A series of laws and policies targeting Muslims have come after 2014. These include laws criminalising beef and cattle transport, criminalising interfaith marriage and Muslim divorce, tightening of laws where they can rent and buy property in Gujarat, of course there is the constant harassment and brutalisation in Kashmir (the only part of India not to have democratic government), the violence against them and their places of worship in Delhi, the stream of stories of harassment and violence against their vendors, their being forced out of prayer spaces specifically allotted to them by the state, their being wrongly blamed for spreading Covid.The list goes on and on and on. What is happening to Muslims in Karnataka’s colleges is a continuation of a persecution that either the majority of Hindus approve or are comfortable with.If we can conclude that the government has either not succeeded or failed on the side of managing the economy, we can also conclude that it has been successful in this part of its agenda.What is the goal of the harassment? There is no goal and the harassment is an end in itself. For this reason, it will continue and one day it will be hijab, the next day beef, the third day namaz, the fourth day it will be renaming something. It will go on.India’s media is an accomplice of the State here. As Ravish Kumar has said, it has shown little interest in what has been done to the economy. If it has shown interest in the second aspect, it has been only to goad society on to harass minority Indians.For this reason, it is important that what actually matters to this nation be written about and it be read.(The author is Chair of Amnesty International India. Views are personal)
Source link
