Modi’s Hindu Rashtra
INDIA’S Republic Day is celebrated every year on 26 January. The historical background of the day says on same day in 1950, Indian Constitution was implemented by removing British designed Government of India Act 1935.
The Indian constitution is an elaborate document to provide people of India with a liberal democracy.
The constitution was implemented with a democratic government system. India inherited so many democratic values on that day, which are nowhere in the limelight under nationalist government in New Delhi led by Hindu fanatics.
Clearly, the concept of Nehrivian secular India has been vanished from Indian society under ultranationalist Hindu establishment.
The Republic Day was meant to demonstrate true spirit of Indian democratic values. However, Hindu zealots destroyed all the true spirits of democracy. The incumbent Hindu-driven policies of Premier Modi are totally in contradiction with the democratic principles introduced by Nehru and Ghandi.
Instead of demonstrating true democratic and political values of democracy, not only Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) government, successive Indian administrations have been using this day to show its military might, aimed at jeopardizing regional peace and geo-strategic environment of the region.
India’s offensive postures and quest to attain more strategic pivot/ military modernization completely smashed balance of power in the region. The sole objective to show military might on this purely democratic day is to create further strategic competition in the region.
Similarly, this trend of being hegemony of the region has significantly increased under the hawkish and warmongering government of Premier Modi.
Likewise, the recent Hindu-centric polices of Premier Modi have made the life of minorities miserable in the country.
Under Premier Modi, India has become a country where minorities cannot perform their religious duties, they cannot celebrate their religious festivals and most important they cannot offer prayers openly.
All this is happening in India due to the sheer support of BJP to ultranationalist Hindus across the country. These ultranationalist Hindus are carrying out bloodbath of minorities while openly calling for Muslim genocide. The silence of international community and human rights watchdogs on these genocide calls is worrisome phenomenon.
Despite charging Indian Hindu leaders under terrorist protocols, they are viewing New Delhi through the prism of economic and defence market.
Every year India invites international leaders to grace the event as a chief guest. From former US President Obama to Brazilian President, world leaders have been visiting India to attend the event as a special guest.
Unfortunately, they have failed to address the concerns regarding the persecution of minorities under the ambit of the state. This injustice is being done collectively by international community.
Instead of praising Indian military might, they must raise their voices and press Indian Administration to respect basic and fundamental rights of the people, which are given to them by the secular constitution of India.
The collective approach by international community including global organizations can stop India from persecution of minorities.
Incumbent Indian Establishment has itself exposed all that is ugly, awful and horrifying with the Indian State, its criminal justice system and the devious means through which justice is denied to minorities and the underprivileged.
Indian constitution has, in fact, been ‘weaponized’ by hawkish/nationalist government as the most preferred tool of persecution of all those who dissent — abuse of sedition law being most rampant.
Constitutional values are being violated by an abuse of the law, especially by the Hindu fanatics. In a police State, central and regional governments’ abuse legal powers over everybody.
India has, however, become worse than a police State as legal powers are used to selectively target and persecute a part of citizenry, namely the minorities and the underprivileged.
This is right time for the international community to make sure provision of fundamental rights to Indian minorities.
The state sponsored persecution must be stopped at any cost otherwise it will have negative repercussions for other regional countries as well.
Another interesting feature of the Indian Republic is that state always pays lip service to judicial branch by asserting that they have the highest respect for the judiciary; but they only implement those judgments which are politically not inconvenient to them.
To sum up illegitimate Indian actions, I must say here that Indian laws are defined in a large number of bold judgments of country’s Supreme Court.
The State and the police are supposed to follow them. However, there is a huge and frustrating gap between what is lawfully expected of a State and what it delivers to its citizens. Fortunately, the only optimistic sign is that remaining liberal class in India has increased its resistance against the violent and divisive politics of Hindu nationalists.
—The Islamabad-based writer is expert in Indian political affairs.
