Apr 15, 2025 11:00 IST
First printed on: Apr 15, 2025 at 11:00 IST
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The Waqf (Modification) Act has now obtained presidential assent, leaving a lot of India’s Muslim neighborhood feeling sullen and sidelined. Authorized petitions have been filed throughout excessive courts and the Supreme Courtroom, however religion in judicial recourse is waning — particularly when even the judiciary appears guided by forces past constitutional reasoning and “God” selected to information judges. Muslims really feel more and more cornered.
5 years in the past, a couple of of us — not as neighborhood leaders however as involved residents — sought dialogue. We met with RSS head Mohan Bhagwat to precise our nervousness about rising hostility towards Muslims. Bhagwat listened intently, and a number of conferences adopted. We additionally engaged leaders from Sikh, Christian, and Muslim communities. All agreed: Dialogue was the most effective path ahead.
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Sadly, the scenario has worsened since. The problems we raised — lynchings, bulldozing of houses, boycotts, open threats, shows of majoritarian aggression close to mosques, curbs on non secular follow, inflammatory rhetoric — have solely intensified. Since 2014, when the BJP got here to energy on the Centre, the panorama for Indian Muslims has grown steadily extra hostile.
Not each authorities initiative is unwelcome. The triple talaq ban, the CAA, the NRC, and the push for a Uniform Civil Code are framed as reforms. The difficulty isn’t the proposals themselves, however the absence of significant session. For a neighborhood that varieties the world’s third-largest Muslim inhabitants, it’s baffling that no consultant voices are engaged in crafting insurance policies that instantly have an effect on them. The federal government claims these measures are supposed to uplift Muslims. However why would Muslims belief a authorities that gained’t area a single Muslim candidate in key elections? That turns a blind eye to hate speech, mob violence, and humiliation of hijab-wearing ladies. That justifies the bulldozing of houses, or refuses to curb vigilantism within the identify of “love jihad”. That encourages non secular processions for one religion, whereas limiting one other.
Hindutva has weaponised majoritarianism, fusing nationalism with thinly veiled Islamophobia. Since 2014, forces looking for to undermine India’s pluralist democracy have gained floor — typically portraying Muslims as the interior enemy. World traits of Islamophobia solely reinforce this narrative. This leaves India’s Muslims anxious and not sure of their place within the nation’s future. Many are below the affect of clerics who provide little trendy steering. Political management throughout the neighborhood is weak. In a society the place caste and faith decide electability, Muslims wrestle to discover a voice — notably within the face of a celebration that systematically excludes them. So the place does hope lie?
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Sarcastically, it lies within the secular Hindu majority. The Hindu-Muslim divide is deep-rooted, however India’s post-Independence story has additionally been formed by Hindu tolerance and syncretic values. Right now, quite a few journalists and YouTubers problem the Hindutva narrative at nice private threat. Legal professionals provide professional bono assist for victims of communalism.
Nonetheless, the query stays: How ought to Muslims reply? Many are confused about find out how to push again in opposition to Hindutva with out additional escalating rigidity. One reply lies in dialogue. Regardless of political winds, leaders like Bhagwat have sometimes urged mutual understanding. However even honest dialogue struggles in opposition to a tide of orchestrated polarisation.
That stated, Muslims should persist. Even when courts and dialogue are the short-term recourse, the long-term reply lies in schooling and empowerment. As former vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, I’ve witnessed the transformation of rural Muslim youth. With entry to trendy schooling, they go away with confidence. Whereas solely 4 per cent of Muslims research in madrasas, modernising madrasas to undertake CBSE curricula might be a significant step. It will combine college students into the mainstream and equip them with the instruments to interact confidently with society.
Muslims in India as we speak stand at a crossroads. They have to reject victimhood and never succumb to provocation. They have to spend money on schooling, search alliances with progressive civil society, and maintain religion within the Structure. The trail forward is tough — however not not possible.
The author, former V-C, Jamia Millia Islamia and former Delhi L-G, is chairman, Superior Examine Institute of Asia
