India’s supreme court hit the nail on the head as it dismissed suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s petition, holding her “single-handedly responsible for what is happening in the country” and saying that “she should apologise to the whole country.” While it can be said that the court ought to have asked her to apologise to Muslims around the world, considering how her derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) sparked protests across countries, it is very significant that it also added that, “Her outburst is responsible for the unfortunate incident at Udaipur,” referring to the grisly beheading of a Hindu tailor by Muslim suspects because he supported her remarks. Clearly, India now stands on the brink of communal frenzy. Its top court’s observation on this extremely important issue gives hope that not all important institutions have yet been penetrated by advocates of the extremist Hindutva ideology that is fast drenching the whole country in its stench. But that still does not do anything about the attitude of the government in Delhi, and also the attitude of much of the world towards the Modi dispensation. Muslim countries took a stand for once, forcing Modi to go personally meet with some of their leaders, but short of the odd short statement all of the west is still indifferent to the plight of minorities, especially Muslims, in the so-called world’s largest democracy. That explains why the Modi administration continues to brush all such issues so comfortably under the carpet and keep up its official indifferent silence. So far Pakistan has been the only voice urging the world to take note of Delhi’s excesses and crimes against humanity. Only now have some Muslim countries started taking note. This trend will need to accelerate and find traction in other capitals as well, especially those so in awe of India’s marketing pull that it blinds them to the suffering it is causing to millions of people. Only when that happens will things really begin to change. Till then, such incidents and statements will keep coming and all even the Indian supreme court will be able to do is make observations that make bold headlines but don’t really bother too many people in Delhi. *