Indian impunity

For a very long time in history, India was hailed as an almost ideal democracy. The past nearly one decade has managed to lift that facade in a rapidly devolving-into-fascism county. Now even the UN chief has pointed out that India needs to alter its policies, as its human rights record slides down at an increasing pace. Ever since Narendra Modi took power in 2014, our belligerent neighbour to the east has indulged in the most brutal regime of fear and violence with pogroms against Muslims.

A new law introduced two years ago triggered protests in New Delhi after the Indian government made it a point that those travelling into India from other countries could be given fast track citizenship but not Muslims or those coming in from Pakistan. Protests by students were put down by the government. There have also been other numerous human rights abuses Of course, the worst human rights abuses come in Occupied Kashmir and have continued for years. They have worsened even more so since 2019 when Occupied Kashmir was turned into a Union Territory and stripped of the autonomy it had enjoyed till then. This has meant a worsening in the lives of people living in the region and continued abuses with people being picked up by Indian forces deployed in the area and many political leaders under arrest or house arrest. There have also been attempts to cut off communication systems in the region by disrupting telephone signals and mobile phone services. In addition, Kashmiris have complained about the rape of women.

There seems to be no immediate end to these issues. The Modi government is adamant in its policy and is backed by further right-wing extremist Hindu groups who often carry out the most horrendous actions targeting Muslims in particular. The Indian government is also smug in the knowledge that it is still favoured by the West, the US in particular, as some sort of buffer to China. The mood in the country is growing grimmer by the day. In this context, the UN chief is absolutely right that India needs to change, but one wonders whether that can have any effect on a country whose government has complete and total impunity for violence. India has till now been given a pass by the international community. There is no pressure on the Indian government to change its ways. The sort of human rights atrocities being committed there on a daily basis is horrifying. Unfortunately, the world seems to have decided that – much like Israel – it can live with a violent Indian regime.