The Amnesty

Since India achieved its independence in 1947, the state has been one of the post-colonial world’s steadiest and most robust democracies. However, the last decade has witnessed a significant global wave of democratic backsliding, and India has not been immune to this trend. The 2014 elections marked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu right-wing nationalist party, returning to power for the first time since 1998. Under BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has experienced setbacks in democracy; stifling dissent, widespread propaganda, erosion of minority rights, a surge in Hindu nationalism, and expanded executive powers. These actions led Freedom House to downgrade India’s status in its 2021 annual report from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free,’ a classification that persists as of 2023.

Hindu Majoritarianism

The primary concern in India’s democratic backsliding is the discriminatory treatment of minority groups, particularly Muslims. The BJP, rooted in Hindu nationalism, represents numerous organizations, negatively impacting secularism in politics. The party centres on the belief that the 80% Hindu population should be prioritized over other groups, shaping Indian values according to their ideals. This influence has penetrated the core of Indian governance with the ascent of Modi, who aligns with the extreme right-wing RSS, advocating the pro-Hindu narrative termed ‘Hindutva’. This has manifested into both discriminatory policymaking alongside a general rise in violence against religious minorities.

A prime instance of discriminatory legislation is the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), enacted in 2019. This controversial law provides citizenship to illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan, excluding Muslims from eligibility. The rationale is that people of other religions flee due to religious persecution, while Muslims do not. Critics contend that it’s more about promoting a religious ideology and preventing a higher Muslim population, as they typically oppose the BJP in elections. This effectively disenfranchises a part of the minority group, setting a precedent that they are second-class citizens.

Violence against minority groups, especially Muslims, is also becoming increasingly normalized. Instances of hate speech and heinous acts like lynching, have risen in frequency during Modi’s tenure. ‘Cow vigilantes,’ (groups violently opposing beef consumption and the cattle trade), have disproportionately targeted Muslims. Between 2015 and 2018, 36 out of 44 people killed in cow-based attacks were Muslim. Several BJP politicians have publicly justified these attacks, directly correlating with the uptick in incidents since 2014.

Censorship

This directly relates to the curbing of political freedom, a concerning aspect of democratic decline in India. Critics of anti-constitutional and discriminatory measures like the CAA, as well as those critical of the regime in general, have faced suppression. From 2014 to 2020, the BJP party charged 7,100 individuals with sedition, nearly double the number under the previous regime. The CAA triggered widespread protests, particularly among university students, and were met with an aggressive response from the regime. At Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, protesters were violently attacked by armed vigilantes and some members of the police, while other police forces refrained from intervening. Numerous student activists were arrested, including five from Jawaharlal University charged with sedition, and the university was labelled ‘anti-national’ by BJP members. Private universities viewed as ‘anti-Modi’ also faced funding restrictions. A report titled ‘Free to Think 2021’ by Scholars at Risk highlighted an assault on academic freedom in India.

Another form of censorship in India involves suppressing independent media. Media outlets critical of the BJP have faced systematic attacks, with journalists increasingly becoming targets for arrests.. Over 50 journalists faced arrests, police complaints, or physical assaults for providing critical coverage of the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. This has created a ripple effect, compelling many news outlets to self-censor for self-preservation. For example, the Milli Gazette underwent a criminal process for releasing articles highlighting anti-Muslim discrimination in governmental departments, leading to the cessation of its print run. This censorship extends to social media networks, with the Indian government urging Twitter to remove posts critical of the government’s handling of the pandemic.

The suppression of content critical of the ruling regime aligns with a surge in disinformation and false narratives. According to a BBC report, there is a prevalence of pro-BJP fake news on Twitter compared to anti-BJP content. Microsoft’s findings indicate that a staggering 64% of Indians have encountered varying degrees of false information, positioning the country as a global hotspot for fake news especially in relation to pro-BJP propaganda.

Closing Remarks

The severity and scope of India’s democratic backsliding make it one of the most severe cases globally. Firstly, there has been a substantial decline in democratic quality over the past decade, with no indications of Modi’s government losing significant popularity, suggesting the trend will persist. Secondly, India, once a beacon of democracy for developing states in the post-colonial world, now faces a downgrade with implications for the perceived primacy of Western liberal democracy.

The narrative of India’s democracy faces a critical juncture. The fading echoes of pluralism, encroachment on minority rights, and the rise of Hindutva have set the stage for a profound reflection on the nation’s democratic ethos. Human right’s organisation including Amnesty International have repeatedly brought to light this, highlighting predominately minority rights. Now it is the international community’s turn to advocate for accountability from the Indian government regarding these pressing matters.

Nikhil Chauhan