Princess Hend Al-Qassimi of the UAE recently flagged the issue of "Islamophobic" comments by a section of Indians on social media. After that, several Indian missions in Gulf issued statements urging people to remain vigilant against attempts made by "forces inimical to India" to sow religious divisions. The hatred against the minority community is also visible on the ground and not just on social media.
After the Tablighi Jamaat incident, the vilification of Muslims has increased both on social media and ground. There have been several instances of Muslims being harassed and stopped from selling fruits and vegetables in villages over fears that they would spread the coronavirus.
However, former union minister and senior Congress leader Manish Tewari has said that there is not any "Islamophobia" in the Indian society. Speaking to International Business Times, India, Tewari said that although there is a certain amount of disquiet in the society due to the Tablighi Jamaat incident, there is no available hatred against any minority in the country.
"I don't think that there is any Islamophobia in Indian society. The fact is that the Tablighi Jamaat did make a mistake by not cancelling that congregation which had a lot of international delegates also. At a point in time when public gathering around the country and the world were being cancelled as both the infection and death rates were mounting. They should have been careful. Unfortunately, their carelessness has caused a certain amount of disquiet in society," Tiwari told us.
India's syncretic bonds strong enough to surmount attempts to drive communal wage
The Congress leader said that India's syncretic bonds were strong enough to not allow any attempt to drive communal wage and except for "lunatic fringes", there was no hatred towards any minority in the country.
"...its suffice to say that except for the lunatic fringes, which are always omnipresent in India's social media, there is no available hatred towards any minority in the society. I think India's syncretic bonds are strong enough to surmount any attempt to be able to drive a wage between the communities," he added.
