India’s cow vigilantes set up roadblocks to catch Muslims and others transporting cattle. Cows are sacred in Hinduism and beef is banned or restricted in many states. © Reuters
NEW DELHI — A string of lynchings in India has stoked fear and anger among minority Muslims, just weeks after an election that saw the ruling Hindu nationalist party accused of spouting hate-filled rhetoric.
Longstanding religious tensions have soared as critics blame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for ignoring a jump in violence and hate directed at Muslims, who make up about 14% of India’s Hindu-majority 1.4 billion population.
The issue came to a head less than a week after the polls wrapped up on June 1 when a Hindu mob brutally beat three Muslim men in the central city of Raipur, killing two of them on the spot while another died later in hospital.
The victims were reportedly transporting cattle when they were chased down by so-called cow vigilantes, who claim they are protecting the animals which are considered sacred in Hinduism.
Police initially suggested the trio had “fallen or jumped off” a bridge, but they had since arrested someone implicated in the case.
“His family is devastated,” Shoaib, one of the victims’ relatives, told Nikkei Asia. “This incident has shaken us all and we feel numb now.”
Hate-tracking organizations said dozens of Muslims have been lynched or attacked by right-wing Hindu mobs in the past few years, often over suspicion of killing cows, which is restricted or banned in many Indian states.
Eating beef is not banned in Islam and animal slaughter is a key part of some religious festivals.
Many Indian Muslims eat beef while animals are slaughtered for Eid al-Adha, one of Islam’s most important festivals.While cattle-linked killings happened before Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, violence has been on the rise during its tenure, observers said.
“We are documenting hate crimes and dangerous speeches targeting Muslims on an almost daily basis,” said Raqib Hameed Naik, founder of India Hate Lab which tracks incidents directed at minorities. “Cow vigilantes are running amok, attacking Muslim drivers transporting cattle in both BJP-ruled and non-BJP-ruled states.”
Indian media have reported nearly a dozen hate-fueled incidents in the past few weeks, including the mob killing of a 35-year-old Muslim man in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. Six people have been arrested in the case, which has sent local tensions soaring.
Days earlier, authorities in Madhya Pradesh demolished 11 Muslim households where police say they found beef, which is banned in the state.
Recordings of some attacks have been shared widely online in a trend that analysts warn could aggravate violence against India’s minorities.
In neighboring Muslim-majority Pakistan, the recent mob killing of a local tourist over blasphemy allegations provoked a strong reaction among Indian social media users. But there is relatively little discussion among them about the problem of lynchings at home, critics said.
“We didn’t see any tweets, statement or any reaction from politicians, civil society or even ministers of those states where such lynching incidents happened,” said Apoorvanand Jha, a University of Delhi professor and political analyst. “It simply means it doesn’t shock us anymore and it has been taken as a norm.”
Some put the blame for the recent violence on Modi who used derogatory terms for Muslims on his campaign trail, including calling them “infiltrators” and “people who breed more,” in reference to the group’s relatively higher birth rate.
He has also invoked Love Jihad, a debunked conspiracy theory that Muslim men are luring Hindu women into marrying them so they can be converted to Islam. The BJP has long denied claims that it oppresses minorities.
“It is extremely concerning that there were a number of speeches during the Indian election campaign that could incite violence against minorities, particularly Muslims,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy director of the Asia division at Human Right Watch.
“It is crucial that such attacks are properly prosecuted, that political leaders publicly condemn hate crimes, and that the authorities stop acting in a partisan manner by failing to arrest government supporters that engage in violence, while arresting Muslims or destroying their properties,” Ganguly said.
India Hate Lab documented 668 hate-speech incidents targeting Muslims last year, with 75% of them happening in BJP-ruled areas.
The BJP lost its outright majority after this month’s polls, a surprise result that forced it to form a coalition government, and gave some observers hope for more accountability with a reinvigorated opposition. But those who track hate have little faith that change is coming.
“It doesn’t matter that Modi has lost the majority. His decade-long rule has made the Hindu far-right organizational infrastructure extremely powerful,” said IHL’s Naik. “These elections don’t change the ground reality for minorities, as discrimination and persecution continue to persist, in some cases with even more intensity.”
source : asia.nikkei