The choice is narrowing the circle or widening it

News: Recently, it is said that ‘India is witnessing the progressive normalisation of minority baiting’.

About India’s Minority

Muslims are our largest religious minority. They constitute 14.3% of the total population.

In terms of population, their 200 million number is more than the populations in Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Some happenings in a related context

It was noticed that the two spokespersons of the ruling party reflected on the personality of the Prophet

There were uses of strong-arm tactics and bulldozers to counter public demonstrations. Some observers believe that the bulldozer is an instrument to silence the minorities.

At present, there has been furtherance of hate by unfairly criticizing the Muslim minority.

What are the Consequences?

The Gulf Cooperation Council and Persian Gulf countries, which are India’s extended neighbourhood, have strongly criticized about what has happened in India.

These countries provide gainful employment to many million Indian nationals, who contribute to India’s foreign exchange remittances. Therefore, such a move can impact their safety and security.

What are the challenges?

No reaction has been received from the senior leaders of the government, institutional bodies such as the National Human Rights Commission of India and of the National Commission for Minorities and the Indian judiciary.

There has been violation of rule of law and in fact, absence of due process or proportionality.

The public watches popular television channels where the debates are not conducted in a healthy manner. It invariably produces dangerous results for a particular section of Indian society.

What are the ultimate causes behind?

The differentiation between Indic and non-Indic culture is being propagated to divide fellow citizens. Those who pursue Indic faiths are assumed to be of Indian origin. Those who subscribe to Christianity and Islam are believed not to be of Indian origin.

India is traditionally defined as Bharat. It can refer to all the countries which combine to form the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.

Why is it wrong to say that Muslims minorities do not belong to Hindustan?

As per our history, Hindustan or Bharat extended to some parts of Afghanistan and even some parts of Iran. Therefore, Ghazni, Khilji, Lodi, etc. should not be seen as foreign invaders but as domestic plunders who even succeeded in establishing kingdoms.

The landmass of Bharat cannot be described in terms of faith alone since there was a period of several centuries when Buddhism was the dominant religion.

During the period, when there were Muslim rulers, no effort were made for mass conversions in India.

India has been a place where since time immemorial, migrant groups have continued to come and settle in the search for greener pastures. This resulted in the formation of India as a ‘civilisational state’.

Way Forward

The constitutional principle like the promotion of equality and fraternity should operate in social behaviour.

India is and must remain diverse and inclusive, and continue to build itself on the principles inscribed in the Preamble.

Source: The post is based on an article “The choice is narrowing the circle or widening it” published in the “The Hindu” on 21^st June 2022.