In its annual International Religious Freedom Report, the U.S. have levelled a rare, critical remark against India, noting a “concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities.” Both Muslims and Christians have reported police harassment and mob violence, with the former continuing to have a direct impact of Pak-Indo ties, which have yet to recover from Delhi’s unilateral abrogation of Kashmir’s special constitutional status.
Approximately 200 million Muslims live in India, comprising the Hindu-majority state’s largest minority group. For decades, Muslim Indians have faced discrimination in employment and education that hamper their ability to achieve wealth and political power. They have also been targeted through communal violence, implicitly supported by Narendra Modi’s BJP government, which has made no secret of further limiting Muslims’ rights. Modi’s rhetoric, per observers, has hardened anti-Muslim sentiments in stark contrast to the secularism enshrined in India’s constitution.
According to critics, Modi’s re-elected to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2019 led to the BJP-led government pushing controversial policies explicitly ignoring Muslims’ rights, restricting religious freedoms, and aiming to disenfranchise millions of Muslims. This has increased incidents of violence against Muslims, sparking protests in India and drawing international condemnation. Unfortunately, this isn’t an entirely new trend, with political tensions straining India’s secular model since the 1980s. After suffering an electoral defeat in 1977, then-prime minister Indira Gandhi exploited religious divisions to help return the Congress party to power. Her son, Rajiv Gandhi, pushed this further, moving toward Hindu majoritarianism and creating fertile ground for the more extreme ideology of the BJP. Today, the chickens have come home to roost and India faces religious divisions that must be resolved if it is to truly emerge as the global superpower it projects itself to be.