Jai Shri Ram is today increasingly deployed as a threat to anyone who dares to challenge Hindu supremacy. The law grants citizenship to refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, or Zoroastrians-but not Muslims-as long as they entered India before 2015.Īctivists point out that the CAA goes against the secular principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The latest catalyst for tensions is the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which discriminates on the basis of religion. Gujjar’s message was aimed at India’s 200 million Muslims-the largest religious minority in a mostly Hindu population of 1.3 billion people-who have become unwitting targets in an us-versus-them culture war waged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But while this seemingly harmless phrase originated as a pious declaration of devotion in India, it is today increasingly deployed not only as a Hindu chauvinist slogan but also as a threat to anyone who dares to challenge Hindu supremacy. Jai Shri Ram literally translates as “Victory to Lord Ram,” a popular Hindu deity. Later, while being handcuffed by the police, Gujjar explained his motive: “In our country, only Hindus will prevail.” It was a cool, smog-infused afternoon, and Indians from all walks of life had gathered in a peaceful protest against a controversial new citizenship law that especially affects the country’s poor, women, and, perhaps most of all, Muslims. “ Jai Shri Ram!” Those were the words 25-year-old Kapil Gujjar shouted as he pointed his semi-automatic pistol at hundreds of unarmed women and children at Shaheen Bagh, a predominantly Muslim colony in New Delhi, on Saturday, Feb.
0 kommentar(er)
