WASHINGTON, DC April 5 : The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has strongly condemned Hindu extremist violence against Muslims in various Indian states over the last week. The Hindutva extremist mobs participating in processions for the Hindu festival of Ram Navami have systematically attacked Muslims, along with their homes, businesses, and places of worship in at several Indian states, including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
“It is unacceptable that some Hindutva extremists in India are using Hindu festivals to terrorise Indian Muslims. It is profoundly alarming that these acts of large-scale violence are premeditated, organised and committed in the presence and full knowledge of the police, who according to numerous video reports, are doing nothing to stop them,” said a statement issued by Rasheed Ahmed, Executive Director of IAMC.
News reports and videos circulating on different social media platforms indicate that the violence has been orchestrated by the militant affiliates of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), including Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the statement said.
Recalling similar incidents during Hindu festivals last year, the statement cited a newly released report from the Citizens and Lawyers Initiative, ‘Routes of Wrath: Weaponising Religious Processions’. The report provides deeply researched documentation of the weaponisation of the Ram Navami and Hanuman riots.
The IAMC urged international human rights organizations and civil society groups to take note of the deteriorating situation in India, which has the potential to turn into a full-blown Muslim and Christian genocide.
IAMC also called on the US State Department to ask the Indian government to stop stoking the anti-Muslim sentiment, punish the Hindutva extremists involved in anti-Muslim violence, and accept the recommendation of the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).