The widespread detention and dismantling of property targeting Muslims in India has sparked concerns that right-wing Hindu nationalists are exploiting last week’s terrorist attacks in Kashmir, deepening their campaign of oppression against the country’s largest minority groups.
In the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, a Muslim majority region, 26 people killed by extremists near the town of Pahargam (all except one of them were Hindu tourists) have swelled. India says Pakistan has a hand in favour of the attack. This is a charge that Pakistan denies.
India appears to be preparing to militarily attack Pakistan in response to terrorist attacks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to hunt down terrorists and “attack” safe shelters. The Pakistani government pastor said on Tuesday that Pakistan believes India’s strike is imminent.
So far, India’s central government has focused on implementing a series of punitive measures against Pakistan, including threats to block the flow of rivers across its borders. However, staff and right-wing Hindu groups have intensified Muslim harassment, which has been framed as a drive to illegal immigrants.
In some states run by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, local officials used what was called “illegal Bangladesh” and moments called the Rohingya, a Muslim minority who fled Myanmar. Such labels, including “Pakistan,” are often used to target Muslim immigrants from other parts of India.
Muslim murders have been reported in two states, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, and media reports suggest that they are a hate crime.
Within Kashmir, security forces arrested hundreds of people seeking the assailants of the April 22 attack, and they blasted the homes of people accused of having terrorist affiliations. The sweep, which includes detention of 2,000 people, resembles the collective punishment authorities have previously made after an attack on Kashmir security forces.
Kashmiris in other states have reported harassment and violence, with right-wing groups attacking Kashmir roadside salesmen and threatening violence that threatens the violence if Kashmiris does not leave.
“The attacks in Pahargam have been horrifying, but should not be an excuse to engage in retaliation or attacks against minorities, including arbitrary arrests and summaries punishment,” said Meenakshi Gangry, associate Asian director of Human Rights Watch.
Ganguly said “users on supranational broadcasting networks and social media are incited to hate.”
The immediate repulsion after the terrorist attack targeted Kasimiris and quickly spread to wider anti-Muslim sentiment. Analysts said Modi’s party promoted the Muslim demons that have long been employed to unite the Hindu majority in India.
A few days after the attack, Kashmiri students studying in cities around India reported harassment and threats. The official Kashmir elected official Omar Abdullah sent government ministers to various cities to ensure the “safety and happiness” of Kashmiris.
In Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim restaurant worker was shot dead on April 23rd, and another person was injured. The attackers have released a video declaring members of a Hindu group and claiming responsibility, saying, “I swear to Mother India to revenge 26 with 2,600 people.” (However, state police said the killings were related to a food dispute.)
In Karnataka, local news reports say another Muslim man was lynched after chanting a pro-Pakistani slogan.
The most drastic action takes place in Gujarat.
On Monday, the provincial police chief said his officers had arrested 6,500 “surviving Bangladeshi citizens.” Videos from the detention drive showed a man moving down the street within the cordon of the rope.
To show how indiscriminate the arrest is, the police chief said only 450 of the detainees who have been found to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to date.
The Gujarat government also announced a demolition drive in a Muslim slum near the lake, showing drone footage of bulldozers and dump trucks lined up for an operation that said more than 2,000 police officers would be involved. By Tuesday evening, the state’s home minister Harsh Sanghavi said about 2,000 huts had been destroyed on the drive to “illegal Bangladesh”.
The harsh social activist Mander said that portraying Indian Muslims as “Bangladesh” was an old trope used by Modi’s party.
Court petitions by residents seeking a suspension on Tuesday were denied as the government held national security debate.
The petitioner claimed that they were Indian citizens and had documents and had lived in the area for decades. They acknowledged that the demolition took place in an area where the government claimed it was public land, but said it happened without prior notice or legitimate proceedings.
Petitioners in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat, said the detained people were exposed to “violence, cruelty and humiliation” despite police quickly realising that “more than 90% of those detained” were Indian citizens.
Actions against Muslims are “a sign of what the state is doing to use power and authority in an illegal and unconstitutional way against certain communities,” Mander said.
Suhasini Raj, Showkat Nanda and Pragati KB contributed the report.
