Is the social and multi-cultural fabric of India being undermined by a socio-political- religious nexus supervising a cadre of communalised grassroots workers who constantly attack and threaten the liberal Hindus and the religious or ethnic minorities?

A report compiled by human rights activists says the past year has seen an increase in the number of attacks in India on Christians and Muslims under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The report, released in Delhi and elsewhere, titled ‘365 Days: Democracy and Secularism Under the Modi Regime’, highlight the number of ‘persecution cases’ and hate speeches against the two religious minorities by persons claiming to represent the interests of the Hindu majority.

It was compiled by several activists that included Shabnam Hashmi, the founder of ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy); John Dayal, spokesman of the United Christian Forum for Human Rights (UCFHR); and Professor Apoorvanand, a literary and cultural critic from Bihar who teaches Hindi at Delhi University.

According to the report, there were more than 200 cases of persecution against Christians, more than 170 against Muslims and more than 230 reported hate speeches levelled against the two communities in the last year around the country. Comparative figures from previous years were not provided in the report.

The Narendra Modi-led BJP, which came to power in May last year has been accused by rights activists of trying to turn India into a nation of Hindus bowing to the agenda of the hardliner Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

“This report is a public document. As activists we have presented before the nation what is happening. If things continue in the direction they are going, then there would be a big attack on our democracy. It is a dangerous signal,” said Hashmi.

The report’s narration of ongoing violence questions the Indian government position, which has claimed that Prime Minister Modi’s election has largely ended violence against the minority communities.

“You may not see blood spilled on the streets; still, the minority community gets affected at large,” said Harsh Mander, an activist and author who also helped compile the report.

India’s minister for minority affairs, Najma Heptulla, told journalists during a visit to Srinagar that no attacks on religious or ethnic minorities had taken place under Modi’s first year as prime minister.

“No one has attacked the minorities. No riots took place anywhere. Only verbal attacks were taking place, but that has stopped now,” the minister was reported as saying.

In the report, however, activists expressed concern over the way incidents of communal violence were taking place in a very “planned manner”.

The activists mentioned a recent case of violence in the village of Atali, in  Haryana, where Muslims were attacked  by Hindu militants, and their houses allegedly razed. The Muslims fled the village and sheltered at a police station.

“This an example of how segregation of minority communities has started happening in the country. The victims were brought back to the village after promises of protection for them, and now they are not allowed to meet any community leaders,” Professor Apoorvanand said.

“A different kind of violence, more psychological, is happening. There is a re-ordering of social relations in the country. There is an attempt to tame minority communities,” he added.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat, an activist who also contributed to the report, told the media that the problem is not with the government, but “with the extra-constitutional forces which think that it is their country and they can get away with anything they do”.

He said that these ‘forces’ have created grass roots activists who are totally communalized and attack and threaten minorities.

Rawat said it is the duty of the government to prevent the situation from getting worse.

Contradicting government claims that attacks on minorities have lessened, the UCFHR spokesperson John Dayal accused the government of keeping incidents of communal violence under wraps.

“They are not reported. In those states, which are ruled by the BJP, the police, government and the RSS is one seamless entity. The cases that happen do not come out in the open,” Dayal said.

[prepared by Newsnet Desk, thanks to UCA News]

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