Growing Indian protests

At least 25 people have been killed in the protests against India’s bigoted new citizenship law. The extreme violence on display from security forces, especially in Uttar Pradesh, are leading many analysts in India and abroad to call this the toughest situation Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has faced in almost six years in power. But as protests continue, Modi is now trying his hand at damage control. “Muslims who are sons of the soil and whose ancestors are the children of mother India need not worry,” Modi told his supporters in New Delhi. He falsely accused opposition parties of condoning the violence and then claimed that his opponents were “spreading rumours that all Muslims will be sent to detention camps”. He then claimed “there are no detention centres. All these stories about detention centres are lies, lies and lies,” he said.

But the Indian PM appears to have forgotten that the Home Ministry in June issued a “2019 Model Detention Manual” to states, asking them to set up camps in major entry points. Meanwhile, at least 10 detention centres have been built in Assam alone, including the sprawling six-acre Goalpara Detention Centre. Around 1,000 people are already in these centres, including at least one Muslim former Indian army official. Like most other inmates, he was among 1.9 million people deemed to be foreigners by the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) exercise in Assam, which many have condemned for being dubiously flawed. This also ties in to another point Modi made, when he claimed there had been “no discussion” about a nationwide NRC exercise. But BJP President Amit Shah, who is also India’s home minister and a close confidant of Modi’s, has been saying the exact opposite. He has said it repeatedly in recent interviews and speeches, including in parliament. So who is telling lies, lies and lies? Is it the prime minister or his party’s president?

Pakistani voices have, meanwhile, floated concerns that India may run a false-flag operation to divert attention from the protests. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it would even be the first lie in the last three days.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2019.

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