Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard at Shaheen Bagh area of New Delhi, India, March 1, 2020. /Xinhua
Editor's note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain is a former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, and currently serves as assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions, not necessarily the views of CGTN.
U.S. President Donald Trump's recent visit to India during February 24-25 coincided with widespread riots in the capital city of New Delhi. Hindu supremacist groups orchestrated riots against Muslim citizens with over 20 casualties reported and numerous houses, shops and mosques either torched or decimated in broad daylight.
The violence came as protests against the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act took place, resulting in widespread attacks from Hindutva groups which wrecked the city's peace and tranquility and overshadowed Trump's visit. Scenes of arson, stone pelting and vigilantes running amok brought back vague memories of the Gujarat riots of 2002 when the current prime minister of India was the then chief minister of the Gujarat state and was widely censured for his role in the riots. Academics have also characterized the riots in 2002 as a pogrom which fits the definition of genocide or state-sponsored terrorism.
While dissimilar in terms of its intensity or casualty tolls, the events in Delhi are of significant importance given India's current standing, both politically and globally. India has constantly touted itself as a vibrant, secular and pluralistic democracy despite the right wing BJP assuming power in 2014 and 2019, and has often castigated states such as Pakistan for their policies against their own minorities, particularly Hindus.
Yet under the Modi regime, clampdowns against the Indian press, attempts to muzzle out prominent celebrities, promotions of blackouts in occupied Kashmir and violations of fundamental human rights of their citizens have materialized on a nationwide scale. Central to the BJP's policies is the role of the RSS and Hindu saffron vigilante groups who have become more prominent since Modi assumed power. The prime minister has tried to distance himself from these fringe elements by praising Mahatma Gandhi repeatedly, yet Delhi's case once again brings the criminal silence of Indian authorities into the spotlight and suggests that India is embarking on a process of democratic backsliding.
A man chants slogans to condemn the violence on Muslims in India, during a protest organized by the non-Muslim community in Peshawar, Pakistan, February 28, 2020. /Reuters
The riots resulted in the killing of an 85-year-old woman and a saffron flag being hoisted on top of a mosque in the city. There was significant negative international press coverage as well as by neighbors such as Pakistan which India has criticized for its dismal record on minorities. Interestingly enough, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a warning to the population in his country to refrain from attacking minorities in the aftermath of the violence in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Indian prime minister issued a strongly worded comment for all sides to restrain from violence despite the overwhelming majority of casualties being those of Muslims targeted by Hindu vigilantes in the city. The indifference of the authorities to the rioting is similar to the response by the Gujarat police in 2002, with allegations of complicity. Parallels can hence be drawn between the two cases with Narendra Modi being the prime minister of the country this time around.
Kapil Sharma, a former BJP minister of the legislative assembly from New Delhi, had also made inflammatory remarks directed at the Delhi authorities by threatening to take matters into his own hands as tensions simmered. As the riots took place, the Delhi police received negative press attention for failing to curb the violence as neighborhoods were being razed to the ground.
This indifference highlights the nexus that the RSS and the BJP enjoy with the federal government which views any dissenting voices against its policies, particularly from the Muslim population, with disdain. This trend is also indicative of a dictatorial mindset in a democracy where Modi enjoys a sweeping mandate largely due to a hapless opposition and little alternatives for Indian voters to choose from. Upon criticism of its policies, citizens are often labeled as "anti-national" or against Indian values despite the fact that the very values that the BJP cite are supposed to be secular in nature.
Calls from fringe elements and members of the Indian parliament to celebrate the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi as a patriot in the early stages of Modi's rule highlight how Hindutva in India is becoming deeply entrenched. The RSS, with the BJP as its political arm, draws inspiration from ideologues such as M.S. Golwalkar and Keshav Hedgewar, who had both expressed an exclusionary social agenda for Hindus as their overriding belief on how the Indian polity should be defined. Hence, as India directs blame at Turkish President Erdogan over rightly condemning Indian atrocities in Kashmir upon his visit to Pakistan and champions the cause of democracy and pluralism, a great deal of introspection is required.
New Delhi is a flash point, with the law enforcement agencies' inability to curb the killing of Muslims in the capital, vigilantes running amok after Modi assumed power and the criminal silence of its ministers being the points of contention. The violence demonstrates that the riots of Gujarat 2002, the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 or the horrendous lynching of a Muslim man for consuming beef would not elude India as long as the Modi regime continues to be in power. The Hindutva ideology, ideologues and abettors are here to stay.
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