Not only India but the entire region is in trouble after Modi’s second stint in the government. Over the past year, the Line of Control has been hot and many of our civilians and soldiers lost their life.
In August last year, by cancelling the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian Constitutionthat provided alimited autonomy to Kashmir, the Indian government had almost turned the whole region in a goal.
In December 2019, the Indian Parliament amended the Citizenship Act of 1955. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees and Christians who sought refuge after facing the discriminatory behaviour of Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, were granted citizenship with the amendment of the Citizenship Act of 1955. But Muslims coming from these countries do not have the rights to Indian citizenship. It was the first time in India that the citizenship law of India was discriminated against the minorities, and Muslims in particular, on the basis of religion.
The amendment could not cherish favour internationally and nationally both.The Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioncalled the amendment a ‘fundamentally discriminatory’. The passage of this bill raised country wide alarm and critics of the controversial bill, who come from all sections of theIndian society, loudlyexpressed their concerns that the NRC linked to this act was, in fact, targeting Muslims of India. Many a Muslims will become ‘stateless’ as it would be difficult for them to provide the stringent proof of their birth and identity as required by NRC.It triggered protests all over India and we witnessed the sane voices from the cross section protesting and registering their concerns by favouring Muslims of India.
The coming days in Indian politics, it seems, will either be the beginning of the days of politics of religious tolerance or it will ignite, which one might even not like to think about, mayhem
During Trump’s recent visit to India, Hindu-Muslim riots erupted in various districts of Delhi; highlighting the gory stories of human atrocities from the affected area. The fons et origo of mayhemappeared to be the demand of the BJPworkers to disperse the people and mostly women’s sit-in the Shaheen Bagh forcefully. Indian media outlined the disputed NRC the root cause.
But TK Arun of the Economic Times has a different view of Delhi’s riots. As, to him, riots are not because of supporters and opponents of the Amendment Act, but are communal in nature.
Arun also said that BJP’s defeated candidate Kapil Mishra in the recent Delhi election was badly criticized by the BJP’s state president Manoj Tiwari for a riot-inducing speech because the BJP did not want riots during the visit of Trump. Now, it seems by making the said controversial AmendmentAct an excuse of riotsthe state may come heavily on the protesters in Shaheen Bagh.
Now the big question is: What will the BJP or Modi get from this bloody game? Since religious riots now threaten to spread across the country. Which will surely cause serious damage to the state of India and the Indian economy. India’s economy is in serious crisis already.
I put this question to my friends who are well versed in the affairs of states’ policies. Almost everyone believed that doing so was to divert people’s attention from India’s declining economic crisis. But then the question arises that if the riots spread all over India, the economy would be destroyed and the Modi governance would be deeply hurt. The rise of Hindu nationalism will not do him any good if he thinks that the emergence of Hindu nationalism gives a good impression of his rule. Some were of the view that rioting against Muslims could keep America happy because Muslims have anti-American sentiments.
But today at Dawn, A GNoorani has uncovered many facts by telling the insider’s story of the BJP and RSS split. The strange thing is that the RSS is not in favour of inculcating the sentiments of Hindu nationalism nor is it happy with the performance of the Modi government. Proof of this, Shiv Sena not only ousted the BJP from Maharashtra by uniting with the BJP opposition in Maharashtra but also attended the Sonia Gandhi’s court in New Delhi and mentioned the importance of the controversial word ‘secularism’ in the joint declaration. ?
In this context, Modi will try to degrade the RSS by giving Hindu nationalism a foothold. But experts say that will not be possible. However, the coming days in Indian politics, it seems, will either be the beginning of the days of politics of religious tolerance or it will ignite, which one might even not like to think about, mayhem. It is to be seen. Moreover, the atrocities meted to the Muslims of India will cause a great tremor among the Muslims of the bordering countries to curb the efforts of the international community to bridle the extremists of the region.
The writer is English Language Instructor at Taif University, KSA