Western community gives little attention to religious persecutio

Demonstrators hold placards and flags as they attend a protest rally against a new citizenship law, in Hyderabad, India, January 4, 2020. [Reuters] 

India is in a crisis of its own making. Plans to amend the nation’s citizenship laws have led to widespread protests, violence and destruction of property. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has propagated the pro-nationalist Hindu BJP agenda for a decade, now seeks to secure his legacy by enacting discriminatory citizenship laws. The proposed amendments seek to offer citizenship to those of every faith - except Islam - that have experienced persecution in neighbouring countries.

This ill-advised proposal has understandably incensed the nation’s 200 million Muslims and put the very identity of the world’s largest democracy into question. The founding fathers – Gandhi and Nehru – drafted a constitution that ensured India would become a secular, democratic state. But if Modi’s proposals are enacted then that constitution would end in tatters. Opposition to the proposals have not just come from Muslims but from many faiths and quarters. There are also plans to vet all citizens and since there are millions of undocumented people this is viewed as another scheme to punish and deport Muslims while advancing towards a Hindu nationalist state.