NEW DELHI: Speaking recently at the First Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum Foreign Minister in Bahrain, Sushma Swaraj cited “India’s model of unity in diversity” as an example for the world to counter indoctrination and radicalisation. She illustrated the path followed by Buddha and Mahavira along with the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.

But the same BJP that preaches tolerance in front of the Arab nations is unable to implement it in its own country. Well in 2015, the 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi in Dadri was lynched to death on the suspicion of eating beef. In the second incident, Malleshappa Kalburgi, an award-winning scholar whose frequent criticism of what he saw as superstition and false beliefs had angered Hindu extremists, was gunned down in the southern state of Karnataka.

Nayantara Sahgal returned her Sahitya Akademi award after the horrific incident in Dadri, which prompted her to complain about the “vanishing space for diversity”, about “people being killed for not agreeing with the ruling ideology” and about the Indian environment getting “worse and worse in the past 15 months”. Along with her, more than 40 authors have handed back major honours in a stand against ‘vicious assaults’ on cultural diversity.

At the same time, Shiv Sena–one half of the ruling alliance in India’s most-industrialised state–demanded that the voting rights of Muslims be revoked. Actors like Aamir Khan and Karan Johar were attacked on their views on intolerance in India. This trend was eloquently described by Samir Saran, of the Observer Research Foundation, who said that “louder and more rabid rightwing groups” in India felt emboldened by the mandate won by Narendra Modi, leader of the BJP and believed they now had more freedom of action.

When Sushma Swaraj talks about de-linking religion with terrorism, she forgets that back in India, the growing fear regarding the Muslim population is egregiously witnessing development. Fears of a growing tide of majoritarianism and new realities for minorities, specifically Muslims are daunting for Hindus. Irfan Habib rightly stated ‘There is not much difference between Islamic State and the RSS as far as intellect goes.’

“It is true that violence and tension existed previously. However, we have to keep in mind the fact that the RSS in some way or the other has been connected to these riots in every major report of such instances. The intelligentsia is now perturbed because those people are in power,” Habib said.

Habib went on to allege that RSS is influenced by Adolf Hitler. “This is a government that is controlled by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). It is no secret that MS Golwalkar, the ideological fountainhead of the RSS, was an admirer of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. This government is now trying to realize Golwalkar's dream.”

Statements made by Habib can be understood in the radical context of how RSS and Shiv Sena are promoting communalism in India. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena openly quoted ‘In the near future, the Muslim population of India will exceed the number of Muslims in Indonesia and Pakistan, which will result in a cultural and social imbalance of the Hindu nation.’

So, while home ministry data said there were 644 communal riots last year, NCRB data said there were 1,227 clashes.

It requires a serious consideration: Are religious minorities now unsafe? Are they being systematically targeted and marginalised? Perhaps it is fitting to bring in a question that Mahatma Gandhi asked when delivering a speech on inter-religious harmony back in 1925: “If all of us are God’s creation, why should we fear one another or hate those who do not hold the same belief that we do?”

Simplistic? Maybe.
Pertinent? Absolutely.

(The writer is a PhD scholar in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The views expressed are her own).

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SHUBHDA CHAUDHARY