The Systematic Targeting of Muslims in India: A Call for Justice and Humanity

India in the recent months, has recorded higher levels of discriminatory actions and violence on Muslims. Using the excuse of administrative orders and so-called religious sensitivity the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh and the newly formed Pushkar Singh Dhami government in Uttarakhand have ensured that all shopkeepers must apply stickers indicating their religious affiliations. The article discusses how this change, claiming to improve the transparency of public events, only contributed to the escalation of the conflict and active hostility to Muslims, increasing the risk to lives.
Think of having a label declaring the religion you belong to put outside the source of your income. While for Muslim shopkeepers and vendors, this directive is not only a blatant formality but also attracts the hatred of violence and discrimination towards them. The insidious narrative promoted by organizations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) claim that the Muslim ‘contaminates’ Hindu territory and fuels the hate and violence.

In Muzaffarnagar, Muslims were driven out of their jobs, while in Kolhapur and Maharashtra regions, Muslims were attacked, mosques were desecrated, some killed and others injured depicting an awful picture of intolerance. The violence perpetrated against Muslims during the course of the Kanwar Yatra festival clearly demonstrates the absence of minority protection during such processions as the presence of minorities turns into an offence.

Even worse, state actors are involved in discriminating and violent acts against the minority and other vulnerable individuals. Rather than safeguarding and respecting the lives and property of every citizen, such directives and actions by the state governments are, in fact, ostracizing and empowering threat to Muslims. In other words, it is the state that is promoting prejudice and, in effect, painting businesses as Hindu, Muslim or Sikh thus exposes the Muslims to hate-led violence and economic marginalization.
The impact of these directives, is not less disastrous on the economic side as well. Muslim-owned businesses are now faced with a chilling ultimatum: endanger their lives if they reveal their identity or they lose their business as Hindu extremists urge people to boycott. The economic pressure along with physical repression and threats to their lives and property is to reduce the Muslims to poverty and obviously to eliminate them from the consumer economy.

The baseless yet dangerous narrative of filth and impurity by the extremist groups dehumanizes and rationalizes horrific acts of brutality in the name of preserving Hinduism. The latest order that has come into force in the Jaipur, Rajasthan, obliging all meat vendors to state whether meat is halal or jhatka is another example of how state-sponsored discrimination is solidifying religious differences and creating a hostile atmosphere.

A broader picture portrays the RSS and its associates with a clear-cut policy of Hinduisation and formation of a Hindu rashtra, are slowly but steadily unmaking India on the basis of secularism. Cultural sensitive in public, but in private, they are dismantling the social fabric which has kept India together for ages. What has occurred in Vishalgad and other parts of India where Muslims are being attacked with relative ease is a clear dictum to the state that it must deliver justice.

Hence, the following heinous atrocities require the international community not to be silent. Muslims in India are being attacked which is unethical and against the established norms of human rights, democracy and pluralism. Such actions have to be strongly condemned by the UN and other International Human Rights Organization and encourage Indian government, to fulfill their constitutional duties to preserve and protect the rights of all citizens of India regardless of their faith.
Local actors, the Central Statistics Officers (CSOs), activists and the conscientious citizens in India must not sit idle while the entire community of Muslims is being targeted. Demands of justice and non-tolerance for discriminating actions should ring in every corner of the country with the calls of the guilty liable to answer to law enforcers for inciting violence.

People of India must understand that India’s strength is in its ability to embrace each and every cast out there and not in discriminating a particular cast. Everyone’s rights and human dignity regardless of their religion is the law and disregarding this tenet isn’t just sinful but unconstitutional.

Therefore, the submission to the statement that Muslims are being targeted systematically in India cannot be disregarded as it is a scandalous shame for the country. This is contrary to the equality and justice Indian founding fathers fought for and wanted to be achieved in India. If India’s humanity is to be denied this basic freedom from injustice, it is the responsibility of every Indian citizen, every leader, any global authority to object to this violation and strive for a future where citizens of this nation may live in harmony and mutual respect. This is the perfect time to come up with decisive actions over further deaths and numerous districts ruined by prejudice and hatred.