Opinion | Modi’s new India: inclusive, except for Muslims? Not so fast

The landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the India’s recent parliamentary elections led many to believe the country’s Muslim community would be further relegated to the margins of society.

But within days of his re-election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to allay these concerns, urging party members and fellow parliamentarians to win the trust of the country’s minorities through “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas” (collective efforts, inclusive growth, with everyone’s trust). Bowing his head in front of the country’s constitution, the prime minister also urged India’s Muslims to refute the myth that their fear had been aided and abetted by vote-bank politics.

Muslim fears towards a BJP-led government have not been irrational. Modi’s former role as chief minister of Gujarat during the deadly riots of 2002, which saw hundreds of Muslims attacked and killed, cast a dark shadow over his prime ministership since 2014. And instead of healing old wounds in India’s society, Modi’s first term seemed to create new fissures in Muslim minds, making them feel alienated and helpless.