Once again a terror attack has left Muslims across India not just shaken like all other Indians, but also defending their very existence. Someone, somewhere, with a gun and an agenda, committed a horrific act \u2014 but it was their name, their identity and their faith that suddenly became suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twenty-six people were killed when terrorists attacked tourists in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on 22 April. The attackers reportedly singled out non-Muslims, even asking some to recite the Islamic Kalima (Islamic prayers derived from hadiths that are often used to aid South Asia Muslim children to memorise key beliefs) to prove their faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was horrifying. And yet, in the midst of the horror, ordinary Kashmiris\u2014Muslim men and women\u2014risked their lives to save strangers. People like Nazakat Ahmad Shah<\/a>, a tour guide, and Rayees Ahmad Bhatt<\/a>, President of the Pony Owners\u2019 Association, pulled survivors from danger. A local pony guide Syed Adil Hussain Shah g<\/a>ave his life while trying to protect a little girl. But instead of being praised for their efforts, the Muslim community, especially the Kashmiri Muslim community, was vilified. Their bravery was quickly forgotten, the national mood shifted from mourning to suspicion\u2014and the blame \u2013 as it so often does in India \u2013 landed on an entire community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Every time India suffers a terrorist attack such as this, especially one linked to Kashmir or with ‘Islamist’ connotations, Muslims across India are forced to prove their innocence. Their religion and identity become liabilities.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Within hours of the massacre in Pahalgam, hate speech began to spread. In Dehradun, Uttarakhand State, a leader from the far-right Hindu nationalist group Hindu Raksha Dal posted a video<\/a> ordering all Kashmiri Muslims to leave the city by 10am the next day. Dozens of students fled overnight<\/a>, terrified. Many had to borrow money for their flights home, some locking themselves in hostels until they could escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Mussoorie, also in Uttarakhand, 16 Kashmiri shawl sellers left town<\/a> after two were assaulted by locals. In Punjab, Kashmiri girls were attacked<\/a> in their hostels. One video showed a girl sobbing as she described being called a terrorist. In Uttar Pradesh, members of the Kshatriya Gau Raksha Dal, another Hindu nationalist group, allegedly killed<\/a> a Muslim man and wounded his cousin in retaliation for the Pahalgam violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) released a comprehensive report<\/a> detailing the disturbing surge in anti-Muslim and anti-Kashmiri hate crimes across India covering the period from 22 April to 8 May. The report documents 184 incidents affecting at least 316 individuals, in a period of little more than two weeks. It listed 84 cases of hate speech, 64 instances of intimidation, 42 of harassment, 39 assaults, 19 acts of vandalism, 14 threats, seven verbal abuses and three murders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is part of a familiar pattern and it isn’t just about Kashmiris, it is about what it means to be a religious minority in India today. It is about how when India\u2019s Muslim community faces the same terror as every other Indian citizen, someone will still question where their loyalties lie.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Even voices of reason experience this. Himanshi Narwal, a Hindu widow of the navy officer Vinay Narwal who was killed in the Pahalgam attack, tried to do her part to stop the hate, saying<\/a> she didn’t want people turning against Muslims or Kashmiris, and speaking about how Kashmiri Muslim men helped her after her husband was killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It should have been a unifying moment. Instead, she was trolled online<\/a> and stripped off her dignity, even in the midst of her grief. She was told she wasn’t honouring her husband’s memory. Inappropriate remarks were made about her association with Muslim men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why do we love to hate so much?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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