The Narendra Modi government frequently posits India as a ‘Vishwaguru’ or world leader. How the world sees India is often lost in this branding exercise.
Outside India, global voices are monitoring and critiquing human rights violations in India and the rise of Hindutva. We present here fortnightly highlights of what a range of actors – from UN experts and civil society groups to international media and parliamentarians of many countries – are saying about the state of India’s democracy.
Read this fortnightly roundup for April 16-30, 2024.
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International media reports
CNN, USA
Rhea Mogul’s April 16 report profiles Narendra Modi’s political rise, mirroring India’s path “inching ever closer to superpower status” while also divided by “deep fault-lines”. She writes about the deployment of “sectarianism as a means of further bolstering his Hindu nationalist credentials” and the role that it has played in “diverting from policy failures”.
NPR, USA
Diaa Hadid does a deep dive on April 17 into the impact of the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision on Ayodhya which has “emboldened Hindu nationalists” in Mathura who want to end a “decades-old agreement” regarding Mathura’s mosque and temple. The podcast includes Muslim voices saying that Hindu nationalists’ “fights for mosques” is “avenging what they see as medieval Muslim domination”.
The Guardian, UK
In an editorial on India’s 2024 general elections, the Guardian on April 17 says “whatever the outcome, the loser has been Indian democracy” under Narendra Modi’s leadership. Arresting the opposition’s leaders, freezing their party bank accounts and spawning “vigilante groups” who “violently police society at the grassroots level with impunity” are some of the signs of a weakened democracy.
The Globe and Mail, Canada
In an April 18 episode of the Decibel podcast, Sanjay Ruparelia, an Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, speaks to Menaka Raman-Wilms about “how India has changed” under Modi’s two terms with Hindu nationalists taking “the law into their own hands” to impose a “new moral code” and social campaigns that “really threaten the fabric of everyday social life in India”.
The New York Times, USA
Siddhartha Deb’s essay on April 18 remarks that the import of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is that it reveals that India has “for all practical purposes, become a Hindu state” while maintaining a “façade of democracy”. However, this is not sustainable because the crises of “rampant inequality, lack of job prospects, abysmal public health and the increasing ravages of climate change” cannot be addressed “by turning one of the world’s most diverse countries into a claustrophobic Hindu nation.”
The Guardian, UK
On April 22, Hannah Ellis Peterson covers the anti-Muslim hate speech by Prime Minister Modi on April 21 in Rajasthan in which he said that if the Congress comes to power it will distribute wealth among “those who have more children” and “the infiltrators”. Read more reporting on this here, here and here.
PBS, USA
Zeba Warsi’s report on April 23 assesses India’s state of democracy led by Narendra Modi, featuring critical voices arguing that “democracy itself will be put to test in this election”. Based on evidence, “there are serious question marks on whether these are really free and fair polls” says Sushant Singh, a senior foreign policy expert and lecturer at Yale University.
ABC, Australia
On April 23, ABC covers the Indian government rejecting a “routine visa extension” of its (former) South Asia bureau chief Avani Dias after she was told that her reporting on the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar had “crossed a line”. Following a high-level intervention by the Australian government, her visa was extended but she had decided to leave by then. Read another report here.
The New York Times, USA
Mujib Mashal’s April 23 report argues that the “brazenness” of Prime Minister Modi’s hateful references to Muslims on April 21 signifies that “he sees few checks on his enormous power” with domestic watchdogs “bent to his will” and foreign partners “increasingly turning a blind eye”. Daniel Markey, a senior advisor at the United States Institute of Peace said Modi “would not have made those comments unless he believed he could get away with it.”
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Parliamentarians and others advocate
On April 22, Members of Parliament from New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom expressed deep concerns about human rights violations in India in a joint statement including escalating hate speech against Muslims, the misuse of anti-terrorism law against critics and the decision to implement CAA (2019) criticised by the UN as “discriminatory and a violation of international human rights commitments”. They urged the UN “to enact a resolution calling for an immediate stop to attacks on minorities in India and to implement systems for ongoing human rights monitoring and reporting in the nation.”
30 foreign correspondents in India expressed their “strong protest” regarding the treatment of journalist Avani Dias (former South Asia bureau chief for ABC) in an open letter dated April 23. With Dias as the most recent example, the letter states that “foreign journalists in India have grappled with increased restrictions on visas and journalism permits for those holding the status of OCI”. The letter called on the Indian government “to facilitate the vital work of a free press in line with India’s democratic traditions.”
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Experts say
The Independent Panel for Monitoring Indian Elections, made up of experts from Europe, Bangladesh and India, in its weekly bulletin covering April 25-30, points to violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), including by the Prime Minister and other senior BJP leaders, who have systematically sought votes in the name of religion, often inciting hate against minorities. The IPMIE also highlighted concerns over the independence of the Election Commission of India given incidents such as the declaration of the victory of the BJP candidate in Surat under dubious circumstances.
The India brief in the worldwide CIVICUS Monitor April 2024 states that India’s elections are taking place in a context in which “there has been an alarming deterioration of fundamental freedoms and civic space in India” and the targeting of “critics including civil society groups, human rights defenders and independent media”.
In Amnesty International’s The State of the World’s Human Rights Report 2023-24, the chapter on India highlights how “national financial and investigation agencies were weaponized against civil society, human rights defenders, activists, journalists and critics”. It also finds that BJP leaders and supporters “advocated hatred and violence against religious minorities with impunity, particularly Muslims, marking a rise in hate crimes.”
The US Department of State’s 2023 Country Report on Human Rights Practices on India identified a very long list of “significant human rights issues” related to (not exhaustive) the situation in Manipur; “arbitrary arrest or detention; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom; serious government restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; extensive gender-based violence; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of ethnic and caste minorities; and crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons”, among many others.
Christophe Jaffrelot, a leading expert on India spoke at Paris-based SciencesPo about India’s elections in an interview on April 25. He notes that the current elections “will not be as free and fair as previous ones” by pointing to action against opposition parties and the inaction over allegations of suspect electronic voting machines. He adds, “since the takeover of New Delhi Tele Vision (NDTV) by Gautam Adani, the rising star of the oligarchs who have come to dominate the Indian business world, there is not a single television channel that is even remotely critical of the government.”
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Indian diaspora groups protest and advocate
On April 17, Indian diaspora groups including Foundation the London Story, India Labour Solidarity, InSAF India, UK Indian Muslim Council and Hindus for Human Rights UK staged a protest at London’s Meta’s headquarters, designed like a crime scene, putting Meta in the dock for “crimes against democracy” especially its failure to protect election integrity in India. The protests came after 38 diaspora groups received no response from Meta to a 10-point plan of measures to prevent and stop the circulation of hate and disinformation during India’s 2024 elections. The protestors collectively said: “As members of the Indian diaspora, we are outraged at Meta’s lack of action about its devastating impact in India. With India’s elections starting this week, we are sounding the alarm bells: Meta must act urgently and enforce a silence period during the election”.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, in a press release issued on April 22 “condemned” Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a “hateful and dangerous” campaign speech and reiterated its demand to the Biden administration to declare India a “Country of Particular Concern” due to the “rise in systematic discrimination and hate crimes against Indian Muslims and other minorities.
The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), a prominent US-based advocacy organisation of Indian American Muslims, issued a press release on April 22 on the same issue, in which IAMC President Mohammed Jawad said, “We are appalled by Modi’s unabashed demonization of India’s most vulnerable minority group, pandering shamelessly to his fervently Hindu supremacist base. Modi’s rhetoric not only violates Indian law, which prohibits communal speeches during election campaigns, but also legitimizes the very narratives that fuel violence against Muslims.”
Three diaspora organisations – Ekō, India Civil Watch International (ICWI), and Foundation the London Story, published in April 2024 a report (titled Slander, Lies, and Incitement: India’s million dollar election meme network) of their investigation identifying shadow advertisers linked to the BJP who disseminate political advertisements in support of Prime Minister Modi that “propagate hate speech, smear opposition parties, promote Islamophobia, and endorse Hindu supremacist narratives”. Shadow ads are generated by funds “where the source of the money is not publicly disclosed or is difficult to trace” and are supported by social media platforms despite their total secrecy and influence on electoral outcomes.
The Indian American Muslim Council published its 2024 Annual Report on Human Rights and Religious Freedom in India in April to help policymakers make “informed foreign policy decisions” about human rights in India. Titled “365 Days of Hate in Modi’s India”, the report compiles research on “the nexus between state policy and looming genocidal violence” focused on Indian Muslims and Christians. It also looks at “the Modi regime’s attacks on Indian democratic norms, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the mass violence and discrimination against Adivasis (indigenous Indians) and Dalits (caste-oppressed Indians) faced throughout 2023.”
‘Portfolios of Hate’, a research study by the UK-Indian Muslim Council, released in April 2024, undertakes a detailed profiling of 70 hate speech incidents by 36 BJP candidates nominated for the ongoing general elections, including senior party leaders. The report finds that hate speech incidents almost doubled between the two tenures of the BJP-led NDA government. It notes that the surge during election campaigns indicates a deliberate strategy to stoke religious tensions for electoral gains.
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Hindutva abroad
During a procession on the Hindu festival, Ram Navami, on 17 April in Leicester, the group chanted Hindutva slogans: “Ayodhya was just a glimpse, Kashi and Mathura are left. O Lord Krishna, we will come and build the temple right there for you. We are Hindu, and Hindu rashtra is ours.” Numerous Muslim organisations have filed complaints with Leiscestershire police seeking action.
Read the previous roundup here.
