Home
/
Isiam
/
Politics & Economics
/
Double trouble in India: Religious bigotry coupled with coronavirus
Double trouble in India: Religious bigotry coupled with coronavirus
Feb 11, 2025 10:15 PM

  By: Ravale Mohydin

  As Italian philosopher, Giacomo Leopardi once observed, “no human trait deserves less tolerance in everyday life, and gets less, than intolerance.”

  This adage perfectly encapsulates India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the coronavirus pandemic so far.

  As the disease started to take root in other countries, leading international publications highlighted BJP leaders’ negative role in preventing the spread of Covid-19 in India as they encouraged the utilization of unscientific measures based on traditional medicine with roots in religion (such as yoga and the consumption of cow urine) for both the prevention and cure for COVID-19.

  Religion is made to serve this purpose in the rest of the world as well. Special prayers are being offered in countries around the world, with the White House itself, for example, holding a National Day of Prayer for “all Americans affected by the Coronavirus pandemic”.

  It is understandable that governments use religion as a medium of communication. Verbal or non-verbal, communication is the primary means by which individuals belonging to a culture communicate with others both within and outside their own cultures.

  Religion is a powerful source of values guiding any culture. This is especially true when it comes to the deeply religious South Asia.

  At the core of all major South Asian religions is the expression of values to guide human action.

  In Islam, the human being is to help “kinsmen and orphans, the needy, the traveler [and] beggars”, Hindus must “judge pleasure or pain everywhere by looking on one’s neighbor as oneself.”

  In the same vein, Buddhism teaches to have a “boundless heart towards all beings”.

  A good example of religious values guiding human actions during this pandemic is the fact that politico-religious parties in Pakistan reportedly carried out disinfection activities in Karachi’s temples and churches along with distributing cooked food.

  Thus, one can comprehend the logic behind South Asian government officials supporting their recommendations, particularly in the context of the pandemic, with religious zeal and/or in support of religious leaders.

  While some criticized the Pakistani state for negotiating with the country’s powerful clerics in order to close down the mosques, the attempt was not ill-informed given the impact and control, both negative and positive, religion maintains over people’s lives. Wise utilization of such influence could prove vital when it comes to governance and support in a pandemic, particularly in a developing country.

  However, as the disease threatened to spread in India and cause havoc on its weak health system, Indian leaders used the pandemic to impose their bigoted and hateful views of other members of the society.

  Indian authorities themselves linked dozens of cases of COVID-19 to a Muslim missionary group that held its annual conference in Delhi in early March, calling it a “Talibani” crime.

  Fake videos falsely claiming to show members of the missionary group spitting on police and harassing nurses went viral on social media. Indian government officials, perhaps still smarting from international condemnation of a pogrom against Muslims in Delhi while the U.S. President Donald Trump was visiting in late February 2020, were quick to blame Muslim missionaries for the spread of COVID-19 in India, influencing media discourse with prominent media anchors drumming up hate against the Muslim minority, eventually translating into trending hashtags such as #coronajihad and #tablighivirus.

  It did not matter that a BJP leader, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself, defied the lockdown and attended a large-scale Hindu religious event. That did not make the headlines at all.

  The hashtag #coronajihad was nevertheless shared more than 300,000 times and potentially seen by 165 million people. Indian Twitter burst with support with images shared by thousands, unwilling or perhaps unable to question their leaders’ obviously divisive politics based on hate-mongering.

  According to Equality Labs, a digital human rights group, many of the posts are in clear violation of Twitter’s rules on hate speech but have yet to be taken down. This clear disregard for human rights by Twitter is not unprecedented, given the case of India again with regards to Kashmir.

  It can be said that the #21daylockdown enforced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not going as well as perhaps he and his government had hoped.

  Thousands of migrant laborers are either stranded far away from home with no money, cramping into soup kitchens and risking infection, or walking hundreds of miles to their villages in search of guaranteed food and accommodation.

  Millions of people are jobless and fear starvation as they wait for government help which is yet to materialize.

  If lockdown restrictions are violated, people are beaten and abused, while frustrations grow on social media as government officials’ family friends enjoy the freedom of movement.

  Despite very harsh measures, India’s number of coronavirus cases are the highest in the region, exceeding the total of neighboring Pakistan, which did not implement a complete lockdown and has similar demographic and economic structures, fearing its anti-poor impact. Prime Minister Modi himself called for a “staggered exit” from the lockdown days.

  Perhaps it is easier to blame and vilify a minority for the government’s failures. Perhaps it is easier when BJP politicians such as Subramanian Swamy, in a recent interview to VICE News, and despite having been laid off by Harvard University for his bigoted views, demonize Muslims and advocate for a reduction in their numbers. Perhaps it is easier to blame the other in such times of uncertainty. Only India has responded to the pandemic with Islamophobia and state bigotry.

  Rampant misinformation is partly to blame for the weaponization of religion to achieve political goals, even during a pandemic.

  WhatsApp groups are rife with misinformation about both prevention and cure, with conspiracy theories turning into blame games and eventually racism.

  Another reason is human aversion to uncertainty. According to Hogg’s uncertainty-identity theory, human beings tend to identify more strongly with their own people in times of uncertainty, which are undoubtedly unpleasant, to reduce its effects, even if that means demonizing an entire community in your own country.

  Source: AA

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Politics & Economics
Double trouble in India: Religious bigotry coupled with coronavirus
  By: Ravale Mohydin   As Italian philosopher, Giacomo Leopardi once observed, “no human trait deserves less tolerance in everyday life, and gets less, than intolerance.”   This adage perfectly encapsulates India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response to the coronavirus pandemic so far.   As the disease...
Yemenis resort to burning firewood and rubbish to cook food
  When Yahia al-Amari's three gas cylinders ran dry, he scoured the entire Yemeni capital to find a place where he could refill them.   The 50-year-old walked to nearly every petrol station in Sanaa last month, hoping to find enough fuel to cook his family of seven their first hot meal...
How to prevent outbreaks of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19
  by Maxwell Gomera   ·   By now billions of people around the world are following advice to practise social distancing and "shelter at home" to prevent the alarming spread of a new coronavirus disease, COVID-19. The virus joins a growing list of emerging zoonotic diseases or diseases caused by bacteria, viruses,...
Satellite images show destruction in Eastern Ghouta
  According to UN analysis, regime bombardment has levelled residential areas, infrastructure and businesses.   The UN has released satellite imagery from areas inside Eastern Ghouta, showing the destruction continuous regime bombardment has caused.   The Damascus suburb has been targeted by the continuous air attacks since the Syrian regime, aided by Russia,...
Syria: Post-war reconstruction booming in Jarablus
  Jarablus, a city in northern Syria near the Turkish border, is one of the few places to rebound after fighters from ISIL were defeated with help from Turkey.   More than six years of war in Syria means it will take massive reconstruction efforts to rebuild cities that have been reduced...
US blocked inquiry into Israeli violence: UN official
  The U.S. declined calls from the UN Security Council for an investigation into violence on the Israeli-Gaza border that left 18 Palestinians dead, a UN official said Monday.   Speaking at a press conference at UN headquarters, Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Permanent Representative of Peru to the UN and president of the Security...
Relatives raise concern over 'missing' Russian citizens in Egypt
  Relatives of as many as 18 Russian citizens, including eight children, have expressed concern about the wellbeing of their Egypt-based family members, saying they are unable to establish their whereabouts after they were taken away by suspected secret police officers.   According to the relatives, Sakinat Baisultanova - a 31-year-old divorced...
Turkish aid campaigns open doors worldwide
  Turkish aid campaigns worldwide will open new doors in political, commercial, and diplomatic ties, as well as human affairs, according to the head of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).   Speaking to Anadolu Agency in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, Mehmet Gulluoglu said that his agency is operating hand-in-hand...
ASEAN summit silence on Rohingya 'an absolute travesty'
  After two days of ceremonious meetings, Southeast Asian leaders missed the bullseye in talks about two major human rights issues affecting their region: Myanmar's handling of the Rohingya crisis and the Philippines' bloody campaign against illegal drug traffickers.   Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, this year's Chairman of the Association of Southeast...
How Mossad carries out assassinations
  The killing of 35-year-old Palestinian scientist Fadi al-Batsh in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur has taken the wraps off a covert programme of targeted killings of Palestinians deemed a threat by Israel.   Al-Batsh studied electrical engineering in Gaza before going on to earn a PhD in the same subject in...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved