Daily Times

Claiming to be the world’s largest democracy, India is fast becoming the most vulnerable country for minorities, especially Muslims. The Muslims are in continuous danger in India ever since Narendra Modi took over the reins. The minorities are being lynched. Their homes are put on fire while they are being labelled as traitors under the sedition charges. In today’s India, Bollywood stars hailing from the Muslim community aren’t safe anymore. The hatred has crossed all the limits as Muslim players in the Indian cricket team are facing the worst bigotry by the goons of RSS and BJP. The Hindutva ideology of the “Butcher of Gujarat” is bringing continuous shame for the whole of India.

The goons of RSS and BJP, who firmly believe in the Hindutva ideology, have completely destroyed the spirit of sports. They were seen victimising the Muslims and Kashmiri people in the aftermath of a cricket match between Pakistan and India played in Dubai. Pakistan made history after recording an emphatic victory against India in the T20 world cup and the goons of RSS started bashing the Muslims and Kashmiris living there. They blamed Muhammad Shami-the only Muslim player in the Indian cricket team- for the defeat while also labelling him a ‘traitor’. He was criticised to the extent for the defeat that the hashtag “traitor” trended on Twitter in India.

The life and family of Muhammad Shami are still in danger at the hands of RSS bigots belonging to the Hindutva ideology. A malicious campaign was launched against Shami while declaring him the main “culprit” of the defeat by the Pakistani cricket team. He faced this hatred just because of one single reason: his religion. Muhammad Shami was frightened to the extent that a large number of Indian actors and cricketers came to support him on social media to rescue him.

The goons of RSS and BJP, who firmly believe in the Hindutva ideology, have completely destroyed the spirit of sports.

The story doesn’t end here. The goons of Hindutva severely assaulted many Kashmiri students studying in different universities of India just after the cricket match. In the Sangrur district of Indian Punjab, extremists entered the hostels of a university and attacked the Kashmiri students right after the match. The students were assaulted while their hostel rooms were vandalised by the violent mob. “You are Pakistanis,” the goons called the students before thrashing them badly. They were so frightened that most students locked themselves in their rooms and they were rescued by some Sikh students staying there. It is highly condemnable that the Indian media downplayed this shameful incident and termed it “a clash between two student groups.”

The shame that Modi is bringing to India doesn’t end here as hundreds of students in the Srinagar area of Occupied Kashmir are booked by the police for celebrating the victory of Pakistan. The residents of Kashmir, who are facing the Indian atrocities for decades, came on the roads celebrating the victory of Pakistan in Srinagar. They also chanted slogans in favour of the Pakistani cricket team. It also depicts the suffocating environment that Indian forces have created for the Kashmiri people.

The investigations were initiated under the Unlawful Prevention Activities Act (UAPA) after the celebrations of Pakistan’s triumph in Kashmir. It is the black and vaguely-worded legislation that has been used against thousands of Kashmiri residents who oppose the illegal acts of Indian forces in the valley. The Indian forces level charges of sedition against the dissenting voices. Most of the students who celebrate the victory of Pakistan are expelled from the universities. A school teacher was dismissed from the service in Rajasthan because she posted just a celebratory post on social media. No one is bound to support any specific team in the sports as it is the right of everyone to support his favourite team.

The hatred towards Muslims isn’t just limited to sports as Bollywood Muslim actors are also facing discrimination in India. Although the Indian film industry produced many Muslim stars, they cannot enjoy the same treatment given to the actors hailing from the Hindu dominated community. It is also evident that Muslim stars find it really hard to buy a property in Bombay despite living there for years.

There was a time when India had a Sikh as its Prime Minister and a Muslim as a President but the Indian society is rapidly becoming intolerable ever since Modi came into power. He has damaged a vibrant civil society and changed it into the goons of RSS that is his core political base. He has changed Kashmir into the world’s largest prison while inviting the wrath of the international community. His hatred towards Muslims has crossed all the limits as he is destroying the basic social fabric of India where different religious and ethnic communities have been living for decades. Since revoking the special status of Occupied Kashmir in August 2019, there is severe discontentment among the Kashmiri people against Modi. He is trying to change the demography of Kashmir through illegal settlements of Hindus in the valley that is in clear violation of the resolutions of the United Nations.

After seven decades of the partition of the sub-continent, Modi is proving Jinnah right, who used to say that Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations and they cannot live together. In Modi’s India, the two-nation theory by Muhammad Ali Jinnah proves to be right.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.