India is commonly referred to as the world’s biggest democracy. In principle, the Indian constitution upholds grand ideas of liberty, democracy, secularism, and socialism. However, the government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi has been systematically destroying the constitution’s liberal-democratic features and replacing them with the Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) doctrine in order to convert India into a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation).

In the process, the Sangh Parivar (family of Sangh), a collective name for Hindutva organizations, including the BJP, is prepared to bulldoze any kind of obstacle in its way, from Gandhians to Maoists. The Sangh Parivar is implementing a multi-pronged strategy of domination: neoliberal extractivism, Hindutva ultra-nationalism, and authoritarianism.

Modi’s administration has systematically crippled democratic institutions, including the judiciary, the education system, and the media. To criminalize political dissent, the Modi government has accused public intellectuals, progressive activists, and human rights crusaders of multifold conspiracies. Many of them have been jailed on draconian sedition charges.