Expert warns of looming 'genocide' of Indian Muslims

A genocide of Muslims may be about to take place in India, an expert who reportedly predicted the Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda, years before it occurred in 1994, has warned.

There are "early signs and processes" of genocide in the states of Assam and Indian-administrated Kashmir, Gregory Stanton, the founder and director of Genocide Watch, warned during a US congressional briefing.

"We are warning that genocide could very well happen in India," Stanton said, speaking on behalf of the NGO he launched in 1999 to predict, prevent, stop and seek accountability for the crime.

His claims came after Hindutva groups held a religious event in the city of Haridwar in the state of Uttarakhand, calling for genocide and violence against Muslims and other minorities in the name of "protecting Hinduism".

A speaker told the crowd that people should not worry about going to jail for "killing Muslims", according to a video verified by AFP, in gatherings that took place between 17 and 19 December 2021.

Earlier this month, a mobile phone application was created with the purpose of "auctioning off" Muslim women, in a case of communal harassment. 

Stanton also cited the revocation of the special autonomous status of Indian-administered Kashmir in 2019 – which stripped Kashmiris of the special position they had for seven decades – and the Citizenship Amendment Act the same year, which granted citizenship to religious minorities, but excluded Muslims, as further discriminatory policies.

Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch, speaks about #HaridwarGenocidalMeet.

He mentions the lack of strict legal action from the GoI.

He concludes with how he had predicted the genocide in Rwanda with the full awareness of its leader, and similar is happening in India. pic.twitter.com/vtxBnM8arJ

— Hussain Haidry (@hussainhaidry) January 15, 2022

Genocide Watch began warning of an impending genocide in India in 2002, when a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western state of Gujarat resulted in the killing of more than 1,000 Muslims.

Around 14 percent of India's 1.4 billion population is Muslim, while 80 percent are Hindu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) party stands accused of - but denies - encouraging the persecution of Muslims and other minorities by hardline Hindu nationalists since coming to power in 2014.