LONDON - With elections due next year, there are fears unrest will grow as the ruling BJP faces criticism over its alleged inaction, reports the London Guardian.
n imam stabbed and shot to death in a mosque that was then burned to the ground. A young doctor, walking home, set upon by an armed mob who thrashed and molested her. A railway officer, boarding a train, prowled the carriages for his targets and shot dead three men. The incidents, which all took place in India this week, were seemingly unconnected, yet the victims were united by a common factor: they were all Muslim.
Since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) came to power in 2014, led by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, incidents of sectarian violence targeting the Muslim minority, who make up about 14% of the population, have become increasingly frequent.
Hardline vigilante Hindu rightwing groups, emboldened under the Modi regime, have carried out sustained persecution and lynchings of Muslims and held a growing number of rallies and marches platforming anti-Muslim hate speech and genocidal calls to violence. In BJP-controlled states, Muslims have been described as “intruders”, faced discriminatory policies and had their homes bulldozed.
Yet, as India heads towards an election next year with Modi expected to win a third term, many fear such flares-ups of violence will continue to worsen as the pursuit of electoral victories splinters society further down religious lines. Modi has so far remained silent on this week’s events.
On Monday, it was the names of Modi and Yogi Adityanath, a hardline Hindu monk who is also a BJP chief minister, that were called out by a railway officer, Chetan Singh, as he committed what many have categorised as a hate crime. After Singh boarded a train bound for Mumbai, he first shot his supervisor and then marched through the carriages and singled out three Muslim men, their religion identifiable by their names and beards, and shot them dead.
For Asgar’s brother, Mohammad Sanaullah, 36, the killing was beyond comprehension. “It is clear that he was attacked because he was Muslim,” he said. “If my brother can be killed like this, how can I feel safe? How will any Muslim feel safe? This all can be stopped if the government wishes to. But do they want to stop it? I doubt it.”
In a speech by the VHP general secretary, Surendra Jain, before the rally began and captured on video, he said the region was “Hindu land” and referred to Muslims variously as “cow slaughterers”, “Hindu murderers”, “Bangladeshi intruders” and Pakistani spies. He said: “Hindus will not rest in peace, nor let anyone rest in peace till victory is achieved.”
As well as the mosque, Muslim restaurants, shops and homes were burned and migrant Muslim families living in Gurgaon reported being threatened by mobs and told to leave the city immediately, and others were refused work.
“Many Muslims working in the area have been told to not come to work,” said Mohammad Saleem, 45, a migrant worker from Bihar living in Gurgaon. “The owner of the store is scared to employ me now, even my wife was told to not report to work. A vicious atmosphere is being created.”
