Wed 04 March 2020:
Indian Muslims are being deprived of their birthright and reduced to second class citizenship which is resulting in the nationwide uprising.
Activist, author Farah Naqvi speaking in an interview on the aftermath of Delhi riots says: “Muslims feel scared, vulnerable and threatened in Modi’s India and are reduced to second class citizenship but the CAA [Citizenship (Amendment) Act] protests are a significant turning point. They are reclaiming their citizenship and other rights.”
Muslims in Modi’s India
What it feels like to be a Muslim in Modi’s India, Farah Naqvi sheds light on the plight of Indian Muslims who are now fighting back, reclaiming their citizenship despite right-wing extremist plans to shed blood of the minority Muslims.
Reports on Delhi riots do not narrate the plight of emotional and psychological damage that has been inflicted on the survivors.
Central, as well as state government, both, have failed to protect people and contain the situation in the centrally governed national capital.
Abandoned…bewildered…stunned
People now feel “abandoned…bewildered…stunned,” survivors can not comprehend what has happened, she said.
Answering a question on police response in the Delhi Violence that turned communal, the Muslim community has lost faith in the police and no longer believes they will get justice. They don’t believe they will be treated equally by the Police.
Recalling the 1984 Sikh riots and 2002 Gujarat riots were both the communities were slaughtered not because of their faith but because they are Sikh and Muslims.
“The targeting of Muslims in North East Delhi is clear and unambiguous,” she said as Muslims are targeted across the nation solely not for their Islamic faith but their identity as Muslims which has resulted in “fear everywhere”.
People in the riot-affected had great expectations and are deeply disillusioned by the failure of Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party as the government failed to reach out to reassure and comfort them.
AAP party may speak of reaching out to their MLAs on the national TV but there was no sign or presence of any party members assuring the people and now Muslims feel equally betrayed.
Speaking on the Communal Violence Bill that was considered but not passed by the UPA, Naqvi said it is high time India needs a law that defines hate crime. It also needs a law that stipulates punishment for people who fail to take action both to prevent communal riots and to act properly once they happen.
She explained that Muslims have been reduced to one single facet of their plural composite identity i.e. the fact that they are Muslim.
Muslims in towns and villages of Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar and Bengal feel scared, threatened and vulnerable when the government is attempting to make them feel unwanted, these people are now fighting back for their birthright as it is as much their home as it is of any other Indian citizen.
She also explained how Muslims and Hindus are suffering similarly are treated differently.
Speaking on the Uprising in India due to CAA/NRC, Muslims are now asserting themselves as full-fledged citizens of India, reclaiming their citizenship, rights.
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