Repression and the Indian state

During the United Nations General Assembly’s address, Indian Prime Minister Modi created the impression that the largest democracy is following the principles of non-violence and pacifism, claiming that India is the country that gifted the world with the ideas of Gandhi and Lord Buddha.

Modi’s comments may have been taken seriously by the masters of the corporate world who are ready to ignore everything – human rights and sanctity of human lives – for the sake of their undying greed for profit and gargantuan appetite for the business and business deals that the Modi-led Hindu right-wing government is ready to shower on anyone with a large pocket. But these altruistic sentences did not impress those who are aware of Modi’s sanctimonious nature and the agenda of hate that his ideological mentors of the RSS have been propagating for decades.

Modi’s UNGA address suggests that India is a country that believes in equality and respect for universal principles of human rights. The rhetoric of the Indian leader at the UNGA was aimed at luring the Western world into believing that the world’s largest democracy is a heaven for minorities and people from the bottom layer of social stratification. It was meant to assert that no vitriolic attack has ever been directed towards Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths in India. The speech seemed to say that everything is hunky dory in the land of democracy and free market except the ominous existence of a few terrorist outfits that are hell bent on destroying the serene calm and tranquillity that the egalitarian and altruistic government of Hindu sages has established.

But recent reports by various human rights organisations fly in the face of such tall claims by Modi. They expose the brutalities that are being carried out by Indian forces in one of the most militarised regions in the world. They also underscore the need to hold the India’s Hindu right-wing government responsible for the acts of sheer state terror that it has been perpetrating in the besieged valley of Jammu and Kashmir.

The harrowing accounts of torture and ruthless violence coming from the valley have shamed those Indians who were proud of their traditions of non-violence, universal fraternity and love. These actions are directly opposite to the teachings of Gandhi and Buddha who were against the very idea of discriminating against people in the name of religion and creed.

One wonders which principles of Buddhism and Gandhian philosophy have prompted the Indian ruling elite to deploy close to a million armed soldiers in Occupied Kashmir, over a besieged and terrified people. Which aspects of Buddha’s doctrines allow Indian soldiers to capture young boys and youth and mete out inhuman treatment to them? Which tenets of civility and humanity permit the occupying troops to violate Kashmir women? Which articles of fairness prompted the Indian ruling elite to renege on its promises of holding a plebiscite in the held disputed region? It is difficult to understand how India claims to be following the philosophy of these noble personalities with its broken promises and cunning policies of deceit and deception.

India’s claim to respect human rights is a sheer lie. Its assertion that it believes in universal fraternity is nothing but a mirage. In fact, there has been a steep rise in hate crimes since the BJP came into power. According to Amnesty International, a total of 181 incidents of hate crimes have been reported so far this year. Around 100 such crimes were reported in 2018.

Such crimes are not directed against Muslims only; so-called champions of Hindu nationalism also persecute lower class Hindus, especially Dalits. For instance, over two-thirds of the victims were from the marginalized lower-class Hindu community while 40 victims were Muslims. The report says that in 27 reported cases the victims were killed while in 30 cases they were raped or sexually assaulted. In another 19 cases the victims were sexually harassed. Some reports claim that there has been a 400 percent increase in such crimes after the BJP came into power. Last year, the federal government of India itself admitted that the number of incidents of communal violence witnessed a jump of 28 percent between 2014 and 2017.

Interestingly, these hate crimes do not include the incendiary speeches made by the BJP and other Hindu extremist outfits’ leaders in the last few years. If their speeches over the decades are also included in such crimes then an encyclopaedia would be required to detail such crimes and their impacts on minorities.

It is not only hate crimes that seem to have frightened minorities and people of marginalized sections in India but also state repression. The recent harrowing accounts of torture narrated by Kashmiri youth have put a blot on Indian democracy. In a number of cases, the Kashmiri youth were dragged down the streets and beaten up brutally by Indian soldiers. In several cases innocent villagers were picked up, hanged upside down naked and given electric shocks.

What type of democracy is it where more than seven million people are under a constant curfew-like situation, with communication disrupted, over 3000 people arrested and the entire Kashmir leadership, including pro-India politicians, put behind bars? No foreign media or human rights organization is allowed to enter the valley and assess the situation objectively and independently.

Imagine if the entire population of New Delhi or half of the population of Mumbai is incarcerated and not allowed to step out of their houses for days or weeks. The entire country would have erupted in violent protests and demonstrations if such actions were taken in Indian cities. But it seems that Kashmiris’ aspirations for freedom and justice have been declared the biggest crimes on earth. Their desire to get liberation from the clutches of the brutal Indian state apparatus has been dubbed as the greatest sin that has to be punished in the most repressive way.

It is not only Kashmir where Indian security forces have used sledgehammer tactics to curb the genuine movement of masses. They have also carried out a brutal crackdown against the Indian Maoists and a number of other groups in several states of the country. In 2012, the world was stunned when the Indian government was accused of killing 1528 people extra-judicially in Manipur state over the years. The Indian Supreme Court expressed grave concerns over such unconstitutional acts in 2016. But despite all that more than 1000 people were killed extra-judicially in the largest Indian state of UP since 2017.

The coercive state apparatus in India is creating disgruntled elements everywhere in the country. Security forces and the police are employing extreme repressive measures to rein in such elements that commit flagrant violations of human rights. One wonders how Modi claims to be the man championing the cause of Gandhi and Buddha after he has unleashed these thugs of extremist Hindu groups and unbridled security forces upon minorities and other marginalized sections.

If India really wants to own Gandhi then Modi and the hate-mongers of the RSS will have to openly condemn Gandhi’s murderer and the ideology that led to his assassination. If the largest democracy really feels pride in owing Buddha then it must turn itself into a real secular state and not one that is secular on paper only.

The writer is a freelance journalist.

Email: egalitarianism444@gmail.com