The widespread debate over the phenomenon of Islamophobia has much to do with the changing global politics and the emergence of a multipolar world order. Since, the 9/11 attacks on the American mainland, the tide of Islamophobia has been on rise, contributed by the state governments as well as the civil societies, by targeting the ‘Muslimness’ (Sulaiman 2020). Additionally, negative portrayals of Islam and Muslims have contributed to discrimination, hostility, and violence towards Muslim individuals and communities. However, in the recent times, we can witness a paradigmatic shift in such narratives, as a number of political and civil actors are coming to the forefront by criticizing the Islamophobic approaches of hegemonic groups and structures.
The Context
With the announcement of an international day to combat Islamophobia on 15 March, the United Nations Organization has made a significant step towards fighting the injustices meted out by Muslims across the world in general and those who live in minority contexts in particular. The terrible murder of 51 Muslims in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2019 will be remembered every year as an instance of Islamophobic terror spread by the anti-Muslim radicals. As a population who are going through a difficult scenario of the denial of citizenship and concomitant violence on a daily basis, Indian Muslims, for time being, are optimistic for a worldwide recognition of their sufferings and grievances under a radical Hindutva regime – that aims at a Hindu Rashtra in recent future.
Conceptualizing Islamophobia
The Runnymede Trust Report, the first ever known commission report that featured the concept of Islamophobia, defined it as “unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims” (Runnymede Trust Report 1997). This articulation can be traced back to the xenophobia framework that enquired about the behavioural approach of hate against Muslims. This approach often considers Islamophobia from the vantage point of ignorance of or emotional outrage on Muslims with little political connotations. As the primary formulation on Islamophobia, this definition still holds current among Muslims as well as popular narratives in expressing the notions of anti-Muslim hatred.
As per the definition adopted by the United Nations, Islamophobia is “a fear, prejudice and hatred of Muslims or non-Muslim individuals that leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance by means of threatening, harassment, abuse, incitement and intimidation of Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the online and offline world. Motivated by institutional, ideological, political and religious hostility that transcends into structural and cultural racism which targets the symbols and markers of a being a Muslim” (Awan and Zempi 2020). As the authors claim, this definition addresses two major arenas: “firstly, it emphasises the link between institutional levels of Islamophobia and manifestations of such attitudes, triggered by the visibility of the victim’s (perceived) Muslim identity. Secondly, this approach also interprets Islamophobia as a ‘new’ form of racism, whereby Islamic religion, tradition and culture are seen as a ‘threat’ to the British/Western values” (Awan and Zempi 2020). By locating Islamophobia in the realms of cultural racism, it argues that the alleged cultural difference of Muslims is often considered as cultural deviance in the Western context.
A further nuanced conceptualization of Islamophobia has been put forwarded by the Muslim decolonial thinkers, who locate it in the realm of power contestations in the post-colonial/post-orientalist era. According to the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project (IRDP), “Islamophobia is a contrived fear or prejudice fomented by the existing Eurocentric and Orientalist global power structure. It is directed at a perceived or real Muslim threat through the maintenance and extension of existing disparities in economic, political, social and cultural relations, while rationalizing the necessity to deploy violence as a tool to achieve “civilizational rehab” of the target communities (Muslim or otherwise). Islamophobia reintroduces and reaffirms a global racial structure through which resource distribution disparities are maintained and extended” (IRDP). This articulation gives ample space for a reassessment of the hegemonic power structures and advocates for a paradigmatic shift in analysing the phenomenon of Islamophobia.
Indian scenario
The concept of Islamophobia has received a wide attention in India due to its dangerous manifestations under Hindu radicalism. Although there existed a number of terms denoting the anti-Muslim sentiment in India, the term ‘Islamophobia’ became an inseparable part of the contemporary popular narrative by the constant efforts of Muslim intelligentsia and activists (Kunnummal 2022). Hence, the discourse of Islamophobia has given the Muslims of India a subjective position in contrast to other terms such as ‘communalism’ and ‘anti-Muslim hate’. Here, communalism has been used as a double-edged sword under the guise of the phrases like ‘two-sides of the same coin’. Throughout the history of independent India, every so-called ‘communal violence’ has been systematically organized by the Hindu radicals by targeting the Muslims and other numerical minorities in India with the compliance or silent approval of the police force (Tejani 2021).
According to Paul Brass, there exists an ‘institutionalized riot system’ maintained and operated by the Hindu radicals in order to consolidate the Hindu vote bank in the times of anticipated political challenges (Brass 2011). As Ambedkar rightly said, “Hindu society as such does not exist. It is only a collection of castes. Each caste is conscious of its existence. Its survival is the be-all and end-all of its existence. Castes do not even form a federation. A caste has no feeling that it is affiliated to other castes, except when there is a Hindu-Muslim riot” (Ambedkar 2022). For instance, the threat posed by the Mandal commission report on the Hindu ideals of unity was ingeniously sidetracked by the Rath Yatra of L.K. Advani aimed at the demolition of Babri Masjid. Thirty years later, as per their promised plan, the Sangh Parivar could win over the Babri legal case and construct the Ram Mandir on the same site. While analysing this long epoch of sustained effort by the Sangh Parivar, it is obvious that they have managed the crisis well by killing two birds with one stone: the anticipated disintegration of Hindu fold on the caste lines and the replacing of a Mughal-built masjid with a temple for worshipping their ideal Indian king Rama.
As the Sangh Parivar is not limiting themselves to popular mobilizations against Muslims only, but also trying to get approval from the judicial mechanism for their agendas, the struggle against Islamophobia needs to be pursued on the both political and legal fronts. The UN recognition on Islamophobia needs to be conversant to the key political parties in order to make it a major concern of their manifestoes and policy-programs. Moreover, a sustained legal endeavour is needed to criminalize Islamophobia similar to atrocities prevention acts. Although much efforts have been taken with regard to anti-lynching laws such as Manav Suraksha Kanoon (Masuka), the demands are remaining unfulfilled primarily due the lack of enthusiasm from the part of interlocutors after the initial phase (NCAML 2018). At the same time, beyond the national arena, it is high time to bring the Indian Islamophobia to a global platform as part of the internationalisation of the resistance against Islamophobia. For instance, as we could see, when the government and media targeted Muslims in the name of Covid-19, the Arabs voiced their concerns through social media, making #IslamophobiaInIndia trending at the top. It is important to note that, the Sangh regime always fear the international backlash on their heinous crimes committed against minorities. Hence, the struggle to combat Islamophobia calls for our sustained attention in the contemporary troublesome times.
References
Ambedkar, B.R. (2022), Annihilation of Caste, New Delhi: Prabhat Prakashan.
Awan, Imran and Irene Zempi. (2020), “A Working Definition of Islamophobia: A Briefing Paper”, Preparation for the report to the 46th Session of Human Rights Council, November 2020.
Brass, Paul R. (2011), The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in Contemporary India, USA: University of Washington Press.
Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project (IRDP). “Defining Islamophobia”, Berkeley Center for Race & Gender, URL: https://crg.berkeley.edu/research/research-initiatives/islamophobia-research-and-documentation-project
Kunnummal, A. (2022). “Islamophobia Studies in India: Problems and Prospects”. Islamophobia Studies Journal, 7(1): 25–44.
National Campaign Against Mob Lynching (NCAML). (2018), “Draft law of ‘Manav Suraksha Kanoon’ (MASUKA)”, URL: https://blog.ipleaders.in/draft-law-manav-suraksha-kanoon-masuka-national-campaign-mob-lynching/
Runnymede Trust. (1997), Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All, London.
Sulaiman, Mohammed. (2020), “Muslimness as a political formation: An inquiry into Muslim presence”, Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 26(1): 31-47.
Tejani, Shabnum. (2021), Indian Secularism: A Social and Intellectual History, 1890-1950, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
