The Strands of Religious Populism and Otherization of Muslims in India

Abstract

India; a constitutionally declared secular state and home to almost 200 million Muslims (third largest Muslim population in world and largest Muslim population as a minority group) is merely becoming a Hindu state. The Hindutva inspired state-centric discourses of national identity are perceptibly reflecting the process of othering of Indian citizens on the bases of their religious beliefs. The „othering‟ of Muslims is largely politically and culturally constructed by exclusivist imagination of a „Hindu Rashtra‟(State) while gradually paving grounds for denial of equal rights to all Indian citizens. Since Bharatiya Janata Party‟s (BJP) rise to power and its persistent political appeal to masses through religious populism, the otherization of Muslims is reinforced by anti-Muslim narrative. This led to many among the Indian society to view Indian Muslims with distrust. This research identifies that in the backdrop of existing Islamophobic discourses in Indian society, the emergent religious populism of right-wing politics as an electoral force is vigorously creating the classes of citizens primarily identified by religion. In Indian society, certain groups are already marginalized due to differentiation of caste and socio-economic inequalities which makes their power claims irrelevant to public policy. Now Muslims; a significant minority of Indian state are suffering due to deliberate policies of ruling elite to construct a worldview of observing them as „evil‟ others. This has gradually transformed not only the plural nature of India society but has also made Indian state; a party to conflict and largely reshaping the idea of nationhood on the bases of religious othering. This is an apparent key threat to Indian secularism, the democratic credentials of State and its diverse society which can be disadvantaged to the Indian political and constitutional paradigm of holding together.