India’s government has kept mum about the infamous ‘hate speech conclave’ last month, where several far-right Hindu leaders issued charged calls for ethnic cleansing of minorities in that country, but two very important statements have still come out about the event; one from outside India and the other from within. The Pakistani government has criticised Delhi’s silence, with Prime Minister Imran Khan calling the Indian government “a real and present threat to peace” in the region because Indian minorities have become targets of extremist groups operating under the patronage of the ruling BJP. And former Indian naval chief Admiral Arun Prakash, in an open letter to the country’s president and prime minister that was co-signed by three other former naval chiefs and one former air force chief, called the silence “ominous” and warned of civil war if the government didn’t put a lid on extremist behaviour immediately. The retired admiral also lamented the fact that no former Indian army chief was willing to sign on the letter. Does that imply that the country’s land forces, which have representation from a number of religions and faiths, are firmly on board with the government as it greenlights threats, even violence, against minorities? Or does it mean that the generals have been silenced by threats or incentives? Either way, if this kind of oppression goes on too long then there is indeed a very real threat of civil war in what is after all, at least technically, still the world’s largest democracy. There is now a slight change of attitude in the international community, though, but that is only because the Indian government has moved on from hounding just Muslims to allowing targeting of other minorities as well, especially Christians. And since the world’s most powerful countries and the most potent rights outfits are predominantly Christian, they are forced to take note or face severe backlash within their own constituencies. How this plays out remains to be seen, of course, but since the Indian government doesn’t seem too concerned about popular reaction to its oppressive policies, it seems the whole region must prepare for an implosion, even civil war, inside India. And, if anything, that will only prove that Islamabad was right all along. *