In India, Some Fear Lawmakers Are Stoking Anti-Muslim Fervour
Alawmaker from India’s ruling party called the Taj Mahal a blot on Indian culture, saying in October that the famous tourist site had been built by Muslim traitors.
In November, another party member offered a bounty for the heads of two people involved in a movie featuring a Muslim sultan. Then, this month, a labourer was hacked to death and set afire while his alleged attacker ranted against Muslims.
The series of incidents this fall has reinforced fears that antiMuslim sentiment has hardened in India in the three years since a Hindu nationalist party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to power.
Some say it has reached a point where Hindu extremists believe they can get away with murder. Others worry that hard-line Hindu leaders want to rewrite the country’s rich Muslim history.
The shift in attitudes is happening in a democracy of 1.3 billion people that is often held up as a model for inclusion in the developing world.
When former President Barack Obama visited New Delhi earlier this month, he said Muslims were integrated and consider themselves Indian.
Hindus account for 80 per cent of the population, compared to Muslims’ 14 per cent.
While there have long been religious tensions, there is a sense the stakes have risen under Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP maintained its hold on Modi’s home state of Gujarat in election results tallied Monday, although with a reduced majority. In a tweet this month, Muslim lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi questioned whether Modi is a leader for all religions or just Hindus. “Remember that you have taken oath on Constitution,” he wrote.