Tue 29 August 2023:
In a concerning incident that has sent shockwaves across the nation, a religious shrine in the Uttarakhand state of India was vandalized by a group of individuals.
The incident, which took place in the Amit Gram area of Rishikesh, has been widely discussed on social media after a video capturing the incident surfaced online.
Hindu supremacists, chanting Jai Shri Ram, demolishing a Muslim shrine with sledgehammers in Uttarakhand, India. Modi has made India a hell for its minorities! pic.twitter.com/BazaNlKmHB
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) August 28, 2023
A group of individuals associated with the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan. As they wielded sledgehammers, the attackers were heard chanting slogans associated with the popular phrase “Jai Shri Ram,” further escalating tensions surrounding the incident.
The incident has sparked outrage and condemnation from various quarters, with many expressing their concerns about the rise of such acts of violence against religious minorities in the country. Various organizations and individuals have joined their voices to decry the incident, advocating for peace, harmony, and respect for all faiths.
Rise of Hindutva
Since PM Narendra Modi took over as India’s prime minister in 2014, the 72-year-old leader has been accused of presiding over his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) passing anti-Muslim legislation and implementing anti-Muslim policies. That includes a law on citizenship and the end of the special status of Indian-administered Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority region, in 2019.
The United Nations human rights office described the 2019 citizenship law as “fundamentally discriminatory” for excluding Muslim migrants.
Critics have also pointed to anti-conversion legislation that challenged the constitutionally protected right to freedom of belief.
There has also been demolitions of properties owned by Muslims in the name of removing illegal constructions and a ban on wearing the hijab in classrooms in Karnataka when Modi’s BJP party was in power.
India has slid from 140th in the World Press Freedom Index to 161st this year, its lowest point, while also leading the list for the highest number of internet shutdowns globally for five consecutive years.
In an annual report on religious freedom, the US Department of State also pointed to police and vigilante violence against minorities along with inflammatory statements by members of the BJP.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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