EDITORIAL: It is becoming increasing difficult for Muslims to fulfil their religious obligations in India ruled by ultra-Hindu nationalist BJP headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has built his political career on Muslim hatred. In the latest incident of intolerance, last Friday Hindutva zealots disrupted Friday congregations being held at two open public spaces in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi. In both cases, reports point out that the sites were identified by the district administration after talks with local Hindus and Muslims. Yet it was the seventh Friday in a row when aggressive crowds tried to disturb people saying their prayers peacefully. Similar trouble was seen in 2018. Although after the latest incident the police arrested several protesters, they are unlikely to relent secure in the knowledge that the ruling party leaders have their back.
In fact Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana state, where Gurgaon is located, has been openly siding with the Hindu extremist groups creating disruptions, saying that namaz should only be offered in mosques or Eidgahs. The Muslim community would not want to hold Friday and other congregations in the open but for lack of an option. There are not enough mosques, nor under the prevailing atmosphere can they build new ones. According to the leader of anti-Muslim protests, Dinesh Bharati of an Hindutva group called Bharat Mata Rahini, "this [Muslims prayers] is an international conspiracy, they are offering namaz as part of this conspiracy of ... love jihad [a reference to Hindu women marrying Muslim men], land jihad." It is beyond comprehension as to how the sight of people at prayers can make Hindu women fall in love with them or can they take over state land without the BJP government's permission. In a social media video he also threatened to "open a gaushala and gurukul here and build a Hanuman temple here." He surely will have no problem translating that threat into reality.
Encouraging people like him are the blatant discriminatory policies of BJP governed union and state governments. Utter Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also terms Hindu women's marriage with Muslim men as "love jihad" and an "international conspiracy" hatched by Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI. Constantly spewing anti-Muslim hatred, he has been involved in several criminal cases of leading violence against Muslims. Under him, Hindu mobs have lynched several Muslims accusing them of smuggling cows or eating beef. The police in all such cases, as admitted by an accused "is on our side because of the government." The CM of UP, the most populated state in India, is also on record of having stated that if one Hindu is killed "we kill 100 Muslims." When a government head has no shame in spreading hatred against the country's 200 million Muslims, and even incites people to kill them, those in Gurgaon cannot expect to have freedom to manifest their faith in practice. In fact, the so-called Yogi has said the Muslims of Gurgaon are "goons" who deserve the treatment they get. Clearly, as long as the BJP is in power Muslims of India have to live in constant fear.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021