Demolition of Muslim Homes: India Moves A Step Further Into Genocide

While talking to an independent journalist Hrishi Raj Anand, the locals said that saffron flags were installed on top of Hindu shops a few days prior. While they thought it was for the upcoming festival, now they believe it was a cue to distinguish them from the Muslim shops for the mob not to attack.

Aali Riza

15th May 2022

While talking to an independent journalist Hrishi Raj Anand, the locals said that saffron flags were installed on top of Hindu shops a few days prior. While they thought it was for the upcoming festival, now they believe it was a cue to distinguish them from the Muslim shops for the mob not to attack.

Since it acceded to power in 2014, the Modi-led extremist Hindu BJP government has perpetuated a systematic and dangerous level of anti-Muslim hate.

It all started with self-styled cow vigilantes parading Indian streets and mob lynching Muslims on the mere suspicion of carrying beef. And with every other election and reelection of the BJP to power throughout the eight years, they grew bolder and bolder, and the hate has reached a boiling point.

According to most experts, India is in one of the later stages in preparation for an anti-Muslim genocide.

Although the intentions of the Extremist Hindutva-inspired BJP and RSS were evident to many since the beginning, they have ensured their doses of anti-Muslim hate are gradual and come timely before the next critical election.

Today, they have successfully managed to imbue a massive number of Hindu masses and created for themselves a large army of online and offline perpetrators of crimes against Muslims.

Hate against Muslims is the new norm. The level is such that Muslims get arrested for bizarre things such as posting Pakistani songs, hijab-wearing students aren’t allowed in schools in Karnataka, and laws passed against religious conversion and Interfaith marriages.

As Muslim men are accused of carrying out love jihad, Muslim women are sexualised and objectified online. And with their control over most mainstream Indian media and the significant presence of supporters on social media, every narrative is twisted to further fit the anti-Muslim hate agenda.

We can safely say that today, the Indian government and its supporters are at war with the Muslim minority of the country.

The anti Muslim violence in India is only growing. The majority is silently enabling it. This process of disempowerment and dispossession was practiced in Kashmir and now it is perfected across India. Earlier it was a state project now it has become a majority movement.

— Kabir. (@kabir_writes) April 12, 2022

The latest series of these events come from at least eight states of the country, where anti-Muslim riots accompanied the Hindu celebrations for the festival of Ramanavami. Through reports from various interviews and ground visits conducted by independent journalists, we can break through the false narrative built by the Indian government and parroted by Hindutva-funded media houses.

Immediately after the incident, the Hindutva agenda blamed Muslims, accusing them of pelting stones at Hindu processions, resulting in spontaneous communal violence.

In the BJP ruled state of Madhya Pradesh, the government moved one step further and demolished properties belonging to Muslims who they claimed to be responsible for the violence.

Similarly, after riots in the JahangirPuri area of the national capital Delhi, another wave of demolition of Muslim-owned properties was started, this time under the pretext of illegal construction, until the country’s supreme court passed an order to stop them, given the mediocrity of the lie.

Same road. Same area. Same Corporation. Same encroachment so to say. However, different treatment. Why? pic.twitter.com/mk3VD7Zp7t

— Kawalpreet Kaur (@kawalpreetdu) April 20, 2022

In analysing the truth about these, we start in Khargone, in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh, where one of the shops razed by the administration belonged to Qassim Sheikh.

In an interview with Journalist Aasif Mujtaba, he said that the government accused them of pelting stones at the procession. For the record, both of Qassim’s arms were amputated in 2005.

There are a total of about 8 Muslim establishments that were razed. The administration accused them of pelting the stone, though the procession didn't pass from their locality at the first place.#KhargoneViolence pic.twitter.com/mLlr954hrH

— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) April 18, 2022

In the Karauli area of Rajasthan, where similar violence occurred, Muslim locals talked about preplanned violence. The destruction also hinted toward the same.

In the aftermath of the incident, Muslim-owned shops were wholly burnt while the Hindu shops next to them were untouched.

While talking to an independent journalist Hrishi Raj Anand, the locals said that saffron flags were installed on top of Hindu shops a few days prior. While they thought it was for the upcoming festival, now they believe it was a cue to distinguish them from the Muslim shops for the mob not to attack.

Although the BJP does not rule Rajasthan, the locals talked about how no authorities, including the police, could give them protection or compensation and act as bystanders to crimes against them. This, in turn, indicates the growing power extremist Hindutva organisations now exert at every level of the Indian polity.

All the signs point toward these incidents being a preplanned conspiracy and another chapter of Muslim harassment in India, and it followed a similar pattern to the previous incidents.

Inflammatory speeches by BJP and Hindutva leaders preceded the round of violence. This was followed by a specific provocation of Muslims by intentionally passing the processions close to mosques and playing anti-Muslim songs on loudspeakers. Videos of mobs trying to hoist Saffron-coloured flags on the minarets of Mosques have filled the social media.

This is from Khargone, MP.

RW Hindu extremist Kapil Mishra delivered provocative speech.

Yesterday Anti Muslim violence broke out in Khargone area. pic.twitter.com/Qaad8uuW92

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) April 11, 2022

In various areas, the mobs then went ahead to destroy and burn Muslim-owned properties. Wherever locals prevented them from doing so and showed resistance to the rioting mobs, the extremist government stepped in for them. It passed orders to destroy the houses of Muslim populations.

In most of the places where there’s been violence, the procession is taken through Muslim areas, past mosques with very aggressive sloganeering, and jeering. Invariably reports of stone pelting and then clashes. One person dead in Gujarat. #RamNavami pic.twitter.com/Ytu0mHS8IR

— Gargi Rawat (@GargiRawat) April 11, 2022

While on the one hand majority of international experts claim India is already in stage 9 out of 10 of Muslim genocide, it is important to remember that genocide is not an event but a process.

The amount of normalisation of hate speech and marginalisation of the Muslim community in India shows that India might already be in the same process. While all of this unfolds, the international community, including the Muslim nations, have remained hypocritically silent on this issue.

A few days after the events unfolded, British PM Boris Johnson visited India. He was on the receiving end of criticism for lack of condemnation about the rights of religious minorities in India. He was also caught in a moment of misplaced irony when pictured in a JCB manufacturing factory. At the same time, the same vehicles were being used to demolish Muslim homes simultaneously elsewhere in the country.

Interestingly the visit of former US President Donald Trump to India also coincided with anti-Muslim riots in Delhi. Back then, many world leaders raised their voices, including the Supreme Leader of Iran, the Turkish President, the Pakistani prime minister, and even then US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. This did build a fair share of pressure on the Indian government to explain the situation.

Now the international reactions are far and few in between. While some influential celebrities have tried to raise the issue on social media, they are instantly met by large responses from the BJP’s online troll army, who try to either downplay the issue or criticise the figures for their support of Indian Muslims.

Anti-Muslim violence is being reported from at least 8 Indian states.

The country is inching close to the trigger event that could lead to full-scale genocidal violence against Muslims.

The international community must take steps to stop another Rwanda from unfolding in India. https://t.co/nGkf6Q7QQ0

— Raqib Hameed Naik (@raqib_naik) April 11, 2022

Indian Muslims are in a crucial and challenging situation, where their homes, livelihoods, and lives are under attack from Hindutva mobs. If they resist them, the government ensures injustice and more strict action against them. And when they raise their voices online, they are met by troll armies who demean and threaten them.

Thus, the onus is on the international Muslim community and our leaders to stand by our brothers and sisters in India, be their voice, and help and support them.