India Is a Secular Nation, So Why Aren’t Muslims Being Protected? – By Saad Hafiz

The friction between Hindus and Muslims is a permanent feature of Indian life, and periodic bouts of bloody rioting are common. But since the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP party, violence against Muslims has increased. Most recently, it surfaced during President Donald Trump’s visit to India.

In what appears to be a pattern of targeting Muslims, the government has imposed siege-like conditions on the Muslim residents of Indian Kashmir. It has also passed a new citizenship law that could open the door to legal discrimination against Muslims. At the same time, law enforcement agencies have looked the other way on bloody violence directed against Muslims.

There’s little doubt that Modi’s rule has emboldened the proponents of Hindutva, who believe that India should be a Hindu nation. It is a big challenge for Indian Muslims to deal with powerful sections of the Hindu majority, bent on mixing religion with politics and entrenching communalism. Today, many Hindu nationalists seem to see it as their life’s mission to deprive Indian Muslims of equal rights or even expel them. They would also like to introduce Hindu religious writing into Indian law.

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