In supposedly secular India, religious tensions are again on the rise – to the point where the lights of Diwali have been dimmed here in British Columbia.
Over the past several months, there have been numerous outrages against various religious minorities on the Indian subcontinent.
In the populous state of Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, Muslims have been attacked and killed by radical Hindu nationalists angered by the fact that many Muslims in India eat beef despite some state bans on cow slaughter. In Hinduism, cows are sacred, and fringe elements of the Hindu right have recently taken it upon themselves to punish others for the transgression. For poor Indian Muslims, beef is a key source of protein – and now eating it endangers their lives.
And in the Indian state of Punjab, the heartland of Sikhism, incidents have been reported of desecration of the Sikhs' holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. The allegations have prompted protests, and two people have died in the unfolding chaos. One observer likened Punjab at the moment to Los Angeles during race riots, where a single spark could ignite further violence.
Earlier this year, Christian churches were attacked in New Delhi, and attacks on nuns have been reported. While some Hindu nationalists suspect Muslims as a sort of fifth column for Pakistan, they also fear Christians are intent on converting the more than 167 million lower caste dalits, thereby diluting India's Hindu majority.
Some have blamed the rising intolerance on the central government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose right-leaning, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party rose to power in last year's election. He triumphed promising development and economic reforms, but since he took power, his chief lieutenant, Amit Shah – president of the BJP – and others within the party have attempted to consolidate political power with divisive, incendiary rhetoric.
But Mr. Shah, who was censured by the Election Commission of India for anti-Muslim comments on the campaign trail in 2014, went even further during the recent state-level elections in the poor, populous state of Bihar. Trying to whip up enough fury and tension to give his party an electoral edge, Mr. Shah said people would be setting off fireworks in Pakistan should the BJP's opponents win.
In Bihar, at least, voters reacted poorly to this inducement, and elected the "grand coalition" of regional parties and the Indian National Congress united against the BJP-led alliance.
In Punjab, the matter is a little more complicated. There have been numerous reports of torn up copies of the Guru Granth Sahib being left at shrines, according to the BBC Hindi report from Punjab. As a response to the disrespect shown to their holy book, which is literally viewed as a living guru and treated with the utmost reverence by Sikhs, an effort has been made to tone down this year's Diwali, or festival of lights, which was celebrated this week. Sikh leaders have asked worshippers around the world not to light candles or fireworks at Sikh gurdwaras, but to pray at more solemn, contemplative gatherings.
Satwinder Bains, director of the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C., said she noticed an atmosphere drastically different from usual at the temple of the Khalsa Diwan Society, Abbotsford.
"If you go on Diwali, not only are the crowds there, people are celebrating, there are candles and lights, sweets are flowing, and everyone is wearing their finery," she said. "Yesterday, everything was very muted … . Everyone was in a reflective mood, rather than a celebratory mood."
Jagdeesh Mann, the executive editor of Vancouver's Asian Pacific Post and South Asian Post newspapers, said family members did not light candles this year because of the offences in Punjab. "India is growing more intolerant," he said. "There's a simmering anger."
Even so, Prof. Bains noted that in Canada, at least, that is not the case – and that the Hindus who are celebrating Diwali, as normal, at their own temples, have not publicly said anything against some Sikhs' desire for a more sombre Diwali. "The nice thing is the Hindu temples haven't come out against anything the Punjabis are doing."
And contrasting the violence in India between religions to Canada, she added: "We live in a beautiful country, where we don't have these issues."