Wow, the hatred against the Muslim minority of India is palpable and the prejudice real (judging by the comments here), even amongst the Indian diaspora, who themselves constitute a racial minority, both in the US and Canada.
How ironic and shameful?! Considering Hindus Would hate to be on the receiving end of government-sanctioned police brutality or police inaction regarding ‘white supremacist’ crimes directed toward them in America?!
38
In India, there are three types of criminals: generic criminals, criminals in uniform (police) and elected criminals (politicians).
Riots that have the blessings of the ruling party ALWAYS follow a familiar pattern:
1984 - In the aftermath of Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh Bodyguards, Delhi Police was directed to stand aside. And workers of the ruling party (Congress) killed almost 3000 innocent Sikhs.
1993 - Mumbai Riots. A disputed Mosque was demolished. Riots ensued. Then Muslim Mafia and Gangsters in Mumbai engineered bomb-blasts. Then Shiv Sena, a regional bully and a party of violent, nationalist thugs led the widespread riots in Mumbai in which majority of innocents killed were Muslims as police stood aside.
2002 - Modi Government is Gujarat directed the police to stand aside to allow masses to "express their anger" as mobs of his party massacred nearly 1000 people, mostly Muslims. A very organized effort.
2020 - Delhi. Modi Government followed the same script in Delhi.
Modi and his deputy, Amit Shah (accused of murder and rape, until the judge preceding over the case died "mysteriously") are masters in the brutal, murderous science of engineering riots directed at Muslims to derive political mileage.
32
More people are killed by gun violence(100/day) in the United States daily. Also close to 200 people are shot & injured due to gun violence. America has a epidemic out of control gun violence problem. During 2 days of Delhi riot between Hindu mobs & Muslim mobs approximately 60 people died. The majority were muslims. As shocking as this may seem, an American citizen is more likely to be killed by a fellow American
in the states than killed by a thug in India while on vacation.
The NYT is maliciously slandering India's image as a secular country. I once look foreward to reading the New York Times daily honest and opinionated reporting.Recent events in India have not been fairly chronicled accuratly. It seems the coverage on India is geared to segments of readers who craving for negative news coverage no matter if the authenticity is found below the sewer or not.
33
NYT need to investigate further about this.They must come clean and not portray muslims as victims.Muslims are problematic everyday ever where..U name it.Even in US.Time to challenge the extreme ideological Islam to stop violence,else it will repeat.
31
Extremely one sided article. Why has there been no Hindu affected by the riots quoted? Who is to say that hindus were also not beaten up ? Such selective reporting does not behove a publication like NYT.
You quote dozens had been shot but not from which community (hindus). You say hindu mobs fanned out and have conveniently ignored multiple reports of stones/knives etc stocked up at various muslim ghettos.
In addition there are numerous gaffes in this report. I have never about police commanders in india. Name of the former police commissioner is Ajay Raj Sharma.
When a muslim mob is attacking police officers, they are called as protestors.
37
Took long enough for the NYT to take notice.
The minorities have been under attack since before Modi took office nearly 6 years ago or since 2002 if one considers the Gujarat genocide.
15
Modi is just another version of Trump , Bolsonaro , Netanyahu and all the other right wing conservative , nationalists . The conflict between Hindu and Muslim predates the separation of India . The more prosperous a country gets , the more it is vulnerable to manipulation by greedy , corrupt men under the guise of false righteous belief .
19
The entire Government machinery is working full press on the Corona Virus Management. Whenever the threat is from outside, as in terrorism or the current virus, the machinery is in full gear. People are kept informed and the media is in tow. But when it comes to protecting citizens against each other, the machinery vanishes and it is ruling through mobs. Leaders don't uphold the secular credentials of the constitution; they probably haven't read it or aware of it or care about it.
7
The breakdown of democratic institutions seems to be in its final stages. When all the instruments of the state are under the control of the ruling party, including law and order and the judiciary, can India even call itself a democracy anymore?
That the BJP, a one trick pony, wants to sow communal discord in order to pander to its base is a given. That the police and the court system would roll over so easily is a more shocking matter.
A small ray of hope is the so called alternate news channels that are trying to stick to fact based reporting. Most of mainstream Indian TV seems to be FOX News on steroids.
12
This evidence based reporting exposes the seamier side of police administration, that Indians are mostly aware. But we need to differentiate between facts and truth, the contextualizing is important, for it would reveal the intent of the political governance.
It is true that BJP is the party of choice of Hindu Right. It is also true that Congress per the Gandhian ethos has Hindu-Muslim secular unity in its foundational political DNA. NYT may not be aware but most of the underworld in India seventies to nineties have been controlled by Muslims. Hindu elements have now taken control over the streets and underworld outfits. This has reduced terror incidents of local sabotage that was quite pervasive in the previous Congress administration led by Dr. Manmohan Singh. This explains, as was reported earlier by NYT, police feels safe with Hindu side of the crowd during sectoral conflict.
The real intent of BJP, given their focus on development administration 'su-raj'; is to professionalize policing. Series of steps are being taken, like more leaves, better housing, better training, investment in superior gear, changes in recruitment policy etc. Incidents of riots have comedown, and this incident in Delhi was contained within 2 days; instead of festering for weeks.
Complexity in Indian administration is not easy to comprehend, both BJP and Congress hold different handles to solve different aspects of the problem in complementary mode. Trust that BJP is doing its part right.
8
Police everywhere in the democratic world are enforcers of law and order. They are under professional structures of command and control ultimately headed by a politician Minister elected by the people. The police are expected to apprehend the culprits the moment any violation to peace/order is attempted, they must be feared and be fair too. In India, the police are pathetically under-equipped, under-paid and under-trained. Worse, they are not always free to take action on their own. In the face of a breakdown, they often times sit on their hands waiting for clearance to come from the above.
Section 341 of the Indian Penal Code makes it illegal for any individual or a group to prevent others from their rightful movement. In Dec 2019, a group of protesters blocked a major road, organized a sit-in strike, and caused civic disorder for more than two months. Encouraged by police/gov. inaction, the same act was replicated in Northwest Delhi and major roads linking the capital was blocked. After initial feet dragging, when the police moved into action, they were pelted with stone resulting in the death of a senior police personnel. Like anywhere in the world, when the police comes under attack and one of its own becomes a casualty, it overreacts.
If the police had enforced the IPC 341 in the first place, the entire chain of events wouldn't have happened.
A quality investigating report by the NYT should have given a full account of how it all started the day before Trump's visit.
6
The actions of the Police were broadly consistent with any requirement of the situation.
It's prudent to note that there is atleast one Politician who was known to be associated to an opposition party (which infact ruled Delhi) to be accused of fanning communal violence against Hindus. The family of a Hindu victim who was also an intelligence officer,has accused the politician of having a hand in his killing. The Muslim mob largely attacked the Police and the intelligence personnel alongside attacking ordinary layman Hindus.
This, ironically comes,days after the Anti CAA side had said that it was against communalism.
11
Gone are the days when tolerance and respect for minorities mattered in a so-called ‘secular’ democracy, of all things. ie. India
At this rate, anything less than a full-scale genocide in Kashmir or elsewhere would be a victory for the Muslim minority there.
4
The Hindutva govt. of Modi is becoming a cancer not only on the country but the entire region, only a communal clash away from a full-scale religious conflict between India and its non-Hindu neighbours.
14
I thought and subscribe NYT for fair coverage and not one sided reports. Stop volunteers for coverage and have genuine journalists who cover both sides to a story.
13
Western journalists should look at where these Hindu-Muslim clashes are erupting in India? Turns out that they happen where Muslims are in a majority or near majority of population in an area. The Delhi violence happened near a Muslim ghetto. The general pattern of such clashes is that Muslim hotheads initiate the clashes and then there is Hindu retaliation, plus a Police complicity to some extent. So, by the time the clashes end, there are more Muslims killed.
As per the article, "When the violence started on Feb. 23 — as Hindu men gathered to forcibly eject a peaceful Muslim protest near their neighborhood — much of it became two-sided. By day’s end, both Muslims and Hindus had been attacked, and dozens had been shot, apparently with small-bore homemade guns."
The Hindu mob was threatening to evict Muslims who had blockaded a major thoroughfare. But the actual killings were initiated by the Muslims mob. On that day 1 of violence (Feb. 23), one Hindu police constable (Ratan Lal) and a Hindu Intelligence bureau officer (Ankit Sharma) were killed.
Muslims in India are not timid. They remember that they ruled over Hindus for 800 years. A few days before the Delhi violence, a Muslim politician, Waris Pathan, had boasted that 150 million Indian Muslims will be more than a match for the 1 Billion Hindus. Another politician, Akbaruddin Owaisi, had dared Hindus a few years ago to have the Police stand aside for just 15 minutes and then they would teach the Hindus a lesson.
39
Not to mention the incident of violence against Hindus by a Muslim mob in Bhainsa village in Telangana state.
Western media deliberately conflates minorities in the US with Muslims in India. Both are different situations.
American minorities are racial minorities. All Indians belong to the same race. Whites enslaved and ruled over Blacks for generations.
In India Muslims perpetrated violence against Hindus for 800 years.
I hope everyone learns to live in peace someday but Western media’s distortions aren’t helping us get there!
19
Long ago a sitting minister in CPM led Left front Govt in West Bengal said that police in India are the most dreaded extremists of all. That particular politician was equally critical of fully unionized police force in WB itself.
Police in India act with impunity. No political party or civil administration dare to touch any police officials.
Police in India was formed during British raj as an army to protect the ruling elites and tax collection for a colonial Govt, which had absolutely no interest to even consider common people & political rivals as fellow citizens. The Brits introduced a very different police system in its colonies like India as compared to Britain.
Indian police still largely governed by the same colonial rules, protect the elites that include politicians, rich businessmen & other influential people, who are mostly nothing but utter corrupt if not downright criminals.
All talks and political promises of institutional reform in Indian police, bureaucracy and judiciary ultimately proved to a farce.
Basically, the ruling elites see no advantage or incentives to initiate such reform. They belie that even if they are removed from power, they can easily collude with the ruling party/politicians etc to insulate themselves personally despite of public postering for blind devotees to fight among themselves. Police, lawyers, and judges in India would bark for anyone who would throw some meat or even bare bones to them.
12
For many people it may appear so strange that so many police officers are routinely and publicly verbally and even physically abused by politicians. But politicians never dare to touch police reform or make and enfoce laws to punish corrupt/criminal police officials, mainly at the top positions.
Top police officers always collude with politicians than proteting their own colleagues, protecting their own dignity and that of the pilice dept.
Almost each and every democratic institutions in India were politicized mainly since Indira Gandhi era (mainly after 1975 emergency.) Now BJP and its master, RSS indoctrinating all by ignorant and bigoted Hindutva ideology. Such ideologues are ptomoted to top positions in every Govt agency and most of them are from Modi's own Gujarat state, the most sociopolitically backward state with highest religious and racial segregation.
8
Within the first few hours of Delhi riots, a cop was killed, a police commissioner was lynched, an intelligence officer was brutally stabbed 400 times, and scores of policemen were attacked with acid and bricks by the Muslim community, in an unprecedented manner in (an otherwise sordid) Indian communal riot history. Can the author comment on the question: What role did the brutality committed on security forces play in influencing the brutal behavior of the police on the Muslim community?
26
If the govt wants to stop the riots, it can do within a few hours. The ruling party members spew venom against Muslims community and give a free hand to police. Look at several videos, it's enough to draw our own conclusion. Police were directly helping the Hindu mob and some places leading also.
Look at the destruction of Muslim lives & properties and you don't need rocket science to understand who is who.
18
@Prakash So do you think Hindu lives and properties were not destroyed? Could it be any chance that the destruction was not shown in this paper because it conflicts with the narrative of "Himdu nationalists are going to kill off all the Muslims and establish a Hindu theocracy"? Media have agendas too.
12
For Modi supporters, there is no hiding anymore. It is no longer about corruption and economy. This murderous regime has been exposed for its bigotry, authoritarianism, lack of compassion, empathy, remorse and pursuit of a hateful agenda which stands solely on the legs of Muslim victimization. This "riot" was engineered, planned and executed with cold calculation. The spineless, timid, corrupt and morally bankrupt opposition parties enable this regime to get away. Unless the opposition consolidates around a common inclusive agenda and projects a unified leadership, there is no getting rid of Modi.
How can Hindus claiming a legacy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Buddhism, Jainism, non-violence and Ram Rajya allow this to happen in their name. Are these fine values only for books and talk and not for everyday life. Hinduism is not a religion of revenge and victimization of the weak and powerless. Hindu holy scripture cautions us endlessly that actions resulting from ego, pride, arrogance, anger and vengeance accumulate massive bad karma. The consequences will be horrible for everyone. A misplaced sense of victimhood is allowing the extremists to brazenly define Indianness and Hinduness and distort Hinduism. The least Hindus can do is to call out bigotry in their midst, provide material and moral support for the victims and relentlessly pursue accountability on their behalf. Modi/Shah have willfully failed in their Raj Dharma of protecting the weak. We need to stop rewarding them.
16
@ANA Hundreds of Muslim women were told by their men to block traffic at a critical bridge, adding three hours a day to people's commute. The victims - mostly Hindus - took it in their stride for MONTHS. Yet on the night that their leader Modi was welcoming Trump in Delhi, Hindu nationalists began a huge riot? If you believe that, I have a tower in SF to sell you!
17
@Ellora It's time, that the news is framed from the Indian perspective. This forever-victim narrative of Islamists (not mainstream Muslims) all over the world is now seen to be par for the course. Incite, agitate, revolt, destroy public property, stone, use weapons to kill police and IB officers (Yes, look that up readers) - and finally after a month of patient tolerance when actual policing starts, act like a poor victimised minority blaming the govt for taking requisite action. Take Myanmar, Israel, Europe, Lanka, Thailand anywhere. Whether minority or bigger, the same malaise everywhere. Islamists will find that there will be no takers of their manufactured, repeated peddling after some time. The British, French and other European police forces will agree about this duplicitous Islamist behaviour, but other casual readers will be shocked by "majority behaviour". Shameful.
18
No! It was not a mistake by Mr Jinnah but a reality of the referendum on which millions of Muslims like you including the mullahs (Jamat-e-Islami) who voted against separation. Boundaries were based on the geography of the results of the Referendum.
Incidentally, behold the hypocrisy of the Mullahs, their trademark to this day (Preach Not Practice). They migrated to Pakistan soon after and began sowing their tribal "Islam" in Pakistan that smothered Jinnah's vision of a secular Pakistan.
My family waited till the boundary was announced expecting all of Punjab would be part of Pakistan; not being so the family abandoned a new house, a flourishing foundry and ran with what could be hand-carried to the border 75 miles away witnessing conflagration, death and destruction for those 5 days.
4
Sameer Yasir, Suhasini Raj and Hari Kumar;
You need to do investigative journalism and find out why there is searing hatred for Muslims amongst Gujarati Hindus. Both Modi and Amit Shah are both, Gujarati Hindus who bitter enemies of Muslims.
The hatred of Muslims is so bad in Gujarat that they threaten Muslims out there in open. I myself have faced it.
Deniers will deny but it does exist very much. Do investigative journalism and expose the Gujarati Hindus extremists.
13
@Just Ali
O, really! Why don't spend time better and investigate Saheen bagh. Who were donors who donated money for the non-sense. CAA was a law passed in parliament when Ssheen bagh crowed started. A law passed in parliament could be changed either by Supreme court or in parliament itself. Then why Saheen bagh started. Why this mob could not understand, what they were doing was illegal. After that whatever happened is due to this non-sense. Trying to make a scene when a foreign president is visiting. Now creating a scene of victim. There are police officers killed and injured. A lot of Hindu are killed. A young office was killed brutally. Rocks and oil bomb found in the house on a Muslim representative. Who should be investigated here? All those criminals who participated in Saheen bagh.
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@Just Ali
You must answer a simple question: Why do Muslims demand a secular state when in a minority and a Sharia state when in a majority?
Also, the members of Ummah shout from the roof top about Muslim victimization, whether real or perceived, but choose to remain silent how their co-religionists behave with non-Muslims in Islamic states. Why these dual standards?
15
This is a democratic government who is in power with overwhelming majority. Is NYT saying they are against democracy?
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@SD
Democracy does not mean that it is ok with attacking minorities. In India, the federal government is ok with attacking minorities. If the Indian government is doing something bad, that does not speak for all democracies or the democratic system. There are laws on the books about this behavior being wrong. The laws are being selectively enforced.
12
And that too re-elected with even larger majority than the first one.
Indian and Hindu societies have no documented history of systemic violence against minorities. They didn’t enslave peoples of other races/religions. They did not send anyone to gas chambers. They did not use suicide bombings to threaten a society at large. They did not oppress Africans to be more specific. There is no Hindu Caliphate to be established.
They just want to be nature worshipping vegetarians (primarily) and all kinds of violence was hoisted on them - from Islamic to European!
11
@SD "Overwhelming majority" doesn't mean the Modi Govt. is allowed to squash its minority. 85% Hindus versus 15% downtrodden Muslims. Maybe fair game to Hindu Extremists like you but not to the Muslim victims.
12
Easy to blame Modi when his rise was a direct result of incompetent political parties who openly ate away the indian society. They converted Muslims into vote banks while watching muslims wither away in poverty. Nothing was done for 60 years and then came Modi. Like him or not, his appeal is simply because people feel he is honest and works for the country. However, Muslims have felt insecure in his rule and their perception - true or false, needs to be addressed. Until a honest and unblemished opposition rises, BJP will remain in power. A lot of this is perception and some of it is reality. But don't underestimate the brotherhood of indian people, they may fight but they unite as quickly as well.
12
As someone who has survived Hindu -Muslim riots in Ahmedabad,( Gujarat - home of Modi) , nearly beaten in a belated 'lathi 'charge that happened only after damage already done in Teen Darwaja - it is so sad that the culture, the country has not moved much past the ancient hatreds. Modi and his ilk seem to have taken their page from the Trump playbook - incite division, while the economy tanks, and is not even able to send an plane to attack the real terrorists in Pakistan without having it shot down.
Shame on Modi, Shame on the BJP.
31
Cue the Modi super fans sitting in the comfort of our homes in the US.
“Why does the NYT make all news re India, negative?”
“The US has its own problems” blah blah
MS is right.
The rightwing in India is similar to the Trump super fans here. Anything even remotely non adulatory of Modi gets labeled “fake news” (Trump’s true diabolical reach).
And like w Trump fans, much of the Hindu majority is constantly barraged into victimhood and resentment. They are the only victims of this and that. Every one else are oppressors.
Up is down, wrong is right.
It’s all sad and disappointing.
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@Citizen the left wing in India is a pretty standard copy of the left all over the world.
Any instance of Islamic terrorism or radicalism needs to be hidden pest accusations of Islamophobia come.
7
@Citizen No one is sitting in "the comfort of your homes". Immigrants who live in this country work and support themselves to a larger extent than the native population. You can look this data up. People (including Indian immigrants) have the right to hold whatever opinions they want. They can be pro Trump and pro Modi without you claiming that they're holding those opinions in the "comfort of your home".
6
QUOTE: .... a holdover from the days of British rule when the police had no illusions of serving the public but were used to suppress a restive population. END OF QUOTE
I shared this page in my Whatsapp Group without reading the article in full. However, later on reading it, I came across the above lines. I find it very quite disturbing that I was made a participent in promoting vicious lies hidden inside other vibrant topics.
The article is not above the English rule in the subcontinent. The person who wrote the above lines has inserted the above lines with some malignancy inside him. Hope nemesis does not mark him down.
2
I never thought that I will see this extreme of hatred by Government machinery from Prime Minister to the Police Commissioner. A systematic ethnic cleansing, following the play book of Israel, and trying to disfranchise 200 million Muslims from citizenship. I was born and raised in India and at 22 migrated to U.S. in 1989. I was one of those Muslim who always hated the partition of India and creation of Pakistan. In my opinion that in undivided India the Muslim would have been closer to 40% as compare to 15% after division. Indeed, I was wrong, Mr. Jinnah the founder of Pakistan was very foresighted and asked Britishers for a separate Muslim nation because he knew that one day people like Mr. Modi will be ruling the country. Mr. Modi and BJP are direct results of seed of hatred which RSS started planting in 1924 with a single mission to convert India into a Hindu state within 100 years. RSS must be very proud of their achievement because it came 10 years sooner. It didn't matter whether their target is achieved by assassinating Mahatma Gandhi or bulldozing millions of Muslim. Mr. Jinnah made one mistake and he should asked for bigger Pakistan. The society we grew up in will sounds more like a fairy tale to the young Muslims of India, religion was the last thing we knew about an individual. I had mostly Hindu friends they use to wait for our festivals like Eid and Bakrid for good food and vice versa I used to wait for their Holi and Diwali. INCLUSIVE SOCIETY IN REAL
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@Amir Rasheed
"Mr. Jinnah made one mistake and he should asked for bigger Pakistan." Pakistan is smaller than what was asked for. The British drew some lines and walked away. They had no reason to care about making either side satisfied. Jinnah had no control of what the British would do.
1
@Amir Rasheed
Do your research, most of mob were from Muslim community throwing acid bomb, petrol bomb etc. Video are not doctored and dont lie. I dont care what mistake Jinnah made (he was given 40% ( Pak & Bangladesh) of then India). I regret some decision made by Nehru and Gandhi and Indians are still suffering with Riots and innocent people are losing life on both side. You are raised in India and still think about Jinnah policies ?? doesn't make sense
10
@Amir Rasheed
Well,the fact that Muslim majority states all over the world take it upon themselves to oppress minorities and reduce them into second class citizens speaks a lot.
"Religion was the last thing known"//
Oh sure,and this is the reason why Jamaat E Islami existed in India and wanted an Islamic state go be created and therefore was banned by the government in the 70s?
11
As if I wasn't already deeply upset about the multiple gang rapes in India that have made international headlines, particularly the 2012 gang rape in India, and the mob violence that gets stirred up on What's App and leads to lynchings, now there is mob violence targeting a religious minority while police stand by. I don't have to be Indian or Hindu or Muslim to care. I just have to be human. And all of this is deeply upsetting.
10
I am an Ex-Inidan and a born Hindu and the riots which happened in Delhi are not only a shame of India but ALL Hindus. Hindus know how to preach to others about
non-violence, Vishwa Kutumbkum (World Family) and criticize others but they are no less racist. Actually, their racism is the worst kind because they not only discrimiante on the basis of race but on religion and caste system and color of skin.
How can these people lift a finger against Pakistan and criticize it's treatment of it's minorities when they clearly hate and persecute Muslims in India. It was NOT always like that. Muslims were treated fairly in India before Mr. Modi took over. During the rule of Congress Party, during the rule fo Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, almost 90% of Muslims voted for the ruling Party - Congress. Muslims trusted the Congress. Today Muslims are rightfully scared.
I AM ASHAMED.
16
As an Indian-American, this fills me with so much disgust. Modi and the BJP are shaming India, and, more importantly, shaming the Hinduism they claim to care about. They are no more good Hindu than the Saudi princes are good Muslims.
24
Maybe Indians should wake up to the fact that there is terrorism in their country. State sanctioned terrorism! Mode and the BJP are terrorist organization plain and simple.
11
Modi's has a long history of crimes against Muslims. Read up on it if you already have not.
7
There are 200 million Muslims in India. I sometimes question why my religion is at war with everyone around the world.
19
@Abida Excellent wonderment and observation. One of the reasons for you to know as a Muslim woman is that the government of Modi recently outlawed and made triple talaq (Muslim males ending marriage by verbally pronouncing 'divorce' three times) punishable. This has resulted in empowerment of Muslim women the Muslim males and the Mullah find very hard to digest.
8
As an Indian American, I find western media coverage of India and Modi to be suspicious. For one, how do you know Kaushar Ali was innocently 'running home', and not part of the stone-pelting muslim mobs that were attacking police? Before the dust has settled, Western media tries to frame the narrative and pin the blame on Modi, their favorite punching bag. These are the same reporters that will say the cause of the 2002 Gujarat Riots was that a train carrying Hindu pilgrims "caught on fire", and that in the resulting violence "1000 people, mostly muslims" were killed. Neglecting to mention that the train was set alight by a muslim lynch mob and that 254 Hindus were also killed.
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@Ellora
You don't have to believe him. But videos have surfaced and verified and they paint a bad picture of the police and the government.
11
The present Indian government of India is being run by a party known as BJP which is an offspring of RSS and purely based on Hindu ideology. RSS wants to create Hindutva which means that all inhabitants of India are Hindus including Muslims. Prime Minister of India Modi is also a very prominent leader of RSS and fully believes in supremacy of Hindu religion.
First Modi was appointed a Chief Minister of Gujrat a State in India where he is accused of initiating a riot against Muslims on the same pattern as of in Delhi. In that riot about 2000 Muslims were brutally killed and hundreds of their homes and Mosques were burnt just to subdue them. As a reward, Modi was elevated by RSS to the highest position as Prime Minister of India. He adopted same tactics of subduing Muslims in India first by lynching them through arranged mobs on the basis of cow protection. This will go on happening till Muslims totally submit to second class citizenship or convert themselves as Hindus.
11
President Trump's silence is deafening.
13
I thought one of the biggest democracies in the world is much much better than dictatorial China. And a nation that gave Rabindranath Tagore to the world is compassionate and peaceful.
I guess 21st century belongs to a group of cruel nationalists like Xi Jinping, Modi and Putin. Those three got along very well, don't they?
Modi is India's Xijinping; And Xijinping is China' Modi.
Shame on them, they have stained the honor of their people by committing atrocity against vulnerable ethnic and religious groups!
20
As a person of Indian descent, who happens to Hindu, I see this first hand: juxtaposing of dislike of Trump on one end and extreme adulation of Modi on the other.
I guess it depends on your perspective: as a minority in the US, you don't like Trump's policies, but as part of majority community of India, you love what Modi is doing.
I keep telling folks: You can't dislike Trump on one side and then like Modi. Just because your point of view is different doesn't make Modi any better than Trump.
107
@MS don't compare India with US , the later don't discriminate on religious belief
10
@MS
Sorry, to clarify, as much as we dislike Trump, what Modi has allegedly done far exceeds Trump.....
25
This is exactly what I've felt and you've best put it in words. Its not that I like Modi, but he's literally better than any another other political party leader . Unless if we get a really good opposition whose aim is to actually put things in motion instead of whining of the actions taken by the government, bjp will always win
13
Heartbreaking. I had family members, Muslim Kashimiris, detained by police several times recently and it's just heartbreaking how disgusting Modi and his party is behaving. This is a massacre, that is going to be unreported, and I believe those who are Hindu and benefiting from the caste mentality have to fight from within and stand for human rights. Otherwise, they are the problem as well and are complicit. This is an organized massacre and I only see it getting worse. I can't imagine how the police sleep at night, knowing they are just complete moral failures.
My family members who were detained included teachers and doctors and dedicate their lives to the service of the country only to have it fail them. Shame!
77
@MS Not at all actually, due to the volatility of the region, we were mostly very apolitical, put your head down and work sort of mentality and I myself might not have been impacted, but my cousins and uncles were and I would argue that that is personal. India-Pakistan animosity has been present for a very long, but to detain Muslims temporarily in a discriminatory manner is unjustifiable. We also testified at the Lantos Human Rights Commission.
7
@Nadia
My apologies then...Sorry to stereotype.....
2
@Nadia
I am kashmiri Hindu and still remember the brutal days when our family and relatives were killed and driven out of Kashmir Valley, what do you think of that Ms Nadia
19
Before all this started right after winning election Modi was amply decorated with high praise and honorariums by the Saudis and the Emirates. It is difficult to overlook the likelihood that Modi like what most leaders do in such visits to friendly countries exchange important policy matters the newly elected are going to follow.
The possible hoodwink from them and Mr Trump who hasn't spoken a word is after his recent visit point to way forward.
4
The NYT Story could also use an additional perspective: To examine what contributed to the easier provocation of riotous mobs. Most violence-hit areas are divided into Hindu and Muslim pockets, and they have a relatively higher proportion of young population than the rest of Delhi.
In Northeast Delhi, the proportion of those aged between 20 and 40 years in total population is almost 43 per cent -- higher than Delhi overall. In fact, Muslims in this age group constitute 46 per cent of the population (higher than Hindus).
Many young people in the area drop off schools at a young age; schools that have very low graduation rates.
Bleak job prospects, ghettoized living and thinking definitely contributed to the unfortunate vortex of violence in Delhi, abetted by both Hindu and Muslim politicians and an unprofessional police force.
8
Everyone in the world is free to choose their religion and religion. Indian police must be held accountable and I hope this violence is not because of their religious beliefs.
4
What Modi did in Gujarat in 2002, when he was the Chief Minister, he is doing in Delhi now as Prime Minister. It is a shame. Prime Minister takes an oath to upheld the constitution of India, which includes rule of law. But using police, a key instrument of upholding the rule of law, in a partisan way to beat up the muslims, risks India slipping towards anarchy and chaos. One can only hope that majority of Hindus will rise up against this thuggery on the part of the police and the ruling party.
7
This behavior by police in India is nothing new it has been this way for many decades. To learn more look up a copy of Maximum City by Suketu Mehta
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Any killing by anybody in the name of anything should be condemned and the culprits must be punished. That is the ideal world, but the realty is different. But blaming Hindus and BJP for all the recent troubles is not right and assessing situation in India based on American standards may not be appropriate. The report states that "Police officials also pointed out that one officer was killed and more than 80 injured; videos show a huge crowd of Muslim protesters attacking outnumbered officers". Under these circumstances, it is too much to expect that Indian police won't take action against people who attacked them. The riots were not one sided.
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@Alex K Go watch the BBC video where Indian police participate in merciless beating of Muslims and stone throwing by them at Muslims as well.
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@Just Ali and how a couple who were ISIS recruiters have been caught trying to forment unrest in India.
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In America our cops are powerful and feared enforcers -- but the police in India have largely been neutered by elected politicians. There, both left wing or right wing pols keep the force weak because the mob (mostly the lower middle class and poor) are India's most consistent voters, and the elected officials feel they are accountable to them. It's a highly complex place, and the article would have been more interesting if they got cops to speak off the record too.
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Nothing worse than mob violence. Accountability vanishes. For all you Modi supporters, there will be a day when he comes for you as weel and then no one will be left to speak for you. Remember a civilized society like Germany supporting Hitler? Disgusting and disdainful behavior by the Police, they should be accountable.
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It is good that NYT has brought out the horrors of Delhi riots. These eye witness stories will help police capture culprits. Strangely the Times reporters did not speak to many Hindus whose families,homes and businesses were wrecked too in this riot. To call the entire Indian establishment biased against Muslims when the latter form 14% of the population in democratic India is preposterous. There is no mention of the recent police investigations being discussed in Indian parliament.
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I request the editorial board to make access to this article as well as others that raise awareness about abuse of human rights by governments completely free.
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@WA
That might work if reporters were willing to work for free or if Sanders were president (or on the board of the NY Times- which may yet happen). His policy was, in retrospect, "free stuff". I say "in retrospect" with all due deference (to the voters of America- not that they have any good choices at present or more likely (( or likable)) in the near future). Circling back, this paper, is in fact, was good enough offering free readership to the virus problem, but I don't think the idea of free coverage for all abuses will go viral. Where do you stop the free coverage? Domestic abuses? Political abuses of power? Police abuses? Animal abuses? There are so many now and historically. One might recall they could not find enough space on the front page to break the story of the Nazi death camps. So they had to put in on page 6 and only had enough room for one column. Well, I guess death of 6 million was not enough of an "abuse" to be really that newsworthy. Tom Hanks and wife getting the virus? Now THAT (sorry for that) is front page newsworthy. And possibly journalistic abuse.
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Secular India championing diversity does not exist anymore.
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Don’t think it ever did there—perhaps only on paper. Now, even that ‘eyewash’ is being done away with, thanks to the new and overtly discriminatory legislation.
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Well don't agree with MS, Burning houses and killing people is not acceptable in this day and age political difference aside discrimination on basis of religion , race is backward and leads to hate crime and carnage as world is witnessing in India!
As a minority.in US are you been mobbed like this? Unfair comparison
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Everyone, please watch the first video and see the faces of the defenseless. This is outrageous and heartbreaking.
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"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully, as when they do it from religious conviction."
Blaise Pascal
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Sadly India is moving closer to real ethnic cleansing. The question will be how the rest of the world will react? While Modi is playing the Hindu Nationalist, he's also just as aggressively trying to get India into the 21st century. He wants full acceptance by the world community as a modern nation too. He cannot have both.
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@AnObserver , world will react the same way
as it did to Rohingaya crisis or Yemen crisis.
It means do nothing just criticize and move
on.
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@s.khan Sadly, you are probably right. Those victims are people a long way away and very much out of sight.
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@AnObserver
The world has already recognised dozens of Islamic states who restrict the lives of their minorities already.
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What happened is completely wrong. Same police was threatened by gun in the face by same minority community you mentioned.
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Very soon this column would be flooded by comments from Hindus questioning the reliability of liberal media and the west in general. This is precisely the reason India is becoming a war zone. The majority community feels proud of Modi and defends him instead of looking at the real picture.
On the other hand, they happily accept support from 'liberals' in the west who speak about equal rights, humane treatment of immigrants and against racial bias.
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All wars are economic. The thing that can set them off or make them particularly horrific is the abuse of religion.
Whether it be countless religious wars in the Middle Ages ie catholic vs protestants, christian vs muslims etc. or today's muslims vs jews, hindus vs muslims etc. are prime examples.
We can thank the founding fathers for starting separation of church and state and Lincoln for saving it that we don't have this horror story in this country.
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@Paul A separation of church and state that is rapidly eroding unfortunately.
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@Paul USA is still very much a Christian country.
@Barney Wolfe thank you for your reply. It basically lasted since we were founded and is rooted in our history.
While we may bend I don't think we will break.
We never have.
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These things happen with the tacit approval of the majority Hindus. It is not that the majority of Hindus are for the police violence, but rather, they are either unperturbed or are not upset enough to protest. Many will justify the violence by pointing out how Hindus also died in the violence, or how India is not as bad as Pakistan or Bangladesh, or in the case of Indian-Americans, how the western media, in particular the NYT, is biased against Hindus.
The bottom line is that extremely violent crimes agianst Indian citizens are going unpunished. As an Indian-American myself, I am deeply ashamed. I apologize to my Muslim sisters and brothers for not trying to prevent repeated recurrence of such events,
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@Malone "... they are either unperturbed or are not upset enough to protest".
You missed the biggest one Malone...it is because they are afraid
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@Malone
So are you saying that on a similar note, Oppression of Non Muslims in Muslim majority states across the world also occur due to the complicity of the Muslim majority?
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As a Hindu it churns my stomach to read about such atrocities. But this is nothing new - it's been a part of a long history and pattern of police violence and official indifference to Muslims and other minorities in India (who can forget the violence against Sikhs following the assassination of Prime Minister Gandhi).
And with a Hindu nationalist and bigot as PM, I don't expect much to change. The average Hindu, however, habours no animosity towards their Muslim brothers and sisters - but the radicals and nationalists, while few in percentage, are significantly large enough to be a cancer and blight. India has many problems and the country shall never be what it aspires to be - a truly global giant - until it meaningfully and substantively deals with this cancer . . .
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