India Turning Into a One Party State- The Economist Reports
Under Modi’s regime, India is turning into a one party state, on the path to be gradually losing its secular identity, tilting towards fascism
WEB DESK: The future of India, the biggest democracy in the world, is headed to a future that is not free as it is turning into a one party state, The Economist, a London-based international weekly, reported.
An Indian prominent journalist Arnab Goswami was imprisoned for speaking against the government. However, an Indian court ordered the release of the journalist citing it as an assault on freedom of speech.
The Economist reported that Goswami’s case was not a test of freedom but rather power.
It cited Vice-Dean of Law at Oxford University Tarunabh Khaitan and author of a paper, “Killing a Constitution with a Thousand Cuts”, that details India’s institutional decay. “What we have now is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he says.
The institutions ostensibly independent are now compliant with the Indian fascist government too and India’s police are among them.
The Economist reported, “Despite individually humane and honest officers, the impression Indians hold of the force is that its main purpose is to protect the powerful and persecute the weak”.
Delhi’s police comprise just 2% Muslims in a city with a 13% Muslim population.
The police officials were even seen standing next to a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader where he threatened to attack protesters, most of whom were Muslims, protesting against controversial citizenship law.
The police were seen pelting stones and torturing Muslim protesters.
The Economist stated that two-thirds of those beaten, shot, and hacked to death following the protests were Muslims.
Still, Delhi police did not file a case against the BJP leader for inciting violence.
“An amendment made last year to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a draconian law from 1967 that allows the state to label and then ban groups as terrorists, now empowers the government to designate any individual as a terrorist”, The Economist report said.
Under Modi’s regime, India is turning into a one party state, on the path to be gradually losing its secular identity, tilting towards fascism.
Further, thousands of Indian farmers are staging protests in different parts of the country including New Delhi, the Indian capital, against agricultural legislation.
On Friday, they entered the capital after clashes with the police and braving tear gas and water cannons.
The farmer unions across India have rejected the laws passed in September this year. They hunkered down on highways in the states of Punjab and Harayana.
The protests have been widely backed by the left-wing parties of India and BJP has been left isolated over the issue. Left-wing parties consider the ongoing demonstrations a chance to resurrect in Indian politics.
