One example of the unflattering reality is the recent attempt by the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, to reassure the Muslims that they have nothing to fear since they are the blood brothers of the Hindus with the ‘same DNA’. It is obvious that the soothing words of someone who is regarded as the head of the Hindutva family would not have been necessary in a democracy where all citizens are supposed to be equal irrespective of their creed.
But it is not only Bhagwat’s ‘support’ for Muslims which underlines one aspect of the harsh ground reality, but also the criticism which the RSS chief has faced, probably for the first time, from the Hindu Right who are supposedly on his side of the ideological fence. However, since anti-Muslim sentiments have long been the main feature of the RSS worldview, Bhagwat’s about-turn has raised the hackles of some of his own followers.
The BJP’s reservations about the minorities are a part of its belief that it is only the adherents of the so-called Indic religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism – with their roots in India who are the “true” citizens while the Muslims are “outsiders”. Hence the exclusion of Muslims from the categories of immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who will be allowed to become Indian citizens under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The CAA is one of the “undemocratic” laws which have attracted worldwide censure, much to the BJP’s chagrin, not least because an elderly Muslim protester against the law in New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh locality, the 82-year-old Bilkis, who was nicknamed the “Dadi (grandmother) of Shaheen Bagh”, was chosen to be among the Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year.
Like the protests against the CAA, the protests against the farm laws too have been lauded all over the world with celebrities like Greta Thunberg and Beyonce lending their support to the cause. Issues such as these, along with the incarceration of prominent social activists on the grounds of being “urban Naxalites”, are some of the reasons why Indian democracy is believed to be under stress.
It is worth noting how other democracies are seemingly more concerned about India joining countries like Russia, Turkey and Hungary where a “recession” of democracies” is taking place, to quote Blinken. It is not only the need of Western world for India to counter China which is behind the concern for the well-being of Indian democracy. India was also seen as a beacon to demonstrate how a large, multicultural, multi-religious, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic country can remain united because of its pluralism.
An erosion of Indian democracy, therefore, will be a loss not only for India, but also for the world.
(IPA Service)
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