India Faces a Looming Disaster – By Sumit Ganguly and Jai Shankar Prasad
…in the wake of its latest electoral victory, the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi stands poised to consolidate its power still further as it seeks to attract disgruntled opposition politicians and build a majority in the upper house of Parliament as well. The near-complete absence of any meaningful opposition gives the BJP a free rein to carry out its political programs.…
To the RSS and its followers, the road to greatness lies through powerful (read: authoritarian) leadership and decision-making, ultra-nationalistic pride, and a nation-building project that adheres to what they deem to be the country’s authentic civilizational roots. According to the RSS, India is imagined as a primarily Hindu society with all non-Hindus – except Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists—seen as suspect foreigners.
Muslims, Christians, Parsis, and Jews are considered outsiders who can stay in India only if they are suitably and unrecognizably Hinduized and display appropriate deference to the majority. Special suspicion is reserved for Muslims, as they are the largest minority and the most prominently different from Hindus. The question then is what this transition means for India’s citizens and what it holds for the country’s aspirations of becoming a great power.…
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/07/27/india-faces-a-looming-disaster/
SEE ALSO:
- In Assam, basic dignity at stake – By Sanjoy Hazarika (Jul 30, 2019, The Hindu)
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/basic-dignity-at-stake/article28750647.ece - Rumours, suspicions, fears: What Indian Muslims have battled since Independence – By Salman Khurshid (Jul 26, 2019, Quartz India)
https://qz.com/india/1675119/india-doesnt-trust-its-muslims-due-to-isis-kashmir-partition/ - Democratic ambivalence – By Ashutosh Varshney (Jul 29, 2019, Indian Express)
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/democratic-ambivalence-narendra-modi-donald-trump-bolsonaro-elections-5859082/ - “Worse Than a Death Sentence”: Inside India’s Sham Trials That Could Strip Millions of Citizenship – By Rohini Mohan (Jul 30, 2019, Vice)
https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/3k33qy/worse-than-a-death-sentence-inside-indias-sham-trials-that-could-strip-millions-of-citizenship
