The largest democracy in the world, India, has seen a significant political upheaval since Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. A troubling truth lurks beneath the widespread acclaim for Modi’s leadership. There are serious questions about India’s commitment to secularism and human rights after a string of incidents against Muslims and other minority groups during Prime Minister Modi’s tenure in office. As a result of his history of state-sponsored violence, particularly during his time as Gujarat’s chief minister in 2002, when nearly 2,000 people died, he became known as “the Butcher of Gujarat.” Unfortunately, this incident signaled the start of a time characterized by nationalist fervor, purges, and persistent human rights violations.
In India, there are some 200 million Muslims, among other minorities, who are constantly under attack by ferocious Hindu nationalist movements, frequently with the tacit assistance of the BJP-led government. The rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in recent years has brought attention to policies that have been condemned for ignoring Muslim rights and potentially depriving millions of Muslims of their rights.
An extremely unsettling trend has seen violent, armed mobs harass Muslims while openly calling for the rape of Muslim women. In his public speeches, Prime Minister Modi has made anti-Muslim remarks that uphold the Hindutva narrative, portraying Muslims as Hindus’ servants, and calling for the erasing of Indian Muslim histories.
Unbelievably, incidents of rape and violence against Indian women continue, irrespective of their caste or faith, with little to no real government action taken to address the problem. With countless other rape cases that have rocked the country, the contentious Protection of Rights on Marriage Bill 2019 serves as a glaring example of the loss of women’s rights.
Human rights advocates have long been concerned about the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK), but on August 5, 2019, it took a dramatic turn when the BJP, led by Prime Minister Modi, withdrew Article 370, depriving IOK of its autonomy. With the BJP pursuing its Hindutva agenda and defying international requests to review or repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, a provision that protects soldiers from accountability for human rights breaches, this action has exacerbated instability throughout the area.
Defenders of human rights and daring journalists have been unfairly persecuted as a result of anti-terrorism and sedition laws. Since November 2021, Khurram Parvez, a well-known Kashmiri human rights activist and the head of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, has been imprisoned without trial, raising serious questions about India’s court system and civil liberties.
As seen in Bihar, where police filed a sedition case against 49 people, prominent members of the film industry included, for raising concerns about hate crimes and mob violence against minority communities, Indian authorities have also used sedition and criminal defamation laws to suppress peaceful dissent. Because of the widespread disapproval of this act, the investigation was swiftly closed by the authorities.
The Indian government unveiled three legislations in the fall of 2020 with the intention of privatizing the sizable agriculture sector of the country. The majority of rural households in the country, including the Punjabi Sikh population, which had already recently experienced instances of state violence, were particularly upset by these changes.
In conclusion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration’s handling of human rights in India is quite troubling. It’s unsettling to see how rights and liberties are being lost. Even if the world has denounced these measures, India needs to reaffirm its commitment to respecting human rights and promoting inclusivity and accountability. The entire world keeps a watchful eye on India as it faces these difficulties in the hopes that one day all of its inhabitants’ fundamental rights will be honored and protected without discrimination.
- Biharis: Children of a Lesser God - 11/10/2023
- Anti-Sikh Pogroms of 1984 - 08/10/2023
- Modi’s Saffron Tide is Actually Red - 05/10/2023
