Communal harmony is under threat in India

The Indian judiciary’s decision to arrest Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Kanhaiya Kumar over his alleged involvement in chanting ‘anti-nationalist’ slogans stirred up a hornet’s nest. The court’s order to take the youth into custody in haste raised many questions regarding the intentions of the police, and whether they were influenced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and their political and bureaucratic apparatus.

The court asked for video footage, wherein Kumar is being accused of criticising the court on its verdict regarding Afzal Guru, and his role in the December 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament. However, later, it came out that the authenticity of the video was questionable and many suspected that the content had been intentionally doctored. If there is any truth in it, then the arrest of Kumar came too soon.

This incident raises questions on the integrity of Modi’s government, in which a few of his members allegedly manhandled JNU teachers and students that were present in the court.

As it stands now, it looks like a case of randomly picking someone just to make a point, and to serve as a warning to others. By all means, anti-national activities cannot be tolerated by a state but in this case, it appears that the police force were pressured into targeting anyone, irrespective of whether he was innocent or not.

The general sentiment among the people of India has shifted towards resentment since Modi’s party assumed power. Communal harmony has become a casualty, with many incidents, ranging from intolerance on issues like beef consumption and the related murder of an innocent man, to the current agitation of the Jats against racial discrimination. All these incidents only work to further tarnish the image of India.

Modi’s trips around the globe, to meet with world leaders, will not be of much help unless he starts to bring things back to normal on the home front. Mere rhetoric cannot do much in winning back the trust of his people, especially that of minorities. It is sad that the work of leaders like Lal Krishna Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had a pragmatic approach to Hindu nationalism, has given way to a harsh and intolerant stance. Ironically, the leftist groups have failed miserably to address the issue of the growing trend of communalism in India, and today, they appear to have lost their sense of direction.

There is an absence in the balance of power in Indian politics, after the Congress party lost its credibility.

— The reader is an Indian business development coordinator, based in Dubai.