Narendra Modi’s tenure as Prime Minister of India has been castigated for its induction of Hindu nationalism and the concept of Hindutva in Indian politics. During Modi’s tenure, Indian politics and society have seen the rise of Hindu nationalism, in the form of Hindutva: Hindu nationalism has severe reverberations on India’s democratic norms and cultural diversification.
As a prime minister, Modi’s reign has been a difficult period for the Indian minorities. Under his command, India has seen intolerance, and violence against minorities, particularly, Muslim minority has suffered a lot. Moreover, hatred against minorities has been unprecedented which caused various historical events to happen, for instance, the Ayodhya movement, the demolition of the Babri mosque, and the Gujarat riots, these events aimed to promote Hindu nationalism and to increase the BJP’s electoral support in Hindu majority areas. These policies worked against the minorities of India and were depicted as threats to Indian nationalism. Moreover, these policies by Modi’s government are against the spirit of Indian democracy and India’s secular society, and on the secularism of Indian politics. Furthermore, these hatred-based policies changed the basic structure of Indian politics and increased the concerns and problems of Indian minorities.
Moreover, under Modi’s tenure, many controversial decisions have been taken, which were used against the Muslim minorities of India. The debated decisions and amendments are; the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed in December 2019, this act allows expedited citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from the vicinity of Muslim-majority countries. Moreover, this act has created religious prejudice by reducing Muslims in numbers, as in Assam, many Muslims lost their citizenship in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) due to a deficiency of documents. Therefore, such acts by Modi’s government have been criticized for promoting religious biasedness and hatred in Indian politics and society.
Furthermore, like Modi, his party, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), along with its ideological affiliations with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has contributed to the promotion of the concept of Hindutva in the secular state of India. The idea of Hindutva emerged in the early 20th century to make India a Hindu state by eradicating its secular foundations through constitutional amendments and by implanting the ideology of Hindu nationalism. During the reign of Modi, the concept of Hindutva gained prominence. Additionally, the BJP also passed various laws to advocate the aim of making the Indian state a Hindu state, these laws and policies are against the Muslim minority and purely religiously biased laws, for instance, the cow protection laws and the revocation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, these biased laws and amendments by BJP and Modi have expanded the discrimination against Muslim minority groups in the Indian community and raised concerns about the secularism of India.
Similarly, the emergence of Hindu nationalism in India has various reverberations, for instance, it negatively affected the societal and political structure of India. Similarly, the concept of Hindutva in Indian society seemed a serious threat to the peaceful living of Indian minorities. Likewise, Hindu nationalism in the democracy of a secular Indian state has confined the freedom and equality of all the denizens of India. Furthermore, political critics often argue that Hindutva’s narratives frequently alienate Muslims, Christians, and other minorities, which is against the rudimentary principles of Indian democratic values. Similarly, the repercussions of Hindutva’s narratives in Indian politics are of high concern for both; governance and public life in general.
Modi’s reign has planned to enforce Hindu nationalism through media, education curricula, and political representation. For instance, the ruling party BJP has almost no Muslim representation in parliament and state assemblies, which indicates the utter raj of Hindu-based political power in the Indian political process. Likewise, the role of media is highly biased and seems to advocate the anti-democratic narratives and policies of the BJP in India, this also shows the limited freedom of Indian media under the rule of the BJP. Similarly, the BJP also used the power of education to promote Hindu nationalism, for instance, the school curricula have been revised to specifically emphasize Hindu culture and heritage, often at the expense of India’s diverse history. Additionally, under the reign of the BJP, Indian politics has witnessed the rise of hate speech, and communal violence that induced incidents of mob violence against minority communities, which are often met with silence or cooperation from authorities. Therefore, these trends in Indian democracy and political and social patterns are working against the will of Indian minorities and democratic values.
Specifically, a minority of Muslims have faced discrimination and hatred in areas such as employment, education, and all basic rights of human beings that are given to them by the constitution of India. Muslims face challenges in getting positions in political and economic power and lack access to basic healthcare services. In addition to this, they have been struggling to seek justice after discrimination, despite legal protections. Likewise, Modi’s policies have been castigated for their impact on human rights and religious freedoms, as the rising communal violence, hatred, and discriminatory laws are inevitable for critics, nationally, and globally. Moreover, these policies and incidents also damaged the secular image of Indian society. This is a serious challenge for all international organizations like Genocide Watch and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to address the violations of human rights in India under the rule of Modi. Nationally, opposition parties and other civil groups have challenged the BJP’s agenda and declared it as a threat to India’s unity and democracy for it promotes the ideas of authoritarianism and majoritarianism in Indian society.
Addressing the issue of the emergence of Hindu nationalism is a serious challenge for Indian democracy and the political system. Therefore, various practical and indispensable steps ought to be taken, for instance, citizens, and other civil organizations of India must work for the implementation of India’s secular constitution. Likewise, the people of India ensure that policies are inclusive and respect the rights of all minorities, regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliation, media should play a positive role in addressing the concerns of minorities. Similarly, accountability of political leaders is indispensable, particularly those who promote hate speech, and violation of the rights of minorities. However, eradicating the concept of Hindu nationalism from the secular society of India is not merely possible through political struggle, rather it demands a collective effort by the broader Indian society to ensure India’s cultural diversity, secularism, equality, freedom, and all human rights. Therefore, the commitment to constitutional principles must be given a top priority, along with other options like open dialogue among stakeholders, and the implementation of the rule of law in India.
The Author, Usman Khan is a student of International Relations at Air University, Islamabad. Usman is an aspiring researcher with a strong passion for conflict management, peacebuilding, and understanding the politics of global affairs.
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