Qaisar Mansoor
India is going through a highly dangerous communal time witnessing the lynching of Muslims and Dalits, destruction of Churches, assassination of rationalist intellectuals, trolling of scholars, detention of activists, harassment of movie stars, evisceration of the media, universities and courts, persecution of minorities, erosion of fundamental rights, targeting of NGOs, silencing of civil society, distortion of history, usurpation of social media by hate speech, fake news & propaganda, defiance and denigration of Parliamentary procedure by the ruling party, demonization of dissent and the encouragement of vigilantism.
President of Genocide Watch, Dr Gregroy Stanton, has warned that something similar to the inhumane Rwandan genocide could happen in India if stern action isn’t taken by India. He was referring to the event of ‘Dharam Sansad’ organized in Haridwar, where members of Hindu-right wing members made genocide calls against Muslims. The silence of Modi and his inability to condemn the open call for mass genocide made during the right-wing Hindu conference could be interpreted by his most-extreme supporters as a tacit signal of protection. Michael Kugelman hit out at Indian government over its silence. A 2019 US intelligence report had warned that parliamentary elections in India would increase the possibility of communal violence if Modi’s BJP “stresses Hindu nationalist themes.”
BJP government must take steps to ensure a safe environment for minorities in the country, community leaders say.
Representatives of minority communities also allege that the government has failed to bring an end to attacks on minorities.
According to the last census held in 2011, the number of minorities in the country is about 19.3% of the total population. Of late, there has been an increase in attacks against minorities in India, especially Muslims.
“There are many forces that are anti-minority, and now particularly religious minorities are facing a threat. Organizations and individuals are being threatened by Hindutva groups, and the problem is aggravating. The unusual thing now is (such) attacks are no longer considered a crime. Rather, it has become a norm.
Indian authorities are not acting very tough against these groups, and that is why we are seeing the situation is aggravating. There is fear among other minorities as well. Even Dalits (who are at the bottom of the Hindu caste system) are facing a tough time, as well.
Elias Vaz, vice president of the All India Catholic Union, a federation of Catholic associations in the country, said a “very small number of people are trying to disturb the nation’s social fabric. “They are trying to disturb the idea of India because of their selfish reasons for power. The nation will overcome all these glitches that we are facing at this moment”.
India is a country with diversity, so everyone has their own space in the nation and it is built upon various diverse cultures. Now it is a very small number of people who are trying to disturb the idea for everybody.
The 90% of the people in India who are not supporting this have to wake up and make the government understand that — dividing in the name of religion is not in the interest of the nation.
