No to Impunity: Condemning Hindutva's Systemic Violence Against Minorities in India
April 6th, 2023
Justice For All Canada strongly condemns Hindutva mobs, empowered by hate politics of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for unleashing a series of coordinated and targeted attacks on Muslim communities in key states in India this week, leaving families shaken.
During the celebration of the religious festival Ram Navami, a Hindu procession turned violent and vandalized a mosque, set it on fire, and targeted Muslim properties in Bihar Sharif, a town in Bihar's Nalanda district. The oldest madrasa and library were set on fire, destroying over 4,500 books. The armed mob of 1,000 people chanted "Jai Shree Ram" as they vandalized the mosque and the library. Similar hate speech and stone-pelting against Muslim places of worship and shrines also broke out across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat states.
"The mainstreaming of radical Hindutva ideology has contributed to a dangerous atmosphere of impunity, where mob violence against Muslims is tolerated and encouraged. The crisis of Islamophobia in India begs attention and action from the Canadian government, which must hold the BJP accountable under international human rights obligations for genocidal anti-Muslim attacks and address concerns from Canadian Muslim citizens and diaspora." —Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada.
We are appalled at the deliberate silence and inaction from Indian authorities, who not only failed to protect Muslims and their properties from Hindutva mobs from committing these heinous crimes, but turned a blind eye to their provocative rallies, giving them impunity. In some regions, Muslim women reported feeling fearful when police forcefully raided their homes after threatening them with rape. Muslim youth were also assaulted by mobs on the streets.
The Hindutva mobs held weapons and publicly chanted several hateful songs with calls to murder, such as mulle kaate jaenge (translation: Muslims will be slaughtered). These hate slogans have become so normalized in Indian society that barely any action is taken against them.
These incidents are not isolated and are part of a larger pattern of anti-Muslim attacks during Hindu religious processions in India. The ongoing violence against Muslim minorities by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is rampant and met with near impunity. Human rights groups have slammed the BJP's treatment of minorities, as the party promotes a Hindu nationalist agenda at the expense of other religious groups. There has been a sharp rise of Islamophobic vitriol in India since the election of the right-wing BJP government in 2014.
Government authorities in India continue failing to take proactive measures to prevent such discriminatory-fuelled crimes. The BJP government must ensure the safety and security of all its citizens, regardless of their religion or ethnicity.
We also call on Canada’s government to officially denounce the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its tacit support of these violent Hindutva groups responsible for unprecedented violence against Muslims in India. The international community has an obligation to stand in solidarity with Muslims facing impending genocide, as warned by various human rights organizations and Genocide Watch.
Justice For All Canada strongly condemns Hindutva mobs, empowered by hate politics of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for unleashing a series of coordinated and targeted attacks on Muslim communities in key states in India this week, leaving families shaken.
During the celebration of the religious festival Ram Navami, a Hindu procession turned violent and vandalized a mosque, set it on fire, and targeted Muslim properties in Bihar Sharif, a town in Bihar's Nalanda district. The oldest madrasa and library were set on fire, destroying over 4,500 books. The armed mob of 1,000 people chanted "Jai Shree Ram" as they vandalized the mosque and the library. Similar hate speech and stone-pelting against Muslim places of worship and shrines also broke out across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat states.
"The mainstreaming of radical Hindutva ideology has contributed to a dangerous atmosphere of impunity, where mob violence against Muslims is tolerated and encouraged. The crisis of Islamophobia in India begs attention and action from the Canadian government, which must hold the BJP accountable under international human rights obligations for genocidal anti-Muslim attacks and address concerns from Canadian Muslim citizens and diaspora." —Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada.
We are appalled at the deliberate silence and inaction from Indian authorities, who not only failed to protect Muslims and their properties from Hindutva mobs from committing these heinous crimes, but turned a blind eye to their provocative rallies, giving them impunity. In some regions, Muslim women reported feeling fearful when police forcefully raided their homes after threatening them with rape. Muslim youth were also assaulted by mobs on the streets.
The Hindutva mobs held weapons and publicly chanted several hateful songs with calls to murder, such as mulle kaate jaenge (translation: Muslims will be slaughtered). These hate slogans have become so normalized in Indian society that barely any action is taken against them.
These incidents are not isolated and are part of a larger pattern of anti-Muslim attacks during Hindu religious processions in India. The ongoing violence against Muslim minorities by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is rampant and met with near impunity. Human rights groups have slammed the BJP's treatment of minorities, as the party promotes a Hindu nationalist agenda at the expense of other religious groups. There has been a sharp rise of Islamophobic vitriol in India since the election of the right-wing BJP government in 2014.
Government authorities in India continue failing to take proactive measures to prevent such discriminatory-fuelled crimes. The BJP government must ensure the safety and security of all its citizens, regardless of their religion or ethnicity.
We also call on Canada’s government to officially denounce the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its tacit support of these violent Hindutva groups responsible for unprecedented violence against Muslims in India. The international community has an obligation to stand in solidarity with Muslims facing impending genocide, as warned by various human rights organizations and Genocide Watch.