India's Minorities Under Siege ?

NEW DELHI: "I am not Indian anymore, at least in the eyes of the proponents of the Hindu Rashtra," prominent retired police chief Julio Ribeiro wrote in a column for the Indian Express paper. His is a powerful voice, and unlike his Muslim counterparts, he has had the courage to say what retired Muslim bureaucrats hesitate to say publicly.

Ribeiro is articulating what the minorities in India have started feeling, with several states simmering under the weight of low intensity communal violence over the past several months. The Christians have been dragged into the violence, with the ‘ghar wapsi’ program unleashing violence on hapless priests and nuns with churches being desecrated and burnt. Delhi, the national capital, where even the hint of communal violence was top media headlines for days in a past long gone, was now home to attacks on the Christian missionaries and full scale communal violence in resettlement colonies like Trilokpuri without the television channels blinking an eye.

Most states have suffered low intensity violence that keeps the tensions simmering, and leads to widespread trauma and fear amongst the minorities. Muzaffarnagar started this particular episode of violence that shows no signs of abating, and has in fact kept the villages and districts of states like Karnataka, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, and to some extent Bihar on the boil. Hardly anyone of consequence has been arrested for the violence, with the political provocateurs getting off scot free despite being identified by name in some places, such as Muzaffarnagar where the violence displaced thousands before the last Lok Sabha polls.

The modus operandi is two prong, and has been following a pattern Insofar as the Muslims are concerned, the attacks are preceded by rumours spread by word of mouth, social media, local small newspapers and of course through organised groups.The tensions heighten to a point where a lie, or even a small altercation, sparks off communal violence. The propaganda against Muslims by senior MPs of the BJP, as well as the front organisations, is now relentless---with ‘love jihad’ being one of the more potent weapons used in the villages of western Uttar Pradesh for instance.

The attacks on the Christians have been one through the so called reconversion ceremonies being carried out by right wing mobs in the remote villages, where this miniscule minority is being targeted and hounded; and then by attacks on the missionaries who work in the remote villages and now find themselves completely insecure and terrified. The message being sent out very deliberately through these orchestrated attacks is that the priests and nuns are no longer safe, and are expected to wrap up their work and leave.

The fear and trauma is palpable. In fact all states have faced low to middling communal incidents, with a relative low loss of life but immense terror. After the rape of the 71 year old nun in West Bengal even the Christian organisations who had been pressuring others to join in a dialogue with the BJP government at the centre, as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have fallen silent. In fact many of these sections are now joining the nationwide protests against the violence.

The Muslims are more isolated, despite being the largest minority in India. The global environment, and Pakistan next door, has placed the Muslims deeper in the dock. Apart from the local campaign against them, they are being targeted also with every beheading by the Islamic State in the Middle East or every act of terrorism by extremists in Pakistan. The insecurity is heightened beyond all levels, with fear haunting the villagers in particular in and around the communally affected areas in the states.

The fear continues to haunt the villagers in western Uttar Pradesh who despite a Mulayam Singh government have little faith left in the administration. In Trilokpuri too the police reached late, and then went into the houses, throwing tear gas shells and rounding up a large number of Muslim youth.In Assam women and children who had jumped into swirling waters to escape the attack by Bodo militants, were targeted and killed even as they were trying to swim to safety. In Haryana Muslims were at the receiving end, sending out terrified messages for help. These incidents are barely being reported with the sense of isolation amongst the minorities growing by the day.

The Rajya Sabha where the opposition is in the majority has raised the issue of communalism at length. Opposition MPs have pointed out repeatedly, while demanding explanations from the government and the Prime Minister for the increasing violence, that the secular fabric of India is now under serious threat. Virulent statements against the minorities by senior BJP lawmakers, as well as leaders of its affiliate organisations, are being recorded and videos circulated on the social media that has been swamped by communal trolls.

Senior leaders like West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leaders Anand Sharma and M. Kharge, Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D.Raja, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and others are all on the record expressing dismay and worry about the increasing communal violence in the country. Many have also pointed at the Sangh parivar for trying to foment communal trouble in their respective states. However, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement at a Christian gathering in favour of religious tolerance, the attacks have not stopped with India simmering under levels of tension not seen for a long time.

Hundreds of activists have planned a day long dharna at Jantar Mantar to protest against increasing communalism. Seminars and conventions are being held across the country on similar issues. Political parties have been protesting, and as a senior Bihar leader told The Citizen, “we are spending all our time in firefighting, and ensuring that communal incidents do not break out in our state. It has become very very difficult. Secularism is under siege.”