Just like the Time magazine’s cover story India’s Divider-in-Chief that divided twitter into two camps, the mainland of India is also divided between Hindus and non-Hindus. Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recently stated that while Pakistan was unable for seven decades to divide India along religious lines, the Modi-Shah combine has achieved that it in five years. A historical analysis of the success of secularism in India testifies to his claim.
When Dhaka fell in 1971, political scientists and analysts questioned the Two-Nation Theory. In my humble opinion, the choice of a large number of Muslims including prominent people like Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad to live in India was itself a question mark on Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s idea of two nations. However, today the conditions in which Muslims live in Narendra Modi’s India testify to the validity of the Two-Nation Theory. Minorities are not safe in India. Muslims are openly taunted for their faith. Lynching of a beefeater has become a common sight in Modi’s India. Cow slaughter is prohibited.
There have been many reports of Muslims being forced to perform Hindu rituals. Bullying of Muslims has become the order of the day. Modi has even warned the Muftis and Abdullahs of Kashmir to refrain from a ‘certain’ kind of politics. Deviation from right-wing politics can easily land anyone, even Hindus, in trouble. Gone are the days of secularism in India, the present government has taken away much of that. Now Hindutva has become the dominant feature that has widened the gulf between right-wing politicians and the rest.
The dream of secularism was successful only for seven decades. Gone are the days when Indian secularism was an example for its neighbours
Many pre-election polls indicate that Modi may be re-elected prime minister. This manifests the success of the long-awaited Hindutva at the expense of secularism. The world in general is moving towards more pluralism, whereas Modi is favouring Hindu nationalistic winds, which might help Modi become prime minister for another term owing to the large number of Hindus in India. Call it myopia or a desire for more Hinduism in India, the social effects of Modi’s politics will not go away anytime soon.
An analysis of the havoc that Modi’s policies have played in India in his five-year term, and the condition of Muslims in the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir and in Assam depicts the future of minorities in India. If a secular party wins the election, chances of which are little, prospects of stability and secularism will become better. However, things are not that simple.
It seems that right wing political parties, particularly the Bhartiya Janata Party and their Hindutva have greatly damaged secularism. Now they want an India that would be more pro Hindu. In their love of Hindu nationalism they have forgotten the dream of their founding fathers who had wished for a secular India.
Simultaneously, they have validated Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s fear that Hindus and Muslims would not wholeheartedly coexist as one nation in India.
The dream of secularism was successful only for seven decades. Gone are the days when Indian secularism was an example for its neighbours. Modi’s India testifies to the reality of the Two-Nation Theory. It will further attest it with the success of the BJP in the elections. The BJP is the party that has pledged to use armed forces to suppress dissent in Kashmir and other insurgencies once the results of Indian elections are announced.
The writer is a freelancer