How India’s Democracy Rolled Back Under Hindu Nationalist Mandates

“Since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, India (…) has continued to regress in terms of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Several environmental leaders protested, in a tribune at Release published in May, against Emmanuel Macron’s decision to make the Indian Prime Minister the guest of honor at the July 14 ceremonies. On the eve of his visit to France, franceinfo returns to the authoritarian drift of the Hindu nationalist.

Minority Indians considered ‘second class citizens’

With the victory of the Hindu nationalists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 legislative elections, India gradually became a “ethnic democracy”. “This term designates a system in which citizens of ‘second class’ from minorities do not have the same rights as the majority”explains Christophe Jaffrelot, political scientist at the Center for International Research at Sciences Po Paris (Ceri). “The ideology defended by Narendra Modi’s party is that India is a Hindu country”contrary to its multicultural and multi-confessional tradition, says Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of the NGO Human Rights Watch.

The last decade has seen “increasing attacks against religious minorities, especially Muslims”, she continues. This violence is not unprecedented. Hundreds of Muslims were killed in 2002 during riots in Gujarat, a state in the west of the country, then ruled by Narendra Modi. His government had been accused of complicity in these crimes, for having ordered the police not to intervene, recalls a recent BBC documentary.

Now at the head of the federal state, the Hindu nationalists “have taken a step forward by transcribing this principle of inequality into law”, judge Christophe Jaffrelot. “Muslim refugees from neighboring countries can no longer apply for Indian citizenship, unlike Hindus. They cannot easily find accommodation in certain neighborhoods and inter-religious marriages have become almost impossible”list the author of Modi’s India: national-populism and ethnic democracy (Fayard, 2019). In the most populous country in the world, this discriminatory policy affects “several million people”insists Meenakshi Ganguly.

The opposition hampered by power

If India continues to hold regular elections and “disputed, thanks to a very rich multiparty system”it exists “an imbalance in the electoral competition”, Judge Christophe Jaffrelot. Because “BJP has huge financial resources”, which allow it to dominate the media space during campaigns. But the power undertook to further stifle the opposing parties. Human Rights Watch thus denounces attempts to intimidate the opposition.

“Federal agencies are being used to pressure opposition lawmakers, with politically motivated lawsuits on the rise.”

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director of Human Rights Watch

at franceinfo

The case with the most media coverage is undoubtedly that of Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Congress party, a major opposition party. At the end of March, this son and grandson of the Prime Minister was sentenced to two years in prison for defaming Narendra Modi, whom he had called a “thief”. “This is precisely the sentence from which one can be declared ineligible”, emphasizes Meenakshi Ganguly. One year before the next legislative elections, Rahul Gandhi was thus excluded from Parliament for six years, “under a law normally used for violent crimes or corruption”points out the head of Human Rights Watch.

Parliament has also been “reduced to a recording chamber for executive decisions”, according to Christophe Jaffrelot. “Narendra Modi rules a lot by ordinances. When a law is presented to elected officials, it is often introduced at the time of the vote, without preliminary discussion”he illustrates.

There is, however, a “resistance” at the level of the federated states, in particular in the south of the country, points out Ingrid Therwath, journalist and doctor of political science. This is the case of Kerala, territory “of communist tradition”or Karnataka, of which the BJP has just lost control. “Hindu nationalists govern only a third of the 29 Indian states: the others are the strongest opposition to the federal executive”confirms Christophe Jaffrelot.

The independence of the institutions threatened

Parliament is not the only counter-power to be hampered. India’s Election Commission, responsible for ensuring the independence of the polls, is “very politicized”, analyzes Christophe Jaffrelot. Because until now, its members were appointed by the Indian head of state (now President Drupadi Murmu), on the proposal of the government, explains the British newspaper The Independent. Seized by the opposition, the Supreme Court however ordered at the beginning of March that they should henceforth be appointed on the recommendation of a committee bringing together the Prime Minister, but also an opposition leader and the president of the highest court in the country.

“The judicial system is still resisting”, observes Christophe Jaffrelot. But he, too, is threatened. “Modi’s government refused to approve the appointment of many judges [des hautes cours et de la Cour suprême] who displeased him”, details the political scientist. As a result, 40% of judicial posts are vacant and 70,000 cases are awaiting trial by the country’s highest court, according to the German media Deutsche Welle.

The media victims of intimidation

Journalists are also in the sights of Hindu nationalists. “The BJP has close ties with the Indian oligarchs, who have acquired many media, especially in broadcasting”, notes Christophe Jaffrelot. The independence of the press is therefore compromised, with “strong asymmetry of the information disseminated for the benefit of power”.

Independent media are subject to “pressure via police raids, administrative and tax investigations, or see themselves deprived of advertising contracts”, denounces Meenakshi Ganguly. Their reporters are frequently arrested, even prosecuted or imprisoned without trial, adds the British weekly The Economist. India thus appears in 161st place (out of 180) in the latest Reporters Without Borders ranking on freedom of the press.

“The government does not tolerate any form of criticism and this affects the very functioning of democracy, preventing the expression of any dissenting opinion.”

Meenakhsi Ganguly, South Asia Director of Human Rights Watch

at franceinfo

These intimidation attempts also target the foreign media. In early 2023, the Ministry of Information censored a BBC documentary about the riots in Gujarat, branded as “propaganda”. A month later, Indian offices of the British channel were raided on suspicion of tax evasion. Law enforcement spent three days questioning employees and copying the contents of their phones and computers, reports the specialized media The Diplomat.

History textbooks rewritten

Other “stakes considerable” : the revision of history textbooks to serve the narrative of Hindu nationalists, in “erasing the legacy of [parti du] Congress or the contribution of Muslims to Indian culture”, notes Christophe Jaffrelot. In early 2023, the books used in tens of thousands of schools across the country were rewritten by a federal commission. A chapter on the assassination by a Hindu extremist of Mahatma Gandhi, a figure of Indian independence, has been deleted, relays the American magazine Time.

Passages concerning the 2002 riots in Gujarat met the same fate. The legacy of the Mughal Empire, whose Muslim rulers left many monuments to India, including the Taj Mahal, has also been erased.

Civil society under pressure

Under Narendra Modi, India has become an increasingly hostile environment for NGOs. “The executive has restricted the possibility for associations to receive funds from abroad”, explains Christophe Jaffrelot. In 2016, more than 11,000 of them lost their authorization to receive funding from other countries, according to the British daily The Guardian. The authorities also froze the accounts of human rights NGOs, forcing Amnesty International to close its Indian offices in 2020.

For Christophe Jaffrelot, “It’s not just Narendra Modi that’s the problem”. “A Hindu nationalist system is set up thanks to his regime, underlines the political scientist of Ceri. This movement takes advantage of state protection to spread throughout Indian society and infiltrate all intermediary bodies, such as unions.

“The more time passes, the more this Hindu nationalist system becomes the ‘norm’ for India.”

Christophe Jaffrelot, political scientist at Ceri

at franceinfo

The BJP leader may well get a third term in 2024, but “even if he loses the legislative elections, these ten years in power will leave scars in society”, insists Ingrid Therwath. For the specialist, the presence of a strong opposition in the southern states, as well as the “culture of public opinion and debate deeply rooted in India”however, give hope “a return to more long-term freedoms”.