India's main opposition party has called upon the Indian community in Australia and around the world to condemn a recent religious conclave in India that called for mass killings of Muslims in the country.
The three-day gathering, called Dharma Sansad, sparked outrage in India after videos of right-wing Hindu figures calling for the ethnic cleansing of 220 million Muslims in the country went viral on social media.
“The Indian community all over the world should put pressure on the present dispensation and Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] to work in a certain way to get back our pluralistic society and stop judging people based on their religion, their caste, their creed,” Shama Mohamed, the spokesperson for the Indian National Congress party, told SBS News.
Mr Modi is the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has historically represented Hindu nationalist interests and governed India since 2014.
Indian National Congress (INC) is the principal opposition party, led by Sonia Gandhi, the wife of Rajiv Gandhi, the former prime minister of India who was assassinated in 1991.
Dr Mohamed’s comments come days after Hindu right-wing figure Yati Narsinghanand claimed at the religious gathering that swords are insufficient in the "battle against Muslims" and better weapons are necessary to become victorious.
Tensions between Hindus, who make up more than 80 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion population, and Muslims, who comprise about 14 per cent of the population, go back centuries.
The three-day conclave was held in Haridwar, an ancient city and a significant pilgrimage site in North India's Uttarakhand state.
“I was horrified,” Dr Mohamed said, referring to the gathering.
“Since 2014, we have been seeing this Muslim-bashing hatred but normally it would be the fringe.
“Now, here was a conclave with religious leaders openly asking for the genocide of Muslims as well as they attacked former [INC leader and] prime minister Mr Manhoham Singh and said that he should also be killed.
“So it was very worrying that it is coming from a conclave where there are religious priests of Hindu religion.”
Indian police have launched an investigation into the event, which was attended by at least one member of the BJP.
The religious conclave was held in Haridwar, an important Hindu pilgrimage site in North India's Uttarakhand state. Source: AFP
The party is accused of - but denies - encouraging the persecution of Muslims and other minorities by hardline Hindu nationalists since coming to power in 2014.
Seventy-six lawyers of the Supreme Court of India on Monday wrote to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, requesting the High Courts and the Supreme court of India initiate a hearing on the issue under the legal principle of Suo Moto cognizance.
Prominent Muslim MP Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted that the comments in the video were a “clear case of incitement to genocide”.
Modi's government has not commented on the event.
SBS News has contacted Mr Modi’s office for a comment but has not yet received a reply.
Dr Mohamed said this is not an isolated incident and minorities in India are being unfairly treated on a daily basis.
She recently tweeted about Muslim stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was arrested in January for supposedly disrespecting Hindu gods.
The 29-year-old was halfway through his performance in the city of Indore, in the state of BJP-led Madhya Pradesh, when he was arrested and, according to a recent Al Jazeera article, “ended up spending 37 days in jail for jokes he never told”.
“He was not given bail saying that he had insulted Hindu deities. But when you ask the police, [the] police clearly says there’s no video of him insulting,” Dr Mohamed said.
According to Dr Mohamed, other minority groups in the country are coming under attack too.
“Various disruptions are happening all over the country in the other minorities, too. And if you look at it, it’s mainly in BJP-ruled states,” she said.
“Churches have been attacked in Uttarakhand some time back and just yesterday Christmas celebrations [were interrupted] in Haryana, the adjoining state to [the national capital Delhi]. If they can do it so close to the capital, what about the rest of the places?”
Dr Mohamed has one final message for Mr Modi.
“Mr Modi, the prime minister of India, should be the prime minister of 135 crore [1.3 billion] people and not just Bharatiya Janata Party voters. But that’s not what we see here in India. He is just the prime minister for his particular vote bank … and it is very upsetting for other Indians.”
