On 10 April 2022 in India, Ram Navami, one of the most important festivals in Hinduism, was being celebrated. It is a festival that is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Lord Ram. Instead of celebrations, it was an extremely violent day in India. The day was filled with conflict, death, and severe anti-Muslim sentiments. Ethnic violence, stone-pelting, and arson were reported in seven states in India. One person was killed in the state of Gujarat, another one in Jharkhand. A policeman was shot at in Madhya Pradesh, and many others were reported as injured.
Everything that happened on Ram Navami could be considered a culmination of the widespread hate and communalism that has recently gripped the public discourse. While analysing the post-2000 era of riots in India, scholars Sudha Pai and Sajjan Kumar talked about the emergence of local region-specific forms of communal violence. They raised the argument of the “everydayness of violence” through institutionalised communalism. This phenomenon of everydayness of violence can be seen throughout a number of events that have occurred since the start of 2022.
BAN ON HIJAB IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (FEBRUARY)
As India was gripped by elections in five major states, unexpectedly a Junior Pre-University College in Udupi, Karnataka, issued a notice citing their uniform code prohibiting the hijab in classrooms. Muslim girls were told that if they wanted to continue their education, they had to give up the hijab and were kept in a separate classroom. These girls were forced to teach themselves, as teachers refused to teach these students. Soon, this rule was imposed in several colleges in the state, and spread to other regions.
This led to outrage and protests by the Muslim population. In retaliation, saffron-clad activists and students backed by Hindutva (Hindu Nationalist) groups led a march in favour of the ban on the hijab. Hindutva groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad have been actively working in India on Hindu unity and aim to establish India as a Hindu nation. These groups have several sub-units, and the current regime led by the Bhartiya Janta Party is a political wing of the RSS. A video from Udupi went viral when a Muslim college student wearing a burqa was targeted and harassed by a group of men in saffron scarves and flags, chanting “Jai Sri Ram” (Praise Lord Ram) at her. The entire population entered into a debate where the hijab was painted as a symbol of oppression by the Hindus and a symbol of protest by the Muslims.
However, the crux of the matter remained that students’ right to education was hampered, and that led to over 400 Muslim girls not being allowed to attend class. The matter was taken to court, and the Karnataka High Court upheld the state’s order banning the hijab, since the court believed that the hijab is not an essential part of Islam. This decision was celebrated by many state leaders, however, experts termed this judgement as constitutionally misconstrued, as it held the sanctity of uniform over the sanctity of education. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom also termed the courts’ verdict a violation of religious freedom.
ECONOMIC JIHAD (MARCH)
After the courts’ verdict, many Muslim shopkeepers shut their shops in Karnataka as a mark of protest. Reports started to emerge that indicated Muslims would be banned from having stalls in local annual temple fairs, which draw-in massive revenue for people in the months of April and May. Further, organisers of the fairs issued a notice that stated only Hindus are eligible to have a stall.
Right before the Ugadi festival in Karnataka, Hindutva groups launched a campaign demanding a ban on halal meat in the state. They called on all Hindus to boycott products with Halal certification, alleging that the revenue from this certification is used for anti-national activities. Different narratives about the reasons for this boycott emerged in the public domain; some Hindutva outfits claimed that processing halal meat required Muslims to perform a ritual before killing the animal, and therefore the meat was unfit for consumption by Hindus.
Initially, meat traders had issued a statement that the halal ban would not affect their business. However, after a ten day Hindu festival started in April, there were meat bans in various states in the country. The role of the state on this issue was questioned, as the Bhartiya Janta Party’s national general secretary went on record to term the halal meat ban as an “economic jihad”. The opposition came down heavily on the conduct of the state government too. In a delayed response, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basvaraj Bommai, stated that “serious objections'' had been raised over halal meat, and the government would consider the issue further before taking a stand.
HATE SPEECH AND CALL FOR VIOLENCE (APRIL)
In Indian politics, religious outfits mobilising voters to support a particular party is common practice. Religious leaders and members of Hindu groups are able to garner immense influence and power in local areas. Recently, the Hindu priest of the Badi Sangat Ashram in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, took a megaphone and a loudspeaker to a mosque and threatened mass rape of Muslim women in the area if any Muslim man harassed a Hindu girl. This incident took place in front of the police and was followed by people raising slogans such as “Jab Mulle kaate jayenge, Ram Ram chillaenge“ meaning when Muslims are killed, they will start chanting Lord Ram’s name. A few days after this incident, another Hindu priest, Yati Narsinghanand called for a genocide of Muslims. At the time, he was out on bail after another similar incident in December 2021. Narsinghanad’s public call for genocide clearly violated his conditions of bail, but he has not yet been arrested by the police.
BAN ON LOUDSPEAKERS OUTSIDE MOSQUES (APRIL)
Culturally, loudspeakers are part of Indian society. All social activities and events across religions use speakers. In Islamic culture, mosques use loudspeakers to establish a call for prayer (Azaan) at fixed times during the day. After attacking Muslims’ with hate-filled speeches and threatening their livelihood, right-wing groups started demanding a ban on loudspeakers outside mosques.
These demands were substantiated by claims from ministers such as Raj Thakrey in Maharashtra. Thakrey said that if loudspeakers are not banned in mosques, Hindus will go and play Hindu hymns on speakers outside mosques. The state government of Karnataka did not outrightly shut down these demands, however, the Chief Minister cited a high court order to trigger a crackdown on all illegal loudspeakers in religious places in the state. These comments spread like wildfire among regions and, as a result, senior ministers in the state of Bihar openly demanded that loudspeakers outside the mosque be banned because they disturb people in nearby areas.
Although this issue of loudspeakers has been raised by Islamophobic groups since the twentieth century, in the context of other events of early 2022, these debates led to massive hostility between communities. The result was that Muslims across the country became vulnerable to mob attacks on their life and livelihood. Their shops and carts were vandalised because they were selling products outside a temple. On the day of Ram Navami in Madhya Pradesh, right-wing groups attacked mosques and mounted saffron flags on them. A day after this communal clash, the state government demolished houses belonging to Muslims, claiming that they were illegal encroachments. The Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh stated “we will turn the houses from where the stones were pelted (on Ram Navami) to a heap of rubble”. The Minister supported the demolition of Muslim houses with no regard for the due process. In terms of illegal encroachments, residents need to be given a show-cause notice and rehabilitated before the demolition is carried out. In terms of punitive measures as well, the state has no right to demolish houses of suspected rioters. There are various instances of such clashes since the start of 2022, and visibly one community has instigated such hateful attacks on the other.
INDIA’S POLITICAL FUTURE
A look at all these instances from the beginning of the year offers an insight into the vulnerability of Muslims in India today. Hate and vigilantism is being normalised in Indian society, and almost every day there are new reports published that a Muslim has been threatened or attacked. While state representatives say they will look into these attacks, it is clear that often all that representatives do is legitimise these acts through hateful Islamophobic statements. Within the language of the government’s official notifications and orders, it can be argued that they are actions directed against all communities. In the case of Khargone demolitions, the District Collector stated that the action is not intended towards one community. Yet, in reality, these orders are implemented against one community and hence, the Hindu activist organisations which are linked to, or backed by, the government push forward with their agenda of a Hindu nation. It can be argued that the government is setting the grounds to establish a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across India. The UCC calls for a single law which would apply to all religious communities in matters of marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance. It would end all personal laws and has been a matter of debate for years. The UCC has been a part of Bhartiya Janta Partys’ manifesto since 2019. However, considering the attacks on Muslims and their identity, along with the casual bent of the current regime towards Hindus, such a move could prove catastrophic for Muslims in India.
Shubhangi Derhgawen is a research journalist with New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV). She is also pursuing her masters in Modern Indian Studies at the University of Göttingen, Germany.