EVEN as Modi made a victory speech claiming to reassure minorities, Muslims have been subjected to almost daily communal attacks since his re-election.
In Begusarai, young Mohd. Qasim was asked his name, told to ‘go to Pakistan’ and then shot at. In Seoni in MP, a day before BJP’s victory, a gang of ‘Gau Rakshaks’ (‘cow protectors’) beat up three people, including a woman, on the pretext they were carrying beef and demanded they say ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Mohammad Barkat was accosted by a gang in Gurugram which demanded he remove his skull cap and chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’, slapped him, threatened to force-feed him pork. In Delhi a visiting Pune doctor was likewise accosted by a gang which asked him his name and demanded he chant ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ In Delhi, incidents have been reported of Muslim labourers being taunted with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans on buses.
