Daily Times

Like the Time magazine’s India’s Divider In-chief cover, which quickly polarised India’s Twitterati into two camps, the coutnry is sharply divided between Hindus and non-Hindus.

Arvind Kejriwal, the New Delhi chief minister, was not far from truth when he said that while Pakistan could not divide India along religious lines Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party leader Amit Shah had achieved this in half a decade of Bharatya Janata Party’s rule.

Many political scientists had raised questions about the validity of the Two-Nation Theory following the fall of Dhaka. In practical terms, the choice of a large number of Muslims, including prominent people like Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, who opted for staying in India rather than migrating to Pakistan opinion, was a stark, if silent comment on Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s formulation of two nations. However, the fate of Muslims in Modi’s India today testifies to the Two-Nation Theory. India’s religious minorities are not safe. Muslims are openly taunted for their faith. Death for a beef eater has become a freqent occurence in Modi’s India. Cow slaughter is prohibited. On many occasions Muslims have been forced to perform Hindu rituals. Bullying of Muslims has become the order of the day. Even Modi himself warned Muftis and Abdullahs to refrain from a certain kind of politics.

The world is moving towards greater pluralism. Modi, however, has chosen to benefit from Hindu nationalistic winds

Deviation from right-wing politics can easily land anyone in trouble, even those who are Hindus. Gone are the days of secularism in India; they have taken much of it. Now ‘Hindutva’ has become the dominant feature which has widened the gulf between right-wing politicians and the rest. As per the result of political polls, Modi is all set to become prime minister for one more term. This manifests nothing else except the success of long-awaited ‘Hindutva’ at the expense of secularism.

The world is moving toward more pluralism nevertheless Modi is favoring Hindu nationalistic winds which eventually help Modi to become prime minister for another term owing to a large majority of Hindus in India. Call it a short-sighted policy or the desire for more Hinduism in India; the social effects of Modi’s politics are shedding away no way soon.

An analysis of the havocs which Modi played in India in his five years term and the condition of Muslims majority state Kashmir and Assam depicts the future of minorities in India. If a secular party wins the elections (chances of which are little), the prospects of stability and secularism will become wide.

However, things are not that simple. It seems that right-wing political parties, particularly Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindutva are done with secularism. Now they want an India which would be more pro Hindu. In the love of Hindu nationalism, they have forgotten the dream of their founding fathers who wanted to see India as a secular state. Simultaneously, they testified the fear of Muhammad Ali Jinnah which he often expressed that both Hindus and the Muslims will not participate wholeheartedly as one nation in India. The dream of secularism was successful only for seven decades. Gone are the days when secularism of India was an example for its neighbours. Now Modi’s India itself testifies the two-nation theory. It will further attest it with winning of BJP; a party who pledged to use armed forces to suppress Kashmir freedom and other insurgencies; once the results of Indian elections will be announced.

The writer is a freelancer