Muslims are under onslaught of hate and vilification. Can there be any hope of justice in the coming elections?
Representational image. (iStock)
Several key questions about our secular democracy arise as India elects its 18th Lok Sabha in general elections shortly.
The Constitution speaks of justice and equality for all citizens, but we have witnessed an unprecedented trend of majoritarianism in the last few years. Religious polarization and hate threaten the fabric of our multi-cultural, multi-faith society.
It is as though Indians are merely Hindus or Muslims, or Sikhs and not fellow humans or citizens. The politics of religion dominate public discourse and reduce us to our religious identities above all other attributes.
We are perpetually kept at loggerheads with one another. In New India, citizens belonging to minority faiths are expected to pay the price for purported wrongs of history.
It seems a temple exists under every mosque. Divisive rhetoric, open threats, and violence against minority communities, particularly Muslims, have become a marked feature of our polity.
Narendra Modi gave a slogan, “sabka saath, sabka vikas”, on becoming Prime Minister in 2014. The following years saw mob lynchings in the name of gau raksha and harassment of inter-faith couples under the bogey of love jehad.
This happened in full public view with little or no action by police and other authorities. Various functionaries affiliated with the ruling party were seen justifying the violence, and some even asked Muslims to go to Pakistan.
Modi was once again elected Prime Minister with a thumping majority in 2019. This time, he called for attaining “sabka vishwas“, yet social division is frighteningly deeper. Muslims and, to some extent, Christians have been at the receiving end of Hindutva politics. Their exclusion is legalised by steps such as CAA-NRC and several anti-conversion laws.
Muslims, the largest minority, comprise nearly 15 percent of our population as per the census of 2011. Their political representation is at an all-time low, with just 27 MPs. The BJP does not put up Muslim candidates as a rule, and Congress and other so-called secular parties are increasingly seen to be weary of fielding Muslims.
The community itself appears incapable of meaningful participation in democracy. Its leaders are conservative, steeped in patriarchal orthodoxy and incapable of standing up to the present challenge democratically.
No leader has cared to build a critical consciousness in the community to enable democratic participation. Ever since 1947, Muslims have been living in poverty and socio-economic backwardness. They don’t have much education; only one in four is a graduate, as informed by the Sachar Committee.
They are communally discriminated against and live with poor civic amenities in ghettoes across cities and towns. Today, they face a tremendous onslaught of hate and near-total political exclusion.
Divisive political rhetoric is telecast every night into our homes by TV channels that have come to be known as godi media. Fake news and lies showing Muslims in bad light have become routine.
Corona jehad, love jehad, land jehad, IAS jehad are some examples of how hate is served to ordinary Indians in a systematic manner and violation of all laws as well as norms of decency.
Muslims are under an onslaught of hate and vilification. Their food habits, azan, namaz, and hijab, are being criminalized in violation of constitutional norms. Bulldozers are freely deployed to raze their homes, madrasas or places of worship. Indian Muslims are de facto second class in an emerging Hindu Rashtra. Can there be any hope of justice in the coming elections?
Upholding democratic order, peace and harmony in society is an obligation of the government and opposition political parties. Civil society is not effective in making governments accountable in the face of hate speech and hate crimes.
Opposition parties are unable to check a government that enjoys a brute majority. The CM of Congress-ruled Karnataka spoke of reversing the hijab ban in schools at a public gathering but reneged on his promise. Muslim girls in hijab continue to stay out of school despite the ouster of the BJP government in that state.
Although hijab is not mandatory in Islam, a girl has a right to choose her clothing. She can certainly not be denied her fundamental right to education because of her hijab. The Muslim orthodoxy needs to reflect on this costly imposition on girls, failing which the number of uneducated persons in the community will rise.
Muslim leadership should vociferously demand equal rights as granted by the Constitution and, at the same time, make efforts to fight conservatism and orthodox practices within the community.
The BJP will bring a Uniform Civil Code [UCC] throughout the country instead of religion-based personal laws. Per se, UCC is about gender justice, although BJP is intent on deploying it politically. It is positioning it antagonistically, and this makes the Muslims feel targeted.
Muslims should have themselves reformed and codified Muslim family laws just like Hindus and Christians. The UCC is viewed as a direct onslaught on Muslim identity, but that needs to change.
The CAA is fine insofar as it offers asylum to persecuted minorities in our neighbourhood across South Asia. However, to expressly exclude one community goes against the spirit of the Constitution, which treats all religions as equal.
Thousands of Indians are held in detention centres in Assam under a questionable NRC. The Muslims and all democratic-minded Indians must oppose such divisive policies.
We witnessed the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya recently at the site of the demolished Babri masjid. The Prime Minister played the chief priest, and the consecration was practically a state program.
In hindsight, opposing the Ram Janmabhoomi claim in Ayodhya was wrong. Lord Ram is the most revered deity whose birthplace is believed to be Ayodhya by crores of devotees.
The Quran talks about prophets arriving in different locations and at all times. Ram is considered Imam-e-Hind. Similarly, the claims on Kashi and Mathura masjids should not be disputed by Muslims.
However, the government, too, needs to assure the nation that there would be no more claims on other mosques. The government must abide by the 1991 law on maintaining the status quo of all religious places as of 15 August 1947.
Intrinsically, democracy is a system of checks and balances. Time will tell whether the outcome of the 2024 general election will restore the balance of peace and harmony in our society. Indian Muslims have a lot to contribute to the progress of the nation.
The government must adhere to the constitutional principle of all citizens being equal. Is it asking for too much?
(The writer is a Co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and a women’s rights activist. Views are personal.)
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