India Ripping Itself Apart As Islamophobic Discrimination Gets Legalised - IOL News

1/13/2020 India ripping itself apart as Islamophobic discrimination gets legalised | IOL News
India ripping itself apart as

Islamophobic discrimination gets
legalised
OPINION / 12 JANUARY 2020, 3:37PM / SHANNON EBRAHIM
A policeman looks on as supporters of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

attend a rally in support of a new citizenship law, in Chennai. Picture: Reuters
For decades India has been heralded as the largest democracy

in the world with a pluralist society of tolerance and diversity.
But no longer.
The sectarian hatred that prevailed at the time of India’s

partition has now been reawakened by political forces bent on
making India an exclusivist Hindu country.
Today the rise of fascism in India is inescapable and the silence

of the international community is deafening. 
Last month India’s parliament passed the Citizen’s Amendment
Act (CAA) which has successfully legalised discrimination on
https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/india-ripping-itself-apart-as-islamophobic-discrimination-gets-legalised-40468192 1/6
the basis of religion, a fundamental right protected by the Indian

constitution since its formation. The Act allows those living in
India prior to 2014 who are from neighbouring Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, and Pakistan to have Indian citizenship, but not if
they are Muslim.
This Act was enacted along with another law - the National
Register for Citizens, which is in force in the state of Assam
and is to be rolled out across the country.
RELATED ARTICLES
'From
Marabastad The good, the Ameri
to Mogadishu' bad and the gross
is a journey of ugly of 2019 misca
Struggle,
hope and
victory
It is widely known that many Indians have unregistered births

and others have lost their documents, setting the stage for
widespread discrimination against Muslims who do not have
the requisite documentation to prove their citizenship. Already
1.9 million residents of Assam, a north-eastern state bordering
Bangladesh where a third of the population are Muslim, are at
risk of becoming stateless as they have been excluded from the
register.
Both of these pieces of legislation have put India’s 200 million

Muslims at risk, most particularly of being disenfranchised and
rendered stateless. 
India’s youth have awakened like a sleeping giant, protesting in
country-wide demonstrations against the legislation which will
entrench Hindu supremacy which has long been the goal of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The newfound resistance on the
part of ordinary people is what activist and author Arundhati
Roy says gives her hope for the future of her country.
The response of the Indian security forces to the

demonstrations has been heavy-handed and many have been
met with brutal force.
Hundreds of people have been detained and arrested, and

others have had heavy fines imposed on them. In the state of
Uttar Pradesh the radical Hindutva extremist turned Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath has vowed to take revenge against the
protestors. The state police have also been illegally
confiscating Muslim-owned businesses, over 70 so far.
But such discrimination against Muslims under BJP rule has not
come out of the blue, but is merely in the ascendancy, pushing
India into a state of war against itself. Over the past six years
there has been an increase in hate crimes against minorities,
Muslims in particular.
Hindutva extremists have lynched Muslims, as was the case

with Mohammed Akhlaq who was lynched in 2015 on suspicion
of having beef in his fridge at home. A Minister in Modi’s
cabinet, Jayant Sinha, honoured those responsible for his
death by presenting them with garlands. As if that is not
extreme enough, Modi has given his political backing to a
Hindutva extremist, Pragya Singh Thakur, who was accused of
terrorism to become a member of parliament representing the
BJP.
Thakur is charged with plotting the 2008 bomb blast in

Malegaon which targeted Muslim pilgrims coming out of Friday
prayers, in which eight were killed.

In retrospect, this should not be so surprising considering that
Modi was Gujarat state’s Chief Minister in 2002 when
thousands of Muslims were beaten, raped and killed, and their
properties destroyed. All of the violence took place under

Modi’s watch, as has the official violence against Muslims ever
since he became Prime Minister.
Such violence has not only included beef lynchings, but honour
killings and forced conversion. In many of his election
campaigns, Modi has notoriously used anti-Muslim rhetoric,
consistently fanning the flames of hatred and sectarianism.
Even in last year’s election campaign right-wing leaders were

behind WhatsApp messages and fake news on right-wing
websites that stoked fear of Muslims, speaking of the threat of
a Muslim takeover by 2050.
It is important to understand the linkage between Modi’s party

the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The
RSS is a fascist organisation largely considered the political
arm of the BJP. The RSS was banned for years after one of its
members murdered Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was targeted as
he was perceived to have made too many concessions to the
Muslim community.
As it turns out, the MP Thakur who was backed by Modi

happens to be a fan of the assassin who murdered Gandhi, and
considers him a patriot.
Not much has changed in terms of the ideology of the RSS

since the time of Gandhi’s assassination. Last October the RSS
Chief Mohan Bhagwat went on record saying that India is a
Hindu Rashtra. Modi’s Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah was
also a leader of the RSS, and both he and Modi have bulldozed
through the two pieces of legislation that have led to the recent
chaos in the country.
The result has not only been the muzzling of dissent, but the
jailing of political opponents. It is now the norm for government
officials to call those who criticize Modi as ‘anti-national’ - acting
against the national interest and national security. It was Modi
who previously used the term ‘anti-national’ against Muslim

communities.
Modi had been hailed by many in the West as the bold new
face of change in India, but over the past year that image has
been fast unravelling. India’s risky experiment with
demonetisation, its abrogation of Kashmir’s special status in
violation of numerous UN resolutions calling for a referendum
on self-determination for Kashmiris, the slowest economic
growth in years, a banking sector in distress, unemployment at
a 46 year high, rising poverty, and the wave of religious
intolerance sweeping the country are all threatening India’s
stability and growth prospects.
Ian Bremmer, the President of the Eurasia Group, had

previously written in Time Magazine that Modi was “India’s best
hope for economic reform.” Last month Bremmer wrote again in
Time magazine reversing his previous position saying, “Things
have changed.”
This week 10 trade unions called on employees to stage

protests against what they described as the “anti-people”
policies of Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.
India is being torn apart between those who are committed to a

pluralist and inclusive society that belongs to all those who live
in it, and the right-wing fascist forces that want to entrench
Hindu supremacy, and are enacting legislation that will be used
to disenfranchise and detain Muslims.
In a country steeped in poverty where many Muslims may be

unable to prove their identity and birth in India due to a lack of
documentation, they may find themselves detained in the new
raft of detention centres that are coming up throughout the
country.

The soon-to-be-completed detention centre in Assam will hold
3,000 people with walls 20 feet high. This will be fate of those,
particularly Muslims, who cannot prove their birth in India, and

they will be stripped of their citizenship and political rights.
This should not only be an affront to all Indians but to all those
peace-loving people who believe in human rights and justice,
who have an obligation to raise their voices in disgust.
* Shannon Ebrahim is Independent Media's Foreign Editor.

India Ripping Itself Apart As Islamophobic Discrimination Gets Legalised - IOL News

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

India Ripping Itself Apart As Islamophobic Discrimination Gets Legalised - IOL News

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

1/13/2020 India ripping itself apart as Islamophobic discrimination gets legalised | IOL News

India ripping itself apart as

A policeman looks on as supporters of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

For decades India has been heralded as the largest democracy

The sectarian hatred that prevailed at the time of India’s

Today the rise of fascism in India is inescapable and the silence

the basis of religion, a fundamental right protected by the Indian

It is widely known that many Indians have unregistered births

Both of these pieces of legislation have put India’s 200 million

The response of the Indian security forces to the

Hundreds of people have been detained and arrested, and

Hindutva extremists have lynched Muslims, as was the case

Thakur is charged with plotting the 2008 bomb blast in

properties destroyed. All of the violence took place under

Even in last year’s election campaign right-wing leaders were

It is important to understand the linkage between Modi’s party

As it turns out, the MP Thakur who was backed by Modi

Not much has changed in terms of the ideology of the RSS

who previously used the term ‘anti-national’ against Muslim

Ian Bremmer, the President of the Eurasia Group, had

This week 10 trade unions called on employees to stage

India is being torn apart between those who are committed to a

In a country steeped in poverty where many Muslims may be

particularly Muslims, who cannot prove their birth in India, and

* Shannon Ebrahim is Independent Media's Foreign Editor.

Вам также может понравиться