While the media tries to keep quiet about it, the BJP and Narendra Modi oppress minorities all over the country – from the Dalits and the Adivasis to Muslims – through lynch mobs and secret arrests of their representatives. So far, these arrested people are alive, unlike the activists arrested years ago, who never made it to their trial. By labeling the Dalit people that they arrested as “Naxals” and “Maoists”, they cover up their unjust arrests while maintaining a facade of false concern for Dalit issues.
Hindutuva fanatics have organised themselves into an armed group, fully equipped with weaponry, safe houses and secret hideouts. They have been responsible for the violence against Muslim and Dalit people all over the country. These victims are never given acknowledgment in the media, their families are not compensated, while the country looks the other way. The actions of these Hindutuva groups only further accentuate the unreliability of the current political regime. This country was built on the principle of secularism, and any party that strays from that principle should not be in power.
The current government is fascist, and as author and activist Arundhati Roy said, might be an indication for the declaration of the draconian emergency, wherein our fundamental rights and civil liberties will lay suspended while the centre consolidates power. It is our responsibility to rise in defense of the minority groups, to act in solidarity and in the spirit of fraternity be their ally. Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis have done nothing to earn a living where they are lynched, assaulted, discriminated against on a regular basis. We must all forget our age, our lack of certification- each of us have social media at the tip of our fingers, and we have our voice, and we must use both to protest.
You cannot, no matter what the excuse, vote for this coalition in the upcoming elections; not when it has polarised the country, not when it beats defenseless minorities into silence. Recognise the violence that has occurred since this party came into power. Recognise the fanaticism of Hindu extremists and how they’ve only been encouraged by the leaders. And vote against them, against injustice, against inequality.