The gross violation of Human Rights and Islamophobia is reported in OIC’s
report as
“ This report, the Observatory would like to highlight on the general picture of
Islamophobia in India as the situation of Muslims in India is increasingly
capturing worldwide attention, particularly because India’s Muslims faced
appalling socioeconomic deprivation and were victims of official government
neglect and frequent police harassment. Despite claims by the Government
concerning the secular and democratic character of India’s polity, Muslims had
to confront systematic and escalating discrimination. Violence against Muslims
in India was becoming more frequent in the form of mob attacks on Muslims by
Hindus. This has led to an increase in sectarian clashes between Hindu and
Muslim communities. Theoretically, the Indian Constitution safeguards the rights
of minorities and the Government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
should protect the rights of the Muslim minority and tolerated indifference to
violence perpetrated against Muslims. Since the country’s independence in 1947
and right up to the present decade, the Muslim are victims of Hindu extremism.
The Islamophobia Observatory relies on various reports and information codified
and assessed by the Minority Affairs Department of the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation. Community in various parts of the country had suffered hundreds of
violent, sectarian attacks. A peak involved the Gujarat riots of 2002 when 2,000
Muslims were killed in a state-sponsored pogrom. At this times, Indian political
culture had been dominated by a process of categorizing people along communal
lines (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, etc)— a communalization process which seeped into
the heart of Indian state bureaucracy and the civic apparatus. This had resulted
in the strengthening of the main Hindu Nationalist Party, the BJP which have the
agenda to legitimize the superiority of Hinduism, or the Hindutva. The main
actor in this regard is the RSS party (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh known also as
Sangh) and its off shoots and informal branches. The RSS had demonized the
Muslim community and asserted a politics on the birth-based hierarchy of caste
and gender. According to the statistic, the Muslim Population is estimated to be
184 million in 2016, which is the third largest in the world after Indonesia and
Pakistan and forms the largest religious minority in India. They are not a
homogeneous group, divided by language, ethnicity, culture and economic
position. Population rates across all South Asian countries were expected to
rise significantly by 2050, and the largest change would be in India, poised to
become the most populous nation. Between 2010—2050 the Hindu population is to
increase by 35 percent 1.38 billion in 2050, but Indian Muslims will increase by
76 percent to 310 million in the same period.
This means that the largest increase in the Muslim population of South Asia will
occur in India. The present government of India is condoning the rise in
Islamophobia and fueling communalism sentiment leading to repeated cycles of
violence. The hatred campaign against Muslims by the hard-line Hindus was even
compounded by the inaction of Prime Minister Modi. Some leaders within the
government of India led by the Prime Minister held a strong hatred towards
Muslims, and were allowing religious sectarian conflict to spread. This could be
seen from the number of incidents in 2015 where there were reports of Muslims
being killed by Hindu vigilante groups over suspicions that they had killed or
stolen cows for beef. The violence erupted after an aggressive push by several
BJP leaders and rightwing Hindu groups to protect cows, and ban beef
consumption. Anti- Muslim rhetoric by several BJP leaders including members of
parliament further stroked insecurities among Muslim minorities. The authorities
did not prosecute those responsible for the violent attacks on Muslims and there
is government indifference to growing religious intolerance. Meanwhile, the
Indian Muslim community also faced rising challenges across all sectors of
society since they suffered from lack of economic opportunities, lack of
education and lack of political empowerment. They were discriminated in
employment, housing and schooling. Muslim women too face continuing
discrimination because of their Hijab. Muslims were the victims of
discrimination at all levels and they often live in terrible conditions.
In 2005, the national government in India, led by the Congress party, created a
committee, termed the “Prime Ministers’ High-Level Committee on the Social,
Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community in India,” to study the
status of the Muslim community to enable the state to identify areas of
intervention. Informally known as the Sachar Committee, named after its
Chairperson, Rajendra Sachar, the Committee submitted a report in 2006.
Unfortunately most of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee report were
not fulfilled. In addition, poverty and illiteracy continued to be among the
most common problems facing the Indian Muslim community. For instance, nearly
40% of Indians live below the poverty line, and this figure rises to 66% amongst
Muslims. Almost a quarter of India’s 370,000 beggars are Muslims, according to
data from the 2011 Census which reinforced the point that the Muslim community
still lags behind despite the country’s rapid economic growth. The reason for
Muslim decline laid in poor state investment in infrastructure for Muslims and
continuing official and private discrimination. In government employment, the
share of Muslims employed is 4.9 percent noting that the government (provincial
and national) is a major employer, accounting for 70 percent of all employment.
In key sectors that are important for the protection of population rights, the
share is also low.
The proportion of Muslims in the Judiciary (5 percent) and the Police services
(4 percent) are below their share in the population and even below their share
of the educated population Higher education indices for 2014-15 put the gross
enrolment rate at 13.8% for Muslims, compared to an all-India figure of 23.6%.
Within their community, the literacy rate of Muslim adult males is 81%, compared
to 91% among Hindus, 94% among Christians and 84% among Sikhs, 52 according to a
2013 report of the National Sample Survey Organization. Muslim population inside
jails is going up too. Of the people lodged in Maharashtra jails in 2013, 31.09%
were Muslims. The state average was 19.06%. Brief, the trend of Islamophobia in
India is worth close attention despite the main issue remain political.
Keeping in view pathetic condition of Indian Muslim and planned genocide the OIC,
UNO, Security Council and International Human Rights should immediately take
action and do urgent and requisite steps to stop this planned genocide otherwise
history won’t forget them.