“The laws and courts have been discriminatory in these cases. The burden of proof is now on the victims,” he said. Khan provided several examples of how the courts have appeared to be biased against Muslims. He cited the case against a Muslim in Gujarat, who is still in prison, without evidence, on charges of serving beef at a wedding. “We have seen the saga of discrimination and hatred in the cases of lynchings and Love Jihad which gives a free hand to Hindu right-wing goons,” he said. The Assam government was refusing to renew the contracts of judges of the “foreigner tribunals'' who did not send many Muslims to the detention centers, Khan said. Prof. Apoorvanand, a noted Indian human rights defender, said, “Muslims and Christians are systematically being attacked in India by the use of laws, hate propaganda and street violence. The laws are used to illegalize the food habits of Muslims, Dalits and Christians that affect them adversely in economic terms.” He condemned the so-called “Love Jihad” laws that virtually criminalize marriages between Muslim men and Hindu women and placed the onus to prove innocence on the accused Muslim men. “The idea is to push Muslims in ghettos and disconnect them from the rest of the society. Many states are trying to bring laws that would further marginalize Muslims.” Muslims were also being denied the use of public spaces to pray. “They want to expel all the Muslim symbols from public spaces.” He said the “Hindu society at large and Indians in general were used to the idea of isolation and considering other human beings as “inferiors” since it is a hierarchical society that believes in the idea of seeing others as polluters… What’s happening in India is serious and the world must stop it before it’s too late.” Muslim student activist Afreen Fatima said Muslims and Christian were being isolated in India. “Muslim men are depicted as savages trying to abduct the Hindu women and this propaganda is spread further by the media,” Fatima said. “In the post-colonial country, India, it is ironic that imperial and colonial ideas are being used against its minorities.” It was “worrying and problematic” that laws against Muslim-Hindu marriages, triple talaq and cow protection were being legislated. “We need to think about the ways in which the society can be de-radicalized and these laws not considered okay.” India’s news media had become a "Radio Rwanda, that is not only furthering the agenda of Hindutva but it has become a lynching mob itself.” Participating on a panel titled, “Whatsapp As A Weapon, Hate Speech And Violence,” Ram Bhat, a Fellow at the London School of Economics, said television news depended on trending news on social media “that can be easily manipulated. Any violence that becomes symbolic feeds the profit-making technology companies.” |
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