In an incident that should send alarm bells ringing, Hyderabad MP and chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi’s car was fired upon while he was returning to Delhi after campaigning in Uttar Pradesh’ Meerut on Thursday. Police have reportedly arrested two people. Not surprisingly, one of the accused, identified as Sachin in his Facebook profile, says that he is a member of a Hindu right-wing organization and calls himself ‘Deshbhakt Sachin Hindu’. Further, pictures have emerged of his posters expressing support to the BJP on FB.
Even though one may disagree with the kind of communal politics Owaisi plays, attempt to murder him is way too much. This shows that increasing the space of dissent is shrinking in India. Today the right-wing groups, emboldened by the divisive politics of the BJP and the RSS, are not ready to accept any voices opposing their ideology. They will go to any extent to try to suppress the voice of sanity. What worries the people of India is the complete silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He does not speak a word against the people of his own party or the RSS when they raise anti-minority rhetoric. Recently, a dharm sansad was organized by radical Hindu religious leaders in Uttarakhand, in which they called for genocide of Muslims. But again, Modi maintained silence. Acts like this embolden the right-wing groups.