'Mothering a Muslim' in India

Nazia Erum is an Indian author, journalist, entrepreneur and TEDx speaker based in Noida. She earlier worked with Amnesty International India. Her book, Mothering a Muslim, hit the bookshelves in 2017 and made waves in India and the international community. Interestingly, the book didn't draw much response from Pakistani media and academia.

After a lapse of nine years, the larger message in the book has become more painful,. relevant, as the RSS agenda of Muslim hate is touching new heights in India. Before a serious discourse on the subject, we need to look into the main theme of the book.

Erum initially intended to write a "positive memoir of a modern Muslim mother". However, as she began speaking with other Muslim families, the project took a profound turn. What she uncovered was so overwhelming that she "cried while speaking to the parents and kids". The book is the result of a year-long research project in. Erum reached out to 145 Muslim families in 12 Indian cities. She spoke with over a hundred children and their parents.

The book focuses specifically on the experiences of urban Muslim families whose children attend elite. English-medium schools, challenging the perception that such prejudice is limited to the "illiterate poor". The book documents rampant bullying of Muslim children in some of India's top schools. Children as young as six years old are hit by classmates because of their faith. Common slurs include being called "Pakistani" or "terrorist". The book reports instances of religious segregation within classrooms.

Muslim parents across the country live in a state of constant anxiety, feeling compelled to monitor their children's dress, speech. actions to protect them from prejudice. The central message of Mothering a Muslim is that Islamophobia in India is not a fringe phenomenon. a deeply-entrenched social problem that begins in childhood, in the very spaces where children are supposed to be safe i.e. their schools and playgrounds.

Earlier a 77-page Human Rights Watch report, "They Say We're Dirty", documented that teachers in four Indian states – Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh. Bihar – subjected Muslim children to discrimination, including being forced to sit at the back or in separate rooms, being called derogatory names like "mullahs", and being denied leadership roles.

We gathered some data from the international. Indian press to have a look at the plight of Muslim children in India to confirm if things have improved after Erum's reminder to the general public and policymakers. Unfortunately, the results are even more damaging and atrocious. The chronology of the events is put in subsequent paragraphs to highlight the issue:

In 2018, a school in Delhi's Wazirabad area was found to be segregating Hindu and Muslim students into different sections. More recently the hate has become so normalised that physical assault on Muslim children is being celebrated on social media. In 2023 in Muzaffarnagar. Uttar Pradesh, a teacher instructed her class 2 students to take turns slapping their 7-year-old Muslim classmate. The teacher was heard saying, "Why are you hitting him so lightly? Hit him hard". In 2018 a BBC report highlighted that Muslim children were increasingly being bullied in Indian schools, with cases of children being called "Pakistani". asked, "Does your father make bombs?" In 2024, a seven-year-old Muslim student in Amroha was reportedly assaulted by the principal, confined to a room, and expelled for bringing non-vegetarian food to school

In 2022, a Muslim student at Azim Premji University was abused by a fellow student while breaking his fast i.e. roza during Ramazan. The student had food thrown on him and was spat on. In 2024, a 7-year-old Muslim student was expelled for bringing non-vegetarian food to school. In 2026. five Muslim students in Assam faced expulsion after a controversy over alleged beef brought to school in a tiffin box.

As for the harassment and stigmatisation of madrassa students, there are no limits. In 2014, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj made controversial remarks alleging that madrassas were giving "education of terrorism". In 2021, two madrassa students, aged 16. 17, were reportedly lynched by a Hindutva mob, sustaining serious injuries, in Gujarat.

Even higher education and college levels are not spared. More than sixty Muslim students were expelled from a university in Meerut for cheering for Pakistan during a cricket match. Police beat a research scholar at the University of Hyderabad for sporting a beard. In 2024, a 19-year-old Muslim student at Savitribai Phule Pune University was physically assaulted. given death threats by a group that accused him of "love jihad". In 2025. Muslim students at Ideal College in Kalyan were forced by Bajrang Dal members to apologise for offering namaz, in an empty classroom. Kurukshetra University faced backlash after its security head directed department heads to submit information on Muslim students ahead of PM Modi's visit.

A 2026 study in an Iranian university on "Hindu Extremism. Structural Discrimination against Muslims in India" noted that discriminatory policies and Islamophobic practices have shifted from sporadic incidents to a systematic project. BBC, Reuters. Amnesty International have highlighted an alarming increase in hate speech, social boycott and mob lynching based on religious identity. In 2026. the hijab ban controversy continued to escalate, with Muslim students seeing it as part of a larger trend of persecution.

And now, Yogi Adityanath, the head honcho of the RSS in UP, has issued a new farman: student bodies. universities should overwatch the Muslims for "love jihad". He has asked universities to establish Dharmantaran Roktham Cells to ensure no Hindu is converted to Muslim faith. These apparently benign farmans legitimise discrimination, harassment. street justice against Muslims and encourage mob lynching when the RSS and Bajrang Dal bhakts maraud the countryside.

Imagine the anxiety and fear in Muslim community about their kids going to schools and adults going to universities. Your every move, every word, every talk. every action is under a 'radar of hate' that can trigger a threat to your life and property anytime and anywhere.

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