AustLit

'On May 23, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was re-elected in India with the largest democratic majority in decades. The victory made him the first Indian prime minister in nearly half a century to win and hold parliamentary majorities in consecutive elections. Frequently likened to Donald Trump, Modi campaigns and rules on a populist ticket. He has emboldened extreme Hindu nationalists bent on “purifying” India of its Muslim population: mob lynchings, gang beatings and other often fatal hate crimes are now commonplace, both in rural and urban provinces. Mosques are razed and new Hindu temples are built in their place; Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution are subject to hardening borders and indiscriminate deportations; the violent ostracisation of Dalit communities is entrenched by budget cuts and political rhetoric. The militarization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir continues, its devolved authority seized by Delhi in the name of a “united India” in August 2019 with a view to the territory’s Hinduization. Many have argued that this act in particular threatens not only the existence of Kashmir, but the integrity of Indian democracy itself. Meanwhile, Modi continues to flirt with war with Pakistan, to strengthen ties to Trump’s America and to threaten academics, writers and activists with censorship and imprisonment.'  (Editorial Introduction)