The fanatical Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,-the leader of the extremist ruling party BJP, won by a landslide in the 2014 general elections. During the election campaign, the Hindu majority was mobilized on ‘hate-Muslim’ slogans and ‘anti-Pakistan’ jargon. Again, on the basis of anti-Muslims slogans, the BJP won huge majority in the Lok Sabha in the 2019 elections, with 21 seats more than it won in 2014.
The Muslim community in India felt alienated, frightened and perturbed, as most of them were also effectively disenfranchised. Implementing the Hindutva ideology against the religious minorities, Modi-led regime particularly targeted the Muslims.
In this regard, various developments like the unprecedented rise of Hindu extremism, persecution of the Muslims, assaults on them, including their places of worships and property by the extremist Hindu mobs, ban on beef and cow slaughter, application of the CAA and NRC laws on Muslims, abrogation of the special status of the disputed territory of Indian-Occupied Kashmir, revocation of articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of Indian-Occupied Kashmir into two union territories, continued lockdown there, deployment of more than 900,000 military troops there, who have martyred thousands of innocent Kashmiris through brutal tactics, amendment of the law allowing Indian citizens to buy land in Indian-Occupied Kashmir and issuance of domicile certificates to more than 60,0000 non-Kashmiris clearly show that, encouraged by the Hindu fundamentalist groups such as BJP, RSS VHP, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena, the Modi-led government has been promoting religious and ethnic chauvinism in India against the Muslims.
In fact, Modi was already following biased policies against the Muslim community. In this regard, the 2002 Gujarat riots were a three-day period of communal violence in the BJP-ruled Indian state of Gujarat by extremist Hindus under the command of the Prime Minister Modi who was then chief minister of the state.
Regarding that massive genocide, both Human Rights Watch in 2002 and Amnesty International in 2003 charged the “Gujarat state administration” for involvement in “a massive cover-up of the state’s role in that massacres” and pointed out numerous officials— specifically ministers, high officials and leaders of the fundamentalist outfits such as RSS, VHP, BJP and Bajrang Dal— as participants.
As Hindu nationalism grows in India, the Modi-led BJP’s policies and practices in Gujarat state have served as a model for systemic, nationwide discrimination against the minorities, especially Muslims. So, keeping Modi’s past and present record, it can be forecast easily that Indian minorities will face further persecution and barbarity at the hands of Hindu extremists and more incidents of Gujarat-like riots will take place, if Modi remains in power.
In this respect, Rana Ayub in her book, Gujarat Files-Anatomy of A Cover-up, Manoj Mitha in his The Fiction of Fact Finding, and Sreekumar in his Gujarat behind the Curtain have proved Modi’s involvement in the genocide of the Muslims in Gujarat.
In this context, in an open letter published in The Guardian on 10 April 2014, pointed out that even most well-respected international intellectuals of India held Modi as the main culprit behind the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat.
According to Ashish Nandy, “The Gujarat pogroms were not just about the number of helpless victims killed (over 3000) and rendered homeless (several hundred thousands). It was about the sheer planning, the brutality, the maniacal genocide that was perpetrated over a population for days on end… Narendra Modi did not only shamelessly preside over the riots and act as the chief patron of rioting gangs, the vulgarities of his utterances have been a slur on civilised public life… If Modi’s behavior till now is not a crime against humanity, what is?”
The US Commission for International Religious Freedom established that the then Gujarat Chief Minister, Modi, was linked to communal riots. It also pointed to Modi’s ministerial colleague Maya Kodnani’s full involvement in the massacre of Muslims.
Notably, a report of the British High Commission in India had said that the programmes in Gujarat “had all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing… This massacre was planned, possibly months in advance, carried out by extremist Hindu organisations with the support of the state government headed by Modi.”
Meanwhile, various investigations failed to show the real criminals of Hindu terrorism in Gujarat, as they were top officials of the Indian government. Hence, the Supreme Court of India had ordered a fresh probe on 25 March 2008, but the same remains inconclusive due to concealment of evidence against the culprits who are members of the dominating political parties of the country. Since the Modi became Indian prime minister, covert interference of his regime and of the extremis parties, the BJP and RSS, the investigations of Gujarat riots have been kept the case under carpet.
Despite eyewitness testimony, implicating the highest elected political officials, justice continues to evade the victims. In this connection, 70 accused persons of the Gujrat pogroms were set free by the court. On 28 January 2020, the Indian Supreme Court granted bail to 14 convicts of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Thus, it gave a clean chit to Modi.
While, the USA had earlier denied a visa to Modi owing to his participation in Gujarat genocide; however, after he became Indian prime minister, the US stance changed to his favour. It shows US double standard.
Meanwhile, Modi has reportedly destroyed all the documents related to the 2002 genocide of the Muslims.
As Hindu nationalism grows in India, the Modi-led BJP’s policies and practices in Gujarat state have served as a model for systemic, nationwide discrimination against the minorities, especially Muslims. So, keeping Modi’s past and present record, it can be forecast easily that Indian minorities will face further persecution and barbarity at the hands of Hindu extremists and more incidents of Gujarat-like riots will take place, if Modi remains in power.
