Opinion: For Indian Muslims like me, an unshakable feeling of doom

Editor’s Note: Ziya Us Salamis an associate editor at newspaper The Hindu and author of “Being Muslim in Hindu India.”The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more CNN Opinion.

It has not been easy being a Muslim in Narendra Modi’s India. With the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) steadfastly refusing to allow my community even a token representation in corridors of power, India’s largest minority, the third largest Muslim population in the world, is left voiceless.

For the first time since India’s Independence in 1947, the ruling party did not have a single Muslim Member of Parliament.

Tuesday’selection results, in which Prime Minister Modi sealed a rare third term, only enhance the sense of gloom and doom for Indian Muslims like me. My community may once again not have an MP in the government.

With the BJP back in power – albeit without the supermajority it had vowed – my only hope lies in a politically weakened Modi now. A weakened Modi shall, hopefully, translate into a more robust India and more secure minorities.

It may still be a long haul though.

After the recently concluded, hate-driven campaign led by Modi himself, things may only get worse. As it was before the vote, India is poised to continue transforming itself from a secular democratic republic into possibly a Hindu majoritarian state, with reduced rights and presence of minorities in general – and of Muslims in particular.

If after Modi’s first victory in 2014, there was a sense of cautious hope, 10 years later, my Muslim community stands orphaned, not just jettisoned by the ruling BJP, but repeatedly marked out as the group responsible for the supposed ills of the nation. There is an overriding feeling of