How the Kashmir clashes sparked a new war on India's Muslims
A spate of anti-Muslim hate incidents have been reported across India since the deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir last month.
In an approximately two-week span after gunmen killed 26 people in the Pahalgam area on 22 April, the New-Delhi-based Association for Protection of Civil Rights recorded 184 anti-Muslim hate incidents across India.
Close to half of the cases allegedly involved hate speech, while others were described as intimidation, harassment, assaults, vandalism, threats, verbal abuse, and three killings. The Pahalgam attack was a 'triggering factor' in more than 100 of the incidents, the association reported.
There's a more dangerous shift at play here than just reactive violence. It's the political mainstreaming of suspicion, and a recalibration of what it means to be Muslim in India.
In response to the Pahalgam killings, the Indian government announced Operation Sindoor, a military campaign targeting sites in Pakistan, which it accused of facilitating the attack - a claim Pakistan has denied. While the operation was officially presented as a national security initiative, it marked a major escalation in regional tensions.
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Its aftermath also had domestic repercussions, especially in terms of the perception and treatment of Indian Muslims in public and political discourse.
Ultranationalist social media accounts have played a major role in fomenting hatred, branding Indian Muslims as 'infiltrators' and 'traitors'. The discourse around Operation Sindoor quickly became a litmus test of Indian Muslim patriotism, rather than questioning the government's handling of security in Jammu and Kashmir - despite the fact that the Pahalgam attack was roundly condemned by Muslims in the country.
Paying the price
Historically, whenever India and Pakistan engage in military or diplomatic conflict, India's Muslim population is made to pay the price: socially, politically and psychologically. What's happening now is no exception.
As writer Hussain Haidry told Middle East Eye: 'For decades, Indian Muslims have been referred to as Pakistanis by a large number of people in India. Their ghettos are called 'Mini Pakistan'. They are mocked as supporters of the Pakistani cricket team whenever there is a cricket match between the two. They are abused with the remark, 'Go back to Pakistan'.
'So it should not be a shock to anyone in India if its Muslims are harmed in all possible ways by the majority if there are tensions between India and Pakistan, because the cultural framework for this aggravated discrimination and violence is already in place.'
The concept of Indian Muslim citizenship is being rewritten as conditional, fragile and perpetually suspect
This time, however, the backlash has a sharper edge, as seen recently in Ambala, where a mob chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' torched Muslim-owned shops. This was not a spontaneous eruption of communal anger; right-wing groups stepped into the spotlight with open, organised aggression.
The tragedy extends beyond the physical violence itself. It's in the way suspicion has become mainstream; in how the concept of Indian Muslim citizenship is being rewritten as conditional, fragile and perpetually suspect.
This is no sudden flareup. Rather, it's the product of years of ideological preparation through school textbooks, television debates, political speeches, WhatsApp messages and online propaganda. The Pahalgam attack was merely a catalyst for releasing long-built-up pressure.
Every India-Pakistan escalation now triggers an informal loyalty test for Indian Muslims. But this test is evolving, becoming more explicit and public.
'Muslims are not just expected to support India; they must vocally denounce Pakistan,' analyst Sara Ather told MEE. 'We have seen countless videos of journalists thrusting microphones into the faces of Kashmiris and Indian Muslims, demanding commentary on the conflict. This isn't patriotism, but humiliation.'
Tools of exclusion
The optics of nationalism have morphed into tools of exclusion, Ather added: 'A standard is being set for what counts as an 'acceptable' Muslim. And the message is clear: if you want to be accepted as part of the Indian community, you must meet this minimum threshold, otherwise, you are seen as a Pakistani sympathiser, a terrorist, or worse.'
This is coercive assimilation, not integration. And the stakes are high: refusal or hesitation means surveillance, social ostracism, harassment and violence.
For Indian Muslims the end times have arrived Read More »
What's most troubling is the near-silence from mainstream political voices. Opposition parties have largely avoided confronting this rising tide of hate, knowing that to do so could make them targets of public suspicion or state scrutiny. This environment allows hate to become normalised, laws to be marginalised, and mobs to act with impunity - all under the guise of patriotism.
For Muslims across India, the consequences are real and palpable. Earlier this month, a Muslim man reportedly died by suicide after being assaulted and accused of being 'Pakistani' by a local journalist, who later fled the scene. His death is emblematic of a climate where suspicion alone can become a death sentence.
While the guns along the India-Pakistan border might have fallen silent for now, the war over Indian Muslim identity is escalating, fought with insinuations, silence and shrinking rights. It's fought every time a Muslim must shout 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' to be accepted, or condemn Pakistan publicly before mourning the deaths of fellow Indian citizens.
The question is no longer whether Indian Muslims are loyal enough. The question is whether India is willing to accept its Muslim citizens as they are, without demanding performances of patriotism and endless loyalty tests, and without suspicion as a default setting.
A democracy that demands loyalty tests based on religion is not truly a democracy. It is an exclusionary, majoritarian regime in denial. And until this changes, Indian Muslims will continue to pay the price for wars they did not start - with their lives, security and dignity.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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