Indian Muslims and the Anti-CAA Protests: From Marginalization Towards Exclusion

Abstract

Since the victory of the BJP in 2014 there has been much speculation about the fate of Muslims and their place in Indian politics. This paper seeks to argue that the recent rise of the BJP has caused the center of politics to move further to the right which in turn has precipitated a change in the politics of the opposition parties as well wherein Muslims have become political “untouchables.” I argue that this change also marks a shift of Indian Muslims from a position of marginalization towards one of exclusion. The Citizenship Amendment Act, India’s Nuremberg moment, was a significant marker of this fundamental shift in the political, economic, legal, institutional, cultural and social status of Indian Muslims.