In a recent talk with a television channel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he wanted the Muslim community to “introspect, think.”
“The country’s progressing, if you feel any shortcomings in your community, what is the reason behind it? Why didn’t you get government benefits in the time when Congress was in power?” he asked.
Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party had made use of the slogan “sabka saath sabka vikas (together with all, development for all)” through all election campaigns and his first term in office. Although Modi repeats this slogan sporadically, is his vision really “for all?”
On June 2, 2014, a week after Modi came to power, 28-year-old Muslim information technology professional Mohsin Sheikh was lynched by a Hindu mob led by Hindu Rashtriya Sena leader Dhananjay Desai in Pune. This was the first incident of mob lynching leading to death after Modi came to power.
Modi was silent.
Twenty-one individuals including Dhananjay Desai and two minors accused of Mohsin Sheikh’s murder were acquitted. The single bench of Justice Mridula Bhatkar of the Bombay high court said, “The fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favour of the applicants/accused. Moreover, the applicants/accused do not have criminal record and it appears that in the name of the religion, they were provoked and have committed the murder.”
The surge in mob lynchings and hate crimes targeting Muslims became increasingly prevalent in the subsequent years as hatred became ingrained in laws and policies. It began with the implementation of purportedly anti-cow slaughter laws across various Indian states.
Mohammad Akhlaq’s abandoned house. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta
Fifty-two-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged out of his house in the Dadri district of Uttar Pradesh after rumours of cow slaughter on September 28, 2015. While Akhlaq succumbed to injuries his son Danish survived brutal attacks. Akhlaq’s family still awaits justice.
The accused were invited to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath’s rally. BJP leader Vinay Katiyar demanded their release and called for the withdrawal of compensation to Akhlaq’s family, attempting to legalise his murder.
Meanwhile, former Union minister Jayant Sinha garlanded the accused in Alimuddin Ansari’s 2018 lynching implying government support.
In the 2017 state assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, Modi in Fatehpur attempted made his famous “kabrisatan (graveyard) and shamshaan (crematorium)” and “Ramzan and Diwali” speeches.
In Haryana, the Hindutva leader Mohit Yadav or ‘Monu Manesar’ and his team were involved in various cases of cow vigilantism, including the gruesome murder of Junaid and Nasir and the Nuh violence in July 2023.
Muslim men have been harassed and lynched for alleged cow-related offences, including slaughter, smuggling, theft, and transportation of cattle by individuals affiliated with Hindutva organisations. An IndiaSpend database in 2017 revealed that India had witnessed 78 cow-related hate crimes since 2012, with a staggering 97% of these incidents occurring after the BJP and Modi came to power in May 2014. 86% of the victims were Muslims.
While the accused in hate crimes and lynchings enjoy political patronage by influential figures in the BJP and government, being Muslim is now a crime punishable by death. Over 90% of religious hate crimes in India from 2009 and 2019 occurred during the NDA government’s first term, since 2014. Remarkably, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) fails to maintain any data on hate crimes, further obscuring the true extent of this alarming trend.
Modi had pledged to protect India’s Muslim minorities in a conciliatory speech in parliament at the beginning of his second term. His campaign slogan was updated with “sabka vishwas (everyone’s trust).”
It was ironic that he repaid this trust by delivering hate speeches.
Modi’s tirade launched in earnest in the 2019 general elections. Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest elections from Wayanad, Modi had said the party was “running away from majority-dominated areas” to “take refuge in areas where the majority is in minority”. He also said the Congress tried to label Hindus as terrorists and that the party would not be forgiven for it.
Despite Modi’s assurances, the subsequent five years proved harrowing for Indian Muslims.
File photo of a protest against triple talaq. Credit: PTI
The first key law enacted by Modi’s government was the Triple Talaq law, criminalising the utterance of “talaq” three times ostensibly in the name of protecting Muslim women but also demonising Muslim men.
BJP governments introduced ‘love jihad’ laws in multiple states to allegedly safeguard Hindu women from Muslim men, acting on a Sangh Parivar bogey of such a conspiracy. Multiple states have enacted these laws.
Notably, ministers and chief ministers of the BJP have promoted this conspiracy theory and incited anti-Muslim sentiments in their speeches. They openly encourage Hindutva forces to harass interfaith couples, particularly those involving Muslim men and Hindu women. Paradoxically, they glorify romantic relationships between Muslim women and Hindu men.
On August 5, 2019, the Indian government removed special status for Jammu & Kashmir deploying tens of thousands of additional troops and splitting the state into two union territories under the guise of “national integration”. Five years later, Kashmiris have become disinterested in politics, likely due to fear and disappointment. The BJP was also accused of forcing government employees to attend Modi’s rally in March to project a positive image. Kashmir, now a Union Territory, has not had assembly polls.
Moreover, the Modi government chose August 5, 2020, the “first anniversary” of the reading down of Article 370 to lay the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in an act seen as deliberate provocation towards Indian Muslims.
Despite acknowledging that the Babri Masjid was not built by demolishing the temple, the Supreme Court awarded the land to Hindus for the construction of the Ram Mandir. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Ram Mandir. Similar claims about Shahi Eidgah Masjid and Gyanvapi Masjid question the role of the Indian judiciary because of the precedent it set.
Furthermore, the NDA government’s second term introduced the CAA, sparking deep concerns of discrimination among Indian Muslims. Its passage led to nationwide protests in December 2019 demanding its rollback. BJP leaders including Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah delivered inflammatory speeches. Riots took place in northeast Delhi.
The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, amended in 2019, was weaponised by the government machinery in the aftermath of these riots to target anti-CAA protestors. Four years later, these accused individuals still await justice without trial. Student activist Umar Khalid’s special leave petition in the Supreme Court faced delays 14 times before Khalid eventually withdrew his application in February 2024, suggesting political vendetta by the government against dissenting voices, a trend now seemingly reflected within the judiciary.
Bengali-origin Muslims in Assam have faced evictions since the BJP came into power in 2016, revealing a deliberate targeting of Muslim families on government land. BJP’s election campaign for state assembly aimed to protect local identity and land aggravating the situation. In September 2021, thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslim farmers were evicted for an agricultural project, leaving them in dire conditions.
Members of the SIO delegation, with Moinul Haque’s family, at their shelter in Assam. Photo: Twitter/@sioindia
Two villagers died and 20 others were injured in a similar eviction drive when the police fired on protestors. In a gruesome act, a cameraperson from the district office was caught on camera stomping on the lifeless body of a Muslim protestor. The administration bulldozed the houses leaving 5000 Muslims homeless in the Darrang district for this so-called project.
Using slurs against Muslims by politicians is the new normal in the Modi era.
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri referred to Bahujan Samajwadi Party MP Danish Ali as a “Mullah aatankwadi (Muslim terrorist), bharwa (pimp) and katwa (circumcised)” in Indian parliament. Yet, the parliament only sent a show-cause notice to Bidhuri over his response.
Eviction and bulldozing of Muslim houses has expanded across the country. Hindu processions passing through Muslim neighbourhoods lead to accusations of stone-pelting, followed by demolitions under the pretext of removing ‘illegal construction’.
These anti-encroachment drives gained attention in April 2022, when the administration in Khargone and Seoni demolished more than a hundred houses and shops in Muslim neighbourhoods after communal clashes. Similar demolitions later occurred in North Delhi and Mewat following communal tensions.
Amnesty International’s recent report focused on the punitive demolitions of 128 properties across Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh between April and June 2022. These demolitions initiated by senior political leaders and government officials affected at least 617 individuals and were followed by communal violence and protests. The report highlighted a troubling pattern of selectively demolishing Muslim-owned properties while sparing those owned by Hindus, indicating systemic discrimination and violation of rights.
Now, Modi himself has openly directed terms like “ghuspethiye” or infiltrators at minorities and called Muslims a community “who have more children”.
If the Indian Muslims “introspects” and “thinks,” can she forget these incidents?
Nadeem Khan is a social activist.
