Whither Democracy, Secularism, and Minority Rights in India?

Abstract

Indian democracy, which was once considered remarkable in scale and duration, has been weakened by the rise of xenophobic nationalism and threats to religious minorities. Although these trends were evident in the past, they have dramatically increased amidst the growth of Hindu nationalism. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was elected to power in 2014, has promoted or tolerated attacks on women, Dalits, Christians, and Muslims, by members of its party, government, and civil society organizations. The BJP government has also centralized state power and curtailed civil rights and liberties. Clearly, the protection of democracy and religious freedoms are closely inter-twined.

Keywords:

• Democracy
• religious freedoms
• minority rights
• Hindu nationalism
• Bharatiya Janata Party
• India
• violence

Notes

1 I am grateful to M. Christian Green, Monica Duffy Toft, and Sapna Patel for inviting me to present this paper and to Timothy Shah for his comments and suggestions. Thanks also to Amna Pathan for research assistance and Mark Kesselman for editorial advice.

2 Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) is a constitutional designation of historically disadvantaged, low status and low-income groups. According to the 2011 census, SCs and STs comprise about 17 and 14 percent, respectively, of India’s population. The Constitution supports reservations for SCs and STs in public sector employment, educational institutions, and political office. In keeping with constitutional guidelines, a number of laws prohibit discrimination and punish its occurrence and legislation provides resources to reduce socio-economic disparities between SCs, STs and other groups.

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13 Shafi (2017); “India: Protect Universities and Academic Freedom from Threat of Violence and Intimidation—Say Human Rights Groups,” South Asia Citizen Web, February 22, 2017.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amrita Basu

Amrita Basu is the Paino Professor of Political Science and Sexuality, Women’'s and Gender Studies at Amherst College. She is the author of two scholarly monographs, Two Faces of Protest: Contending Modes of Women’s Activism in India (University of California Press, 1992) and Violent Conjunctures in Democratic India (Cambridge University Press, 2015). She has edited or co-edited seven books. Her scholarship focuses on social movements, women's activism, and Hindu nationalism.