The Rise of HINDUstan
By: Prema Rahman, MPAC Policy Analyst, and Amine Ben Naceur, MPAC Non-Resident Senior Policy Fellow
 

On September 23, 2021, a video of a photojournalist trampling a dead man shot by police in the state of Assam went viral on Twitter. The video, posted by an Indian journalist, shows a group of police officers shooting a man running towards them with a baton. The video was taken on the sidelines of the violence that took place during a demonstration by Muslims in Bengal against an “expulsion campaign” ordered by the Assam government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In this wave of evictions, more than 800 families were forcibly removed from their land and their houses destroyed by Assam security forces. In this context, the BJP has been accused by human rights activists in India of exploiting the ethnic and religious fault lines in Assam for electoral purposes and of waging a hate campaign against Muslims.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected in 2014 on the promise that he would bring to the national forefront his “Gujarat model,” characterized by high growth rates driven by private sector-led manufacturing. At the same time, a return to this model also meant the promotion of populist politics aimed at creating and nurturing a Hindu majority within a socially and economically diverse population in order to form an electoral bloc for the BJP. Part of this strategy involved creating a common enemy with Muslims first and secular liberals second. The use of violence to polarize communities in areas where the BJP faced the strongest electoral competition, including areas with high Muslim populations, is not new for Modi.

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Our 'Mustard Seed Project' aims to bring Muslims and Evangelical Christians in predominantly Red States to the same table, to talk, get to know each other, share a meal, and ask uncomfortable questions. Stereotypes and misrepresentations exist on both sides of the spectrum. These events help disrupt the status quo by challenging the inaccurate tropes that tend to reinforce a monolithic, intolerant, and harmful representation of Muslims and Evangelical Christians. As of today, we have organized three main events: one in Phoenix, Arizona, one in Costa Mesa, California, and one in Chicago, Illinois.

Through the voices of those who have already participated, you can read about their experiences in our blog entry, Bridging across Polarization: Muslims and Evangelical Christians Planting the Mustard Seed for America. We interviewed eleven attendees, some Muslim and some Christian who shared with us their stories about what brought them to the Mustard Seed, what they learned from participating, and how they felt sitting at a table with strangers of another misrepresented faith. The stories we collected are a testimony of the immense possibilities that God’s work opens for us when we engage to change the world, one act of compassion at a time. 

Read the blog post —>

 

Save the date for MPAC’s free virtual convention on Sunday, Dec 5th! We are excited for this year’s event as we explore our collective journey as Americans, as Muslims and as a community: The Story of Us. 

Reserve your free ticket →