Under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s dogmatic rule, the targeting of minorities \u2014 particularly Muslims \u2014 by right-wing Hindu extremists is now a way of life in many states, as India degenerates into a conflict zone of sectarian violence, according to an article published in a leading American newspaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cVigilante mobs, which often assemble provocatively in front of mosques, regularly assault Muslims as understaffed and under-equipped police forces fail to intervene,\u201d Debasish Roy Chowdhury, a Hong Kong-based Indian journalist and author, wrote in The New York Times.<\/p>\n
\u201cLynchings and open calls for genocide are common. India now ranks among the 10 countries at the highest risk of mass killings,\u201d the article said, citing the \u2018Early Warning Project\u2019, which assesses such risks around the world.<\/p>\n
Referring to the explosive situation in Manipur, Chowdhury said although the state has a long history of ethnic animosities, the fuse for the current unrest was lit by the politics of Hindu supremacy, xenophobia and religious polarization championed by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).<\/p>\n
\u201cSince Mr. Modi took office in 2014, his ruling party has torn those asunder with dangerous exclusionary politics intended to charge up the party\u2019s base and advance its goal of remaking India\u2019s secular republic into a majoritarian Hindu state,\u2019 the article, \u2018India on the Brink\u2019, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe repugnant nature of this brand of politics has been clear for some time, but the situation in Manipur shows what\u2019s ahead for India: The world\u2019s most populous country is slowly degenerating into a conflict zone of sectarian violence,\u201d Chowdhury added.<\/p>\n
The state monopoly on violence is being surrendered to extremists and vigilantes, it was pointed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose targeted by the kind of mob violence that we are seeing in India may conclude that equal rights are no longer guaranteed, that political differences can no longer be peacefully reconciled or fairly mediated and that violence is the only way for them to resist,\u201d Chowdhury wrote.<\/p>\n
In Manipur, it said, State government-backed Meitei militias have gone on a rampage of raping, pillaging, looting police armories and burning villages, noting that more than 250 churches have been burned down. Meitei men were captured in the horrific 26-second video, sexually assaulting two Kuki women.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe violent impact of his party\u2019s polarizing politics is acutely felt in India\u2019s heartland, too,\u2019 the article said, pointing to the area near a tech and finance hub on the outskirts of New Delhi was rocked by violence last week as Hindu supremacists staging a religious procession clashed with Muslims.<\/p>\n
\u201cMosques were attacked, an imam was killed, businesses were burned and looted, and hundreds of Muslims have fled,\u201d Chowdhury wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn tandem with the BJP\u2019s demonizing of India\u2019s nearly 200 million Muslims, television, cinema and social media are deployed to radicalize the Hindu majority, pumping out a steady stream of Islamophobia and vile dog whistles.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtremist groups, at least one of which appears to have received the public support of the prime minister, run amok. Muslims have been arrested for praying, had their livelihoods and businesses destroyed and their homes razed. Bulldozers, used to demolish homes, have become an anti-Muslim symbol, proudly paraded by B.J.P. supporters at political rallies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The article called the Modi-led BJP\u2019s tactics \u201ca signature tactic of modern-day despots \u2014 tightening their grip on power by redefining who belongs to the polity and ostracizing others. \u201cIn the ultimate subversion of democracy, the government chooses the people, rather than the people choosing the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of its giant and growing population, India will become more important to the rest of the world geopolitically and economically, with the promise of its massive market,\u201d Chowdhury wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so Western leaders like President (Joe) Biden \u2014 who staged a lavish welcome for Mr. Modi on a state visit to Washington in June \u2014 engage with the prime minister, downplaying his government\u2019s assaults on liberalism.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut a political strategy of conspicuous humiliation and subjugation of ethnic and religious minorities that comprise around one-fifth of the population is dangerously deluded. India can be either a conflict zone or an economic powerhouse \u2014 not both. It is increasingly clear which of those two destinies awaits the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s dogmatic rule, the targeting of minorities \u2014 particularly Muslims \u2014 by right-wing Hindu extremists is now a way of life in many states, as India degenerates into a conflict zone of sectarian violence, according to an article published in a leading American newspaper. \u201cVigilante mobs, which often assemble provocatively […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-348597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n