Muslim minority in India

Translated by Alessandra Fumagalli

Prime Minister Narendra Modi won Indian elections again, starting his third term. Even if it was predictable, his win wasn't as easy as Modi though, since his party, Bharatiya Janata (BJP), had to unite with other parties in order to reach an adequate number to establish a government. BJP has indeed won 240 seats in the Los Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament, which has 543 seats in all. With its allies, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the BJP has still secured a majority, winning 294 seats.

The elections and BJP

Modi is ruling since 2014, when his party won for the first time. In 2019 he won again: BJP won 303 seats, which were sufficient to establish a government without alliances. What is remarkable is that in 2024 he lost 63 seats. On one hand it could be due to the fact that he was convicted to obtain more than 300 seats, on the other hand there is something else. Narendra Modi based his elections on three main points: economic growth, the significant role of India at an international level and Hindu nationalism. In particular, this last point is very controversial. BJS was founded in 1980 and takes Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a model. RSS was a paramilitary extreme right-wing voluntary group in which Narendra Modi was involved since the Seventies, and then in 1989 he joined BJP and became extremely important. 

In 2022, when Modi ruled Gujarat, he was very criticized due a riot that led to 1000 deaths, mostly Muslims. Modi, however, didn't try to stop the violences. 

One of the main charge against the Prime Minister is indeed the promotion of discriminations against the Muslim Minority in India. BJP thinks that Hindus are "the true children of Earth", because Hindu holy places are in India. That's why the main point of Modi's propaganda was "India as country for Hindu". He considers Hindu identity as an homogeneous identity, but actually it has always been extremely changeable. 

Muslim minority and discriminations 

India hosts several minorities. Beyond  Hindu, which are the most part of the population (79,8%), there are also Muslims (14,2%), Christians (2,3%), Sikh (1,7%), Buddhists (0,8%) and other minor groups. however, Hindu has never been a solid block, since it has suffered from several discrepancies, which brought to cultural differences that has caused an higher impact on the society. Other minorities are for example Dalit (previously known as untouchables), Adivasi and Naga. 

Narendra Modi and BJP showed indifference towards Muslims communities in the country. Fights between Hindu and Muslims date back the Indian Independence, that brought to the creation of Pakistan in 1947, which is a Muslim country and this leads to a more vulnerable situation in India. These communities aren't homogeneous, and except for the northern part of Kashmir, Muslims are a minority in other Indian countries. Most of them are Sunnis. Muslims are marginalized and they are the poorest part of the population. They struggle to hold an high position, also because they can't access to a superior education. Moreover, they suffer from systemic violence by the police, suffering from abuse, terrorism and they are also excluded from public aids. Also their political participation is very low. 

Since 2014, with Modi's politics, the situation got even worse. In 2015, the government wanted to exclude Bangladeshi Muslims in Northern Assam, in order to control the irregular migration in Bangladesh. Lots of citizens are deported in detention centers. 

In 2019, the Government of India revoked the autonomy to Kashmir. In December 2019, India wanted to naturalized Hindu migrants, Sikh, Christians and Buddhists, with the exception for Muslims.

Moreover, in January 2024, in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, where there is a Muslim community, was consecrated an Hindu temple built on a mosque's ruins, raising protests. In 2022, in Uttar Pradesh, some houses have been destroyed, immediately after Modi's negative comments about Muslim. Lots of violences are reported against Muslim communities. According to Genocide Watch, in India there are some acts like political polarization and persecution, that can bring to an higher violences against these groups. During the elections in 2024, Modi stated that Muslims are "infiltrators" in India, and they "give too many births". Moreover, he accused the Congress, because it wanted to give some resources to Muslims communities and more numerous families. However, these points intensify the tensions between Hindus and Muslims.  

Despite Modi's attempts to eliminate his political rivals, the Congress, together with other oppositional parties with whom he has formed INDIA coalition, won 232 seats (the Congress won 99 seats, and in 2019 won 51 seats). This shows that, despite Modi's talks and politics, and despite his won, in the Indian society a strong split against Nationalism is taking place. 

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