Today’s Indian state emerged from the subcontinent in 1947, and it has since attempted to establish itself in the global world. During the Cold War, India maintained an openly nonaligned outlook, and it now seeks to maintain relations with Russia even as it moves closer to the United States. For its part, the United States began to pursue a deeper connection with India during Bill Clinton’s presidency. This was done in part to counteract China’s power in Asia, and the United States increasingly saw India, the world’s largest democracy, as a natural friend.
However, the inexorable ascent of Hindu nationalism in India is rapidly transforming this diverse society into an autocratic one. Ignoring India’s path into ethno-majoritarian rule has negative consequences for the region. Indeed, India’s persecution of religious minorities is producing obvious tensions with neighbouring Muslim countries. India’s growing culture of intolerance is also degrading its democratic credentials, undermining US efforts to leverage increased economic and security cooperation with New Delhi as a buffer against China’s expanding influence in South Asia. In its 2021 Human Rights Report on India, the United States’ State Department identified numerous major issues facing the country. These include arbitrary detentions and arrests, extrajudicial killings, widespread violence against religious and other minorities, and the suppression of critical voices. Concerns over India’s human rights transgressions, however, have not deterred the positive trend in US-India ties. In truth, the United States has attempted to accommodate the reality of a rising BJP. Narendra Modi used to be persona non grata in the United States, forbidden from entering the country for his alleged role in the Gujarat massacre of Muslims in 2002, when he was the state’s chief minister. For all of these reasons, it is critical that US policymakers focus more attention on reversing the spread of Hindutva, a far-right ideology that is undermining human security in India, aggravating tensions in an already dangerous region, and making New Delhi a far more difficult partner to work with.
The BJP administration, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has built an ethno-religious and populist form of rule since 2014. Its objective extends beyond the formal branches of government, as the new administration promotes traditional societal hierarchies as inherent in Indian culture while allowing communal, caste, and gender-based violence. Hindutva ideology has entered the state apparatus and formal institutions, and Hindutva militants rule civil society through vigilante organizations, cultural policing, and violence. Groups and regions portrayed as ‘enemies’ of the Indian state are losers in a new order that favours the urban middle class and economic elites. This majoritarian ideology penetrates the media and public discourse, and it has an impact on the courts, colleges, and cultural institutions, all of which are increasingly dominated by Hindu nationalists. Dissent and diversity are stifled, and debate is more marginalized as the press is muzzled or intimidated in the courts. Internationally, the BJP government has focused on hard power and a rapidly expanding security state. Moreover, India is determined to exercise it hegemony on neighbouring states through extra-territorial killings violating law and norms.
Following a Guardian story on the alleged assassinations, India’s defence minister appeared to concede that the government committed illegal executions in Pakistan. Intelligence officials from India and Pakistan who spoke with the Guardian claimed that India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), was involved in up to 20 deaths in Pakistan since 2020. These examples revealed the increasing sophistication and brazenness of Indian-sponsored terrorist acts in Pakistan, which bear striking resemblance to patterns documented in other nations, notably Canada and the United States. Washington and Canada have publicly accused India of being involved in the assassination of dissident activists. As Indian arrogance grows and its notorious designs go global, it is high time for the west to put a bar on growing international law violations by the far-right Indian regime. Because Indian terrorist actions in Canada and the USA indicate that even Indian allies are not safe from Indian policies of hatred and violence.
By : (Ahmad Ali)
Ahmad Ali is a research fellow at Epis Think-tank Germany and an intern at Kashmir Institute of International Relations. His fields of study include Foreign Policy and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at Ali7664556@gmail.com
INDIA – FROM DEMOCRACY TO MAJORITARIANISM
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17.04.2024
Today’s Indian state emerged from the subcontinent in 1947, and it has since attempted to establish itself in the global world. During the Cold War, India maintained an openly nonaligned outlook, and it now seeks to maintain relations with Russia even as it moves closer to the United States. For its part, the United States began to pursue a deeper connection with India during Bill Clinton’s presidency. This was done in part to counteract China’s power in Asia, and the United States increasingly saw India, the world’s largest democracy, as a natural friend.
However, the inexorable ascent of Hindu nationalism in India is rapidly transforming this diverse society into an autocratic one. Ignoring India’s path into ethno-majoritarian rule has negative consequences for the region. Indeed, India’s persecution of religious minorities is producing obvious tensions with neighbouring Muslim countries. India’s growing culture of intolerance is also degrading its democratic credentials, undermining US efforts to leverage increased economic and security cooperation with New Delhi as a buffer against China’s expanding influence in South Asia. In its 2021 Human Rights........
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