Minorities in India have witnessed gravest violations of human rights, religious freedoms

Indian American Muslim Council, the largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the United States with chapters across the nation, has released the report "State of Religious Minorities in India (June-July 2022)".

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Even though India marked 75 years of independence on August 15, 2022, the descent of once the world’s largest democracy into a Hindu fascist entity is nearly complete. Under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), religious minorities have witnessed the gravest violations of their human rights and religious freedoms.

The hateful ideology of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) espoused by the BJP seeks to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) and paints religious minorities (Muslims, Christians, etc.) as the biggest threat to its Hindu majoritarian vision. Extreme polarization through hate speech, discriminatory policies, and violence targeting religious minorities have been normalized to reduce the country’s 300 million minorities into second-class citizens.
In June and July 2022, India had been staring at economic uncertainty with a consistently falling Indian Rupee and soaring prices. However, even amid such a precarious situation, the Hindu extremists backed by state actors continue to commit acts of discrimination and violence against religious minorities. The culture of impunity enjoyed by Hindu extremists only emboldens their actions, and this report for June and July is a testament to the same.

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Rani Laxmi Bai, Tatya Tope 'martyred' by East India Company, Scindia's forefathers

Jiyaji Rao Scindia By A Representative In an email alert to Counterview, well-known political scientist Shamsul Islam has said that was “shameful for any political party in democratic India to keep children of Sindhias in their flock” given their role during the First War of Indian Independence (1857). In a direct commentary on Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia moving over to BJP, Prof Islam has quote from a British gazetteer to prove his point.

If Maoist violence is illegitimate, how is Hindutva, state violence justified? Can right-wing wash off its sins?

By Swami Agnivesh* and Sandeep Pandey** There was major police action against Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varvara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira on 28 August, 2018. Before this police arrested Professor Shoma Sen, Adocate Sudhir Gadling, Sudhir Dhawle, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson on 6 June. Even before this Dr. Binayak Sen, Soni Sori, Ajay TG, Professor GN Saibaba and Prashant Rahi have been arrested and all these activists have been accused of having links with Maoists.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

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