By Dr. Arif Javid
Narendra Modi was re-elected in 2019 elections, his party secured 303 seats in Lok Sabah with the- core sentiments of ultra-nationalist messages in their campaigns. The prime target of their ultra- nationalist sentiments was lower caste people, Dalits and Muslims in particular. Hate and division was the main agenda of BJP during elections and dozens of incidents of attacks on minorities were reported. Ultra-nationalist sentiment of RSS is highly devilish . The experts during Modi 2.0 the process of alienation among religious minorities will further increase. For the five years in government since 2014, the BJP had taken a number of extreme steps against minorities such as Christian, Sikhs, Dalits and particularly Muslims in almost all spheres to make them feel they are part of a Hindu-dominant country. BJP govt also made Muslims to believe that irrespective of the equal political and constitutional rights like all other Indians, India is practically a Hindu state, governed by the values and norms of Hinduism rather than by democratic and secular values.
Here I want to discuss an interesting and humorous article which has published the famous newspaper ‘The Sunday Guardian’. The topic of discussion in the article was Modi’s victory in elections and the celebrations in Gilgit Baltistan (GB). The author wrote in the article that people of disputed territory of Baltistan are quite happy on Modi’s victory and want to become India’s part, which is contrary to the factual situation in Gilgit Baltistan , the people of GB are very happy with Pakistan but are fighting for the constitutional rights and are forcing Pakistan to make Gilgit Bultistan a full-fledged province of Pakistan .The diverse culture of India is unfortunately under severe threats by RSS which is sponsored by Modi government. US State Department in its annual 2018 International Religious Freedom Report, said, “Mob attacks by violent extremist Hindu groups against minority communities, especially Muslims, continued throughout the year amid rumours that victims had traded or killed cows for beef.” Similarly Human Rights Watch in its annual report wrote that “Dalits, formerly “untouchables,” continued to be discriminated against in education and jobs. There was increased violence against Dalits as a reaction to their more organized and vocal demands for social progress and to narrow historical caste differences.” Along with it, Indian Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen in a recent interview termed these atrocities as the “biggest blot on Indian democracy” as he blamed the Modi-led BJP government of grossly mishandling the situation.
Without the shadow of doubt, the situation is worst for religious minorities and lower casts in India. It is unfortunate that BJP is quite unlikely to put aside its ideology and work merely for good governance and economic development of India. Secular class in India is highly disappointed about the fate of secular India. Nobody is clear that what Hindu fanatics will do with other minorities in India and with its neighbouring states. So for’ rational thinkers, the situation could be nastiest. In this regards, Indian secular class must think about the future of secular India which is seriously at stake under present regime. And as far as so-called celebrations in GB is concerned, let me ask a candid question; How Muslims in GB will be happy on Modi’s victory and will be pleased to become India’s part in the situation where Indian Muslims are in miserable condition?
The writer is a political analyst; views expressed by him are entirely his own.
