Over the last eight years, the BJP government has stacked India’s courts with BJP-aligned justices. The most recent example is the release of people responsible for the most terrible crimes.
Since the BJP came to power in India in 2014, its leaders have attempted to stir hostility against religious minorities, particularly Muslims. Not that the BJP was any better before coming to power; as a regional party in numerous Indian states, it dominated and won elections on the basis of its Hindu nationalist agenda. Who can forget the Gujarat pogrom in early 2002, when Prime Minister Modi was the chief minister of the Indian state and his BJP, supported by its extremist RSS doctrine, provoked terrible violence against Muslims? BJP workers slaughtered, raped, and burnt Muslims with abandon — in savage proportions. There had been some hope from the courts at the moment.
Over the last eight years, the BJP government has stacked India’s courts with BJP-aligned justices. The most recent example is the release of people responsible for the most terrible crimes. Just last week, 11 men were acquitted of gang-raping a pregnant lady during the Gujarat riots in 2002 (the Bilkis Bano case). Though the Indian Supreme Court is likely to hear a lawsuit contesting the publication, if history is any guide, the Modi government offers little hope for justice. Gujarat authorities released the two after taking into account the time they had spent following their sentencing in 2008.
In both deeds and words, the BJP and its allies have demonstrated their utter contempt for the Muslim population. Its ministers and officials have made unacceptable and offensive remarks about Islam and its most holy concepts and beliefs on numerous occasions. Another BJP leader has now done the same. Pakistan has strongly criticized the sacrilegious remarks made by Raja Singh, a member of the Telangana state legislative assembly in India. This is the second time in three months that a prominent BJP politician has made such derogatory remarks.
The BJP has never taken any punishment against its leaders and members who target Muslims and their holy figures. They have virtually always been released on bail or acquitted by the courts. BJP zealots are free to walk around with daggers drawn, longing for Muslim blood. Unfortunately, like with Israel, global condemnation and anger against India are not as forthcoming as they should be.
If such heinous acts continue, Muslims in India face a gloomy future. The BJP government’s and its leaders’ constantly nasty behavior is also reflected in the complete absence of any Muslim in India’s 77-member Union Cabinet. For the first time in India’s history, there is no representation of Muslims in the federal cabinet. From a country that once took pride in its secular rule, India has devolved into a country that can only perceive hatred for the other.
