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Through the gauntlet: Key economic metrics indicate PTI is stabilising the economy

Hamza Habib - November 18, 2020 0

After two years in power it seems that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government has finally overcome the financial crisis it inherited from the outgoing...

There are separate rules for poor and rich in Pakistan, regrets PM Imran

News Desk - September 7, 2021 0

Prime Minister Imran Khan has regretted that “there have been separate sets of rules for the poor and the rich” in Pakistan. Speaking at the...

PM Imran holds ‘consultations’ for prime minister of AJK

News Desk - July 27, 2021 0

Prime Minister Imran Khan has started consultations with his close associates to select candidate for the office of the prime minister of Azad Kashmir. According...

NA-133 by-polls: PML-N set to retain seat as Shaista takes lead

News Desk - December 5, 2021 0

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is all set to retain the National Assembly constituency NA-133 in Lahore as its candidate Shaista Pervaiz Malik is...

AJK elections: Polling ends, vote count begins: Two killed in PTI, PPP workers clash

News Desk - July 25, 2021 0

Two people have reportedly been killed in a clash between the PTI and the PPP workers in Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections on Sunday. The...

Fake NZ ‘terror threat’ originated from India, Pakistan presents evidence

News Desk - September 22, 2021 0

Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry revealed on Wednesday that the threatening email to the New Zealand squad - that forced it to call...

Pakistan exposes India; presents irrefutable evidence of Indian sponsored terrorism

Omer Ali Malik - November 14, 2020 0

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Babar Iftikhar and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday morning presented an extensive dossier on Indian state-sponsored...

The chants of "Hindustan Zindabad" and "Jai Shri Ram" echoed across Kanpur, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in India, as a Hindutva-inspired extremist mob paraded a 45-year-old Muslim rickshaw driver through the streets as his daughter begged the crowd to stop. The video took over the social media but the general consensus among the populace is that these lynch mobs have become a routine in India followed by little condemnation and little tangible action from New Delhi. This gruesome attack followed an incident in Indore, a city in the central state of Madhya Pradesh where a Muslim bangle-seller was the target of the Hindu vigilante mob. In the police complaint, Tasleem Ali, the victim in question, alleged five-six men hurled communal slurs at him for selling bangles in a Hindu-dominated area while robbing him of his money and other valuables. If the assault was not enough, what followed the complaint revived the horrific memories of the Nazi Germany. Ali was arrested the very next day on the allegation that he had molested the 13-year-old daughter of one of his alleged attackers. The eyewitnesses say the Ali’s religious identity was the sole reason behind the assault and the baseless accusation against him. The comparison with the Nazi Germany might have been a misplaced assertion had these been isolated incidents in a society where communal harmony was thriving. These two attacks are just a sneak peek into the fallacy that is the largest ‘secular democracy’ India claims to be. Attacks of similar nature have been commonplace, especially since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janta Party swept to power and then was reelected with a bigger majority for a second-term. It has been 7 years that the extremist Hindutva ideology has enjoyed the state-backing. The assault of a 14-year-old Muslim boy for entering a Hindu temple to drink water in March, beating of a vendor for selling fruit in a New Delhi Hindu locality in June, and putting up Muslim women "for sale" online in July are some of the heinous, appalling events this year alone. If this was not enough, a Muslim member of the Congress party Ms Amin, including others, were offered in another mock online auction. The cow vigilantism needs no introduction. Even over 70-years after the Independence of India, religious divide have permeated but the critics say that the Muslim hate has spiked since 2014 under the Hindu nationalist government. The experts say that the violence against minorities, especially Muslims has become very acceptable in India and three-four videos get viral every day on the social media depicting atrocious violence against the minorities. Academics say that communal violence is not recent in India but the power structures have enabled the political mobilization and vigilantism. One recent example of blatant patronage of the perpetrators was when a union minister of state garlanded eight Hindus convicted for lynching a Muslim. The claims that the government is complicit in the violence is not really untrue. In the aftermath of these rampant incidents, Prime Minister Modi has faced repeated criticism for not reproaching the attacks swiftly or strongly enough either. The federal government’s official line is that lynching is bad but the individual states are responsible for implementing law and order. Moreover, the BJP government repeatedly accuses the media of "biased and selective journalism" by focusing on attacks on Muslims. Fact-checking websites said that more than 90 per cent of the victims of hate crimes in the past 10 years were Muslims. The Nazi equivalent becomes more relevant when the violence takes a more subtle, insidious form that vilifies and demonises the minority community. The BJP government perpetrated the idea of ‘corona jihad’ when Muslim community attended a religious gathering in Delhi. This incident followed ‘roti jihad’, ‘love jihad’, and the list goes on. The power structure is using laws subjugate while the BJP rallies are rife with slogans calling for Muslims to be killed. Violence, both delicate and blatant, has become mainstream in Modi’s India. There is a favorable political and social atmosphere that encourages attacks on Muslims where the assailants protected, if not rewarded, for their actions.

The Nazi neighbour

Editorial - September 4, 2021 0

The chants of 'Hindustan Zindabad' and 'Jai Shri Ram' echoed across Kanpur, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in India, as...

Prime Minister Imran Khan replies to Narendra Modi’s letter

Omer Ali Malik - March 30, 2021 0

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, responding to the letter sent by the Indian PM...

Abdul Qayyum elected AJK PM

News Desk - August 4, 2021 0

Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf's Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi has been elected as the Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The newly-elected premier secured the top-seat with...

FIA serves notice to Mansha over Sharif’s alleged Rs 25b scam

Custom of swara or vani is un-Islamic, rules Federal Shariat Court

Geelani: The lone warrior

Top 10 events that shaped Pakistan’s political landscape in 2020

Pakistan Army announces promotion of six lieutenant generals, appoints new corps commanders