India claims itself to be a modern democratic and secular state; however, the poor treatment of Muslims tells the world a different story. Several global organisations have warned of an impending genocide of Muslims in India. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi of BJP came into power in 2014, anti-Muslim sentiment has intensified because of his discriminatory policies and hate speech.
The 40 million Muslim population of the state of Uttar Pradesh has been living in a constant state of terror. In the last 8 years, Muslims have been lynched and become targets of hate crimes. The government has turned a blind eye to the violence and the police have also done little to bring justice to the victims and their families. The perpetrators are free and continue to terrorise Muslims while the victims remain fearful.
The revocation of the autonomous status of occupied Kashmir in 2019 stripped Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for seven decades. Ironically, the Citizenship Amendment Act was introduced the same year, which granted citizenship to religious minorities but excluded Muslims. Kashmiris have been continuously subjected to violence and human rights abuses. Even the Indian media has promoted propagandistic content to present Muslims in a negative light. In the state of Karnataka, Muslim students are not allowed to wear hijab. All of this is just a glimpse of the miserable state of Muslims in India, the reality is much bleaker. The international community and humanitarian organisations must condemn India and take rigorous action to ensure safety for Indian Muslims so that they can heave a sigh of relief.
BALACH MB
AWARAN
