IPT 1.1 | september 2022 | Section 5
In the period under review, Muslim communities have continued to suffer discriminations in access to economic and social rights and opportunities.
- Calls for boycott of Muslim businesses have continued. Besides the drive mentioned above (Section 4) in Manesar, Haryana, a village council in Banaskantha district of Gujarat was reported issuing a similar warning to its members, on 2 July 2022, not to trade with Muslim vendors.
This is among the many ways in which Muslim access to economic opportunities is seeing a rapid erosion in these times of majoritarian mobilisation. A recent report on Muslim employment, specifically representation in public and private sector employment, is telling. Muslims make up 14.2 per cent of India’s population (2001 census), but they represent only under 7 per cent employment in the public sector, steadily for the past 10 years. In the private sector on the other hand, they are over-represented, 16.5 per cent in 2009-2012, down to 15.5 per cent in 2018-2020. This trend is more pronounced in states with the largest Muslim populations, such as Uttar Pradesh and Assam, among others. Analysts conclude that under-representation of Muslims in the public sector and reducing representation in the private sector, means Muslim are not only overrepresented among the unemployed, but their share is also steadily growing. Other reports confirm this pattern.
Authorities especially in BJP ruled states, are contributing to this trend.
Punitive demolitions of homes and properties of Muslim by authorities in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in April through June 2022, have resulted in further marginalisation and segregation of Muslims, with UN Experts in their communication to India on the subject noting, “the arbitrary acts of demolition of homes and structures of minority communities have compounded the vulnerabilities of women, children, older persons, and persons with disabilities.” This form of collective punishment against Muslims has now become a recurring pattern, with authorities delivering what members of the ruling BJP call ‘bulldozer justice’.
- a Muslim family in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district claimed that their shop was partially demolished by the police on 4 July 2022, due to their family member’s inter-faith relationship with a Hindu woman.
Another trend setting in is the use by authorities, under pressure from Hindu groups, of laws and procedures to target Muslims, criminalise their daily lives, and deny basic rights, including the right to fair trial, with grave consequences for victims and their families, including livelihood.
- Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district arrested Mohammad Talib, a Muslim restaurant owner for selling meat dishes wrapped in newspaper which allegedly had images of Hindu deities on them, on charges of hurting religious feelings of Hindus. The complaint was filed by Hindu Jagran Manch.
- Police in Assam’s Silchar district arrested five Muslim men on charges of waging ‘Flood jihad’, allegedly a conspiracy by Muslims to deliberately flood Hindu majority Silchar. The five were released after spending 15 days in custody, in the absence of any evidence. According to Google trends, searches for ‘flood jihad’ reached a five year peak in July with claims on social media that Muslims were responsible for damaging embankments which protect against flooding. Silchar and surrounding areas of Assam suffered serious flooding this year.