Author: Siddhartha Deb
Affiliation: Author and Journalist
Organization/Publisher: New York Times
Date/Place: September 15, 2021/ New York, USA
Type of Literature: Analysis
Word Count: 6387
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/magazine/india-assam-muslims.html
Keywords: India, Muslims, Islam, Disenfranchisement, Communalism
Brief:
This extensive report explains the method India is using to formulate its extra-judicial actions to exterminate its Muslim citizens and to fulfil the agenda of the world’s largest paramilitary group, the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) Hindutva group. It starts with the National Register of Citizens where a person has to submit documents showing “basic” details of date and place of birth, education credentials, marriage, jobs, land etc. The process is aided by the controversial Citizenship Act of India under which India grants residence to migrants who had entered India by 31 December 2014, and had suffered “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution”, but excluding Muslims. These processes show how India under the garb of democracy is hoodwinking the international community by legalizing the extermination of Muslims from India’s territory. The author traveled to Assam province of India where he met with victims of this inhuman and extra-constitutional process, specifically the RSS-linked groups accusing Muslims in Assam and other provinces of illegally migrating to India since Assam borders Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority South Asian country. The RSS and its affiliates including the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) have been quite upfront and open about its agenda of Hindu Raj (rule) in India and that “only a Hindu can be a good patriot.” The RSS has also been demanding reversing the partition of 1947 “because doing so will make capable and hence can contribute to the world affairs.” The expansionist plans of the RSS are simple: India without Muslims. The US and its allies have been playing blind to such hazardous assertions and have refused to hold India accountable for such barbaric acts. The reason is simple: the US and its allies support India against China. To achieve its target, the author notes how Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led BJP merged Assamese nationalism with Hindu nationalism to “begin the chain of events that would result in a nationwide citizenship law.” However, results of the province-wide nationality search have led to interesting results: most of the 1.9 million people found to be “stateless” for want of proper domicile documents are Hindus. The realization of a Hindu Rashtra state has been the basic tenet of India’s evolution post partition. The author shows how India’s massive population, its capability of competing at international levels, and a rising China have led to manipulation of the international community’s opinion in favor of the world’s second largest country.
By: Riyaz ul Khaliq, CIGA Non-Resident Research Associate
