Like the previous years, 2024 was no different for India’s minorities, particularly religious minorities like Christians and Muslims. As 2024 was an election year, it was erroneously thought that hopefully 2024 will see a reduction in state-sponsored violence. But this was proven wrong.

In the months leading to the general elections, a completely vicious and one-sided campaign against the religious minorities was orchestrated by right-wing elements with tacit support of the local bureaucracy and the police.

In 2024, five states, i.e., Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh had turned into state-run laboratories to harass religious minorities. The script to target religious minorities was written by top honchos and the task to deliver was given to lesser-known right-wing outfits.

A cacophonic storm was started in Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla, against a local masjid that it was an encroachment and was built illegally, even though the masjid committee had all the relevant documents to prove ownership and sanctions by authorities concerned to add additional floors to the masjid.

But when state power is usurped who cares for evidence or sane advice? The concerted action against the Muslims in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh led to further ostracisation of Muslims who were asked to leave different localities in several towns and cities of the state.

In a similar manner, a doctor couple was asked by right-wing elements to cancel the sale of their house to a Muslim couple in Moradabad-UP, who the locals claimed will vitiate the atmosphere of the colony if the sale went through. Such behaviour has been noticed in several metros across India where small and big builders have started building gated communities for a particular religious denomination only and where buyers from other religious communities are not entertained.

The same script was played in New Delhi, when several old masjids and graveyards were served notices alleging illegal encroachment, and in spite of clear judicial orders, “bulldozer justice” was exercised by the local authorities. People who used to shed crocodile tears refused to condemn and put a stop to the “bulldozer action.”

And this was happening in the national capital! As in most such cases, the lips, eyes and ears of the relevant authorities remained closed. Since their Chief claimed to be of a non-biological origin, they could adopt a non-worldly attitude and continue living a lie.

As if the replay of the old scripts was not enough, the central government brought in a constitutional amendment bill to manage Waqf properties of the Muslim community, properties donated by Muslims for the welfare of Muslims. No government before this one had interfered in the day-to-day management of Waqf properties.

Times had indeed undergone a sea change! To counter the anti-bill narrative, a false narrative was built utilising WhatsApp and other social media platforms to spread canards against the Muslim community and Waqf properties.

Another face of the right-wing politics taking firm roots in the political landscape of the country was evident when different political parties announced their candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Though, the BJP’s allergy to Muslim candidates is self-explanatory even so-called secular parties were not ready to give tickets to Muslim candidates proportionate to their population numbers.

The result was the 18th Lok Sabha was constituted with the lowest share of Muslim MPs in 60 years. Less than 5% of the Lok Sabha members are Muslims despite people from the community forming over 15% of the country’s population. There are currently 24 Muslim MPs (4.4%) in the Lok Sabha.

The party with the most Lok Sabha MPs at present, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has no representatives from the Muslim community. In fact, the decline in the share of the Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha in the 1990s coincided with the rise of the BJP, whose total MP tally crossed the 100-mark for the first time in the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96).

Moreover, during the election campaign the country’s prime minister, instead of talking about the success of his developmental programmes, chose to speak on the fabricated charges against the country’s Muslim community and that if the Congress came to power, it would distribute the country’s wealth among the Muslims.

He also warned people that the Congress would take away their possessions – such as the bridal necklace, or mangalsutra – of Hindu women and give it to its “vote bank” i.e., the Muslims; further claiming that the Congress was planning to eliminate job reservations for SC/ST and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and give reservation to Muslims. He also said that Opposition alliance was asking Muslims to carry out “vote jihad”.

It was erroneously expected that after BJP’s return to power, hate speeches and hate campaigns against minorities would become a thing of the past, but this was only wishful thinking. Nothing of the sort happened. In just two months – August and September 2024 – there were 135 violent attacks on the religious minorities and close to 68 hate speeches!

In the second half of the year, right-wing elements initiated another campaign, this one alleging that hundreds of mosques across the country, including the ones at Varanasi, Mathura and Delhi, were built atop demolished temples. The worst was the canard was about Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh, where police action following throwing stone-pelting against local Muslims led to the deaths of four Muslim youth. A judicial enquiry is ongoing to probe the violence and the “killings” in Sambhal.

An end to this insane campaign was laid when the Supreme Court on December 12 directed courts across India not to entertain or pass orders in any new suits or pleas seeking surveys of mosques to determine whether temples exist beneath them. The court also restrained lower courts from passing any orders in existing suits concerning such disputes, effectively putting a freeze on surveys till the apex court resumes hearing the “six petitions”.

The Supreme Court itself in April 2023, and before that in October 2022, urged relevant authorities to take suo motu action against those indulging in hate speeches, and file FIR against them. Yet, hate speeches had continued to dominate the election campaign. At a conservative estimate around 200 hate speeches were delivered in 2024 alone.

Not only Muslims but, according to a report of the United Christian Forum, 745 cases of hate and violence were committed against the Christian community across India. On Christmas, several incidents of Santa Claus being targeted were reported from several parts of the country.

Overall, it seems that hate has entrenched itself in the Indian political ecosystem and until and unless a cohesive action plan is not put in motion by the central government to rein-in perpetrators, nothing better could be expected even in 2025, as hate has become a fait accompli for India’s religious minorities to further a polarising and divisive political agenda. (IPA Service)