Matrix Report
A fresh wave of Anti-Muslim sentiment has emerged in India. Of course, the narrative has been brewing for ages, but under Narendra Modi’s government, things have flared up to a jeopardizing extent.
Earlier this month, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) spokeswoman, Nupur Sharma, made derogatory remarks against Holy Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). Naveen Jindal, another member of the BJP, also made offensive comments on Islam. Both had their membership suspended by the party leadership.
The BJP said on Sunday, June 6, 2022, that it had suspended its spokeswoman Nupur Sharma in response to comments she made during a TV debate about the Prophet Mohammed: “The BJP strongly denounces insult of any religious personalities of any religion.”
Apologetically justifying her stance, Sharma said on Twitter that she had said some things in response to comments about a Hindu god, but she never intended to hurt anyone’s religious feelings.
Muslims throughout India have also protested in the streets after BJP lawmaker Nupur Sharma made obscene comments during a television debate. Police charges, arrests, and violence were faced by the protesters calling for harsher punishment for Sharma. The state of Uttar Pradesh provided the most upsetting images of police suppression of Muslim protestors as bulldozers were used to destroy the homes of individuals accused of organizing the demonstrations.
During the religious processions in April and May 2022, the local BJP governments in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh, Anand, Gujarat, and Jehangirpuri, Delhi, razed several Muslim homes and other buildings. Hindutva activists purposefully omitted their procession from Hindu festivities in April and May.
A blow to its foreign policy
India’s long-standing ties with the Arab world could be jeopardized by the growing anti-Muslim campaign from Hindu nationalist fanatics in that country, which has received scant censure from the Modi administration. Additionally, in a volatile Muslim world plagued by an identity crisis and regional geostrategic conflicts, the revival of Hindu nationalism and its virulent anti-Muslim manifestations may have wider geopolitical ramifications.
According to experts, the incident may cast a shadow over some of India’s recent diplomatic achievements with the UAE and other countries. The dispute may overshadow Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian’s planned trip to India, even though Delhi and Tehran have had tepid ties lately.
The BJP officials’ comments were referred to as “true terrorism” capable of sparking “deadly wars” by Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque, which is highly regarded throughout the Muslim world. The BJP’s “obscene rudeness” toward Islam, according to the grand mufti of Oman, is a type of “war.”
More significantly, boycott movements against Indian products have been started in numerous Arab nations in response to the comments. Indian goods have been taken off the shelves in numerous Gulf nations.
An Arabic hashtag has also begun trending on Twitter demanding that Indian communities be expelled from the Gulf countries.
In 2020–21, India’s trade with the GCC—which consists of Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and the UAE—was $87 billion. Millions of Indians reside and work in various nations, sending remittances totaling millions of dollars home. Additionally, the region is India’s primary energy import source. Since taking office in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made many trips to the area. The nation is in negotiations with the GCC for a larger agreement and has already signed a free trade pact with the UAE.
However, little has been heard from the west on India’s discriminatory, rather cruel, treatment of Muslims.
A major US newspaper urged the Biden administration to increase pressure on India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s religious intolerance had “gone uncontested long enough.” The Washington Post’s Editorial Board stated that “the United States should step up the pressure,” noting that this month has seen a deterioration in India’s relations with Muslim nations as a result of two leaders of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making “demeaning” remarks about the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Dated as of June 9, in a letter to the Modi-led Indian government, three Special Rapporteurs for Housing, Minority Issues, and Freedom of Religion sharply criticized and denounced the arbitrary home and property demolitions that local governments had ordered to punish Muslims for inter-communal strife between Hindus and Muslims.
