Modi government – bad news for freedom of expression in India

Earlier this month, Narendra Modi was elected India’s prime minister for the third consecutive time.

Despite being only the second Indian prime minister to win three elections in a row, the election saw Modi lose his parliamentary majority. After winning 303 seats in 2019, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party dropped to 240 seats, forcing it to form a coalition with other political parties to govern.

This development has raised questions about how Modi will govern moving forward. Modi has developed a cult following through his Hindu nationalist agenda, but his key coalition partners do not share his extreme nationalist outlook.

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Some commentators have suggested Modi will have to moderate his divisive rhetoric, which has been criticised for dehumanising religious minorities and government critics.

However, early signs suggest that Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party will continue pushing his brand of authoritarian populism, undermining human rights and freedom of expression in the process.

Soon after Modi’s re-election, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and Bharatiya Janata Party member Vinai Kumar Saxena confirmed that the prosecution of prominent Indian writer and political activist Arundhati Roy, first proposed in 2023, will proceed.

Roy is known internationally as the Booker Prize winning author of The God of Small Things. Along with human rights scholar Sheikh Showkat Hussain, she has been charged under anti-terrorism legislation.

The charges concern “provocative” speeches Roy and Hussain delivered at a conference in 2010. In her speech, Roy argued that Kashmir was not a part of India. This has led the government to charge Roy under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for promoting separatist causes.

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This prosecution – 14 years later – may seem unusual, but it is not an isolated incident. In the broader context of Modi’s rule, Roy’s prosecution represents business as usual.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, Modi has pushed a Hindu ultra-nationalist ideology that does not tolerate dissent. Claiming Hinduism represents India’s “true” identity, Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party nationalists have targeted religious minorities and government critics, labelling them as threats to India.

People who have spoken out against Modi’s rule have been subjected to serious human rights abuses. Hate speech by members of the Indian government and its supporters against minorities is common. Police and nationalists have subjected minorities and government critics to violence and sexual assault with impunity. Protesters have had their houses bulldozed as punishment. News organisations have been raided.

Critics of Modi’s government are not safe overseas, either. The Indian government has been accused of transnational repression, where a government harasses and even kills opponents in other countries.

Journalists and human rights activists have had their Overseas Citizenship of India and their passports revoked. Online trolls have harassed overseas journalists.

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In 2023, the Indian government faced allegations that it assassinated Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and intended to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the United States after they spoke out against the Modi government.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has called for the US State Department to list India as a Country of Particular Concern. This would require the State Department to identify India as a country that has “engaged in severe violations of religious freedom”. Despite the recommendation, this has not yet been done.