Writer: Siena Iwasaki Milbauer
Welcome to “Eyes On,” a series from AAOP that provides compact rundowns of important conflicts or crises in our global community.
As engaged youth, it can be hard to stay informed about all that is worth knowing. We hope this series can provide user-friendly but well-rounded summaries of events, and empower youth readers to knowledgeably take action in our world. Check out all our “Eyes On” installments at http://aaopmn.org/tag/eyes-on/
Content warning: The following piece (and the links included) contains graphic descriptions of violence.
1. Since the election of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been growing its political dominance in India (though their political hold on the country has been faltering recently). The BJP has also become increasingly aggressive in pursuing its Hindu nationalist political agenda. Though by no means does the party speak for all or even most Hindus, the BJP has weaponized religion to craft policies that target India’s ethnic minorities, especially Indian Muslims.
2. The effects of the BJP’s actions have been far-reaching and created an increasingly dangerous climate in India. For example, new laws are being enacted locally around the country that target interfaith marriages. Though these laws don’t explicitly forbid interfaith marriage, they are being enforced in a way that provides an excuse for local authorities to arrest Muslim men who try to marry Hindu women. This creates a culture of fear which has the potential to stop folks from being able to love freely.
3. There has also been an alarming rise in violence which claims religion as a motivation, especially by Hindu militant groups against folks belonging to religious minorities attackers claim are “trafficking” in beef (cows are sacred to the Hindu faith). Reportedly, India experienced 276 hate crimes perpetrated in the name of religion between 2014 and 2019. Compare that to 24 cases in the five years preceding 2014, notably the year Narendra Modi was elected. The violence is exacerbated by police and legal structures that refuse to defend victims or prosecute attackers. In fact, some victims and their families have been charged with smuggling beef or cows while the people who brutally attacked and sometimes even murdered them walk free.
4. One of the most criticized steps the BJP has taken is the enactment of a new citizenship law in 2019 which makes religion, specifically non-Muslim religion, a basis for citizenship under certain circumstances. The law also comes with new policies that, among other things, could require Indian citizens to pass a citizenship test. The combination of these forces could lead to millions of Indian citizens losing their citizenship. The people of India responded with appropriate outrage, Hindu and Muslim alike taking to the streets to protest the government’s oppression. The government in turn responded with brutal attempts to quell these protests.
1. Resistance to Modi and the BJP continues in India, and for a variety of reasons. Something worth paying attention to is the over year-long protest India’s farmers have held against the government. Like in the protests over the citizenship law, the BJP have responded with violent force, resulting in deaths of protesters. Still, the farmers show no signs of giving up their resistance.
2. The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir has long been a place of contention, with both Pakistan and India laying claim to it. But since Modi’s government further cracked down on Kashmir in 2019, the unrest has escalated and now appears to be in a chaotic spiral.
3. What is happening in India is having ripple effects across the rest of the globe, especially in South Asia. Violence in the name of religion is on the rise in several South Asian nations, most notably in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In all cases, ethnic and religious minorities have been suffering, and since who is in the ethnic minority in each country is different, that means discrimination has been inflicted on Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims alike. India, as an established non-sectarian (essentially, adhering to the separation of church and state) government, once served as something of an anti-violent mediator in South Asia. Now, India is the country stoking the flames of sectarian conflict.
1. Keep aware: The most obvious thing you can do is to stay aware of what is happening in India. Events are moving rapidly, and it is important to follow along and make sure that any human rights violations are not swept under the rug.
2. Support on-the-ground resistance: There are many amazing individuals and organizations doing work on the ground in India to push back against the BJP and other discriminatory forces. Support their work! Two organizations we can recommend as a start are Citizens Against Hate (documenting hate crimes and state violence and sexual violence, supporting survivors) and United Against Hate (defending the civil rights of the Indian people, advocating for imprisoned protesters, supporting the families of hate crime victims). Though neither organization appears to be actively accepting international donations right now, learning about them and following their social media is a great way to stay up to date on events in India and to learn about opportunities to support when they do arise.
Sources
Abdul, Geneva; Yasir, Sameer. “Police in India Make First Arrest Under New Interfaith Marriage Law.” New York Times, 3 Dec 2020 (update 20 July 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/world/asia/india-muslims-interfaith-marriage-arrest.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Abi-Habib, Maria; Yasir, Sameer. “As Modi Pushes Hindu Agenda, a Secular India Fights Back.” New York Times, 20 Dec 2019 (update 25 Feb 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/world/asia/india-muslims-citizenship.html. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Al Jazeera. “How 2019 changed the Kashmir dispute forever.” Al Jazeera, 1 Jan 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/1/how-2019-changed-the-kashmir-dispute-forever. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Beauchamp, Zack. “India’s ruling party lost a key election. It’s worrying that it even stood a chance.” Vox, 4 May 2021. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/5/4/22412743/india-west-bengal-results-2021-bjp-modi-tmc-banerjee. Accessed 10 Nov 2021.
Frayer, Lauren. “In India, boy meets girl, proposes — and gets accused of jihad.” NPR, 10 Oct 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/10/10/1041105988/india-muslim-hindu-interfaith-wedding-conversion. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Frayer, Lauren. “’This Is It. I’m Going To Die’: India’s Minorities Are Targeted In Lynchings.” NPR, 21 Aug 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/751541321/this-is-it-im-going-to-die-indias-minorities-are-targeted-in-lynchings. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Ghoshal, Devjyot; Bukhari, Fayaz. “Explainer: What is behind the recent surge in violence in Indian Kashmir?” Reuters, 18 Oct 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/india/what-is-behind-recent-surge-violence-indian-kashmir-2021-10-18/. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Human Rights Watch. “India: Protests, Attacks Over New Citizenship Law.” Human Rights Watch, 9 April 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/09/india-protests-attacks-over-new-citizenship-law. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Human Rights Watch. “‘Shoot the Traitors’ Discrimination Against Muslims Under India’s New Citizenship Policy.” Human Rights Watch, 9 April 2020, https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/04/09/shoot-traitors/discrimination-against-muslims-under-indias-new-citizenship-policy. Accessed 11 Nov 2021.
Khandelwal, Saumya. “Violence Strikes, and India’s Farmers Want You to See It.” New York Times, 23 Oct 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/world/asia/india-farmers-protests-modi.html. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Mashal, Mujib. “In a Region in Strife, India’s Moral High Ground Erodes.” New York Times, 6 Nov 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/06/world/asia/india-region-muslim-hindu-strife.html. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.
Purohit, Kunal. “India struggles with religious lynchings.” DW, 8 Aug 2019, https://www.dw.com/en/india-struggles-with-religious-lynchings/a-49950223. Accessed 7 Nov 2021.