INDIAN fanatic Prime Minister Narendra Modi-the leader of the extremist ruling party BJP had got a land sliding victory in the Indian General elections 2014 and 2021.During the election-campaign, Hindu majority was mobilized on ‘hate Muslim’ slogans and ‘anti-Pakistan’ jargons. The Muslim community in India had felt alienated, frightened and perturbed, as most of them were also effectively disenfranchised. Implementing the Hindutva ideology (Hindu nationalism) against the religious minorities, Modi-led regime particularly targeted the Muslims.
In this regard, various developments like unprecedented rise of Hindu extremism, persecution of the Muslims, assaults on them, including their places of worships and property by the extremist Hindu mobs, application of the laws—the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on Muslims, abrogation of the special status of the disputed territory of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK),deployment of more than 900,000 military troops who have martyred thousands of the innocent Kashmiris and issuance of domicile certificates to more than 800000 non-Kashmiris clearly show that encouraged by the Hindu fundamentalist groups such as BJP, RSS VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena, Modi-led government have been promoting ethnic chauvinism in India against the Muslims.
Modi’s biased policies against the Muslim community were evident during the 2002 Gujarat riots, a three-day period of communal violence in the BJP-ruled state of Gujarat. As Chief Minister, Modi orchestrated the genocide of Muslims, with extremist Hindus acting under his guidance. Human Rights Watch in 2002 and Amnesty International in 2003 accused the Gujarat state administration of massive cover-up and implicated various police officials, ministers, and leaders of fundamentalist outfits such as RSS, VHP, BJP, and Bajrang Dal.
Rana Ayub in her book, “Gujarat Files: Anatomy of A Cover-up”, Manoj Mitha in his book, “The Fiction of Fact Finding” and Sreekumar in his book, “Gujarat Behind the Curtain”, have all implicated Modi in the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. Additionally, in an open letter published in The Guardian on April 10, 2014, it was pointed out that even the well-respected international intellectuals of India held Modi as the main culprit behind the Gujarat massacre. According to Ashish Nandy, “The Gujarat programs were not just about the number of helpless victims killed (over 3000) and rendered homeless (several hundred thousands). It was about the sheer planning, the brutality and the maniacal genocide that was perpetrated over a population for days on end… Narendra Modi did not only shamelessly preside over the riots and act as the chief patron of rioting gangs, the vulgarities of his utterances have been a slur on civilized public life… If Modi’s behaviour till now is not a crime against humanity, what is?”
And following Gujarat riots in 2002 and state collusion, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) established that the then Gujarat Chief Minister Modi was linked to communal riots in a significant way. It also pointed to Modi’s ministerial colleague Maya Kodnani’s full involvement in the massacre of Muslims. Following its findings, the Commission recommended a US visa ban for Modi. Notably, a report of the British High Commission in India had said that the programmes in Gujarat “had all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing…this massacre was planned, possibly months in advance, carried out by extremist Hindu organisations with the support of the state government headed by Modi.”
Meanwhile, various investigations failed in showing the real criminals of Hindu terrorism in Gujarat, as they were top officials of the Indian government. Hence, the Supreme Court of India had ordered a fresh probe on March 25, 2008, but the same remains inconclusive due to concealment of evidence against the culprits who are members of the dominating political parties of the country. Since the BJP-led Modi became Indian prime minister, covert interference of his regime and those of the extremis parties—BJP and RSS, the investigations of Gujarat riots have been kept the case under carpet. Despite eye witness testimony, implicating the highest elected political officials, justice continues to evade the victims. In this connection, 70 accused persons of the Gujrat pogroms were set free by the court. On January 28, 2020, the Supreme Court granted bail to 14 convicts of 2002 Gujarat riots. Thus, it gave a clean chit to Modi.
While the US initially denied Modi a visa due to his involvement in the Gujarat genocide, their stance shifted in his favour after he became prime minister, highlighting a double standard. Despite the theoretical safeguarding of minority rights in the Indian Constitution, the prevailing ideology of Hindutva allows the Hindu majority, led by the BJP, to commit atrocities against Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits with impunity. Particularly alarming is Modi’s reported destruction of all documents related to the 2002 genocide of Muslims during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Given Modi’s past and present actions, it is foreseeable that Indian minorities will face further persecution and violence at the hands of Hindu extremists if Modi remains in power.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
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