The deceitful front

Indian media has gone berserk over the harsh condemnation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who called him the ‘Butcher of Gujarat’. From the flamboyant Arnab Goswami to the shrieking Rubika Liyaquat, a propaganda war has been started against Pakistan and its leadership.

India’s desire to shield UNSC members from hearing such criticism of their PM is unclear. Why does it not want the world to talk about its own fascism?

According to The Indian Express, IPS Sanjiv Bhatt, one of the major investigators looking into how Modi supported the anti-Muslim carnage in Gujarat, was suspended in August 2011 shortly after giving a deposition critical of Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat. Bhatt accused Modi of involvement in the rioting in an affidavit submitted to the Indian Supreme Court. He claimed to have been present at a meeting where Modi reportedly instructed senior police officers to permit Hindus to express their resentment at Muslims. Later, Bhatt was targeted by the RSS’s legal branch, arrested and imprisoned in violation of the law.

The Frontline, a left-leaning publication in India, wrote that PM Modi received a clean slate from the Supreme Court of India. The arrests of Teesta Setalvad, the secretary of the Committee for Justice and Peace, and RB Sreekumar, the former director general of police in Gujarat, came just after this. The arrests were made as a result of a first information report submitted by a Gujarat Police officer, who claimed that the complainants had falsely accused the Prime Minister of India and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Abhrajyoti Chakraborty’s piece in The New York Times describes how the right-wing objective of the RSS and the Modi-led government had fundamentally altered India’s sociocultural environment. Anand Patwardhan, a prominent producer and director of liberal documentaries, is the focus of the author’s argument. The main thesis of Chakraborty’s article is that after the BJP took office in 2014, the greatest democracy in the world has descended into a majoritarian abyss. Patwardhan challenges the narrative that the BJP frequently presents to the nation’s 900 million voters by including testimonies from witnesses to mob lynching, tales of college students driven to suicide by severe right-wing rejection, and interviews with Hindu nationalists who defend the frequent murders of journalists and activists.

Along with the development of the BJP and the RSS, a militant group committed to turning India into a Hindu state and rendering its minorities second-class citizens, there have also been increasing attacks on the right to free speech.

Reason, a documentary by Patwardhan, is centred on the killings of four Indian activists who were all persecuted in some way for defying Hindu dogma. With the same caliber handgun, point-blank shots were fired at MM Kalburgi, Ms Gauri Lankesh and Narendra Dabholkar. A lawyer and scholar named Govind Pansare was also murdered in February 2015.

Why hasn’t India been classified as yet?

The reason is straightforward: For the past 50 years, Indian participation in the internal affairs of neighbouring states has been unlawful — supporting the IS-KP in Afghanistan, the Mukti Bahinis in East Pakistan, the Tamils in Sri Lanka, Nepalese and Bhutanese political groups, and Pakistani anarchists.

Second, India has consistently sought to undermine Pakistan and Afghanistan. The relationship between RAW and terrorists in Afghanistan, spies apprehended by Pakistan and Qatar, participation in terrorist actions in Pakistan, and backing for the TTP and IS-KP are evidence that India is still the only repository of terrorism in the area.

Third, New Delhi repeatedly incapacitates the UNSC, just like Israel, and refuses to carry out UN decisions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Delimitation of seats, demographic apartheid through the repeal of Articles 370A and 35, and the economic blockade in Kashmir are all signs that India is still a state that disregards international rules.

Minorities are also under risk from the Hindutva ideology and related extremist groups. India is collapsing domestically and is quickly turning into a fascist state, as seen by the rise in hate crimes committed against Christians, Muslims and Dalits as well as the unlawful demolition of mosques and churches with the help of the state apparatus. Humans are discriminated against in India by the government on the grounds of caste, religion and nationality. Just look at how discriminatory CAA and NRC are, and how the state apparatus and fanatics crushed rallies on these matters.

India is a nation that also has a poor press freedom score, a high social hostility score and a high rate of hunger and poverty. When more than 100 children died from cough syrups produced in India, the nation that supplies phony medications and vaccinations to Africa and other nations showed little sorrow.

Additionally, reports from the US Commission for International Religious Freedom, AI and HRW all point to the reality that minorities have no place in India and that there is a high chance of organised Muslim genocide under the Modi regime. India is genuinely ruled by an intolerant Hindu majority.

India also does poorly when it comes to protecting its key assets. Just look at how frequently nuclear material is stolen in India, how readily it is available in Indian marketplaces, and don’t forget about the March 2022 launch of Nuclear Capable Brahmos into Pakistan.

India, which claims to be a regional leader and aspires to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is actually a supporter of state terrorism and a nuisance to its neighbours. Internally, it has turned into a dictator toward its minority, violates grave human rights in a UN-recognised disputed territory, and fails to address inequalities in its society.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2022.

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