Examining the State of Muslim Minority under Modi’s BJP since 2014

Abstract

The Muslims in India comprise 14 per cent of the population and have been recognised empirically as a minority, facing social and economic concerns for over a decade. With the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its slogans of Hindutva, discourse against the Muslims of India has been deteriorated significantly. Prime Minister Modi’s government came to power in 2014, and the four years since have led to persecution and some of the most troubling crimes against the Muslims and other minorities, centred around communal issues. As a result, violence and discrimination have increased as has the rhetoric from the Hindu right-wing organisations that are supported, in one way or the other, by the mainstream BJP politicians. In this paper, the current state of the Muslim minority is examined and analysed using recent sources, including human rights reports from international organisations, as it is argued that Hindutva forces and ideological backing of the BJP have emboldened extremist mindsets and embedded them in society. This means that even ostensibly “secular” political agents of the Congress party have resorted to forms of Hindu domination in an environment where history is being rewritten and minorities are framed as outsiders in India.