The Dark Side of India
Beneath its façade of being the largest democracy and a growing economy, India wrestles with the darker reality of numerous deep-rooted and simmering internal issues, while it pursues intimidating policies in the region. Towards Pakistan, India’s attitude has been downright belligerent and hostile. The Pahalgam false flag operation, illegal suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, and an all-out effort to malign and threaten Pakistan are the latest of its antagonistic acts. The cumulative effect of these policies is deep social divisions, freedom movements, destabilising insurgencies, violence, and a serious erosion of its international standing.
Internally, for over a decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has profaned Indian democracy, promoting an intolerant Hindu supremacist ideology, Hindutva, killing the essence of democracy with “majoritarianism”. It has persisted with entrenched policies and practices that systematically marginalise and stigmatise minority communities, notably Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians. The BJP regime uses the tactics of intimidation using state machinery to silence dissent and dehumanise the country’s minorities.
The valiant Muslim Kashmiris are victims of the worst Indian state repression, whose civil rights and liberties are being systematically wiped out, especially after the annulment of Article 370. Extra-judicial killings of the Kashmiris by Indian security forces are a dreadful routine. The Kashmiris in IIOJK are fighting a war of liberation from India to realise their right to self-determination. Indian atrocities have made no dent in their indomitable spirit.
India has been facing several serious and debilitating insurgencies, each rooted in distinct indigenous ethnic and socio-political contexts, consistently aggravated by India’s highly oppressive and discriminatory policies towards its minorities. In the east-central “Red Corridor,” the Naxalite insurgency has been raging for nearly 60 years, driven by demands for land rights, tribal autonomy, and resistance to state-led exploitation of natural resources. Naxalite groups seek to represent India’s most impoverished and socially excluded communities, such as tribal groups and Dalits. For years, they have waged guerrilla warfare against powerful elements of society and security forces. Naxalite groups control significant regions in eastern India, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal. Their reach and influence are steadily extending well beyond these areas.
Meanwhile, the Seven Sister States of the Northeast, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura, have witnessed separatist insurgencies, with groups demanding greater autonomy or outright independence, often citing gross discrimination, neglect, cultural alienation, and underdevelopment. While each movement is shaped by local grievances, together they reflect broader challenges of governance, integration, and equitable development in a fractured nation. Presently, one of the worst-affected States is Manipur.
Externally, India has been following hegemonic policies vis-à-vis smaller countries in the neighbourhood. A recent report entitled “Is India losing the goodwill of its neighbours?” in The Hindu states that anti-India sentiments have been on the rise…. ranging from Nepal to Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, resulting in critics questioning whether India is on the verge of marginalisation in the region.
India has also faced serious charges regarding the targeted assassinations abroad. A former Canadian Prime Minister accused Indian agents of involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader, in June 2023. This led to the expulsion of diplomats from each other’s countries. The US also foiled an alleged Indian plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another Sikh activist, on American soil, leading to diplomatic tensions. On 4th April, 2024, the Washington Post reported that “India’s foreign intelligence agency allegedly began targeting militants and activists abroad — including inside Pakistan…” Quoting internal documents and intelligence officials, the newspaper asserted that Indian operatives were linked to as many as 20 killings in Pakistan since 2020. A similar report was published by The Guardian the next day.
India’s claims of being the world’s fifth-largest economy mask serious shortcomings. The country’s GDP per capita is only $2,485, ranking 140th globally. Wealth inequality in India is extreme. According to Oxfam International, its top 10% own 77% of the country’s wealth. Over 90% of its population lives on less than $10 a day. India ranks 134th on the Human Development Index. Its economic inequalities are worsening the deep fissures in its society along the lines of caste, religion, and gender.
India needs to adopt a constructive and civilised approach, both towards its neighbours, especially Pakistan, and its minorities. By weaponising water resources, India has soured the political atmosphere and has invited a matching response from Pakistan. As an upper riparian state, India must respect its commitments to and obligations under international law and recognised norms. India must recommit itself to the Indus Water Treaty and ease the ongoing tensions with Pakistan. The people of the sub-continent cannot afford a conflict between the two nuclear neighbours. The time is ripe to eschew bellicose rhetoric and establish communication between the two sides, initially through third parties and tested back channels.
