In pursuance of its Hindu nationalist agenda, the BJP government is pushing to alter marriage and inheritance laws so that a uniform civil code is followed rather than different religious rules. Such anti-Muslim rhetoric is being propagated in certain states that will serve as testing grounds to determine backlash against the nationalist party ahead of the elections in the case that certain laws are forced to stray away from Islam altogether. In addition to the atrocities being committed against Muslims in India and the illegal occupation of Kashmir, this is finally pushing too far.
The issue was brought to the limelight by the Chief Minister of the state of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who candidly stated that most Muslim people he met were against laws that permitted polygamy. Thus, he proposed the solution to be a uniform civil code that was void of any religious associations—except supporting the majority’s Hindu practices—so that legal matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance would no longer be governed by different rules for different sections of people. What makes this more troublesome is that this policy would only be implemented in certain areas like Assam to judge how much criticism the BJP party would be subjected to before the 2024 elections and if they will be able to recover from it.
Actions such as this only give insight into the prejudiced collective mindset of the Indian government which is willing to sacrifice the right to profess and practice religion for the sake of marginalising Muslims to the point that they are isolated and for testing their future electoral performance. Surely, this will not go unaddressed by the international community, especially considering that the month of April saw multiple attacks against Muslims in the country. Not only were there calls for a genocide but mobs went out to attack Muslims and their property during the festival of Ram Navmi. The world cannot be blind to the plight of the Muslims at the hands of the BJP government and Pakistan must continue to play its part in highlighting the need for intervention, particularly in Kashmir. No longer is such an attitude tolerable.
The issue was brought to the limelight by the Chief Minister of the state of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who candidly stated that most Muslim people he met were against laws that permitted polygamy. Thus, he proposed the solution to be a uniform civil code that was void of any religious associations—except supporting the majority’s Hindu practices—so that legal matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance would no longer be governed by different rules for different sections of people. What makes this more troublesome is that this policy would only be implemented in certain areas like Assam to judge how much criticism the BJP party would be subjected to before the 2024 elections and if they will be able to recover from it.
Actions such as this only give insight into the prejudiced collective mindset of the Indian government which is willing to sacrifice the right to profess and practice religion for the sake of marginalising Muslims to the point that they are isolated and for testing their future electoral performance. Surely, this will not go unaddressed by the international community, especially considering that the month of April saw multiple attacks against Muslims in the country. Not only were there calls for a genocide but mobs went out to attack Muslims and their property during the festival of Ram Navmi. The world cannot be blind to the plight of the Muslims at the hands of the BJP government and Pakistan must continue to play its part in highlighting the need for intervention, particularly in Kashmir. No longer is such an attitude tolerable.
