Muslim man detained for eloping with Hindu woman, father’s shop set on fire

A 19-year-old Muslim man, Irshad Khan, was detained by police in Madhya Pradesh state after he and a Hindu woman attempted to elope. Under pressure from Hindu militant groups, police booked Khan and four of his family members along with a minor under the state’s stringent anti-conversion laws. Hindu extremists also set Khan’s father’s shop on fire.

Far-right BJP ministers deliver anti-Muslim hate speech in Telangana election rallies

BJP leader T. Raja Singh delivered anti-Muslim hate speeches at an election rally in poll-bound Telangana state, promising voters that he “won’t let people wearing… skull caps (Muslims) roam around in my constituency.” At another rally, Singh declared that he didn’t need Muslims to vote for him. 

Other senior BJP leaders have also given anti-Muslim hate speeches in the runup to elections, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma.

Modi government schemes resulted in systematic exclusion of marginalized communities: Report

A campaign of over 3000 civil society organizations released a report reviewing the governance of Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government from 2019- 2023, concluding that the government’s policies “resulted in systematic exclusion of marginalized communities.”

“The consistent social exclusion of Indian Muslims causes constant economic backwardness… and questions the lack of any government policies directed to bring them out of this morass. Compounding this impact is the diminished sense of safety and security in the community, as evidenced by 204 incidents of cow vigilantism since 2014 and 539 incidents of violence against Christians in just nine months of 2023,” the report stated.