Skip to main content

Sitharaman aims at 'masking' persecution, discrimination of Muslims in India: IAMC

Counterview Desk 

Washington DC-based top diaspora advocacy group, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), claiming to the largest of its kind in the US, condemning Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s denial of Muslim persecution in India, has said that the top minister’s statement echoes the popular Hindu supremacist propaganda claim that the Muslim population is increasing at a rate disproportionate to Hindus.
Calling the propaganda totally ill-placed, IAMC in a statement said, “The idea that Muslims are overpopulating and overtaking Hindus in India is used by BJP leaders and Hindu militant groups to whip up Islamophobia and violence against Muslim minorities.”

Text:

The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) strongly condemns and vehemently refutes India’s Finance Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nirmala Sitharaman’s claim that Muslims are not being subjected to violence and persecution because their population, “is only growing in numbers.”
Speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), a Washington, DC based think tank, Sitharaman claimed that there was a “negative Western perception” regarding India after PIIE President Adam S. Posen asked her how foreign investors’ perception of the country is affected by Western reporting on India's political climate, including on the persecution of Muslims.
In response, Sitharaman outrightly denied Muslim persecution while backing it with the Hindu far-right conspiracy theory of, “Muslim population growth.”
"[This is] not to even imply that I accept the perception that you’re referring to - India has the second largest Muslim population in the world, and the population is only growing in numbers,” Sitharaman said.
According to the Census data from 2001-2011, the growth rate of the Muslim population decreased to 24.6% compared to 29.5% in the decade prior. Data from India’s National Family Health Survey shows that over the past 25 years, the total fertility rate among Muslims decreased the sharpest out of all religious groups, including Hindus, from 3.6 in 1998-99 to 2.36 in 2019-21.
Sitharaman’s statement echoes the popular Hindu supremacist propaganda claim that the Muslim population is increasing at a rate disproportionate to Hindus. The idea that Muslims are “overpopulating” and “overtaking” Hindus in India is then used by BJP leaders and Hindu militant groups to whip up Islamophobia and violence against Muslim minorities.
“Sitharaman's use of ‘population growth’ myth to justify the systemic oppression of Indian Muslims is nothing more than a twisted propaganda tactic widely used by the Hindu far-right to mask the reality of Muslim persecution and discrimination in India,” said IAMC Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed.
“Her statement is not just a flagrant denial of human rights abuses but also a dangerous attempt to spread disinformation and gaslight the global community about the atrocities committed against Indian Muslims. Sitharaman's rhetoric must be debunked and condemned to ensure that human rights violations do not go unnoticed or unchallenged,” Ahmed added.
This blatantly false notion is not only a testament to the Sitharaman’s deliberate ignorance but also a willful disregard for the overwhelming evidence presented by numerous authoritative sources, including United Nations Special Rapporteurs, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the US Department of State, the US Holocaust Memorial, and the world's most prominent human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Despite violence against Muslims in India, Sitharaman's comments serve to minimize and trivialize the gravity of the situation
Most of these reports have noted that over the last nine years, the BJP government has openly promoted a divisive and discriminatory agenda that led to surge in the targeting of Muslims and other minorities.
The government has passed discriminatory laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act, which, combined with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), is designed to render Muslims stateless and has led to widespread protests and violence against the Muslim community throughout India. The beef ban laws, the anti-conversion laws, and the Hijab ban in Karnataka are only meant to marginalize Muslims further.
Hindu militant groups affiliated with the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), have been given a free hand to commit violence against Muslims, including pogroms, mob lynchings, and attacks on their homes, businesses, and places of worship.
In the past three months alone, at least 10 Muslims were lynched throughout India over the baseless accusations of transporting/ consuming beef or theft. In February, Bajrang Dal militants killed and burned the bodies of two Muslims over suspicion of transporting cattle in BJP-ruled Haryana State.
Furthermore, the government's complicity in the horrific anti-Muslim pogroms in Delhi in 2020, which resulted in the death of over 50 people, mostly Muslims; the rampant bulldozing of Muslim homes, businesses, and mosques; the ongoing human rights violations in Kashmir and extreme surge in hate speeches calling for Muslim genocide are well-documented.
Two weeks back, the Supreme Court judges called the state “impotent” for failing to curb anti-Muslim hate speeches nationwide.
Just a week before Sitharaman spoke at the PIIE, Hindu extremist mobs during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami stormed Muslim localities in at least 6 Indian states, where they pelted stones, brutalized Muslim residents, torched vehicles, desecrated mosques, looted homes and businesses.
These actions demonstrate a clear pattern of persecution and violence against Muslims in India, and Sitharaman's comments only serve to minimize and trivialize the gravity of the situation.
In 2022, Genocide Watch, an NGO that monitors countries for signs of impending genocide, placed India at Stage 8 (persecution) of genocide on Dr. Gregory Stanton’s 10 Stages of Genocide. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum said India was among the top ten likeliest places for new mass killings in the world. USCIRF, a bipartisan, independent commission in the US, has designated India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for three consecutive years over its egregious violations of human rights and religious freedoms of minorities.
IAMC calls on the Indian government to immediately retract Sitharaman's insensitive and inaccurate comments and take concrete steps to stop Hindu extremist violence against its Muslim citizens. We also call on the international community to hold the Indian government accountable for its actions and to take steps to ensure the protection of the rights of all religious minorities in India.

Comments

TRENDING

Aurangzeb’s last will recorded by his Maulvi: Allah shouldn't make anyone emperor

By Mohan Guruswamy  Aurangzeb’s grave is a simple slab open to the sky lying along the roadside at Khuldabad near Aurangabad. I once stopped by to marvel at the tomb of an Emperor of India whose empire was as large as Ashoka the Great's. It was only post 1857 when Victoria's domain exceeded this. The epitaph reads: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast." (The rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave) The modest tomb of Aurangzeb is perhaps the least recognised legacies of the Mughal Emperor who ruled the land for fifty eventful years. He was not a builder having expended his long tenure in war and conquest. Towards the end of his reign and life, he realised the futility of it all. He wrote: "Allah should not make anyone an emperor. The most unfortunate person is he who becomes one." Aurangzeb’s last will was re...

Beyond his riding skill, Karl Umrigar was admired for his radiance, sportsmanship, and affability

By Harsh Thakor*  Karl Umrigar's name remains etched in the annals of Indian horse racing, a testament to a talent tragically cut short. An accident on the racetrack at the tender age of nineteen robbed India of a rider on the cusp of greatness. Had he survived, there's little doubt he would have ascended to international stature, possibly becoming the greatest Indian jockey ever. Even 46 years after his death, his name shines brightly, reminiscent of an inextinguishable star. His cousin, Pesi Shroff, himself blossomed into one of the most celebrated jockeys in Indian horse racing.

PUCL files complaint with SC against Gujarat police, municipal authorities for 'unlawful' demolitions, custodial 'violence'

By A Representative   The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has lodged a formal complaint with the Chief Justice of India, urging the Supreme Court to initiate suo-moto contempt proceedings against the police and municipal authorities in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The complaint alleges that these officials have engaged in unlawful demolitions and custodial violence, in direct violation of a Supreme Court order issued in November 2024.

How the slogan Jai Bhim gained momentum as movement of popularity and revolution

By Dr Kapilendra Das*  India is an incomprehensible plural country loaded with diversities of religions, castes, cultures, languages, dialects, tribes, societies, costumes, etc. The Indians have good manners/etiquette (decent social conduct, gesture, courtesy, politeness) that build healthy relationships and take them ahead to life. In many parts of India, in many situations, and on formal occasions, it is common for people of India to express and exchange respect, greetings, and salutation for which we people usually use words and phrases like- Namaskar, Namaste, Pranam, Ram Ram, Jai Ram ji, Jai Sriram, Good morning, shubha sakal, Radhe Radhe, Jai Bajarangabali, Jai Gopal, Jai Jai, Supravat, Good night, Shuvaratri, Jai Bhole, Salaam walekam, Walekam salaam, Radhaswami, Namo Buddhaya, Jai Bhim, Hello, and so on. A soft attitude always creates strong relationships. A relationship should not depend only on spoken words. They should rely on understanding the unspoken feeling too. So w...

Haven't done a good deed, inner soul is cursing me as sinner: Aurangzeb's last 'will'

Counterview Desk The Tomb of Aurangzeb, the last of the strong Mughal emperors, located in Khuldabad, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, has this epitaph inscribed on it: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e maa ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast" (the rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave).

CPM’s evaluation of BJP reflects its political character and its reluctance to take on battle against neo-fascism

By Harsh Thakor*  A controversial debate has emerged in the revolutionary camp regarding the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s categorization of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Many Communists criticize the CPM’s reluctance to label the BJP as a fascist party and India as a fascist state. Various factors must be considered to arrive at an accurate assessment. Understanding the original meaning and historical development of fascism is essential, as well as analyzing how it manifests in the present global and national context.

State Human Rights Commission directs authorities to uphold environmental rights in Vadodara's Vishwamitri River Project

By A Representative  The Gujarat State Human Rights Commission (GSHRC) has ordered state and Vadodara municipal authorities to strictly comply with environmental and human rights safeguards during the Vishwamitri River Rejuvenation Project, stressing that the river’s degradation disproportionately affects marginalized communities and violates citizens’ rights to a healthy environment.  The Commission mandated an immediate halt to ecologically destructive practices, rehabilitation of affected communities, transparent adherence to National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders, and public consultations with experts and residents.   The order follows the Concerned Citizens of Vadodara coalition—environmentalists, ecologists, and urban planners—submitting a detailed letter to authorities, amplifying calls for accountability. The group warned that current plans to “re-section” and “desilt” the river contradict the NGT’s 2021 Vishwamitri River Action Plan, which prioritizes floodpla...

How polarization between different ideological trends within the communist movement sharpened in India

By Harsh Thakor*  This article is a rejoinder to A Note on Slogans of “Left Unity,” “Unity of the Communist Revolutionaries” and “Mass Line” by Umair Ahmed, published on the Nazariya blog .

Vadodara citizens urge authorities to adhere to environmental mandates in Vishwamitri River Rejuvenation Project

By A Representative   A coalition of environmental activists, ecologists, and urban planners in Vadodara has issued an urgent appeal to state and municipal authorities, demanding strict compliance with court-mandated guidelines for the upcoming Vishwamitri River rejuvenation project. Scheduled to commence in March 2025, the initiative aims to mitigate flooding and restore the river, but citizens warn that current plans risk violating National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders and jeopardizing the river’s fragile ecosystem, home to endangered species like crocodiles and Indian Softshell Turtles.  

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan*  An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...