In Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, tensions rose in late March on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Ram Navami. The festival is marked each year to celebrate the birth of the Hindu god Rama, or Lord Ram. But in recent years, Hindu nationalists have used the festival as an opportunity to attack India's Muslim minority communities. Mobs of people were filmed throwing stones at mosques and Muslims' homes, waving saffron-coloured flags at religious sites, and chanting violent slogans and hate speech.
The riots in Vadodara, Gujarat were just one example of this kind of violence during the Hindu festival. And it's just the latest occasion of violence against Muslims in India since the ruling BJP government took power in 2014.
We spoke to a lawyer and advocate who has been defending members of the Muslim community in Gujarat. He told us how the police have been targeting Muslim individuals, sometimes even barging into their homes, despite the clashes having been instigated by Hindu festival-goers.
#India #Muslim #Hindu
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