Hindu supremacist leaders laud attacks on Muslim worshippers, call for genocide
Days after an armed mob of Hindu extremists attacked and injured Muslims offering prayers inside a mosque in a village in Haryana’s Gurgaon district, Hindu supremacist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) leader Surendra Jain congratulated the violent mob, saying they “taught the Muslims a lesson.”
Spewing hate speech at an event attended by over 100 people, including women and children, Jain further threatened Muslim religious figures in the region with violence.
“We will not spare you. Pack your belongings and leave,” he said.
He also went on to praise Hindu extremists who have been lynching Muslims under false allegations of cow slaughter. “Cow slaughter is rampant, but police do not take action. They only give punishments, but our men- they enter their [Muslims] houses and kill them.”
Another leader of the militant group, Devender Singh, called for taking up arms against Muslims.
“We can use weapons to protect our motherland and our religion,” he said.
This call for violence against Muslims comes months after Hindu extremist groups in Haryana called for an economic boycott of Muslim shopkeepers and vendors.
Similar hate speeches have been made by government officials from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Recently, in another event organized by the VHP in Delhi, a lawmaker from the Hindu supremacist BJP called for a genocide of Muslims, and BJP parliamentarian Parvesh Verma called for a “total boycott” of Muslims.
50-year-old Muslim man beaten to death by Hindu mob in Uttar Pradesh
Amid the ongoing attacks on the Muslim community, a Hindu extremist mob brutally beat and lynched Dawood Ali Tyagi, a 50-year-old Muslim in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district. The incident took place last month but was not reported by the media until Sunday.
According to eyewitness accounts, around 20 armed men charged at Tyagi with sticks and sharp objects late at night, inflicting fatal injuries upon him while firing in the air and chanting “Jai Shri Ram” (Victory to Lord Ram), a religious slogan co-opted by Hindu extremists as a war cry.
Four arrests have been made in the case so far.
“The names (of the culprits) which have been put forward by people (witnesses) have links with members of BJP,” Tyagi’s son Shahrukh has said.
A ground report states that a Hindu supremacist meeting took place, during which several youths were called on to participate in the attack. Social media posts aimed at inciting the attack were also shared by one of the four accused arrested.
Muslim students denied entry to examination for wearing hijab
Objectionable anti-Muslim remarks were made against Muslim students in Bihar state’s Muzaffarpur when they refused to take off the hijab before appearing for their examinations.
According to the students, one teacher, Shashi Bhushan, called them “anti-national” and told them to “go to Pakistan.” Similar hateful comments have been used by BJP leaders and Hindu supremacist leaders to incite attacks against Muslims.
A viral video of the incident shows a group of teachers at Mahant Darshan Das Mahila (MDDM) College not allowing the students to sit for the exam.
The students alleged that the teacher did not respect their right to wear religious attire and insisted that they remove the hijab before appearing for the examination, despite the fact that the students allowed a female guard to search them for any objectionable material beforehand.
Earlier his year, around 17,000 Muslim students were forced to skip their exams following the Karnataka state High Court’s unconstitutional ban on hijabs in schools. Following Karnataka’s hijab ban, states across India have begun attempting to enforce similar discriminatory policies against Muslim students in schools.
Oxfam India’s Reports Exposes Spike In Anti-Muslim Discrimination In India
Oxfam India’s ‘Discrimination Report 2022′ says discrimination against Muslims has spiked in the past 16 years. The discrimination faced by Muslims in 2004-05 was 59.3 percent, which has spiked to 68.3% discrimination in 2022.
The report revealed that Muslims face multidimensional challenges in accessing salaried jobs and income through self-employment as compared to non-Muslims. They are also paid a lower salary as compared to their Hindu counterparts.
The report says 15.6 percent of the urban Muslim population aged 15 and above were engaged in regular salaried jobs compared to 23.3 percent among non-Muslims.
In rural areas, the sharpest increase of 17% in unemployment was seen among Muslims during the first quarter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar, “It is found that inequality in religious categories is not just due to poor access to education or work experience, but because of social discrimination.”
Dalits in Karnataka village face complete social boycott
Dalits in Karnataka state’s Raichur district have been facing a complete social boycott from the upper-caste Hindu population ever since a Dalit youth accidentally touched the wheel of a chariot during a recent festival.
Upper-caste members are refusing to sell provisions to the Dalits, pound their food grains at the flour mill, or serve them tea or snacks in the local hotel. They have also been stopped from working in the fields. The village has around 100 Dalit families who are being impacted by this collective punishment.
On September 30, during a festival at the temple, a Dalit youth allegedly touched the wheel of the chariot. Upper-caste members have used this as an excuse to rob Dalits of their basic human rights.
Despite approaching the police, Dalits claim the social boycott against them continues
