Three decades ago, a mob of Hindus destroyed a 16th-century mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya, which Hindus believe is the birthplace of the god Ram, leading to his death. of 2,000 people and fueled the rise of Mr. Modi. party.
A temple is currently being built there. Mr. Modi, who presided over the groundbreaking ceremony in 2020, called it “a modern symbol of our tradition”.
Facing such moves, Ms. Roy, the novelist, voiced common concern. “You know, the Varanasi sari, worn by the Hindus, woven by the Muslims, is a symbol of everything that is intertwined and is now torn,” she said. “A threat of violence hangs over the city.”
I found Syed Mohammed Yaseen, a leader of the Varanasi Muslim community, which makes up almost a third of the city’s population of about 1.2 million, at his lumber shop. “The situation is not good,” said Mr Yaseen, 75. “We are dealing with 18 lawsuits related to the old mosque. The Hindus want to destroy it indirectly by starting their own worship there.” Muslims increasingly feel like second-class citizens, he said.
“Every day we feel all kinds of attacks and our identity is being diminished,” he said. “India’s secular character is chipping away. It still exists in our Constitution, but in reality it has been chipped and the government is silent.”
This dent has taken many forms under Mr. Modi. Shashi Tharoor, a leading member of the opposition Congress Party that has ruled India for much of its independence, suggests to me that “institutional bigotry” has worked. use.
A number of hangings and destruction of Muslim homes, the imprisonment of Muslims and other journalists critical of Mr. Modi, and the weakening of independent courts have raised concerns about what he Raghavan, the historian, calls it “a truly discriminatory regime, with the danger of radicalization.”
