Shakespeare once said, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Well, what is rotten in India is the behaviour of the state towards religious minorities.
The new normal is actually the excruciating pain of being a minority in the largest democracy i.e., India. In any democracy, minorities have three major concerns: security (safety), equity (non-discrimination) and identity (preservation of religious, cultural uniqueness etc.).
The Indian democracy actually has the dubious distinction of subjecting its religious minorities to recurring genocidal attacks, with the connivance and even sponsorship of the state.
The pogroms in Nellie (1983, Muslims), Delhi (1984, Sikhs), Bhagalpur (1989, Muslims), Mumbai (1992-’93, Muslims), Gujarat (2002, Muslims), Muzzaffarnagar ( 2013, Muslims), Kandhamal ( 2008, Christians) and Delhi (2020, Muslims) stand as glaring examples of the same.
Justice is long-awaited in all these cases. What is worse than denying justice to a historically oppressed minority, is the act of falsifying their trauma.
The investigation in the recent Delhi pogrom is one such example, where not only the trauma has been falsified by putting the blame on the minorities, but by arresting a number of innocents in false cases.
It destroys whatever shred of credibility the state had. Let’s remember all the political prisoners in our prayers!
Let’s remember Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa-Ur Rehman, Khalid Saifi, Ishrat Jahan, Siddique Kappan and all the other political prisoners.
Featured image is for representational purposes only. Photo credit: Bhagat Singh Ambedkar Students Organisation (BASO).
This story first appeared on youthkiawaaz.com