Secular India: A Myth Or Transformation – OpEd

India came into being in the name of secularism where all minorities will get their rights regardless of their colour or religion. But under the BJP fascist regime, India’s image of being a secular state is now under a serious risk.

BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi proving to be a nightmare for minorities of India, especially Muslims, Dalits and Sikh communities. Minorities are being deprived from their basic human rights. Minorities are not safe anymore in India and it is alarming.

By raising divisive issues, the BJP and its affiliates are disturbing peace in the state which India cannot afford. This mind set of Modi government will create only hatred and division in the society especially in Muslims. Peace of the society will disrupt by such useless policies. Worldwide, such policies are giving negative image of India which used to be a secular state in past.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Hindutva ideology has converted India into a real fascist regime and this Hindu extremist ideology has become mainstream politics in India, since BJP came to power in India. This mind set and ideology of BJP Hindutva and RSS will have serious implications for not only the region but also the entire planet.

Modi government hatred for Muslims is evident and BJP is trying its best to create such propagandas to get the maximum votes in next elections. BJP politics so far relying on anti Muslim narrative to get the majority at any cost, no matter what how much damage it will do to Indian citizens and what image of India world is getting; BJP is putting everything at stake for its politics.

Since, BJP government came to power; many of its politicians had made derogatory remarks against minorities. Under the Modi fascist regime, Inspired by the “Hindutva ideology” hate crimes, destruction of holy places, social boycotts and forced conversion have escalated. BJP ideology is taking Indian society towards polarization and religious radicalism. Narendara Modi is doing politics of hate and wants to convert India as a Hindu state.

Muslims and Dalits minorities were the real targets of lynchings by Hindu activists in the name of protecting cows, a long-standing Hindu nationalist preoccupation. College and University students, Journalists, political rivals and protestors who challenge the incumbent government have been charged with treason or incitement to violence.

Religious tolerance has deteriorated and religious freedom violations have increased in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime, a report by an independent bipartisan American body has claimed.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out India for rising instances of attacks on religious freedom. “Minorities in India were under threat due to rising attacks on places of worship” Antony Blinken said while delivering remarks on the 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom in Washington.

The report, titled ‘Constitutional and Legal Challenges Faced by Religious Minorities in India’ and sponsored by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said the religious minority communities and Dalits face discrimination and persecution in India where hate crimes, social boycotts and forced conversion have escalated dramatically since 2014.

Since Modi’s BJP came to power in 2014, it has taken various legislative and other actions that have legitimized discrimination against religious minorities and enabled violent Hindu nationalism, Human Rights Watch said.

When farmers started their protest against the government’s new farm laws in November 2020, senior BJP leadership and their supporters on social media, and pro-government media, began blaming the Sikhs, another religious minority. They accused Sikhs of having a “Khalistani” agenda, a reference to a Sikh separatist insurgency in Punjab in the 1980s and 90s.

International community is monitoring these events in India critically and they want a regime change sooner or later for the sake of humanity and better peaceful India.