Amnesty International has joined the long, long list of those whose beating hearts refuse to side with India’s relentless bigotry. Two days earlier, the country’s top judiciary had also slammed the government in Uttar Pradesh for the “deteriorating law and order situation,” in a letter sent to the chief justice. While authorities enjoying the hot seat in New Delhi are in no mood to be inconvenienced by the continuous subjugation of their own men and women, the international community is finding it hard to stomach yet another making of a Holocaust. That India was headed to a state-sanctioned genocide had become clear the moment its leaders gave up on the secular principles; stoking the apprehensions of an already fearful group. Despite their overwhelming two-hundred-million-strong community (the third-largest in the world), Muslims in India have repeatedly been forced to show their loyalty to the tri-coloured flag. The last two decades in particular have been harrowing beyond what anyone could expect. What had begun as anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat in 2002 became an everyday reality for millions upon millions when the red carpet was unrolled for the chief architect in 2014. Since then, even living in a secluded periphery has not been sufficient for the Hindu nationalist now wish to unleash the true power of their deities upon the hapless citizenry. Love Jehad, Cow Protection, provocative rallies, Babri Masjid verdict, Sulli Deals, Hejab Ban–the exhaustive list drags on and on. The message is hard to ignore: gone are the days of Hindu-Muslim Bhai-Bhai. Those who had enthusiastically hopped aboard the Nehru caravan better get used to the new status quo because a semi-citizen status is the only available deal on the table. One step out of the line could send out the signal to fearsome bulldozers ever ready to crush their houses, their rights and even their lives. The vile discourse surrounding the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the BJP’s clear attempts to divert the storm were all signs of a state that refuses to pay any regard to something that forms the crux of faith practised by an exceedingly large group. However, more distressing has been the air reeking with collective punishment as government forces and their whims (not any due process) decide who gets to taste the wrath of bulldozers, batons and bullets. The lines between Israeli atrocities and New Delhi’s Islamophobic tendencies keep getting blurred by the day. *