The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Indian government is trying to erase any trace of the Mughal Empire and with-it Muslim legacy as it seeks to portray India as a historically Hindu-only land and subsequently othering its 200-million Muslim population in what has been dubbed “a cultural genocide.”
To date, more than 7,000 Indian villages bearing Muslim names have been renamed. These include 3,626 villages named after Ram and 3,309 villages named after Krishna, two Hindu deities. For example, Aurangabad is Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, and Osmanabad is Dharashiv and Allahabad is a historically significant city in Uttar Pradesh. Situated at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, it is now Prayagraj.
Not content with renaming major towns, the government has directed history textbooks be altered to minimise the Mughal era.
Several pages on the Mughal rulers and the Delhi Sultanate have been deleted from textbooks.
The Mughals have not disappeared entirely, but students will no longer learn of the milestones and achievements of some of India’s most important rulers, who are portrayed purely as “murderous invaders” even though their legacy continues in India’s architecture and cultural milieu, most notably the Taj Mahal, one of the “seven wonders of the world” and India’s top tourist attraction.
Mass killings of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, while Modi was Chief Minister, have also been omitted from textbooks.
The destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 was part of this massive anti-Muslim cultural cleansing. Next in line are the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Mosque in Mathura.
The BJP’s attempted erasure of Muslim heritage from Indian history is designed to undermine and underplay Muslim contribution to Indian history, culture, and development. This is just the beginning. The BJP wants to eradicate Muslims and says they are not wanted in India.
Unfortunately, Western countries, including the United Kingdom, indirectly helped India in this Muslim cultural genocide. Modi received the red-carpet treatment on his visit to the United States this month when he addressed a joint session of Congress. President Biden made no mention of human rights violations against Muslims in India.
When it comes to India’s persecution of millions of Muslims, it appears that the West’s much-touted “democratic values” rhetoric has been thrown out the window and sacrificed, as it has in most international campaigns oppressing Muslims.
Photo: The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces (Credit: Flickr CC)
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