how nationalist ideology has invaded the country since Narendra Modi came to power

Long considered the largest democracy in the world, India has seen its foundations shaken since nationalist Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. Leading figure of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, or “Indian People’s Party”), the Hindu nationalist party, the Prime Minister, who maintains the cult of personality, is the big favorite in the general elections, which he could win for the third time in a row. The vote, to the extent of the country, opened on April 19 and must end on June 1. In total, 968 million Indians are called to the polls and more than a million polling stations are open across the country.

The documentary Modi’s India: democracy confiscated, directed by Sébastien Daguerressar, broadcast Sunday April 28 at 9:05 p.m. on France 5, draws the contours of an India in full change which has tended, for several years, towards an authoritarian power, with patriotic and religious accents, very far from the secular mantras advocated by Gandhi or Neru. The film traces the expansion of the country, but above all the journey of Narendra Modi, a convinced ideologue of an extreme right who tries to gag his opponents, muzzle the press and ostracize communities which do not conform to the system of values ​​promoted by the Hindu nationalism. This xenophobic policy affects all communities: Christians, Sikhs and especially Muslims.

Media relaying opinion of those in power

The exploitation of the media and social networks is the weapon used over and over again by the Narendra Modi camp, in order to convey its nationalist ideas and to demonize Muslim Indians. “When Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, news channels changed their editorial lines and began to support and even defend him”relates independent journalist Ravish Kumar in the documentary. “In terms of ethics, all the news channels collapsed, one after the other. (…) Everything was going in the direction of Modi and his policies.”

Ravish Kumar, renowned journalist and former news director of national broadcaster NDTV, lost his job and had his life threatened because he exposed injustices and misinformation spread by the Modi government and its supporters. But, above all, because he opposed the billionaire Gautam Adani. The tycoon, close to the Prime Minister, took a majority stake in NDTV, previously considered the last major critical media outlet in the Indian audiovisual landscape.

The documentary interviews Indian star presenter Suresh Chavhanke, who runs the Sudarshan News channel, a relay for Hindu nationalist ideology. In his flagship show, he unabashedly stirs up hatred against Muslims. A position he assumes: “Our job is to awaken the patriotic consciousness of our mediahe declares. Before, we were criticized for supporting Hindus, now it’s the opposite, everyone aligns with us, speaks like us.”

A paramilitary group that recruits young people

This exacerbated Hindu nationalism is not recent. It has been fermenting for decades, and has spread throughout the country since the coming to power of Narendra Modi, who continues to fan its embers. Nothing surprising for a Prime Minister who was himself trained, from the age of 8, by a paramilitary group called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, “National Patriotic Organization”). Created in 1925 to fight against British colonialism and Muslim separatism, this organization has become extremely powerful over the years and has hundreds of thousands of members.

“I don’t know of any organization of this style that has changed so little in a century”notes in the documentary Christophe Jaffrelot, research director at CNRS. “[Le RSS] learns Hindu nationalist ideology, with training sessions where history is revisited. (…) It is also the crucible of explicit xenophobia.”

These supremacists are fighting for a single religious identity to exist in the country: Hindutva (Hinduness), and for this, they do not hesitate to carry out forced conversions, to change the names of cities, to destroy mosques and above all to chase down or even kill Muslims. “They also defend the idea that every citizen of the country is Hindu. confirms Indian journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, biographer of Narendra Modi. “It doesn’t matter what their beliefs are. (…) For them, you can be Muslim, Christian, you are above all Hindu. Hinduism, according to them, is not a religion, but a state of mind.”

The documentary Modi’s India: democracy confiscateddirected by Sébastien Daguerressar, is broadcast on Sunday April 28 at 9:05 p.m. on France 5.