By:Manahil Jaffer

India's political environment has evolved radically under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, particularly in terms of the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities. The rise of Hindu nationalism, driven by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological tutor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has sparked what many see as ethnic cleansing against India's Muslim majority and other oppressed communities.

Historical Context and Rise of Hindu Nationalism

Hindu nationalism may be traced back to the early twentieth century, when the RSS was formed, which envisions India as a Hindu nation, or "Hindutva" and desires to make India an overtly Hindu naion state This worldview promotes Hindu supremacy, regarding Muslims and Christians as foreign entities who threaten the Hindu way of life. Under Modi, these concepts have gained remarkable traction in mainstream Indian politics.

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC): A Tool for Exclusion

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) have been criticized for marginalizing Muslims. The CAA, passed in December 2019, grants fast-track citizenship to religious minorities from surrounding countries, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, but explicitly bars Muslims.

This Act, combined with the NRC, has the potential to exclude Muslims from Indian citizenship. In Assam, where the NRC was first implemented, 1.9 million persons were removed from the citizenship registry which disproportionately affected Bengali Muslims.

Rising Mob Violence and Lynching Cases

Under Modi's leadership, episodes of mob violence against Muslims have dominantly increased. Human Rights Watch (HRW) figures show that between 2015 and 2018, 44 individuals were killed in 100 incidences of cow-related violence, with Muslims constituting the majority of the victims. HRW's report chastised the government for failing to handle such violence with BJP politicians frequently seen praising the attackers.

One of the most prominent incidents came in Jharkhand, when Tabrez Ansari, a 24-year-old Muslim man, was killed by a mob on theft charges and was forced to sing Hindu slogans. Although Ansari's death sparked significant indignation, the Modi government's response was subdued. Similarly, a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) found that hate crimes, such as mob lynchings of Muslims accused of cow slaughter, have increased dramatically under Modi's administration.

2023 Manipur Violence: Ethnic and Religious Cleansing?

In one of the most devastating incidents of 2023, Manipur saw violent clashes between the majority Hindu Meitei community and the minority Christian Kuki community. Although this conflict primarily involved ethnic issues, Muslims in the region were also targeted. Reports from The Hindu and Al Jazeera documented how Muslim families were forced to flee their homes as Hindu extremists used the conflict as a pretext to attack minority groups. This violence displaced over 50,000 people and left 200 dead, with Muslims disproportionately affected in certain districts.

A report by the National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO) in August 2023 called the Manipur violence a clear example of "ethnic cleansing with religious overtones" aimed at eliminating minority groups, including Muslims, from specific regions of the state.

The Hijab Ban: Institutionalizing Religious Discrimination

In early 2024, the controversial hijab ban in Karnataka, initially enforced in 2022, spread to more states under pressure from right-wing Hindu groups. By January 2024, states like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand had enacted similar bans on educational institutions. According to a report by The Print in February 2024, this expansion of the hijab ban directly affected over 50,000 Muslim female students, many of whom dropped out of school or were denied access to education.

The National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) expressed concern that such bans violated constitutional rights to religious freedom and education, yet state governments continue to support these policies, framing them as efforts to "maintain uniformity."

Kashmir: Demographic Engineering and Human Rights Violations

In August 2019, the Modi government removed Jammu and Kashmir's special autonomous status by repealing Article 370, a move that many critics claim is part of a larger campaign to dilute the region's Muslim majority demographics. The revocation resulted in the most sweeping lockdown in modern history, with 8 million Kashmiris kept under curfew and their communication with the outside world cut off for months.
According to a 2020 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Indian government's actions in Kashmir included arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force, and torture. The report detailed how the military presence in Kashmir had intensified, with reports of over 7,000 people detained without charges under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a draconian law that allows detention without trial. These actions have led to accusations of demographic engineering, as the Indian government has been accused of encouraging the settlement of non-Muslims in Kashmir to alter the region's Muslim-majority status.

The Delhi Riots of 2020

The Delhi riots of February 2020 are a clear example of state collaboration in communal violence. According to India's Ministry of Home Affairs, the riots were triggered by protests against the CAA and killed 53 persons, 40 of whom were Muslims. Muslim neighborhoods were methodically targeted, with homes, businesses, and mosques set on fire.

Reports from International Organizations

Several international organizations have consistently highlighted the increasing persecution of Muslims and other minorities under Modi’s rule. Freedom House 2024 report downgraded India from "Free" to "Partly Free,” citing the erosion of civil liberties, particularly for minorities. The report noted that under the BJP, India's democratic institutions had weakened, with media, judiciary, and law enforcement being increasingly complicit in enabling violence against minorities.

The USCIRF's 2022 report recommended designating India as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC), i.e., the category of governments performing most poorly on religious freedom criteria.

The Role of Media and Propaganda in Dehumanizing Muslims

Indian media, particularly those channels aligned with the BJP, has played a key role in promoting anti-Muslim sentiment. The 2020 report by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) found that 82% of mainstream Indian news coverage of Muslims between 2017 and 2020 was negative, with Muslims often portrayed as criminals or terrorists. Channels like Republic TV and Zee News have been accused of furthering the narrative of "Muslim invaders" and “anti-nationals,” feeding into the BJP’s agenda of communal polarization. In 2020, a viral conspiracy theory known as "Corona Jihad" accused Muslims of intentionally spreading COVID-19.

Conclusion

The international community must hold India accountable for its human rights abuses, and there needs to be a greater domestic effort to uphold the secular values enshrined in the Indian constitution. Without such measures, India risks not only the erosion of its democratic fabric but also long-term instability stemming from deepening ethnic and religious divisions.

*Opinions expressed in this article are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of The South Asia Times