance called on India to repeal the Freedom of Religion laws that are being systematically misused to harass religious minorities and restrict legitimate worship activities, and recommended that India take swift action under existing criminal law provisions against organizations and groups involved in orchestrating hate campaigns and violence against Christians, including prosecution for hate speech and incitement to violence, in a written statement to the Human Rights Council 60th session. The WEA further asked members of the Human Rights Council to take note of the deteriorating situation in India, and to address with the Indian government the country’s situation of freedom of religion or belief and protection of minorities.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad
