"Mia Musharraf" factor in political rise of Modi :::: In 2014, Muslims were "divided" .. an estimated 8 per cent voted for BJP ... but whispers said "entire Muslim community is not trust worth" ::: 9/11 had set the ball in motion for 'global war against terror'

During the peak of 2002 riots - Narendra Modi on a daily basis used a phrase "Mia Musharraf". It was not aimed at Pakistan's president in office alone. It also stigmatised Muslims. 

Looking back  ....

Modi should be considering himself 'lucky' as his swearing in as the chief minister and the post-Godhra carnage .... and all that had happened after infamous 9/11 of 2001.

Hindu nationalist groups, already skeptical of minority communities, found new energy in the “War on Terror” language. They argued that 

It became easy for the likes of Modi and his hardliner colleagues in the BJP and VHP to sell the line that the "Indian Muslims were a potential security risk and need not get any consideration as a religious minority". This is not to dramatise the reasons responsible for Modi's rise and in the ultimate to emerge as India's Prime Minister.  

A bare footed Modi with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in Ahmedabad Masjid on Sept 13, 2017 

Of course, the BJP and Modi himself focused on development and good governance. He campaigned on promises of strong leadership ... every time, he said Mia Musharraf.  But beneath those promises ran a 'new deeper current' -- that Muslims should not be trusted.

And the essential philosophy of the Sangh Parivar that India’s true identity was Hindu.  

Muslims take part in a religious procession in June 2026 at Ahmedabad 

The 9/11 did not just shake the west or New York; it actually trickled into neighborhood conversations and even the way people look at one another in offices and markets. 

It has been repeatedly emphasized by the BJP leaders that India was a 'victim of cross-border terrorism' for decades and that it would fight against the terror menace along with the rest of the world.

In later stage, PM Narendra Modi had called for global unity and a 'policy of zero tolerance' against terror in all its forms and manifestations, as well as against nations (like Pakistan) or groups that shelter and fund terrorists.

On anniversaries of 9/11, Modi has more often honored the victims, expressed solidarity with affected families, and recalled visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York. 

At no time actually, American phrases like “Jihadi Islam” and “Islamic terrorism” offered new meanings to discussions and narrative buildings on Muslim separatism. Probably, people believed if someone is a Khan; he could be terrorist too. 

India was not alone. In Bangladesh, an explosion at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Baniarchar village, Gopalganj district, on June 3, 2001, had killed 10 Christians. Of course this was three months prior to 9/11. 

The banned Islamist militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) claimed responsibility for the attack, highlighting the presence of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh well before 9/11.  

Tombs of 10 Catholics killed in the June 3, 2001, bombing in Gopalganj district, Bangladesh 

For many Bangladeshi Christians, the Baniarchar bombing was more than an isolated act of terror.

It was a grim precursor to anti-Christian violence Bangladesh would witness over the next 25 years.  Father Mimmo Pietanza, now 72, an Italian Xaverian missionary who served at the Baniarchar parish when the bomb exploded, said Catholics have repeatedly pressed authorities for a fair investigation, with little success, as per UCAN.

PM Modi addressed the Maldivian Parliament (People’s Majlis) on June 8, 2019 shortly after his re-election in the general elections and declared that the state-sponsored terrorism was the biggest global threat to civilization.  

With regard Bangladesh, it can be stated that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was founded in April 1998.

After 9/11, it expanded its networks and on Aug. 17, 2005, almost four years after 9/11, JMB demonstrated its capability by coordinating as many as 459 small bomb blasts across 63 of the country's 64 districts within 30 minutes. 

Many say across nations; the social leaderships and government authorities have not seriously grappled with what inter-religious dialogue actually should aim at.  

Terrorism is a type of warfare waged by people who resort to any means possible to achieve a political, economic or religious agenda. 

It is toxic and highly volatile when mixed with extremism.

On Sept. 29, the Govt of India's high-level committee on demographic changes (HLCDC) sent a questionnaire to 28 Indian states and 8 union territories, seeking district-wise data regarding “visible changes” in religious demography in the past 15 years.  

The panel constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs and headed by retired Supreme Court judge Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, issued a sweeping 35-point questionnaire to all states.  

"Reports from the states where it is undertaking the exercise indicate that its questionnaire seeks religion-wise data and data on various issues that include: the increase in school enrollment, conversion of STs, land ownership changes, enrollment as voters and issuance of Aadhaar cards. 

These have only confirmed our apprehensions that this was being done with a predetermined focus on RSS/BJP’s pet agenda of minority bashing," the CPI-M said.

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