Chicago – February 22, 2024
The demolition of two mosques in India within days of each other has highlighted the deep religious divide in the country, months before voters head to the polls for a nationwide election that is expected to hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi a rare third term in power.
The twin demolitions in Uttarakhand state and Delhi came just weeks after Modi inaugurated the controversial Ram Mandir, a temple built on the foundations of a centuries-old mosque that was torn down by hardline Hindu crowds in the early 1990s.
That ceremony marked a seismic shift away from modern India’s secular founding principles and was hailed by Hindu nationalists as a crowning moment in their decades-long campaign to reshape the nation.
Deadly violence erupted in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani city last week, after government officials, accompanied by police, razed a mosque and madrassa (an Islamic school), citing “illegal encroachment.”
But advocates working on behalf of the Muslim community point to court documents, seen by CNN, that show no such order had been given.
The demolitions drew incensed residents onto the streets and at least six people have been killed in clashes with police. Authorities have imposed curfews, but scared Muslim families told CNN they just want to leave.
Analysts say these incidents underscore an uncomfortable reality in the world’s largest democracy and fear that inter-religious tensions will increase as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continue to push their populist, yet divisive, policies in the lead up to a nationwide election in just a few months’ time.
The image of India that Modi wants to project is one of a confident, vibrant, and modern superpower. But many of the country’s 230 million Muslims say they are being sidelined and marginalized in the world’s largest democracy.
“This is the worst possible time to be a Muslim in India,” said author Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, adding that it has “become normal to demolish mosques in India.”
“The stigmatization of Muslims is an old story, seen as the new normal. No longer does it shock people.”
