India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), firmly entrenched in power, is pursuing a vendetta against its enemies — in particular, Indian Muslims and the country’s left-wing movement. Leading figures of the Indian left have been arrested under repressive legislation such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and branded as “Urban Naxalites.” Citizenship laws have targeted Muslims, stripping them of legal status.

There have been big demonstrations against these discriminatory laws by Muslims and student activists. Narendra Modi’s government used the pandemic curfew as an excuse to clamp down on such protests, and the authorities subsequently arrested some of the organizers, accusing them of having instigated the Delhi riots in February. But where have India’s left parties been while this was happening?

The Indian left is at a low ebb, probably the worst moment in its history. The mainstream, parliamentary left, represented by the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has no vision of anti-capitalist struggle, and is losing its electoral base. The Maoist organizations are confined to the forests of central India, isolated by their political sectarianism.