India is the 2nd largest populated country in the world; residing Hindus along with the minorities like Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians. India is a secular country by its constitution. Secular means separation of religion and state. By definition, it is perceived that today’s India is not a secular country. The planned discrimination against its minorities especially Muslims is a clear indication of an un-secular India, where people of different faiths and religions are treated with different laws. The transition of fascism has begun in India in 1948 when Nathu Ram Godsay, a RSS member inspired by Fascist ideology, killed Mahatma Gandhi, India’s founding father; being accused of being too soft on Muslims.
India is now moving rapidly from a secular to a fascist regime dominated by “Hindutva forces”. The minorities in India have the same status as Jews had in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. India’s secularism now only remains in the constitution. The fascism-led Hindutva has become a variant of Hindu extremism. It is humiliating, threatening, and suppressing Muslims, Christians and Dalits. Now they are struggling for their survival in the world’s largest democracy.
By the 1990s, the scenario changed with the rise of ‘Hindutva’. The western press termed it Hindu nationalism. Maybe Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, was more to the point when he defined “Hindutva as “fascism in Hindu style”. The Indian government and opposition were not enough strong to defend constitutional norms, and law & order. This thing allowed the fascists to grow in the coming years. The demolition of Babari Mosque led by L.K. Advani paved the way for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to reach the parliament to establish a government. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee (former PM) led BJP government (1998-2004) was not in majority to lay the foundation of a Hindu Rashtra.
In 2002 when the Gujrat riots took place, the man in charge of the ruling state was Narendra Modi, who was invisible when 2000 Muslims including pregnant women were killed and raped by extremist Hindu mobs. It is believed that without the consent of the government no sectarian violence can take place in India and it was a state-sponsored pogrom. Modi said nothing except taunting the relief camps of Muslims as “child-making factories”. Hindu extremists felt that Muslims were terrorists and it is because of Modi that Muslims are finally under control.
In 2004 the return of Congress in power was a huge setback for BJP. PM Vajpayee blamed Modi for defeat in the National elections. Congress remained in power for two terms.
Modi was considered a defender of Hindus, he took charge as a party leader. By 2014 under his face, BJP won the landslide victory in elections and he seized the top post of Prime Minister. His first term (2014-2019) witnessed the rising attacks on minorities and he tried to crush any voice that challenged his regime. He was awarded the highest Civil Awards by some Gulf Nations despite his anti-Muslim policies.
In 2019, by taking advantage of false flag operations and fake surgical strikes inside Pakistan before elections, Modi won the second term with a full majority despite many of his failures. He became the more powerful Prime Minister of India. Muslims were asked to prove their citizenship and provide birth certificates under the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Due to its failure in 2019, gov’t introduced Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to sideline the Muslims and benefit Hindus. CAA allows Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Christian refugees from three countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to apply for citizenship, except Muslims. Later Muslim students protested against NRC and CAA joined by others factions led to a clash between protesters and forces.
The COVID-19 outbreak in Feb 2020 was another opportunity to attack Muslims by the government and media blaming Muslim Tablighi Jamat for spreading COVID-19. Some Indian media outlets said Muslims were engaged in a CORONA Jihad, they were denied treatment in hospitals. But allowing the Kumbh Mela, the Hindu religious festival of gathering became the main cause of the super spreader of COVID-19. It resulted in thousands of deaths in a day when India crossed Brazil and the US. The poor handling of COVID-19 was neither accepted by the government nor blamed by the media, even the Kumbh Mela was not pointed out. India has been consumed by the fires lit by fascism. The double standard of government and media proves the aggressive mindset towards Muslims.
For many, Modi’s re-election uncovered a dire secret at the heart of Indian society by applying dangerous sectarian rhetoric. In the following months, Modi’s government introduced a series of extraordinary initiatives to make Hindus more dominant. The abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir stuck the Majority population of Muslims. The move was amid to settle non-Kashmiris in the valley and change its demographic status, in an Israeli way. There was a complete blackout, nobody was allowed to visit J&K. The political leadership of J&K was under house arrest. Home minister Amit Shah had made a statement that India would take back its land by force that is occupied by Pakistan and China.
On February 14th, 2019, a suicide attack on an Indian military convoy in Kashmir killed 40 personnel. PM Modi directly blamed Pakistan. India sent thousands of its more paramilitary troops into Kashmir Valley. BJP supporters launched a social media campaign attacking Pakistan and calling Modi a tiger.
On February 26, 2020, Modi ordered airstrikes in the town of Balakot in Pakistan against what he claimed was a training camp of militants. It was claimed that three hundred militants had been killed. But international reporters visiting the site found no evidence of any deaths, except the damaged houses and some fallen trees. The next day another IAF fighter jet crossed into Pakistan’s airspace which was downed by PAF and its pilot Varthaman Abhinandan was captured by Pak forces; later who was handed over to India.
There have been almost three hundred hate crime incidents motivated by religion in the past decade. People affiliated with BJP maintained websites that pushed pro-Modi propaganda and attacked his enemies. Farmers’ protests, fake encounters, Nagaland civilian killings, online auction of Muslim women, hate speeches against Muslims, using Pegasus spyware against opponents, closure of Kashmir press club, ban on the hijab, social injustice, and intolerance are clear antagonistic and suppressive steps to silence Muslims, critics, and opponents.
On Feb 2, 2022, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the gov’t in parliament saying we have made a strategic mistake in Kashmir, and in our foreign policy, the nation is now at risk. He also said the wrong policies of the Modi gov’t brought China and Pakistan together. Today India is fully isolated. RSS and BJP are weakening India’s foundation. India is divided into 2 parts of “Rich and Poor”.
BJP is running a state within the state created by RSS under the command of the Hindutva nation. That is a society run on the Hindu caste system and a Nazi-developed model.
Once German ambassador to India Walter Linden visited the RSS headquarters to understand more about the organization. It was shocking for him that the Hindu group wanted to run India according to Hitler’s model.
Fascism failed every corner of the world and it destroyed the countries like Germany and Yugoslavia which disintegrated into 7 countries when fascism took a grip. The combination of RSS and BJP in India would like to follow the same for Indian Muslims. If India gets a full grip on fascism, the outcome will be like Yugoslavia and Germany. Arundhati Roy, in her recent interview with Indian based The Wire, said Hindu nationalism could break India into little pieces, as has happened earlier with Yugoslavia and Russia, but added that ultimately the Indian people will resist what she calls Modi and the BJP’s fascism.
It’s time to bring people from all segments of society together, especially Hindus and Muslims. If this does not happen then not only the survival of Muslims and Minorities but India’s survival will be at risk. Western and Arab countries should understand and study the literature of RSS. Rewarding Modi means strengthening its fascist ideology, if things went wrong the outcome will be far beyond. They should reject the fascist ideology in India. Otherwise, it would be disastrous for all.
