Islamophobia In India: An propaganda By The Modi's Government

The recent Pew Study has found that India is ranked as the world's third most-unfriendly country for minorities. This is unsurprising given the rise of Islamophobia in India under the Modi government. Since Modi's election in 2014, there has been a sharp increase in Hindu nationalist sentiment and violence against Muslims.

 Muslims have been lynched, beaten, and killed for supposedly eating beef, carrying cow carcasses, or for simply being Muslim. Muslim women have been forced to remove their hijabs and mosques have been attacked. The Indian government has done little to stop this violence or to protect its Muslim citizens. Some members of the government have openly encouraged it.

This Islamophobia is not only harmful to India's Muslims, but it also undermines India's secular democracy and further alienates India from the Muslim world.

Islamophobia in India

Since the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, there has been a steady rise in Islamophobia in India. The roots of this bigotry can be traced back to British colonial rule when Muslims were demonized as “terrorists” and “backward” people. This prejudice has been further perpetuated by the Hindu nationalist groups who see Muslims as “enemies of the state”.

The Modi government has been accused of fuelling Islamophobia in India. In recent years, there have been several attacks on Muslims by Hindu extremists. These violent incidents have often been linked to the ruling party BJP and its right-wing affiliates. For instance, the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in 2015 and the flogging of Dalits in 2016 were both linked to the BJP’s Hindutva agenda.

The Islamophobic rhetoric of some BJP leaders has also contributed to the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in India. For instance, Yogi Adityanath, the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, has made numerous inflammatory speeches against Muslims. He has even compared them to “terrorists” and “cockroaches”.

The rise in Islamophobia is not only causing immense suffering for Muslim citizens but is also damaging India’s image internationally. The Modi government needs to take concrete steps to address this problem instead of fuelling it further.

Muslims in India

Since the Modi government came to power in 2014, there has been a rise in Islamophobic incidents in India. Muslims have been targeted by right-wing Hindu groups and their properties have been vandalized. There have also been attacks on Muslim-owned businesses and homes. The government has done little to stop these attacks, and some believe that they are encouraging them.

 Muslims make up about 14% of the Indian population, and they have long been an integral part of the country's culture and history. However, they have often been marginalized and discriminated against by the Hindu majority. The rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leader Narendra Modi has only made things worse for Muslims in India.

The BJP is a Hindu nationalist party that is openly hostile toward Muslims. Under Modi's rule, the party has tried to pass many laws that discriminate against Muslims. They have also been accused of using anti-Muslim rhetoric to stir up hatred against them.

As a result of all this, there has been a significant increase in Islamophobic violence in India over the past few years. Muslims have been attacked, their property has been vandalized, and they have even been killed in some cases. The government has done little to stop these attacks, and some believe that they are encouraging them.

Modi government and minority mistreatment

 Since the Modi government has come into power, there have been multiple reports of minority mistreatment, particularly of Muslims. In 2015, there was a mass lynching of a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh after rumors circulated that he had eaten beef. Just last year, another Muslim man was killed by a mob in Rajasthan on suspicion of cow smuggling.

There have also been reports of Muslims being forced to leave their homes and villages due to threats and intimidation from Hindu nationalist groups. In some cases, Muslims have even been asked to prove their patriotism by singing the national anthem or chanting Hindu slogans.

The Modi government has done little to address these issues, and some believe that the rise in Islamophobia is an intentional undertaking by the government to polarize the country along religious lines. This is a dangerous trend that needs to be addressed immediately before it leads to further violence and division.

History of Islamophobic sentiment in India

Islam has been a target of hatred and violence in India for centuries. The earliest recorded instance of anti-Muslim sentiment in India dates back to the 12th century when Muslim invaders from Central Asia first began to make inroads into the subcontinent. Over the next several hundred years, as Muslim rulers established themselves in various parts of India, they often faced hostility from the Hindu majority. This culminated in the mass religious violence of Partition in 1947 when millions of Hindus and Muslims were killed or displaced in the fighting that accompanied India’s independence from British rule.

Since then, there have been periodic outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence in India, often stoked by Hindu nationalist politicians seeking to capitalize on religious tensions. In 1992, for example, more than 2,000 Muslims were killed after Hindu nationalists demolished a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya that was believed by some Hindus to be the birthplace of the deity Ram. In 2002, over 1,000 Muslims were massacred by a Hindu mob in Gujarat after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was attacked by a Muslim mob.

More recently, Islamophobic sentiment has been on the rise in India under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since coming to power in 2014, Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have pursued an agenda that many Indian Muslims see as discriminatory and hostile toward their community. This has included passing laws that restrict Muslim personal law rights and cracking down on so-called

 Modi's views on Muslims and minorities

In India, Muslims and other minorities have long been subjected to discrimination and violence. The Modi government has perpetuated this trend by passing a series of discriminatory laws and policies that target these communities.

 One such law is the Citizenship Amendment Act, which fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim immigrants from certain countries while excluding Muslims. This law effectively makes India's Muslim population second-class citizens. 

The Modi government has also implemented a National Register of Citizens, which requires all Indians to prove their citizenship or face deportation. This process has disproportionately targeted Muslims, who are often unable to produce the required documents.

 Further, the Modi government has cracked down on NGOs and activists working on issues of minority rights. It has also instigated violence against Muslims and other minorities through its rhetoric and policies. All of these actions by the Modi government have created an environment of fear and mistrust for India's Muslim population. The situation is only getting worse, with little hope for relief in sight.

The Future of Islamophobia in India

The future of Islamophobia in India is uncertain. The Modi government has been accused of Islamophobia, and the opposition has called for an investigation into the matter. However, it is unclear if the government will act on these calls. In addition, the rise in religious tensions in India could lead to more violence against Muslims.