London: In the face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Islamophobic election campaign and its attempts to turn Dalits and OBCs against Muslims, the UK’s Indian diaspora delivered a powerful message of unity at a vigil held at Parliament Square in London on May 5.At a time when many in the diaspora are afraid of taking a public stand in case it leads to their OCI cards being revoked or their families in India being attacked, the Vigil for Democracy in India organised by 16 diaspora groups and attended by some 150 people brought in a spirit of solidarity, unity and strength.Referring to Modi’s hate filled speeches and the BJP’s recently posted animated videos that portray opposition leader Rahul Gandhi as favouring Muslims over Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBCs, Satpal Muman, chair, Caste Watch UK, UK’s largest oppressed caste organisation, expressed his solidarity with the Indian Muslims.“We need to stand up in solidarity to confront the menace of BJP-RSS nexus in which Modi-Shah and their cohorts are making hate speeches day in and day out, targeting Muslims and other minorities thereby inciting violence. I call upon international community to raise questions about genocide and ethnic cleansing in the name of Hindu nationalism in the so-called world’s largest democracy,” he said.“Their aim is a Hindu state in which India’s secular Constitution drafted by Dr Ambedkar will be replaced by the barbaric, anti-women and casteist 2nd century laws of Manu.”Speaker after speaker condemned “the lies Modi is hurling” at the Congress and the opposition INDIA coalition, for example that they would confiscate the property and the mangalsutras of Hindu women and hand them over to Muslims.The representatives of Muslim groups who attended the vigil pointed out how Islamophobia has been normalised by these campaigns.“Nobody knows the true face of Hindutva in Britain,” said Mohammed Owaise of the UK-Indian Muslim Council, adding, “We need to educate the British people, stakeholders and agencies.”“We refuse to remain mute spectators while divisive narratives, propagated by prominent figures within the BJP’s Hindutva regime, threaten the very foundations of democracy in India. BJP politicians have been targeting Indian Muslims through hate speech and derogatory stereotypes such as ‘infiltrators’, ‘stealers of wealth’, and ‘those who produce more children. This fosters and deeply entrenches Islamophobia within Indian society and further marginalises the Muslim community, preventing them from engaging in the electoral process.”Speakers shared their concern over the way the election is being conducted and the alleged corruption at every stage, with the BJP amassing vast quantities of money. Kalpana Wilson from South Asia Solidarity Group noted that the same corporates, the Adani group, for example, have the support of the Indian state and security forces in their persecution of Adivasi communities who are being displaced from their ancestral land to make way for environmentally destructive coal mines and refineries. Many who have resisted have been incarcerated.“Why is Modi no longer talking about development or about being Vishwaguru of the world?” she said, “Why is he reverting to the core hate and Islamophobia that defines his party? The reason is that the BJP is afraid that people can see through them and are rejecting them in state after state.”As for his proclaimed concern for oppressed castes, “people won’t forget that the BJP has committed atrocities, from the BJP-backed Ranvir Sena massacres in Bihar in the ’90s to the epidemic of rapes in Adityanath’s UP today.”There was anger over the free pass and even felicitation being given to rapists “as long as they are oppressor caste Hindu men”. Speakers highlighted the most recent promotion of a parliamentary candidate, Prajwal Revanna, known to be a serial offender who has videoed thousands of his crimes. Revanna has now been allowed to flee to Germany on a diplomatic passport.The vigil was organised on the first anniversary of the Manipur violence and speakers from the Christian Kuki-Zo community shared the ordeals their families faced and continue to face after one year.In a powerful and heartbreaking testimony, Lun, a member of Unau Welfare UK, related the experiences of her family and what they faced when the violence broke out in Imphal on May 3, 2023.“My family were seeking shelter and were on their way to a CRPF camp when a violent mob of over 200 men blocked their path and pulled them out of their car. They paraded them and subjected them to insults and questions about their identity and ethnicity before the mob separated them. My cousin was chased and circled, and subjected to brutal assault with rods, stones, and bricks. My aunt, his mum, positioned herself between the attackers and him while the mob cheered and carried on until both of them were brutally hacked to death in broad daylight. Nancy, my sister in-law was paraded in a different place where the womenfolk shouted to others to rape her,” Lun said.The vigil was attended in solidarity by Andrew Feinstein, former ANC MP who served under Nelson Mandela, and is an investigative author and filmmaker specialising in the arms trade. Feinstein, who is the son of a Holocaust survivor, has recently declared that he is standing against Keir Starmer in UK’s forthcoming general election. He told the vigil that “the Prime Minister Modi is one of the world’s most extreme ethno-nationalists – cheerleader for and provider of arms to the Israeli state, even as it slaughters tens of thousands in Gaza. Apartheid Israel’s embrace of Modi is particularly repugnant as his Hindu nationalist philosophy has its roots in the RSS, an avowedly Nazi, anti-Semitic movement.”“Do not be fooled into thinking that there are no active, organised diaspora voices that will speak up against Modi and the BJP. We have to constantly punch above our weight, but we are here and we are not going anywhere,” Rajiv Sinha, director of Hindus for Human Rights UK, said.The vigil was organised by Caste Watch UK, South Asia Solidarity Group, Unau Welfare International and Unau Welfare UK, United Kingdom Indian Muslim Council, the umbrella organisation of Indian Muslim groups in the UK, Hindus 4 Human Rights, UK, The Rights Collective, Nijjormanush, India Labour Solidarity, Movement For People’s Struggles – Sri Lanka (UK), Ambedkar International Mission, Women Against Caste, StriveUK, Peace in India, Scottish Indians 4 Justice, and Justice Campaign South Asia.P.P. Jaseem (@jaseempp) is a freelance journalist based in the UK covering law, human rights and Indian minorities for Indian, British and international media outlets.
