India is bleeding with the blood of innocent Muslims


India is bleeding. The time to remain silent is over. The brutal murder in Rajsamand, Rajasthan of Afrazul Islam a migrant worker from West Bengal has brought home searingly the vulnerability of minorities, especially Muslims to hate crimes being committed against them in the India of today. The murderer, Shambhu Lal Regar can be heard on the video that he got made of the killing justifying his crime in the name of so called 'Love Jihad', a bogey conjured up by proponents of hatred to demonize and target Muslim men in consensual love relationships with Hindu women.

Regar's statement sounds eerily like that of Nathuram Godse justifying the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Both justify murder in the name of hatred. Both are proud of committing hate crimes.
We call upon all citizens to join us on Wednesday, 13 December, 5 PM at Parliament Street, New Delhi to protest against the rising tide of hatred against Muslims in India and especially Rajasthan.

Muslims are being stripped of their rights as citizens of India to life, dignity, equality and the freedom of religion and belief. As citizens of India it is time we stood up for the rights of our fellow citizens and said in one voice - I am Muslim, I am India.

It is frightening and tragic that lynching and killing of Muslims is today being discussed on media as part of a reasoned debate. Hatred cannot be justified through reason. There is no justification to murder. The time to remain silent is over. At stake is no longer just the unity and integrity of this nation. We are now facing something much bigger; it is humanity that is on the verge of being destroyed in our country. This has to be resisted on the streets, together, holding hands and standing united.

We demand immediate dismissal of the Vasundhra Raje government in Rajasthan. It had sworn in to defend the Indian Constitution and protect the life and liberty of all citizens. It has not only miserably failed on that count and several others but worse has promoted hatred against minorities.

Media reports suggest that court cases of the hate crimes against Muslims are either being diluted or going nowhere. That the murderers have often, as in the case of Shambhu Lal Regar, filmed their crimes on video and circulated them on social media reflects the culture of impunity that allows such hate crimes to go unpunished. The ambiguous public statements of politicians holding government positions in Rajasthan and at the Centre encourage these killings. They are as responsible for the hate crimes as those who do the actual killings. These are crimes of commission and omission against the Constitution of India with its promise of equality of all citizens and right to life and freedom of religion and belief.

On 13 December, 2017 let’s gather as citizens of India and say in one voice that the hatred, the violence directed against Muslims is Not in My Name. As citizens its time we stood up for the rights of our fellow citizens and said – I am Muslim, I am India.


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