Muslims sidelined at home, paraded abroad: Modi’s duplicity on display

Hindu nationalist Modi government includes Muslim faces in global delegations while denying them power and representation at home

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — The Indian government recently unveiled seven all-party delegations tasked with lobbying foreign nations to “expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.”

These delegations include 10 Muslim representatives—a calculated move by the Modi administration to project an image of pluralism on the global stage.

However, this outward display starkly contrasts with the reality Muslims face within India.

Despite being over 14% of the population—amounting to more than 200 million people—Muslims are glaringly absent from significant national decision-making roles.

The BJP-led government has no Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of Parliament, and no Muslim representation in the Union Cabinet.

This systemic exclusion underpins the hypocrisy of the BJP’s approach.

While Muslims are deemed suitable to represent India internationally, they are denied a voice in shaping the country’s domestic policies.

Notably, the government has enacted several laws affecting Muslim lives, such as criminalizing Triple Talaq and targeting Waqf properties, without a single Muslim parliamentarian in their ranks to provide a counter-narrative or defend the community’s rights.

Among the Muslim delegates are figures like Asaduddin Owaisi, Salman Khurshid, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and M.J. Akbar. Owaisi, who is often vilified as “pro-Pakistan” by BJP leaders and taunted in Parliament with slogans like “Jai Shri Ram,” has now been chosen to promote India’s pluralistic image abroad.

Similarly, M.J. Akbar, who resigned from the government amid serious MeToo allegations, has also been included.

Even Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, a Muslim army officer, was strategically highlighted during “Operation Sindoor” to reinforce the narrative of inclusion.

However, BJP’s inaction against their party’s Minister Vijay Shah for his Islamophobic remarks about Qureshi highlights the party’s Janus-faced policies.

Shah had said that Qureshi was “a sister from the community of the terrorists themselves.”

This shows how initiatives like the inclusion of Muslims in the delegations are not genuine efforts to empower Muslims but rather optics designed for global consumption.

The contradiction is glaring: India’s 18th Lok Sabha has only 24 Muslim MPs, a mere 4.2% of Parliament, none of whom are from the ruling BJP.

The exclusion of Muslims from governance is no accident; it reflects deliberate policy.

By relegating Muslims to token roles in international delegations while sidelining them domestically, the Modi government exposes its exploitative approach to representation.

True inclusion begins at home. Without meaningful Muslim participation in national governance, India’s global narrative of diversity and inclusion rings hollow.