Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy

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The hallmarks of fascism are everywhere. School textbooks are being rewritten to reinforce the fake history behind BJP’s Hindu nationalist agenda. Topics like the theory of evolution and the periodic table have been replaced with traditional Hindu theories, and academics have been silenced for calling out the BJP’s election malpractices. The government has weaponized education in the manner typical of fascist regimes such as Russia. There are other clear indications of India’s slide towards fascism. On press freedom, India ranks 161st out of 180 countries, sandwiched between Venezuela (at 159) and Russia (at 164). Bland assurances may not be enough. The intimidation of India’s 200 million Muslims is hiding in plain sight. State elections in Gujarat begin on Thursday, weeks after BJP ministers approved the premature release of 11 men convicted of rape and murder of Muslim women and children during the riots. On the campaign trail last Friday, India’s home minister claimed troublemakers had been “ taught a lesson” in 2002. This sounded like a signal to Hindu mobs that they could do as they pleased.

US can’t stay as a mute spectator as India continues to violate all the rights of Kashmiris,” Motala told Al Jazeera. What Modi represents is totally against American values. By allowing him into the United States and hosting him in the White House compromises our democracy as well,” Begg told Al Jazeera. Nor is the problem only domestic. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, India has become one of the world’s largest importers of Russian oil – essentially propping up Russia’s occupation and genocide of its peaceful neighbor. Genocidal regimes support one another, in an alliance of evil, and the rest of the world must stand against them.Modi has been haunted for decades by allegations of complicity in the violence that took place during the Gujarat riots, which broke out after 59 Hindu pilgrims died on a train that had been set on fire. The fire was blamed on the state’s Muslim population. In 2020 the government said practitioners of ayurveda, the traditional system of medicine, should be allowed to perform surgery, to the horror of the medical establishment. In a custom traditional to Narendra Modi's caste, his family arranged a betrothal to Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi, leading to their marriage when she was 17 and he was 18. [54] [55] Soon afterwards, he abandoned his wife, [56] and left home. The couple never divorced but the marriage was not in his public pronouncements for many decades. [55] In April 2014, shortly before the national election in which he gained power, Modi publicly affirmed he was married and that his spouse was Jashodaben. [57] The marriage was unconsummated and Modi kept it secret because he would not have been able to become a pracharak in the puritanical RSS. [58] [59] Meanwhile, Modi and the BJP have used the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, originally passed in 1967 and recently amended, to clamp down on legitimate dissent. Among other provisions, it allows the state to designate an individual as a terrorist without providing corroborating evidence. Some opposition politicians have also alleged that India’s premier investigative agencies, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate of Enforcement, are involved in settling political vendettas.

After the power outage — Ghosh blames the university administration, which hasn’t commented on it publicly — students streamed the film on their phones and laptops instead, either through VPNs or by sharing proxy links to archived footage via encrypted apps. PM Modi turns 69: A timeline of his political career". Deccan Herald. 17 September 2019. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021 . Retrieved 13 January 2021. In June 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India that lasted until 1977. During this period, known as "the Emergency", many of her political opponents were jailed and opposition groups were banned. [88] [89] Modi was appointed general secretary of the "Gujarat Lok Sangharsh Samiti", an RSS committee co-ordinating opposition to the Emergency in Gujarat. Shortly afterwards, the RSS was banned. [90] Modi was forced to go underground in Gujarat and frequently travelled in disguise to avoid arrest, once dressing as a monk and once as a Sikh. [91] He became involved in the printing of pamphlets opposing the government, sending them to Delhi and organising demonstrations. [92] [93] He was also involved with creating a network of safe houses for individuals who were wanted by the government, and in raising funds for political refugees and activists. [94] During this period, Modi wrote a Gujarati-language book titled Sangharsh Ma Gujarat ( In the Struggles of Gujarat), which describes events during the Emergency. [95] [96] While in this role, Modi met trade unionist and socialist activist George Fernandes and several other national political figures. [97] BJP announces Shri Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate for Loksabha Elections. Bharatiya Janata Party on YouTube, 13 September 2013 Modi said the journey of the past 75 years had seen ups and downs with India battling against all odds with resilience and perseverance. He asked people to remove any trace of a colonial mindset.New and old parliaments stand side by side among the grandiose array of public buildings designed and planned by the architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker about a century ago, after the British government decided to move the capital of the Indian empire from Kolkata to Delhi. They are laid out around a huge central axis, somewhat like the Mall in Washington DC, stretching 3km from the domed Viceroy’s Palace – now the Rashtrapati Bhavan or Presidential Palace – to the India Gate, an arched memorial to the country’s dead in the first world war. On Tuesday, more than a dozen officers from the government’s tax department office raided the offices of the BBC in Mumbai and New Delhi, describing it as a “survey” of operations. Phones and laptops were taken and the offices were sealed as part of a tax evasion investigation, which many viewed as retaliatory action. Jaffrelot concludes these signs are ominous for India’s democracy—let alone the political opposition’s general weakness. The evidence he has amassed in Modi’s India is persuasive. However, BJP supporters will likely dismiss it by pointing to the adulation that greets Modi overseas, the pride he has restored among Indian citizens, and the prosperity that is just around the corner. Without sustained economic slowdown or social unrest in India, Modi will remain on a roll.

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the premiership of Narendra Modi. Modi taking the oath of office as the Prime Minister of India, with President Pranab Mukherjee administering the oath Modi taking the oath of office as the Prime Minister of India for the second time, with President Ram Nath Kovind administering the oath The documentary comes at a highly sensitive time for India in terms of its placement on the world stage. It is currently hosting the G20, presenting itself as the “mother of democracy”. As the world’s second – now likely first – largest country, with an economy bigger than the UK’s, Modi is increasingly being courted by western powers on questions of geopolitics and the environment, and his growing international prominence is a vote winner at home.

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Christophe Jaffrelot, Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy, Princeton University Press, 656 pp., .00, August 2021. Dr Arun Shah, paediatrician, sees no intrinsic difficulty in teaching medicine in Hindi. “I think it can work with time, acceptance, and patience,” he said. “If the rest of the world can learn medicine in their native tongue, then why not Hindi? There will be hiccups but it is worth attempting and persevering with.” In December 2021, Modi signed an agreement with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to extend military technical cooperation. [399] The Modi government bought the S-400 missile system, an anti-missile striking system, strengthening the relationship between the two nations. [400] India refused to condemn the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and stayed neutral. [399] [401] The Indian government's Operation Ganga initiative sought to return Indians stranded in Ukraine during the war. More than 19,000 Indian nationals were evacuated, [402] [403] including some from neighbouring countries. [404] Environment Modi (right) at CoP21 Climate Conference, in Paris, announcing the founding of an International Solar Alliance (ISA). November 2015. Self-reliant India is the responsibility of every citizen, every government, every unit of society,” he said. Modi's relationship with Muslims continued to attract criticism. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee distanced himself, reaching out to North Indian Muslims before the 2004 Indian general election, following which, Vajpayee called the violence in Gujarat a reason for the BJP's electoral defeat and said it had been a mistake to leave Modi in office after the riots. [159] [160] Western nations also raised questions about Modi's relationship with Muslims: the US State Department barred him from entering the United States in accordance with the recommendations of that country's Commission on International Religious Freedom, [161] [162] the only person to be denied a US visa under this law. [161] The UK and the European Union (EU) refused to admit Modi because of what they saw as his role in the riots. As Modi rose to prominence in India, the UK [163] and the EU [164] lifted their bans in October 2012 and March 2013, respectively, and after his election as prime minister in 2014, the US lifted its ban and invited him to Washington, D.C. [165] [166] Modi meeting with then- Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh in 2004