'Invisible in our own country': Being Muslim in Modi's India

Six years ago, a Muslim lad returned red-faced from a well-known schoolhouse successful the bluish Indian metropolis of Agra.

"My classmates called maine a Pakistani terrorist," the nine-year-old told his mother.

Reema Ahmad, an writer and counsellor, remembers the time vividly.

"Here was a feisty, small lad with his fists clenched truthful tightly that determination were nail marks successful his palm. He was truthful angry."

As her lad told the story, his classmates were having a mock combat erstwhile the teacher had stepped out.

"That's erstwhile 1 radical of boys pointed astatine him and said, 'This is simply a Pakistani terrorist. Kill him!'"

He revealed immoderate classmates had besides called him nali ka kida (insect of the gutter). Ms Ahmad complained, and was told they "were imagining things… specified things didn't happen".

Ms Ahmad yet pulled her lad retired of school. Today, the 16-year-old is home-schooled.

"I sensed the community's tremors done my son's experiences, a feeling I ne'er callback having successful my ain younker increasing up here," she says.

"Our people privilege whitethorn person protected america from feeling Muslim each the time. Now, it seems people and privilege marque you a much disposable target."

Ever since Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to powerfulness successful 2014, India's 200 million-odd Muslims person had a turbulent journey.

Hindu vigilante mobs person lynched suspected cattle traders and targeted tiny Muslim-owned businesses. Petitions have been filed against mosques. Internet trolls person orchestrated online "auctions" of Muslim women. Right-wing groups and sections of mainstream media person fuelled Islamophobia with accusations of "jihad" - "love jihad", for example, falsely accuses Muslim men of converting Hindu women by marriage.

And anti-Muslim hate speech has surged - 3 quarters of incidents were reported from states ruled by the BJP.

"Muslims person go second-class citizens, an invisible number successful their ain country," says Ziya Us Salam, writer of a caller book, Being Muslim successful Hindu India.

But the BJP - and Mr Modi - contradict that minorities are being mistreated successful India.

"These are accustomed tropes of immoderate radical who don't fuss to conscionable radical extracurricular their bubbles. Even India's minorities don't bargain this communicative anymore," the premier curate told Newsweek magazine.

Yet Ms Ahmad - whose household has lived successful Agra for decades, counting galore Hindu friends amid the city's serpentine lanes and crowded homes - feels a change.

"If they deed america with missiles, we volition participate their homes and termination them," the connection connected the radical said, echoing thing Mr Modi had said astir sidesplitting terrorists and enemies of India wrong their homes.

"I mislaid my cool. I told my friends what's incorrect with you? Do you condone sidesplitting of civilians and children?" Ms Ahmad recalled. She believed successful advocating for peace.

"Someone asked, are you pro-Pakistani conscionable due to the fact that you are Muslim? They accused maine of being anti-national," she said.

"Suddenly appealing for non-violence was equated with being anti-national. I told them I don't person to beryllium convulsive to enactment my country. I discontinue the group."

The changing ambiance is felt successful different ways too. For long, her spacious location has been a hangout for her son's classmates, careless of sex oregon religion. But present the bogey of "love jihad" means Hindu girls are asked to permission by a definite hr and not linger successful his room.

"My begetter and I sat my lad down and told them that the ambiance is not bully - you person to bounds your friendships, beryllium careful, not enactment retired excessively late. You ne'er know. Things tin crook into 'love jihad' astatine immoderate time."

Environmental activistic Erum, a fifth-generation nonmigratory of Agra, has besides noticed a displacement successful conversations among the city's children arsenic she worked successful section schools.

"Don't speech to me, my parent has told maine not to," she heard 1 kid archer a Muslim classmate.

"I americium thinking, really?! This reflects the profoundly ingrained phobia [of Muslims]. This volition turn into thing which we volition not heal easily," Ms Erum said.

But for herself, she had tons of Hindu friends, and did not consciousness insecure arsenic a Muslim woman.

It's conscionable not astir the children. In his tiny bureau on a bustling Agra street, Siraj Qureshi, a section writer and interfaith organiser, laments the fraying of the aged bonhomie betwixt Hindus and Muslims.

He recounts a caller incidental wherever a antheral delivering mutton successful the metropolis was stopped by Hindu right-wing radical members, handed implicit to the constabulary and thrown into jail. "He had the due licence, but the constabulary inactive arrested him. He was aboriginal released," Mr Qureshi says.

Many successful the assemblage enactment a displacement successful behaviour among Muslims traveling by train, prompted by incidents successful which Muslim passengers were reportedly attacked for allegedly carrying beef. "Now, we're each cautious, avoiding non-vegetarian nutrient successful nationalist transport oregon opting retired [of nationalist transport] altogether if we tin spend to," says Ms Ahmad.

Kaleem Ahmed Qureshi, a bundle engineer-turned jewellery decorator and musician, is simply a seventh-generation Agra resident, who besides leads practice walks successful the city.

Carrying his rubab, a lute-like philharmonic instrumentality commonly played successful Afghanistan, helium took a shared taxi with a Hindu co-passenger from Delhi to Agra recently. "When helium saw the case, helium asked maine to unfastened it, fearing it was a gun. I sensed his absorption was influenced by my name," Mr Qureshi says.

"There is this anxiousness [which we unrecorded with]. When I question now, I person to beryllium precise alert of wherever I am, what I say, what I do. I consciousness unease adjacent astatine disclosing my sanction to the summons checker successful the train."

Mr Qureshi tin spot a wide basal cause: "Politics has mixed poison successful the narration betwixt the communities."

"There is nary crushed for Muslims to beryllium anxious," Syed Zafar Islam, a nationalist spokesperson of the BJP, told maine connected a caller lukewarm day successful Delhi, attributing rising Islamophobia to "irresponsible media houses".

"A tiny incidental takes spot somewhere, and the media amplifies it similar it has ne'er happened before. In a state of 1.4 cardinal people, respective specified incidents tin instrumentality spot betwixt communities oregon wrong communities," helium adds.

"You cannot generalise 1 oregon 2 incidents [and accidental the ruling enactment is anti-Muslim]. If idiosyncratic portrays it arsenic thing targeted against Muslims, they are wrong."

I asked him however he'd respond if his children came location from school, saying classmates had labelled him a "Pakistani terrorist" for the family's religion. The ex-banker, who joined the enactment successful 2014, has 2 children, 1 presently successful school.

"Like immoderate different parent, I would consciousness bad. It is the work of the schoolhouse to marque definite specified things don't happen. Parents should marque definite they don't accidental specified things," helium said.

What astir the speech of BJP establishing a Hindu rashtra (state) successful a state wherever 79% of the radical are Hindu?

"People cognize this is rhetoric. Has our authorities oregon enactment said specified things? Why does media springiness truthful overmuch abstraction to radical who accidental specified things? We consciousness upset erstwhile media gives abstraction to specified people," Mr Alam said.

But then, what astir the deficiency of Muslim representation? The BJP has nary Muslim ministers, MPs successful either location of the parliament, and lone 1 subordinate of a section assembly (MLA) among the much than 1,000 nationwide.

Mr Alam, a erstwhile BJP MP himself, said this was not intentional.

"Muslims are being utilized by the Congress and different absorption parties to service their docket to decision the BJP. If a Muslim campaigner is fielded by a enactment and Muslims don't ballot for him, which enactment is going to springiness him a ticket?"

It is existent lone 8% of India's Muslims voted for the BJP successful 2019, and are progressively voting arsenic a bloc against Mr Modi's party. In the 2020 Bihar authorities elections, 77% supported an anti-BJP alliance; successful 2021, 75% backed the determination Trinamool Congress successful West Bengal; and successful 2022, 79% supported the absorption Samajwadi Party successful Uttar Pradesh.

But Mr Alam argues the Congress-led absorption parties instilled "fear and anxiety" successful the assemblage to guarantee they remained loyal. The Modi government, connected the different hand, "doesn't differentiate [between communities]".

"The payment schemes are reaching each the people. Muslims are the biggest beneficiaries of immoderate of the schemes. No large riots person taken spot successful the past 10 years." In information rioting successful Delhi implicit a arguable citizenship instrumentality successful 2020 near much than 50 radical dead, astir of them Muslims - but India has seen acold worse implicit the years since independence.

Mr Alam blamed the assemblage for insulating itself from the mainstream.

"Muslims indispensable introspect. They should cull being treated arsenic a [mere] ballot bank, and not beryllium influenced by spiritual leaders.

"Mr Modi is trying hard to bring nine unneurotic truthful that radical coexist happily and they are not misled."

I asked him astir however helium looked astatine the aboriginal of Muslims successful India nether Mr Modi's leadership?

"It is precise good.... Minds are changing slowly. More Muslims volition beryllium joining the BJP. Things are looking up."

It is hard to accidental whether things are looking up oregon not.

It is existent that, amidst these turbulent times, galore Muslims accidental their assemblage is undergoing a process of reform.

"Muslims are looking wrong and getting educated. There is simply a concerted effort by Muslim educationists and intellectuals to assistance deserving, needy assemblage students to get educated. The effort to amended connected your ain is laudable but it besides betrays deficiency of religion successful the government," says Mr Salam.

Arzoo Parveen is 1 of those who tin spot a mode retired of poorness with her household successful Bihar - India's poorest authorities - with education.

Unlike Ms Ahmad's son, the roadworthy artifact was not spiritual tensions, but her ain father, frightened of what others would think.

"He said we person wealth problems astatine home, you are a grown-up girl, villagers volition speech astir it. I told him we can't proceed to unrecorded similar this. Women are moving ahead. We can't enactment our futures connected hold."

Arzoo's imagination is to go a doctor, inspired aft proceeding however her parent died astatine the section hospital. But it was colony teachers' stories of women becoming engineers and doctors made her judge it was possible.

"Why not me?" she asked, and wrong a twelvemonth she had go the archetypal pistillate successful her household to prosecute higher education.

Her roadworthy retired of the colony was not done a state-run school, but Rahmani30, a escaped coaching schoolhouse for underprivileged Muslim students acceptable up by Maulana Wali Rahmani, a Muslim erstwhile person and academician, successful 2008.

Rahmani30 present mentors 850 students - girls and boys - successful 3 cities, including Patna, Bihar's capital. Chosen students unrecorded successful the school's rented buildings and cram for nationalist entranceway exams successful engineering, medicine, and chartered accountancy. Many of them are first-generation learners, children of effect vendors, workplace workers, labourers and operation workers.

Some 600 alumni are already moving arsenic bundle engineers, chartered accountants and successful different professions. Six are doctors.

Next year, Arzoo volition articulation much than 2 cardinal competitors - if not much - to vie for 1 of the 100,000-odd seats that India's 707 aesculapian colleges connection each year.

"I americium acceptable for the challenge. I privation to go a gynaecologist," she says.

Mohammed Shakir sees acquisition astatine Rahmani30 arsenic his summons to a amended beingness - 1 which let him to instrumentality attraction of his struggling family.

Last April, the 15-year-old, and his person embarked connected a six-hour autobus travel to Patna, travelling done a territory deed by spiritual riots sparked by a Hindu festival procession. They made the travel with a vessel of h2o and a fewer dates, stayed overnight successful a mosque, sat for the Rahmani30 entranceway exam and cracked it.

"My parents were truthful scared, they said don't go. I told them, "The clip is now. If I don't spell now, I don't cognize what my aboriginal volition be," Shakir said.

For this teenager, who dreams of becoming a machine scientist, the fears implicit spiritual hostility appeared to beryllium the slightest of his worries.

"I had told my mum that I volition instrumentality aft acing the exam. Nothing volition hap to maine connected the way. After all, wherefore should thing spell wrong? In my village, Hindus and Muslims unrecorded unneurotic successful cleanable harmony."

So what astir the aboriginal of India's Muslims - besides divided connected class, sect, caste and determination lines - successful the world's astir populous country?

Mr Salam talks astir a consciousness of "lingering fear".

"People speech astir deficiency of jobs and ostentation for Muslim community. But it's conscionable not astir ostentation and employment. It is astir close to life."

Recent memoirs by young Muslims talk of akin fears.

"Almost everyone has picked a state wherever they would tally to erstwhile the inevitable happens. Some person got successful interaction with uncles settled successful Canada, the US, Turkey oregon the UK, if they ever request asylum. Even idiosyncratic similar me, who felt harmless adjacent successful times of communal violence, present worries astir my family's aboriginal successful my homeland," writes Zeyad Masroor Khan successful his caller publication City connected Fire: A Boyhood successful Aligarh.

In Agra, Ms Ahmad besides feels the value of uncertainty astir the future.

"In the opening I thought it [Muslim-baiting] was fringe and it would pass. That was 10 years ago. Now I consciousness a batch has been permanently mislaid and damaged."

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