India’s democratic façade is crumbling

India, long celebrated as the world’s largest democracy, has descended into a dangerous paradox: a democracy in name, but a tyranny in practice. Behind its curated image of pluralism and progress lies a ruthless machinery fueled by Hindutva ideology, committed to silencing dissent, persecuting minorities, and reshaping South Asia’s geopolitical balance through coercion and covert aggression. The world’s collective silence in the face of India’s authoritarian slide is complicity, not just a diplomatic failure. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has weaponized democratic institutions to entrench authoritarian rule. The ruling BJP’s ideology is rooted in the sectarian politics of Hindutva, a vision that seeks to redefine India as a Hindu-only nation. The consequences have been catastrophic for India’s minorities. Muslims, Christians, and Dalits face systemic discrimination, state-enabled violence, and relentless vilification. According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2025, India’s Muslim population, over 200 million strong, continues to be subjected to arbitrary arrests, mob lynchings, and extrajudicial killings. The state’s misuse of anti-terror laws, especially the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), has become a tool for silencing the voices of dissent. Kashmir, once again, remains the most brutal example of India’s oppression. With tens of thousands of troops deployed, communications severed, and dissent criminalized, Kashmir is now one of the most militarized and surveilled zones on Earth. Enforced disappearances, custodial deaths, and curfews are the norm. Global observers, including the United Nations, have consistently condemned these actions, but India hides behind the shield of internal affairs. India’s discriminatory policies have been written into law. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) explicitly excludes Muslims from fast-tracked citizenship. Paired with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), this framework threatens to render millions stateless, a looming humanitarian disaster driven by religious bias. International legal scholars and rights bodies have decried these moves. Christians, too, are under siege. Anti-conversion laws, increasingly adopted by BJP-ruled states, have become instruments of persecution. Churches are attacked, missionaries are accused of forced conversions, and mobs, emboldened by impunity, routinely terrorize Christian communities. Amnesty International and Voice of America have reported extensively on this, documenting how police inaction or complicity facilitates such violence. The infamous tax raids on BBC’s offices following its documentary on Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots were not isolated; they were a message. Pegasus spyware has been used to surveil journalists, opposition leaders, and activists. Independent newsrooms face relentless pressure through financial audits, sedition charges, and fabricated cases. The Modi regime is not just hostile to criticism; it is actively dismantling the very space where truth can exist. India’s authoritarianism does not end at its borders. The assassination of Sikh dissidents abroad, including foiled plots in Canada and the United States, reveals a chilling willingness to export repression. These are not allegations from adversaries but from intelligence agencies of major democracies. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has gone as far as to recommend sanctions on India’s external intelligence agency for its role in these operations. Meanwhile, India’s covert interference in Afghanistan and Iran through its intelligence network underscores a pattern of hybrid warfare designed to undermine regional stability and discredit rival nations, especially Pakistan. India often attempts to deflect scrutiny by demonizing Pakistan, accusing it of religious intolerance while whitewashing its abuses. However, the reality speaks for itself. Pakistan has opened the Kartarpur Corridor, allowing Sikh pilgrims from India to visit their sacred sites freely, a gesture of peace and religious respect. The longer the world remains silent, the more it enables a regime that thrives on hate. The world must choose: Will it stand with human rights and democratic values or with a regime that dismantles both while preaching the opposite?