Is India heading towards dictatorship under BJP?

Is India heading towards dictatorship under BJP?

Recently, while addressing a speech in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the Emergency imposed on June 25, 1975, saying ‘such a black night’ cannot be forgotten, and underlined the need for eternal vigilance to preserve democracy.

He said democracy-lovers had fought a big battle against the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and said the pro-democracy ‘heritage’ needs to be strengthened. “Democracy is not only a system. It is our culture... Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” he said.

The Prime Minister said, “Such a black night cannot be forgotten by any lover of democracy. No Indian can forget that. The Emergency will be remembered for the way in which people of India came together and safeguarded the democratic values. Those were dark days that no supporters of democracy can forget. In a manner, the country was detained and the Opposition was totally suppressed.”

He said that in a way, the entire nation had been converted into a prison, with opposing voices being curbed. But what about the voice of every minority community being curbed in the ongoing NDA government rule? And is this period less than the emergency rule? So what kind of democracy and culture exists today? In the name of saving the cows what about the goondaism which is taking place by the saffron-clad men? What about the lynching incidents of people from minority communities taking place in the name of saving the Hindutva agenda under the Modi-led government? What about politicians making controversial statements and fuelling communal tension?

In one of the recent incidents of lynching, a 16-year-old died after he was attacked, along with three other young men travelling with him, in a hate crime at Asavati, 20 km from Delhi.

The four victims were abused with religious slurs, according to the FIR or police complaint filed by one of the survivors. Who will take credit about the unsafe and tyranic atmosphere prevailing in today’s time?

The BJP government in the month of May completed three years and in these past years, they have concentrated on their agenda of saving cows, mobilising mobs and dispensing instant justice, which reflects in incidents of lynching which are taking place across the country.

During his ‘Maan ki Baat’ Modi said that the students of today’s journalism and those working for democracy have been remembering ‘that black incident’ as part of their continuous efforts to create awareness about democracy. But are the people blind to not see that most of the media houses are running paid news and glorifying the BJP government and the Opposition is totally suppressed? And those who are not willing to listen to the BJP are being intimidated. The Opposition should be heard, only then democracy will prevail. If the broadcast media, social media and all forms of communication are controlled by the government, is it a safe form of democracy prevailing in the country currently, or is it a dictatorship?

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