IAMC Says Nirmala Sitharaman’s Denial of Muslim Persecution ‘Twisted Propaganda’

Date:

The Indian government urged to immediately retract Finance Minister’s “insensitive and inaccurate comments and take concrete steps to stop Hindu extremist violence against its Muslim citizens.” 

Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC – The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has strongly condemned and vehemently refuted India’s Finance Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nirmala Sitharaman’s claim that Muslims are not being subjected to violence and persecution because their population, “is only growing in numbers.”

A statement issued by IAMC Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed on Saturday said Sitharaman’s remark echoes the popular Hindu supremacist propaganda claim that the Muslim population was increasing at a rate disproportionate to Hindus. The idea that Muslims are “overpopulating” and “overtaking” Hindus in India is then used by BJP leaders and Hindu militant groups to whip up Islamophobia and violence against Muslim minorities, it noted.

“Sitharaman’s use of ‘population growth’ myth to justify the systemic oppression of Indian Muslims is nothing more than a twisted propaganda tactic widely used by the Hindu far-right to mask the reality of Muslim persecution and discrimination in India,” the IAMC statement said.

“Her statement is not just a flagrant denial of human rights abuses but also a dangerous attempt to spread disinformation and gaslight the global community about the atrocities committed against Indian Muslims. Sitharaman’s rhetoric must be debunked and condemned to ensure that human rights violations do not go unnoticed or unchallenged,” it added.

Speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), a Washington-based think tank, Sitharaman claimed that there was a “negative Western perception” regarding India when PIIE President Adam S. Posen asked her how foreign investors’ perception of the country was affected by Western reporting on India’s political climate, including on the persecution of Muslims.

In response, Sitharaman outrightly denied Muslim persecution while backing it with the Hindu far-right conspiracy theory of “Muslim population growth.”

“(This is) not to even imply that I accept the perception that you’re referring to – India has the second largest Muslim population in the world, and the population is only growing in numbers,” Sitharaman said.

“This blatantly false notion is not only a testament to the Sitharaman’s deliberate ignorance but also a willful disregard for the overwhelming evidence presented by numerous authoritative sources, including United Nations Special Rapporteurs, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the US Department of State, the US Holocaust Memorial, and the world’s most prominent human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International,” the IAMC statement said.

Most of these reports have noted that over the last nine years, the BJP government has openly promoted a divisive and discriminatory agenda that led to a surge in the targeting of Muslims and other minorities, it said.

“The government has passed discriminatory laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act, which, combined with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), is designed to render Muslims stateless and has led to widespread protests and violence against the Muslim community throughout India. The beef ban laws, the anti-conversion laws, and the hijab ban in Karnataka are only meant to marginalise Muslims further,” the IAMC noted.

The statement alleged that Hindu militant groups affiliated with the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), have been given a free hand to commit violence against Muslims, including pogroms, mob lynchings, and attacks on their homes, businesses, and places of worship.

“In the past three months alone, at least 10 Muslims were lynched throughout India over the baseless accusations of transporting/consuming beef or theft. In February, Bajrang Dal militants killed and burned the bodies of two Muslims over suspicion of transporting cattle in BJP-ruled Haryana state.

“Furthermore, the government’s complicity in the horrific anti-Muslim pogroms in Delhi in 2020, which resulted in the death of over 50 people, mostly Muslims; the rampant bulldozing of Muslim homes, businesses, and mosques; the ongoing human rights violations in Kashmir and extreme surge in hate speeches calling for Muslim genocide are well-documented,” the statement said.

It noted that Supreme Court judges recently called the State “impotent” for failing to curb anti-Muslim hate speeches nationwide.

“Just a week before Sitharaman spoke at the PIIE, Hindu extremist mobs during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami stormed Muslim localities in at least 6 Indian states, where they pelted stones, brutalised Muslim residents, torched vehicles, desecrated mosques, looted homes and businesses,” it said.

These actions, the IAMC said, demonstrate a clear pattern of persecution and violence against Muslims in India, and Sitharaman’s comments only serve to minimize and trivialize the gravity of the situation.

IAMC called on the Indian government to immediately retract Sitharaman’s insensitive and inaccurate comments and take concrete steps to stop Hindu extremist violence against its Muslim citizens. “We also call on the international community to hold the Indian government accountable for its actions and to take steps to ensure the protection of the rights of all religious minorities in India,” the statement concluded.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

spot_imgspot_img

Popular

More like this
Related

Centre for Policy Research Faces Tax Demand of Rs 10.16 Crore; Chief Executive to Resign

The think tank grapples with financial blow as tax...

UP: No Attempted Murder Charge, But 3 Get Jail Terms for Attack on Labourers 

Rampur court verdict raises debate over intent and justice...

Rift in Samajwadi Party’s Muslim Leadership Comes to the Fore

Discontent among SP's Muslim leaders surfaces as Azam Khan...