February 26th, 2020 | Written By - Ria Raj '21
Since India’s founding in 1947, the nation has identified and prided itself on being a “sovereign socialist secular Democratic Republic,” as it’s Constitution writes. But as we progress into 2020, Narendra Modi’s India seems to be twisting secularism in unprecedented ways. Demonstrations have convulsed cities across India, since December, in stark defiance of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). In essence the CAB fastracks Indian citizenship for immigrants from three neighboring Islamic states: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. But the bill only applies to minorities coming from those respective countries, which essentially means it disregards Muslim immigrants. The BJP emphasizes that the bill pushes for a safe-haven for those escaping religious persecution in Islamic states. But what about discrimination against Muslims?
I could argue that the CAB itself isn’t inherently “anti-Muslim” because it is simply focused on minorities fleeing Islamic states. But there clearly is a significant issue with the bill’s scope. If India is trying to play hero and save religious minorities from discrimination in neighboring countries, why are Muslims overlooked? In China, Kazakh and Uighur Muslims are subject to “labor programs” which are often compared to coerced labor or even concentration camps. In Myanmar, connections have been drawn between outward discrimination against Rohingya Muslims and genocide. Even in Islamic states, Sunni-Shia divides breed anti-Muslim sentiment. It’s clear that Islamophobia is at its height globally and if India wants to play hero, why isn’t their government doing anything to counter this? This is because of India’s redefined Hindu Nationalism, coming as a product of both the BJP and the nation’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Hindu Nationalism no longer solely means a Hindu India. With Modi and the BJP in power, it appears that Hindu Nationalism has become everyone against Muslims. Maybe it’s because of India’s history dealing with Jihadist terrorism. Maybe Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Hindus, seem to unite as victims of Jihadist terrorism, out of fear. But this terrorism exists under the guise of Islam, unjustly so, generating Islamophobic sentiment. Even the idea of this sentiment is overwhelmingly toxic. But as we move into 2020, the Indian government is pushing for the movement’s growth. Redefined Hindu Nationalism is quickly becoming one of the world’s most widely-accepted Islamophobic movements.
The rise of the BJP signifies the rise of the far-right in India. This far-right is spreading an us-versus-them philosophy in a country already in the midst of dangerous divisions. The conservative Hindu right has never been more enfranchised at every level of government and, under Modi’s instruction, Muslims are subject to extreme hatred at each of these levels. As the New York Times writes, Abdul Adnan, a Muslim in Old Delhi notes, “My government doesn’t even consider me Indian. How can that be when my ancestors have lived here hundreds of years?” If you’re a Muslim in Modi’s India, no matter how far back you trace your roots, your Indian blood is overlooked.
Since 2014, when Narendra Modi came into power, India has been undergoing a detrimental rebirth. This rebirth stands against the principles enshrined within India’s Constitution. It shines through Modi’s policies, both domestic and foreign. Whether the issue is of Jammu-Kashmir or Indian schooling, discrimination against Muslims is at an all time high. Islamophobia has become a staple of redefined Hindu nationalism and is spreading faster than ever in the world’s second-most populous nation. India is India because of its diversity, and leaders who pull away from this idea threaten the true fabric of the nation. The fact of the matter is that a nation’s government doesn’t define the sentiment of its people and Indian civilians, especially Indian Muslims, don’t deserve to live subject to a breeding ground of toxic ideologies.
Image Source - WIX
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