Police harass, assault Muslims to stop them from voting
In a draconian move to suppress minority voters and keep the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power, police in Uttar Pradesh state assaulted, harassed, and even barricaded Muslim voters inside their homes to stop them from casting their votes in the ongoing elections.
A number of viral videos shows Muslim residents saying that the police were snatching away their voter ID cards, verbally abusing them, and beating them. One Muslim woman was recorded shouting warnings, telling Muslims not to leave their houses due to the police brutality.
A Muslim candidate from the opposition party, Asim Raja, stated that the police have “captured the polling booths” and are not allowing Muslims to cast their votes.
“There is special barricading in Muslim areas to hinder them from coming out of their house… There’s been barely 8-10% polling from Muslim areas till now,” he said. “This is no election. This is robbery.”
Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh have been subjected to threats and hate speech from Hindu supremacists throughout the year. Earlier in 2022, Telangana state BJP leader Raja Singh threatened Muslim voters who do not vote for the BJP, claiming that Chief Minister and vitriolic Hindu supremacist Yogi Adityanath will use “thousands of bulldozers” to attack “traitors” who do not vote for him in the upcoming elections.
The authoritarian crackdown on minority voters is yet another indication of India’s descent towards a violent Hindu supremacist state.
BJP leaders join Hindu supremacist mob, attempt to barge into a mosque in Karnataka
Thousands of Hindu extremists, including BJP leaders, attempted to violently break into a 200-year-old mosque in the BJP-ruled Karnataka state and claim it as a Hindu temple.
The mob gathered outside Jamia Masjid in Karnataka’s Srirangapatana district, chanting anti-Muslim slogans, but were stopped by the police. However, the mob was able to put up a banner showing Hindu supremacist icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a man who openly advocated for the rape of Muslim women.
The mob was mobilized by the violent Hindu supremacist group Hindu Jagran Vedike. The group and its members have been complicit in the anti-Muslim violence across the state since its formation.
Recently, the violent Hindu supremacist group Bajrang Dal filed a plea in the Karnataka High Court demanding that the Jama Masjid be vacated immediately and handed over to Hindus.
None of the BJP leaders complicit in the violent mob attack have faced any consequences or condemnation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, indicating how the BJP normalizes and encourages violence against Muslims in India.
Delhi Court slams police for false reports, bails two Muslim activists
Two Muslim activists who were detained on false charges by the Delhi Police under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were granted bail by a Delhi court.
The activists, Israr Ali Khan and Mohd Shamoon, were detained on August 27 prior to the BJP government’s arbitrary ban on the Muslim organization Popular Front of India (PFI).
The two activists were released on October 3 but detained again on October 5 on suspicion of raising slogans in support of the organization.
However, the court emphasized the inconsistencies in the police investigation, suggesting that the Muslim activists were the victims of judicial harassment.
“There is nothing recorded to show that the accused persons were involved in any such kind of unlawful activity,” the court order said.
The ban on multiple peaceful Muslim organizations in India for alleged “anti-national” activity is in stark contrast to the way violent Hindu supremacist groups are allowed to form and inflict violence against minorities freely.
