ORGANISED hate against the marginalised has defined Indian politics under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged India to address hate speech, discrimination and hate crimes, advising respect for rights and refraining from expelling Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims and migrants.

Racially motivated violence, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual abuse have also been highlighted. While law and order is the state’s duty, India Hate Lab data in 2025 showed that oppression thrived in BJP-ruled parts and fell in opposition-governed states. The pattern is set. Political leaders create the mood, the media broadcasts it, and BJP-linked elements get to work on the ground. The police look on.

Mr Modi’s political toolkit relies on incendiary rhetoric and divisive agendas that avert attention from government failures. This strategy has sustained his political career — the 2002 Gujarat pogrom marked his rise. But it is destroying India’s social fabric and disregarding the constitutional guarantee of impartiality. As global scrutiny mounts, India’s democratic credentials stand weakened. What stands out in the UN’s observations is how the government has exploited the caste matrix that divides Hindus “by function and social standing” with unspeakable cruelty.

Rabid intolerance for inclusive and progressive values cannot surge without rulers granting impunity to offenders. That is how othering ensures silence and fear. Mr Modi’s regime has deepened social divisions, turned the Muslim identity into a slur and supervised a dramatic shift in the sociopolitical setting whereby historical truths have been erased from textbooks, and customs, including religious festivals, are being reframed to suit the BJP’s pitch of Hindutva supremacy.

However, after the Cockroach Janta Party-led protests, opposition parties are taking a far more aggressive position against the oppression of both minorities and lower castes. Dictators are remembered by the bloodstains they leave behind.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2026