A state that was

In what seemed like an eternity ago, India used to be a proud secular state – at least for the mainstream areas. India has always had its share of internal conflicts and disputes, but the BJP’s Modi iteration has managed to make the Indian state dangerous for its own people, the India that was coming undone right in front of our eyes. More than four years after the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was introduced and only a few weeks away from general elections, the Modi government has finally notified necessary laws for the CAA to be implemented. The law will allow non-Muslim nationals from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who arrived in India before 2015 to escape persecution in their home countries to apply for Indian citizenship. But the law excludes Muslim refugees, raising fears that this would disenfranchise many Muslims in India. This is probably something the ruling party wants to do to ensure its third-time victory in the coming elections, as it will pave the way for the country to maintain its authoritarian and Hindu majoritarian tilt without any pushback. India has done the same in Kashmir after abrogating the occupied territory’s statehood, allowing people from other states to buy real estate in the disputed valley in an attempt to maintain Hindu majority in the region. During the nearly decade-long rule of the BJP, India has gradually inched towards becoming a Hindu majoritarian state at the cost of its minorities.

The Hindu-Muslim divide in India is a result of the BJP’s ambitions, further deepened by the animosity the extremist groups have for Pakistan. The spike in tensions between the two countries has further exaggerated the situation and once again planted discord in Indian society where Muslims living in urban and posh areas face discrimination as well, with Hindu-majority groups openly threatening Muslims to move to Pakistan if they were opposed to the Modi government. Every other week, a video goes viral on social media showing far-right extremists and cow vigilantes in India wearing saffron scarves around their necks chanting religiously motivated slogans, forcing their victims to repeat the slogans and somehow prove their loyalty.

Given the horrific collapse of a once-celebrated secular society into an extremist, majoritarian state, the CAA makes complete sense. The refugees that India vehemently hates also include those who flee from war-torn Afghanistan and parts of Bangladesh that host Rohingya Muslims, persecuted by the Myanmar government. Denying them citizenship only exacerbates their problems. The BJP is treading a dangerous path – one that resembles that of the ‘only democracy’ in the Middle East where settler programmes allow people following a certain ideology to occupy land to help the ruling members retain their majority. The idea of equating nationhood to a certain religion, especially in a vast and diverse country like India, is a recipe for disaster. The extremism that India today practises – and the support it gets from the Indian diaspora in the West – signifies that the country is not going to change its course anytime soon.