India’s rapid and precipitous decline into sectarian hatred, specifically against its 200 million Muslim citizens, can only be reversed by ...
India’s rapid and precipitous decline into sectarian hatred, specifically against its 200 million Muslim citizens, can only be reversed by people like Akshay Yadav and the people of his community, about a billion of them.
When Hindu extremists and radicalised local Hindu residents in the city of Gurugram stopped Muslims from offering namaz at open sites designated by the local administration – which quickly caved in to pressure, instead of standing firm and arresting the trouble makers – Yadav, a local business owner, opened up his property for prayers. Of small mind and large insecurity, his coreligionists had stopped Muslims from praying by smearing a ground with cow dung, declaring they would convert another into a volleyball court and held Hindu prayers, promptly attended by a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and sundry extremists.
The Gurugram campaign against Muslims was only the latest. The atrocities come faster than ever, organised in planning, determined in implementation and clear in direction: a 10-year-old Muslim boy beaten for trying to drink water at a temple; an inter-state campaign to deny a Muslim comic a stage; the unchecked proliferation of online hate speech against Muslims; an anti-Muslim riot to avenge attacks against Hindus in a neighbouring country; and a clearly evident pattern of general attacks on Muslim livelihoods for no...
