Persecution of Hindus is a blind spot for global and Indian liberal intelligentsia

For decades, the self-proclaimed intelligentsia in both India and the West have positioned themselves as the guardians of the marginalised.

- SANJEEV S. & ADIT KOTHARI

Yet, they have done so while tactfully providing intellectual cover to those pushing for the establishment of a totalitarian regime rooted in Islamic Othering.

At the same time, they have demonstrated a calibrated blind spot and have wilfully overlooked the systemic persecution of Hindus, particularly in Pakistan and Bangladesh, two nations where their very existence is constantly under threat, not just from religious bigotry but also through State engineered constitutional mechanisms.

DISTORTION OF NARRATIVES IN MEDIA

The narratives we often consume through social and mainstream media regarding India's treatment of its Muslim population tend to focus on isolated incidents of violence or socio-ethnic clashes. The so-called liberal voices, often nothing more than manifestations of paternalism, habitually use these stray incidents to engineer false equivalences, drawing comparisons between India's societal issues to those of its neighbours, countries (Pakistan and Bangladesh) carved out from India on the premise of Islamic Othering. At best, this oversimplifies the situation and distorts reality by drawing misleading and false parallels.

This approach is deeply misleading and problematic.

The status of any minority group in a country cannot be defined by random incidents but rather must be assessed through the lens of institutional mechanisms, policies and systemic structures in place.

STATE PATRONAGE AND RELIGIOUS RESERVATIONS