Indian Muslims Feel More Secure After Coalition Government Formed

After India’s recent national elections, Muslim communities are expressing cautious optimism about their future under the new coalition government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party, VOA reported in an article yesterday.

Prior to the election, there were deep concerns that a decisive BJP victory would allow the Hindu nationalist party to aggressively target and marginalize India’s over 204 million Muslim citizens.

However, the BJP’s failure to win an outright majority has constrained its ability to pursue hardline, anti-Muslim policies.

Muslim leaders and experts believe the “worst is hopefully over” as the BJP now must balance the interests of its more moderate coalition partners.

While vigilante violence and discriminatory laws targeting Muslims remain a concern, the reduced political mandate for the BJP has brought a sense of relief to India’s Muslim population.

According to the article, they hope this will curb the unprecedented “humiliation, disenfranchisement, and naked brutalization” experienced under the BJP’s previous single-party rule.