Beneath The Tricolor A Nation Struggles For Its Soul – OpEd
As one of the world’s largest democracies, the situation of democracy in India is now cracking to reveal something far more disturbing: those civil liberties — indeed, religious persecution — are no longer a mere tone under the surface, but a tidal wave coming together with an international alarm.
The targeting of minorities, specifically; Muslims and Christians is carried out by a systematic targeting in India, which is precisely what is brought forth in the United States State Department’s recent exposé of the human rights landscape in India. This is not merely a criticism, but a burgeoning tension in the international chorus staring human rights organizations, civil society groups and others around the globe in the eye. It was a nation that once prided itself on its pluralism but, at this point, finds itself struggling with legislation and rhetoric that seem to be a deliberate razing of its secular democratic creed.
However, India saw almost 74 per cent increase in hate speech in 2024, with 1,165 incidents mentioned in total. Neither were these random outbursts, but orchestrated, highly coordinated expressions of hostility, and not only, but synchronized with political campaigns and rallies. Many of these had been the Muslims and Christians, indicating a disturbing trend of religious scapegoating taking place in the majority of these instances. Among the most worrying were the speeches of BJP leader T. Raja Singh, who delivered a 40 minutes long hateful speech for the destruction of historical mosques and hatred towards Muslims. Even his actions were so egregious that Meta was left with no option, but to remove his Facebook and Instagram accounts for hate speech violations.
An increasingly hostile environment has been borne for the Christian community in particular. In 2024, India became the most violent country for Christians since records began with over 840 attacks, according to World Evangelical Alliance. Among these were assaults, vandalizing churches and arbitrary arrests under India’s wide-ranging laws banning conversions. Instead of being used as protective measures as the laws are sometimes framed, these laws have been used as instruments of repression and against religious gatherings and peaceful expression of faith as criminal acts.
From being a legal tool when it comes to combating terrorism, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA has now become a weapon of national opposition to muzzle dissent. Under vague, sometimes unsubstantiated charges, journalists, scholars, civil rights activists and people of faith have themselves been detained. Broad provisions of the law permit authorities to jail people in the absence of trial for indefinite periods and deny them due process. The continued use of it affords the authoritarian drift within a political system which, until recently, had enjoyed a good reputation for its robust democratic institutions.
Likewise, the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) has been subjected to brute force to shut down NGOs in vociferous pursuit of human rights and social justice. In a huge crackdown, the Indian government also revoked the licenses of over 20,600 NGOs, denying them outright foreign funding and making it impossible for them to function. Many of these organizations were working in vulnerable communities for the promotion of religious harmony and with the provision of essential services. This has left a large void in India’s civil society fabric, who were all eliminated from the public space.
Now, once an emblem of Indian democracy, the media feels more and more pressure. India has tightened its grip on press freedom, says 30 global journalists in protest. These are just a few incidents in the pattern of media suppression that intimidates or imprisons when coverage is unfavorable. With shrinking space for independent journalism, not simply does it compromise transparency, yet it additionally denies residents the data important to significant, practical political commitment.
This was further evident with the institutionalization of religious discrimination with the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This law is highly controversial, it allows non-Muslim neighboring countries citizens to fast track their citizenship (excluding Muslims) thereby bypassing the fundamental principle of equality that the Indian Constitution holds. The CAA has been criticized by a slew of critics who labelled it a ploy for replacing citizenship based on religion and thereby ousting one of India’s largest minority communities.
The Indian government’s treatment of Rohingya refugees has gone on to further exacerbate the crisis. All this paints a grim picture of a state that seems indifferent to bans international human rights norms and reports of arbitrary arrests and forced deportation of citizens. In addition to endangering already vulnerable populations, these actions stain India’s long track record of providing refuge to the persecuted.
But government control has not stopped at the digital door. Amid complaints of surveillance against activists, the use of internet shutdown during times of civil unrest has piled up. A partisan and increasingly partisan use of these tactics, which are sent on the grounds of national security, are viewed under the lens of a battle to suppress legitimate dissent and prevent freedom of expression.
The World Watch List is a clear and measurable sign that the situation for religious minorities such as Christians has become worse in India. Gone are the days when concern was the only response to this crime that continues to stain our honor beyond and above nations and religions. India must uphold its own democratic values, which is so proudly touted by politicians, for which multilateral bodies, welfare organizations and human rights advancers around the world are calling on it.
Too high are the stakes and too much the attention of the international community. At one of the few, if not the very few, crossroads in Indian history, either India can choose to reaffirm its commitments to pluralism, justice, and liberty, or it can decide to march in a direction that would permanently undermine the country’s democratic legacy. Now, the international community has eyes on New Delhi to determine whether rhetoric yields to reform or silence means an abeyance of one of democracy’s most vital experiments.
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