There is a silent but systematic slaughter against Muslims in India since the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over three years ago and his silence to condemn attacks on the minorities has emboldened extremist right-wing groups, a Washington Post report said.
In an opinion acritical published on Wednesday, Indian journalist and writer, Nilanjana Bhowmick mentioned the latest incident of attack on a 15-year-old Muslim boy who was stabbed to death by a group of men aboard a train before they mocked their Muslim caps and taunted them for eating beef.
Before his meeting on Sunday with President Trump, Modi addressed India through his Indian program called Man Ki Baat (Heart-to-heart talk), and while he spoke on every other topic, from yoga to sports to toilets and books and gifts, he did not utter a single word on the killing of the Muslim boy, Junaid Khan.
"Modi's silence, in fact, is beginning to feel like a redux of the Gujarat riots in 2002 which killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. For years he stayed silent, and when he spoke finally, he had compared the riots to a puppy being run over," Ms Bhowmick wrote.
A report by Amnesty International that was issued on Wednesday, described the situation as "deeply worrying". The report criticized Prime Minister Modi and his BJP party for not condemning attacks on Muslims and, in fact, "even justified the attacks at times."
"The Indian Prime Minister, senior BJP leaders and Chief Ministers must break their silence and unequivocally condemn the attacks," the article quoted Aakar Patel, executive director of Amnesty International India, as saying in a statement.
A report by the Mumbai-based Center for Study of Society and Secularism and the UK-based Minority Rights Group International, to be published soon, noted a notable increase in hostility towards India's religious minorities since Modi came to power in 2014 and began to actively promote On Eid-ul-Fitr, Muslim across the India offered prayers while wearing a black band to protest the killing of Junaid and the growing atrocities against Muslim which, the opinion article said, have been increasing since Modi took charge. The report traced the attacks on Muslims that included killing men for eating or storing beef. "And while the list grows longer every day, the violence against Muslims and cow-vigilante groups have not elicited a single tweet of condemnation from India's social media savvy prime minister, who is quick to condemn atrocities all over the world," the report said.
"There is a silent but systematic slaughter against Muslims in progress in India. It's not too late to call it out," the article concluded.
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