The webpage of United Nations International Day (15 March) to Combat Islamophobia – (https://www.un.org/en/observances/anti-islamophobia-day) says ‘Islamophobia is a fear, prejudice and hatred of Muslims that leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance by means of threatening, harassment, abuse, incitement and intimidation of Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the online and offline world. Motivated by institutional, ideological, political and religious hostility that transcends into structural and cultural racism, it targets the symbols and markers of being a Muslim.” If we go by the reported and unreported incidents in India that unmistakably fall under the category of Islamophobia, we should be observing this anti-Islamophobia day 365 times a year.
However, a study of three recent incidents demonstrates how Islamophobia operates at different levels – in political discourse, in law enforcement contexts and through cultural assertions. It appears that the underlying objective is to establish a hierarchy of citizenship based on religious identity, a euphemism for relegating Muslims to the status of “second-class” citizens in their own country. It is not a coincidence that all three incidents involve Muslim women who are valiantly fighting the forces of darkness and evil on behalf of the community towards the protection of its identity and faith.
The Political Battlefield
Iqra Hasan is a Samajwadi Party MP from Kairana in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. She hails from a family of lawmakers. She is a graduate from Lady Shri Ram College, DU and an MSc in International Politics & Law from SOAS University of London. Even after condemning a temple vandalism incident in Chapaur village in Saharanpur and demanding the strictest punishment for its perpetrators, Iqra faced deeply offensive and vitriolic personal attacks.
In her own words, she was called “slur word”, “terrorist” and dirty expletives were used against her father and brother. The objective of these attacks was clear – to show that if a lawmaker is Muslim and a woman, she will not be respected by the majority community. She must continually prove her secular credentials. She cannot maintain her own identity in terms of dress code and non-participation in Hindu religious rituals. This is naturally discouraging to women from the Muslim community seeking political office or aspiring to be in politics, but on their own terms.
The attacks on Iqra Hasan are both anti-women and anti-Muslim. Unfortunately, the entire political class, mainstream media and influencer community is silent and thus complicit in this hate crime. By normalising and legitimising these attacks on Iqra Hasan, the political establishment is sending a message to all budding Muslim women who are educated and desirous of serving the country – if you want to serve the nation, do so at your own risk. The extremists and anti-Muslim forces will hound you.
Those unabashedly espousing the cause of majoritarian rule in India have won half their political battle; simply by creating a climate of hate and violence in the country leading to educated Muslims keeping a safe distance from politics and public service, knowing fully well its devastating consequences.
Law Enforcement Under Siege
The second Islamophobic incident that deserves greater scrutiny is related to City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Hina Khan posted in Gwalior, a well-known town in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. Hina Khan is a 2016-batch MP Civil Services Officer and a graduate with a Bachelor’s of Physiotherapy. An untoward incident occurred in Gwalior, following which, Section 144 was imposed and more than 4000 security personnel were deployed all over the city. Challenging the order, some anti-social elements decided to recite the Sundar Kand at a local temple. However, when CSPHina Khan and her team tried to stop these law-breakers, instead of explaining their point of view, these criminals started accusing her of being anti-Sanatan and started forcing her to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. For them it was a test of her legitimacy to perform her duties and show that she was not “anti-Hindu”.
She bravely replied that she has no problems chanting the purely Hindu religious slogan but not under duress. In a bid to calm the situation, she chanted “Jai Shri Ram” a couple of times to disprove their allegation but asserted that she would not do so if pressurised to recite it. Those who feel inclined to support the cause of Hindutva must know what former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Dr Karan Singh has to say about the issue. Speaking at the book launch of Shashi Tharoor’s book “The Hindu Way”, he asked, “Is this Hinduism?… I’m a Raghuvanshi, Shri Ram was a compassionate God. Real Hinduism embraces, builds bridges, does not create wars. Forcing one to chant Jai Shri Ram is an insult to Hinduism.”
Cultural Erasure
The third incident at Pune’s Shaniwar Wada fort, perhaps, shows the ugliest face of those leading the movement for hate and Islamophobia in our country. A small group of Muslim women tourists offered namaz inside the ASI-protected monument. That was captured on camera and made viral. In response, BJP MP Medha Kulkarni led a purification ritual using cow dung and urine. The idea was to explicitly frame Muslim prayers as a form of contamination requiring cleansing. It assumes Shaniwar Wada to be a Hindu holy site, which it is not. It equates exclusive ownership of Indian cultural heritage sites by the Hindu community. These Hindu right-wing forces should be allowed to do whatever they want in the name of Hindu religion but not the Muslims.
Paradoxically, the lawmakers who owe their place in Parliament, do not tire of talking about how their government has empowered Muslim women in India. But if Muslims pray in public, they are condemned to get this treatment. Mosques, madrasas, dargahs, and names of cities that sound Muslim are anathema to those who now equate this assertion of hyper-nationalism and Hindutva ideology with the emergence of a new “Bharat”. Islamophobia is their energizing force and it is slowly eroding the foundations of our Constitution and democracy.
Erich Fromm once said, “When Fascism came into power, most people were unprepared, both theoretically and practically. They were unable to believe that man could exhibit such propensities for evil, such lust for power, such disregard for the rights of the weak, or such yearning for submission. Only a few had been aware of the rumbling of the volcano preceding the outbreak.” Let us wish, hope, and pray that we the people of India do not have to endure this, not now, not in the future.