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It’s no news that rifts between the Muslim minority and the majority Hindu population in India have persisted for decades. But more recently, the threats to Muslims in the nation have intensified following the emergence of Prime Minister Modi and his nationalist supporters. Nationalist terrorism has sprouted from massive, publicized attacks to targeted and isolated strikes on individual Muslims. In 2002, 69 people were murdered by Hindu nationalist attacks in a Muslim neighborhood. In the past two years, violence has become targeted at the cow industry: a Muslim cattle trader and 12-year-old boy were hung by Hindu Nationalist members in 2016 and in 2017, 20 attacks that included mob lynching, murder, and gang rape made it the worst reported year for cow-related violence, according to a report from IndiaSpend.
The threats and Muslim deaths that have accumulated since the election of Modi are on the rise. In the past seven years, Muslims were attacked in 51% of the violent incidents involving cow-related issues. Of the 63 attacks, 97% of the cases happened during Modi’s reign. With the growth in support for the India’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi, Muslims have not only been under-represented in government, they have also been at increased risk for harassment and violence.
Even though India boasts the second largest population of Muslims, with nearly 172 million people, Muslim people often face segregation from Hindu communities. According to the 2007 Sachar Committee Report, Muslims in India have faced difficulties renting or owning property, have been driven to crowded ghettos, and have encountered barriers accessing schools. The report detailed that Muslims face lower socio-economic status in the country due to lack of access to education, bank credit, and public spaces. Along with the social factors that have disadvantaged the population, polarized political attitudes and the lack of government involvement may have hindered improvements in the safety and quality of life for Muslims. After a Muslim teenager was stabbed by a mob of 20 Hindu men in June, Modi remained silent on the issue until a wave of protests in New Delhi prompted a statement in which the Prime Minister condemned the killing. Although Modi has expressed support for religious freedom, his ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh party, an organization that has advocated for other faiths to convert to Hinduism, have sparked debate regarding Modi’s position. In 2014, the head of the RSS party, Mohan Bhagwat said that he promoted the “Ghar Wapsi” campaign that sought to convert non-Hindus to Hinduism on a massive scale.
Although the BJP party has expressed disapproval of the conversations, party leaders and Modi have rarely spoken against violence inflicted on Muslim populations despite monumental political power. The members of the BJP party and Modi’s influence has expanded within India and worldwide in the past couple years. In 2015, The BJP party claimed the title for the largest political party in the world with 88 million registered members, according to NDTV. Modi also has powerful allies in the U.S. In June, U.S. President Donald Trump promoted relations with Modi and tweeted that Modi was a “true friend.”
While the U.S. government has strengthened ties to Modi, international human rights groups have spoken out against the lack of the Prime Minister’s response to Muslim-targeted violence. Following the killing of a Muslim teenager in June, Executive Director of Amnesty International India, Aakar Patel released a statement in which he said: “The pattern of hate crimes committed against Muslims with seeming impunity—many of them in states where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power—is deeply worrying. Unfortunately, both the Prime Minister and various Chief Ministers have done little to show that they disapprove of this violence.”
The increase in violence surrounding cow-related attacks in 2017 has indeed been focused on areas where the BJP is in power. According to a report from IndiaSpend, nearly half of the cow-related incidents occurred in states governed by the BJP. The report also detailed that victims of the violence often were targeted after such incidents. In one- fifth of the cases brought to local police department’s attention, the police filed cases against the victims or survivors. Hindu groups have been proven to have conducted 23 of the 63 cow-related violent strikes in the past seven years.
The victims of Hindu nationalist violence are not only cow farmers and Muslims; journalists have also been attacked for holding Hindu nationalists accountable. In September, Modi and Hindu nationalist critic and journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered. In the weeks following Lankesh’s murder, two more journalists were threatened via WhatsApp messages, according to an alert from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Journalists Mohammed Ali and Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor both received messages in which they were threatened if they wrote critically of the BJP. Despite efforts from the CPJ to encourage Modi and members of the BJP to release a statement condemning the threats, the nationalist party did not submit a response.
With continued strikes against Muslims and a record-breaking number of cow-related attacks in 2017, advocacy groups have now moved to not only dismiss the lack of government response, but hold the Indian government accountable for the assaults. Aakar Patel said: “BJP leaders have ignored, or worse, even justified the attacks at times. This growing trend of Islamophobia needs to be stopped in its tracks.”
The Human Rights Watch South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly also spoke out against the Indian government’s reaction to the assaults. Ganguly said: “The government should condemn this violence and take prompt action against those responsible for these attacks or face allegations of complicity…Instead of a government that took office on the promise of universal development, it now appears to be one unwilling to protect those most vulnerable.”
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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Violence Against Muslims in India is Brewing Under India’s Nationalist Government
Aerial view of old Delhi from a minar of Jama Masjid mosque, Delhi, India
October 20, 2017
It’s no news that rifts between the Muslim minority and the majority Hindu population in India have persisted for decades. But more recently, the threats to Muslims in the nation have intensified following the emergence of Prime Minister Modi and his nationalist supporters. Nationalist terrorism has sprouted from massive, publicized attacks to targeted and isolated strikes on individual Muslims. In 2002, 69 people were murdered by Hindu nationalist attacks in a Muslim neighborhood. In the past two years, violence has become targeted at the cow industry: a Muslim cattle trader and 12-year-old boy were hung by Hindu Nationalist members in 2016 and in 2017, 20 attacks that included mob lynching, murder, and gang rape made it the worst reported year for cow-related violence, according to a report from IndiaSpend.
The threats and Muslim deaths that have accumulated since the election of Modi are on the rise. In the past seven years, Muslims were attacked in 51% of the violent incidents involving cow-related issues. Of the 63 attacks, 97% of the cases happened during Modi’s reign. With the growth in support for the India’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi, Muslims have not only been under-represented in government, they have also been at increased risk for harassment and violence.
Even though India boasts the second largest population of Muslims, with nearly 172 million people, Muslim people often face segregation from Hindu communities. According to the 2007 Sachar Committee Report, Muslims in India have faced difficulties renting or owning property, have been driven to crowded ghettos, and have encountered barriers accessing schools. The report detailed that Muslims face lower socio-economic status in the country due to lack of access to education, bank credit, and public spaces. Along with the social factors that have disadvantaged the population, polarized political attitudes and the lack of government involvement may have hindered improvements in the safety and quality of life for Muslims. After a Muslim teenager was stabbed by a mob of 20 Hindu men in June, Modi remained silent on the issue until a wave of protests in New Delhi prompted a statement in which the Prime Minister condemned the killing. Although Modi has expressed support for religious freedom, his ties to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh party, an organization that has advocated for other faiths to convert to Hinduism, have sparked debate regarding Modi’s position. In 2014, the head of the RSS party, Mohan Bhagwat said that he promoted the “Ghar Wapsi” campaign that sought to convert non-Hindus to Hinduism on a massive scale.
Although the BJP party has expressed disapproval of the conversations, party leaders and Modi have rarely spoken against violence inflicted on Muslim populations despite monumental political power. The members of the BJP party and Modi’s influence has expanded within India and worldwide in the past couple years. In 2015, The BJP party claimed the title for the largest political party in the world with 88 million registered members, according to NDTV. Modi also has powerful allies in the U.S. In June, U.S. President Donald Trump promoted relations with Modi and tweeted that Modi was a “true friend.”
While the U.S. government has strengthened ties to Modi, international human rights groups have spoken out against the lack of the Prime Minister’s response to Muslim-targeted violence. Following the killing of a Muslim teenager in June, Executive Director of Amnesty International India, Aakar Patel released a statement in which he said: “The pattern of hate crimes committed against Muslims with seeming impunity—many of them in states where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power—is deeply worrying. Unfortunately, both the Prime Minister and various Chief Ministers have done little to show that they disapprove of this violence.”
The increase in violence surrounding cow-related attacks in 2017 has indeed been focused on areas where the BJP is in power. According to a report from IndiaSpend, nearly half of the cow-related incidents occurred in states governed by the BJP. The report also detailed that victims of the violence often were targeted after such incidents. In one- fifth of the cases brought to local police department’s attention, the police filed cases against the victims or survivors. Hindu groups have been proven to have conducted 23 of the 63 cow-related violent strikes in the past seven years.
The victims of Hindu nationalist violence are not only cow farmers and Muslims; journalists have also been attacked for holding Hindu nationalists accountable. In September, Modi and Hindu nationalist critic and journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered. In the weeks following Lankesh’s murder, two more journalists were threatened via WhatsApp messages, according to an alert from the Committee to Protect Journalists. Journalists Mohammed Ali and Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor both received messages in which they were threatened if they wrote critically of the BJP. Despite efforts from the CPJ to encourage Modi and members of the BJP to release a statement condemning the threats, the nationalist party did not submit a response.
With continued strikes against Muslims and a record-breaking number of cow-related attacks in 2017, advocacy groups have now moved to not only dismiss the lack of government response, but hold the Indian government accountable for the assaults. Aakar Patel said: “BJP leaders have ignored, or worse, even justified the attacks at times. This growing trend of Islamophobia needs to be stopped in its tracks.”
The Human Rights Watch South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly also spoke out against the Indian government’s reaction to the assaults. Ganguly said: “The government should condemn this violence and take prompt action against those responsible for these attacks or face allegations of complicity…Instead of a government that took office on the promise of universal development, it now appears to be one unwilling to protect those most vulnerable.”
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
