By Arsalan Iftikhar, Follow Arsalan on Twitter @TheMuslimGuy.
For the last few days, media coverage of India’s incoming prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been mostly euphoric—except for the perfunctory mentions of the pesky 2002 genocide of more than 1,000 Muslims in the state of Gujarat under his watch.
As Modi takes his oath of office, it’s worth being mindful of the fuller picture:
- Modi is a lifelong member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a paramilitary Hindu nationalist group “inspired by the fascist movements of Europe, whose founder’s belief that Nazi Germany had manifested ‘race pride at its highest’ by purging the Jews,” according to a recent piece by award-winning Indian writer Pankaj Mishra.
- Some of Modi’s close political aides were found guilty for their roles in the anti-Muslim violence of 2002, during which “large numbers of [Muslim] girls were raped; men were cut to pieces and burned alive with kerosene or burning tires. Pregnant women had their womb slit open and the fetuses smashed in front of their eyes,” according to British historian William Dalrymple.
- Modi, who was chief minister at the time, denied any responsibility. In a rare comment on the anti-Muslim killings last year, he summed up his regret as what he would feel with a “puppy being run over by a car.”
- Critics accuse Modi of not taking action to stop the violence, and while subsequent investigations of the riots have exonerated Modi, those court investigations have been criticized as influenced by Modi’s “rising political star” status. A 2002 Human Rights Watch report found that “the attacks against Muslims in Gujarat have been actively supported by state government officials [like Narendra Modi] and by the police.”
This narrative is important because India has the third largest Muslim population in the world, behind Indonesia and Pakistan. Since Modi’s political ascendancy has been largely based on a right-wing Hindu nationalist platform, many analysts are questioning the future of 140 million Muslims in India, relegated to second-class citizenship in their own country of birth. Modi came to power on a promise of turning around India’s economy. It’s worth remembering that though Muslims represent the largest religious minority within India (roughly 13% of India’s total population), they are also the demographic which suffers the most in terms of economic disenfranchisement and poverty.
A Gallup poll, for example, found that Indian Muslims are “more economically disadvantaged and dissatisfied than Indians of other religious groups” in their standard of living. Furthermore, Muslims in India are more likely than the rest of the population to live below the poverty line—1% compared with 26%—according to the National Council of Applied Economic Research in India. Muslims in India are more likely to live in villages without schools or medical facilities and less likely to qualify for bank loans simply because of their Islamic faith.
There is such widespread blatant discrimination against Muslims in India, “so rampant that many barely muster outrage when telling of the withdrawn apartment offers, rejected job applications and turned-down loans that are part of living in the country” as a Muslim, according to a recent piece in the New York Times.
They do have something in common with Modi, though. “The new generation wants a better India that isn’t bogged down in religious strife,” says Junaid Memon, a Muslim Bollywood director trying to promote religious harmony through his work and social media. “We shouldn’t be an India that ghettoizes all Muslims to apartments near a mosque. This is a real test for modern India.”
And yet the situation is unlikely to get better under a prime minister Modi.
“Relations between the communities are not normal,” Rajiv Shah, former political editor in Gujarat for the Times of India, told the Los Angeles Times recently. “There is no interaction between Hindus and Muslims except at very high income levels”—where money trumps religion.
So for the next few years, the country of India will have an enigmatic right-wing ultra-nationalist firebrand named Narendra Modi who will serve as the prime minister of the largest democracy in the world.
But if his statements and personal history are any guide, Modi appears an unapologetic Hindu nationalist. He has been referred to as “India’s Vladimir Putin” by Dalrymple.
To salvage his reputation—and his legacies, past and future— Narendra Modi’s entire political legacy could very well rest on his treatment of 140 million Muslims who are living as second-class citizens in India today. Will he improve the economic and societal well-being of all of his citizens? Or will he turn a blind eye to their suffering once again?
History gives me little hope.
(Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of TheMuslimGuy.com, and adjunct professor of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago. )
Sorry, this is just “illusion” Khushfehmi.
Stop lying..muslims are close to 250 million…even muslim poster boy Owasi claims this…
So what will you do about it?
All i do in the circle i thrive is raise awareness.
Okk Mr IC, as you say lets not lie, lets consider there are 250 millon muslims,or even more, in that case if muslims demands the same percentage of representation in govt jobs, politics etc then i presume you’ll stick with your figures ? eh ? or do you see your figures tumbling and taking a sudden dip ?
Stop reading khakhi manuals.
Representation is ploy of weak in people and those who are not sure of their own capabilities…In a nation all ciitizens should be equal and only the best should get even if the best come from a small section of society.
Yes muslims are underrepresented in govt jobs, but it is the muslims who are to be blamed…Yes muslims are poor, but the blame lies with them for having large families which eventually makes them poor.
A truth is a truth regardless of where it is mentioned and where it is not.
People should not smoke/drink heavily is not a noble thing because it is mentioned in Hadiths…it is noble thing regardless…I hope you get the point.
Couldn’t agree with you more – “In a nation all citizens should be equal and only the best should get even if the best come from a small section of society” – But do you see that happening ? People hold so much prejudice against muslims, that getting admission in school, colleges or getting jobs have become so difficult for them. Try to get an accommodation or buy a property with muslim name in metros and you will get to know the reality. Brother remove the discrimination that muslims face everyday in society and we’ll not ask for anything.
Well, for second point you have got the cause and effect mixed up. Since, majority of muslims are in lowest of socio-economic status, you generally see bigger family. Poor people across all the communities, on average have larger families.
You must understand the concept of society….There is something called state bias and there is something called personal bias…Personal Bias(even if it is good/bad) must allows find space in the name of personal freedom…but a state bias is absolute no in a decent democracy. This if there were laws that prevented you to but accomodation or that a govt action which prevented you to buy accomodation, it is absolutely objectionable…but if some people (group of people/society) has a bias against you buying accommodation, then you should not be complaining buit instead should be looking forward on how to get to know the reason of bias and remove any issues that lead to that bios by taking suitable steps…
Similarly if Govt colleges/jobs are discriminating against you, I think you have every right to approach, and i am sure Indian constitution and people like me would be more that willing to stand by you. But if you are cribbing about some personal/private bias(even if it is misplaced), we have to do something outside of state enforcement to reduce that bias..even if that means a little compromise on your part.
The funny thing is muslims always blame others for their backwardness , but the truth is they are themselves to be blamed.
The first thing muslims should do is shun Madrasa education and send kids to any ICSE syllabus school or CBSE syllabus(English medium)schools.
No the first thing muslims have to do is to stop producing kids in such large numbers…and consequently everything else will fall in place.
it is worth comparing India to Pakistan. At the time of partition Hindus & Sikh constitute 30% population Today one has to send a search party to find a Hindu or Sikh.
It has become fashionable for so called Indian intellectuals to selectively condemn Hindus, while ignoring Muslim actions. They believed that they can get away with it, thinking of Hindus as Gypsies, quote from one famous Palestinian ” now a days you can get away by abusing only gypsies, nobody else.”