BJP leaders suggest further anti-Muslim laws after promoting anti-Muslim film
Members of the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have begun suggesting that Muslims should face “strict punishment” if they attempt to convert Hindu women to Islam after watching and promoting an anti-Muslim propaganda film, “The Kerala Story,” which demonizes the Muslim community as terrorist conspirators and falsely claims that that 32,000 Hindu women from Kerala state converted to Islam to join ISIS.
Uttar Pradesh state Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh has claimed that the film is based on “true events,” adding that “if anyone dares to do any such thing in Uttar Pradesh, strict action will be taken against them.”
Uttar Pradesh Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad echoed the sentiment, saying that “strict laws” should be passed in the country to further criminalize any interaction between Muslim men and Hindu women.
Under BJP rule, India has seen an increase of mob violence against Muslim men who are suspected of even having a conversation with a Hindu woman.
Court orders rightwing news stations to take down fake “love jihad” report
As the mainstream Indian media continues to function largely as a propaganda tool for the Modi regime, the Delhi High Court has ordered some rightwing news channels and social media platforms to take down a news report that falsely accused a Muslim man of forcibly converting a Hindu woman.
The court’s order comes after a Muslim man, Azmat Ali Khan, filed for the report to be taken down after he was wrongfully booked over false claims of forcibly converting a Hindu woman.
Stating that there was evidence of a “severe threat” against Khan’s safety due to the spread of the false report, the court ordered that links to the report included in Khan’s petition would be “immediately blocked for public viewing.”
The harassment Khan is facing is part of the widespread problem of Muslim men being demonized for interacting with Hindu women and facing threats to their lives and safety as a result.
Court allows Hindu supremacists to do more surveys on historic Gyanvapi mosque
The High Court of Uttar Pradesh state’s Allahabad city has given the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) permission to further infringe on Muslim places of worship by carrying out a “scientific survey” of the historic Gyanvapi mosque.
Hindu supremacist groups have been targeting the Gyanvapi masjid for a year, falsely claiming that a Shivling, or a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva, is in the mosque. Following this claim, Hindu extremist groups demanded that the mosque be converted into a temple or opened up for Hindus to worship.
This new ASI survey would allow Hindu supremacists to carbon date the fountain, potentially to fuel Hindu supremacist claims that Gyanvapi was built on the foundations of a destroyed temple.
Muslims have already been banned from holding large prayer gatherings in the mosque to protect the alleged Shivling, which the mosque caretakers argue is merely a fountain. As of yet, the Supreme Court has failed to intervene and protect the Muslim community’s right to maintain the sanctity of their mosque as per the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which forbids changes in religious character for any place of worship.
