Nowhere in the world has Islamophobia as dangerously manifested as it has in India today. Well-known academic and Islamophobia specialist Khaled Beydoun has categorically described India as the “epicenter of global Islamophobia.” This is not just because of the frequency of Islamophic attacks – a daily occurrence now – or the depth of depravity when listening to the demonizing language or even the level of violence perpetrated against Muslims. Beyond that, the gravity of Islamophobia in India is twofold: first, the unabashed institutional support for Islamophobia in the highest political offices in the country documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and second is no recourse for Indian Muslims to appeal to the judiciary, police or any other legal authorities for meaningful protection.
Today, it’s open season on Muslims in India. With such hubris, there isn’t even the pretence of abiding by the rule of law or acknowledging the rights of minorities. It is a rabid, unadulterated, hate-mongering that demonstrates in the most obscene of ways. This includes well-documented, blatant prejudice and discrimination against Muslims and other minorities that has stripped citizenship from millions of people and demagoguery that threatens to lynch Muslims in broad daylight – with police watching. In a twisted way, there seems to be a sense of amusement, even glee, at the rising levels of hate speech and violence directed toward Muslims, Christians, Dalits, Sikhs and other minorites.
All this makes the unabashed nature of Islamophobia in India a monstrosity. Now, as if all this wasn't enough, two official, highly ranked representatives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal, have made inexcusable comments about the Prophet Muhammad. The Muslim world has been enraged, and the Arabian Gulf has led the pushback and are openly condemning the slippery-tongued, two-faced Hindutva fascists who benefit from the Gulf economy and still insult its most sacred values. Even though, both perpetrators have had charges filed against them, it does not seem to be enough. In fact, Sharma was online balking at the charges and suggesting that the Indian people and the BJP stand with her. What now?
First, the Arabian Gulf has been closely watching, with considerable concern, the violent nature of Hindutva fascism in India. More and more, leadership in Gulf countries have expressed concern, now outright anger, at attacks on Muslims in India. This is because the Arabian Gulf is home to millions of Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Afghans. Not only that, there are deep historical, cultural and religious links between South Asian and the Gulf region. If any region understands South Asia, it is here. Therefore, it should be of no surprise that the Gulf has finally thrown down the gauntlet. In a pointed tweet, Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah al-Khater said: “The Islamophobic discourse has reached dangerous levels in a country long known for its diversity and coexistence. Unless officially and systemically confronted, the systemic hate speech targeting Islam in India will be considered a deliberate insult against 2 billion Muslims.”
Likewise, Kuwait lodged a strong protest against India's ambassador, amid growing calls on social media for a boycott of Indian goods in the Gulf. The Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman described the “obscene rudeness” of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party towards Islam as a form of “war.” At the time of writing, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) all condemned the comments. In addition, both the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also condemned the remarks. India is, rightfully, in panic mode.
India and the GCC countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – have strong economic ties. The Arabian Gulf is home to about 9.3 million Indian residents and is a major source of remittances for India. In fact, Indian expats in the Gulf remitted about $49 billion in 2019 – %2 of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and two-thirds of total remittances to the country that year. That is huge, and considering the economic difficulties India is currently facing, it is bewildering that it continues to toe an Islamophobic line the way it does. Any economic sanctions from the Arabian Gulf to India would have a devastating impact on its troubled economy.
The BJP has long faced accusations of stoking anti-Muslim sentiment in India and pursuing policies that discriminate against Muslims and other religious minorities. In March, India objected to the creation of a United Nations-recognised international day to combat Islamophobia that was deftly coordinated by Pakistan under the leadership of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. But, still there was no large-scale condemnation of India for doing so. Now, the situation has turned. And the Arabian Gulf is furious at this Hindutva demagoguery.
To understand the origins of Islamophobia in India, its important to consider its direct link to the Hindutva social imaginary, a poisonous social imaginary that paints a misleading, false, monolithic image of India and then positions Muslims as its nemesis. Unless this imagainary is challenged, Islamophobia and violence will continue to rise. Already, that demonizing narrative is being used to justify acts of violence such as “cow vigilantism,” also known as “gau rakshak,” which has led to lynching of Muslims on the dubious, perverse rationale that they are secretly killing cows. Ironically, a country where cows are sacred is among the largest beef exporters in the world, “ghar wapsi” – forced conversion. India is encouraging Muslims to convert to Hinduism under the threat of violence. All in all, there is a carefully orchestrated strategy with clear political support to demonize Islam and Muslims to rationalize crimes against them both in India and Kashmir. Finally, now, it seems enough is enough and the Arabian Gulf has decided to retaliate, and it remains to be seen how India will respond.
