No Muslim in Union Cabinet For The First Time In Indian History After Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Resigns

No Muslim remains in India’s Union Council of Ministers for the first time in history following the resignation of Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, an associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Naqvi’s resignation has also ended any Muslim representation among the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 395 Members of Parliament, leaving India’s ruling party represented almost entirely by Hindus who are either tolerant of Hindu extremism or open supporters of it.

India’s 200 million Muslim minority community remains vulnerable to the threat of an impending genocide pushed by the Hindu extremist BJP and its supporters. With no Muslim representation remaining in the ruling party or in the Union Council of Ministers, the threat of India becoming a Hindu nation, as championed by Hindu extremists, becomes more grave.

Ahead Of Eid Al Adha, Karnataka BJP Minister Warns Of Strict Action If Muslims Sacrifice Cattle 

Days before the Muslim holiday Eid al Adha, Karnataka Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu B. Chavan warned Muslims not to sacrifice cattle for the festival, threatening “strict action” against any Muslims who slaughter cows, which are considered holy to Hindus.

“Police department officials in all the border areas of the state should be vigilant and ensure that the Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act is not violated. If cow slaughter is found, a [police report] will be registered in the local police station immediately and strict action will be taken against the culprits,” said Chavan.

Chavan further encouraged Hindu vigilantes to file cases against Muslim sellers and buyers of cattle, adding to threats already faced by Muslim vendors in the state from Hindu supremacist groups seeking to police Muslim-owned businesses.

Cow slaughter has been made illegal in BJP-ruled Karnataka, which has increasingly cracked down on the sale of halal meat and the actions of Muslim vendors.

Muslim Journalist Mohammad Zubair Moves Supreme Court Over False Police Case

Mohammed Zubair, Muslim journalist and co-founder of the fact-checking news site AltNews, moved the Supreme Court challenging the Uttar Pradesh state High Court’s refusal to revoke a case registered against him for calling Hindu extremists “hatemongers.” The bench will list the matter on July 8.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves contended Zubair had committed no crime based on the police report. He further emphasized that there are numerous death threats against Zubair based upon these false charges.

A Hindu extremist leader had filed the police report after Zubair named a number of open Hindu supremacists as “hate mongers” on Twitter. These included Bajrang Muni Udasin, who threatened to drag Muslim women out of their homes and rape them in public; Yati Narsinghanand, who called upon Hindus to wage war against Muslims; and Swami Anand Swarup, who urged Hindus to boycott and “pick up swords and guns” against Muslims.

Zubair remains in police custody in a separate case filed against him by an anonymous Hindu extremist Twitter user, who claimed that Zubair had offended Hindu sentiments by posting a screenshot of a Bollywood movie.

Muslim Activist Sharjeel Imam Assaulted In Prison; Human Rights Group Files Complaint

Muslim human rights defender Sharjeel Imam, who has been imprisoned since 2020 for protesting the Modi regime’s discriminatory anti-Muslim policies, was physically assaulted in a Delhi prison by the jail’s Assistant Superintendent and other inmates.

Imam has reported that the Assistant Superintendent of Tihar Jail, along with 8-9 inmates, had entered his cell under the garb of a search. They proceeded to throw away his belongings, physically assaulted him, and verbally abused him, calling him a “terrorist” and “anti-national.”

India’s National Confederation of Human Right Organizations (NCHRO), an umbrella body of human rights organizations and activists, has filed a complaint on Imam’s behalf.

Imam has been accused of making inflammatory speeches against the Modi government regarding its anti-Muslim Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), particularly at Jamia Milia Islamia University in December 2019, which police officials falsely claimed led to violence in the area outside the university.

Imam is one of many Muslim activists and journalists who have been detained under false charges of terrorism and sedition due to their advocacy.