Communalism
The former chief public prosecutor of Maharashtra has alleged that the outcome of the case was a “collective failure” of the people, owing to legal/procedural inconsistencies and behind-the-scenes pressure “over time”. https://thewire.in/politics/malegaon-blast-case-was-known-this-would-happen-says-rohini-salian-years-after-allegin
“It was known that this would happen,” she alleged, speaking to The Indian Express. “What else is expected if you don’t lay out the true evidence? I was not the prosecutor who presented the evidence to the court finally. I was out since 2017, and before that, I had presented plenty of evidence and the Supreme Court had upheld it all. Where did it all vanish?”
“I am not even disappointed with the verdict because this has become routine for me. We lose our sensitivity when this keeps happening. Nobody wants the truth to come out. We work very hard, but someone doesn’t want us to. Whose failure is this finally? Our own – the people’s,” she said, adding that the government cannot be blamed because it is also elected by the people.
01/08/2025
For over two decades, the jeans stitching hub in the urban village of Khyala in West Delhi drew hundreds of Muslim tailors from Uttar Pradesh. Scores of sweatshops mushroomed here as the business grew, prompting the authorities in 2021 to recognise Khyala as an industrial area.
All was well, locals say, till accusations began to float around this summer that Muslims were waging a so-called jeans jihad.
Amplifying the claims (though he did not specifically use the term “jeans jihad”) was Manjinder Singh Sirsa of the Bharatiya Janata Party – the local MLA and Delhi’s minister for industries.
On social media, he has weaponised residents’ grievances against the haphazard expansion of the jeans industry using communal rhetoric that attacks its mostly Muslim workers.
by Anant Gupta
30/07/2025
Facing attacks from Hindutva groups and targeted by police, members of Madhya Pradesh-based group HOWL – How Ought We Live – are living in fear
Located amidst lush green forest and hills in Shukrawasa village of Dewas district, HOWL describes itself as a self-sustained, informal collective of working professionals engaged in education and awareness initiatives among marginalised communities.
“Not a single person has come forward claiming they were forced to convert, yet both the administration and Bajrang Dal continue to shift the narrative. Even though none of us is Christian, they first accused us of converting people to Christianity. Now, the claim is that since we don’t follow Sanatana Dharma, it automatically amounts to conversion. The administration says we have hurt religious sentiments. On what grounds?”
by Huneza Khan
30/07/2025
For over a month, butchers from the Muslim Qureshi community have been leading a unique protest across Maharashtra. In the face of violent attacks from self-proclaimed “gau rakshaks” or “cow protectors” in the last decade, members of the community have decided to indefinitely stop dealing in buffalo or other bovine meat.
The decision, born of desperation, comes despite the fact that it directly impacts their livelihood and marks what is possibly the first time that such a coordinated and massive resistance to the violence is being seen from within the community.
The amendment, which received presidential approval after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in both the state and Union governments, banned the slaughter of animals belonging to the cow progeny in the state. This amendment prohibited the slaughter of bulls, bullocks, oxen, and cows for meat. Shortly after this change in the law, violence by Hindutva men claiming to be cow protectors also increased dramatically.
Families now file FIRs to stop these relationships, often with sanction from police and state authorities.
The scourge of so-called honour killings that swept states such as Haryana, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu over inter-caste marriages through the 2000s has taken on a new, intolerant avatar—Hindu-Muslim marriages. Except now, it isn’t killing but the weaponisation of laws. Across India, inter-religious, inter-caste, and queer-identifying couples have faced rape, POCSO, kidnapping, and even theft charges as a means to stop their relationships—often with sanction from police and state authorities.
“Criminal law is used to criminalise adolescent sexuality,” said lawyer and researcher Neetika Vishwanath.
Research, news reports, and court records reveal a clear pattern: when couples cross caste or religion boundaries to find love or elope, their own families often file criminal complaints. Consensual partners become kidnappers and rapists. And laws meant to protect women are being subverted to target them.
by Sabah Gurmat
04/06/2025
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- Licenses Cancelled by Transport Corp, Gujarat’s Muslim-Owned Dhabas Now Face ‘Smear Campaign’
- 'Surprised,' Say Berhampur Locals as Odisha College Expels 7 Students After Bajrang Dal's 'Beef' Complaint
- Maharashtra: How Hindutva Forces Communalised Syncretic Kanobha Dargah in Ahmadnagar