Why a third term for Modi could be ‘catastrophic’ for India’s 200 million Muslims

Mohammad Saad was excited to return home to Bihar in eastern India and see his family. He had bought a train ticket and was packed to leave in the morning, but he never made it.

On that night of 31 July 2023, a mob of around 200 Hindus stormed the Anjuman Mosque in Gurugram, where Saad served as the deputy imam, and killed him in his sleep. The mob also burnt down the mosque.

Sectarian violence had erupted in the neighbouring Nuh region, and quickly spilled over into Gurugram, a shiny satellite township of India’s capital Delhi that hosts the offices of multinational corporations such as Google, Meta and Deloitte.

The violence in Gurugram was a reminder that the increasing persecution of religious minorities, particularly Muslims, was not confined to the hinterland.

It also reinforced accusations by critics that Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government had mainstreamed sectarian violence – an act for which Saad, 22, who would sing about religious harmony in social media videos, paid the price.

“I had spoken to Saad just.