The Political Crusades: Independent India

 

“You won’t need swords to kill the Muslims because swords won’t be enough to kill them. You’ll have to evolve in your technique – they have better weapons than you”

These were the words of a right-wing activist during a religious conference late last year in the Indian city of Haridwar. A call for the unleashing of genocide against the 200 million Muslims living in what is conceived as the World’s Biggest Democracy. What followed was the painful picture of a Hindu mob surrounding the local Mosques, striving to raze it to the ground. They argue that once upon a time, where these Mosques are, stood a Hindu temple.

Now you may be wondering, where are the police? Where is the government? It’s imperative to understand that Narendra Modi’s (PM of India) ruling party BJP is in fact a far right-wing and religiously extremist political party, championing the supremacy of the Hindu religion and the rebuilding of a Hindu nation, or Hindutva.

Coming back to Narendra Modi, he was a long time leader of the RSS (Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh), which is a Hindu Nationalist group. To give you some context about how extreme this organisation is meant to be, they were responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi for being “too soft” towards the Muslim population. The RSS and many other similar Hindu Nationalist groups are represented by one political party in the Indian constitution, and that is, as you may have already figured out, the BJP. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the BJP’s ideologies and decisions conform to those of the RSS. In fact, it is said that the RSS actually dictates the decisions of the BJP – in other words, the BJP can be seen as the political front of these Hindu Nationalist groups in India.

Now, the most obvious question here would probably be – why? Why is all of this even happening? Whilst hatred between the Hindu and Muslim population in India has roots decades ago during the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947, it can be said that this conflict has, in a word, escalated since 2014 when the BJP stepped in as the ruling party of the country. Before I go into more detail about the causes, you have to understand that the Hindu religion is very divided even within itself. With the existence of the Caste system, this has led to certain Hindus being seen as more superior than the others, and thus, a lot of conflict, repression and even wars that have lasted many centuries. Unlike other major political parties, which represented only one Caste, the BJP have portrayed themselves as being representative of all Hindus. This has enabled them to gain more votes from the majority Hindu population and solidify their stronghold in Indian politics. However, simply stating a representation of a religion is not good enough – you need to prove it. And this is what the BJP has been doing successfully for the past 8 years. By attacking the minority religions in the country i.e. Islam and Christianity, the BJP have successfully united the Hindu population and provided them with a sense of togetherness.

Furthermore, a long term repression of Islam has led to an inevitable Muslim backlash and retaliation. At the outset, this may seem like a problem for the BJP, though this is actually one of their many plans. By radicalising Muslims, they can use this to further portray how Muslims in India are violent and extreme, thus leading to heightened persecutions and genocide.

On the topic of genocide, Indian Muslim journalist Rana Ayyub has openly disclosed the horrendous acts of the Indian government, and has even written a book about the matter. One such example is when she stated in a journalism conference that a Hindu priest had called on the Hindu population to rape and assault the Muslim women. Despite the police being present at the scene, they allegedly did nothing in response to this. Ayyub was later arrested and harassed.

Whilst many do argue that India has become an extremist country when it comes to religion, there are many arguments which may prove the opposite. Since 2017, there have been no records of hate crime towards women, Muslims or people of other castes as officially stated by the International Crime Bureau. This really makes the whole idea of extremism in India speculation. This can be reinforced by the fact that when Modi was re-elected in 2019, he promised to abolish hate crime and religious intolerance, and instead unite the country together to make a loving and all- accepting nation. To make this very clear, we have seen Muslim people being taken in to work and be a part of the BJP and the Indian Constitution. There have been an increased number of people from within the party calling for tolerance of other religions, put forward Tarun Vijay, who stated that lynching Muslims for eating beef is immoral, in response to another member of BJP stating the opposite. Even on an international scale, there has been little response or actions taken against India regarding Human Rights, suggesting that they have not been violating any laws or regulations.

Linking back to the increase in Muslim backlash and radicalisation mentioned earlier, there have been several protests and acts of violence between members of either religion occurring across the country. In response to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992 by Hindu Nationalists, Muslim communities and organisations committed several acts of arson and terrorism, including the burning of the Godhra train of Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya, resulting in the death of 59 Hindus. Another significant example - one that has scarred the face of the country and still haunts some today - is the Bombay attacks. Four brutal days of bombings and shootings in the city of Mumbai in late November 2008 saw 12 attacks coordinated by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamic terrorist group, including the infamous attack on the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. Let's not forget Flight 814, the hijack of an Indian airplane. The flight was carrying almost 180 passengers flying from Nepal and intended to land in Delhi. Instead, the hijackers redirected it to Kandahar in Afghanistan, where innocent passengers were taken hostage for no less than a week long. 

Overall, these "religious crusades" may actually not stem from religious extremism, but rather an intricate and well-devised scheme to attain and consolidate power. The events happening in India are somewhat akin to a chess game: whilst religion represents the pawns and bishops and knights battling to the death, there is a greater player above that controls every single move - politics.