Claiming Hinduism represents India’s “true” identity, nationalists have targeted religious minorities and government critics, labelling them as threats to India.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was formed in 1925 to unite Hindus. Today, its far-right nationalist ideology has gone mainstream thanks to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
On today’s Don’t Call Me Resilient podcast, political scientist Sikata Banerjee and cinema studies scholar Rakesh Sengupta explain how cinema and social media in India may be helping to sway voters.
The government’s alleged targeting of opposition figures, as well as a new system allowing anonymous donations to political parties, is believed to have given the BJP a huge edge.
Over the past decade, I have documented the erosion of India’s once robustly democratic legal system as part of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘authoritarian playbook’
Preminda Jacob, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Ahead of elections in India, a series of films that promote the ruling party’s right-wing ideology are seeking to influence voters. An art historian explains how the trend started.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged major development projects in a visit to Kashmir last month. But many locals fear things will only worsen if the government is reelected.