 United Kingdom  Edition: Donate Get newsletter Dashboard Nitasha Kaul  Search analysis, research, academics… Academic rigour, journalistic flair Arts + Culture Business + Economy Education Environment Health Politics + Society Science + Tech World Podcasts Insights Arundhati Roy ‘anti-terror’ charge part of a push to silence Modi’s critics Published: June 20, 2024 12.46pm BST blank.  Email Narendra Modi recently won a third term as Indian prime minister after his BJP  X (Twitter) was party was returned to power, albeit as part of a minority government leading  Facebook 38 Author Nitasha Kaul the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition. Having expected to win Chair professor, University of Westminster  LinkedIn another majority from which to pursue his Hindu nationalist – or Hindutva –  Print agenda, Modi will have to operate within the constraints of a considerably Disclosure statement reduced mandate. Nitasha Kaul does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond His government – dubbed “Modi 3.0” in India – has plenty to do including their academic appointment. completing its programme of reforms and reworking foreign investment policy. Yet barely had the new government been sworn in, than the BJP’s lieutenant Partners governor of New Delhi was given the go-ahead for the prosecution of the noted author and public intellectual, Arundhati Roy, for remarks she made as far back as 2010 about the disputed territory of Kashmir. Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, formerly professor at the Central University of Kashmir, have been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) University of Westminster provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK. – an anti-terrorism measure. The charges relate to “provocative” speeches they made at a seminar in October 2010, which apparently “propagated the separation of Kashmir from India”. The Conversation UK receives funding from these organisations View the full list ANI @ANI · Follow Delhi LG, VK Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of Arundhati Roy and former Professor of International Law in Central University of Kashmir, Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussain. The FIR in the matter was registered on a complaint made by Sushil Pandit on 28.10.2010. Roy and Hussain had… Show more We believe in the free flow of information Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence. Republish this article 2:42 PM · Jun 14, 2024 1.7K Reply Share Read 52 replies But all this was 14 years ago, before the BJP took power nationally in 2014. So why is the Modi government risking international opprobrium by persecuting such an internationally famous figure about what she said years in the past? Get news that’s free, independent and evidence-based Get newsletter The answer is that picking a fight over Kashmir is an easy win for Modi’s style of Hindu nationalism. Anyone who insists on raising the myriad problems of militarisation, mismanagement, human rights abuses and repression in Kashmir tends to be accused of being anti-national, seditious, pro-Pakistani or terrorist. Modi’s BJP has been in power for a decade and has introduced major constitutional changes in the Jammu & Kashmir region. But the government has addressed neither militancy in the region, nor India’s loss of considerable amounts of territory to China along the line of actual control. The BJP opted not to field any candidates in Muslim majority Kashmir in the 2024 election (it had two candidates in neighbouring Hindu majority Jammu). But voters shunned candidates from Kashmir’s mainstream pro-India parties, preferring local independents who had opposed the Modi government’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. One of the candidates elected has been in prison in Delhi since shortly after the decision was taken in 2019. As a result, the BJP is clearly ultra-sensitive about Kashmir. Targeting a globally prominent figure such as Roy in such a vindictive manner is part of a multipronged political strategy aimed at baiting and discrediting opponents of Modi’s Hindu nationalist ambitions. ‘Anti-National’ The BJP’s wants to use the persecution of Roy – and other progressives and Kashmiris – as leverage over its main political rival, the Congress Party-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India), which outperformed expectations in the recent election. If it speaks out over stunts like this, it risks being delegitimised as “anti-national”. If it stays silent, it risks alienating its own progressive supporters. Modi’s BJP won a third term in recent elections, but with a significantly reduced majority. EPA-EFE/Harish Tyagi Any discussion of Kashmir, meanwhile, is something of a dog whistle for rightwing Hindu nationalists. They tend to see any reference to human rights and freedoms in Kashmir as a sign of seditious tendencies. So the prosecution of Roy and Sheikh Showkat Hussain for speaking out on the issue is also intended to galvanise the BJP’s own support base. And it’s a message to other Modi critics: if someone with Roy’s profile can be targeted, so can you. Becoming a target Its indicative of a wider pattern in Indian politics under Modi. This sort of targeting is particularly pronounced for those who defend democratic values and critique Modi’s authoritarianism – but who have also spoken in support of Kashmiri people’s rights or aspirations at any time in the past. I know this from bitter experience. I’m an academic and author of Kashmiri origin focusing on democracy and human rights in India and beyond. In 2019, I provided testimony at a US congressional hearing on Kashmir, that pro-Modi government news agencies sought to suppress. I Was Treated Like a Criminal, Unjustly, Unfairly, It Was Harrowing; I’m Not A… Share Watch on In February 2024, I was invited by the Congress-run state of Karnataka to a constitutional convention. But when I arrived in India, I was denied entry by immigration, despite holding all the valid papers. “Orders from Delhi”, was all I was told. I was detained under armed guard and deported. Several weeks later, I was sent a notice of intent to revoke my overseas citizenship of India (OCI). All the while I was subjected to coordinated and vicious attacks on social media from prominent right-wing individuals and Modi-supporting accounts. The chorus of online hate focused on a 2010 tweet of mine relating to Kashmir, which was cited as proof of my anti-national views. When Congress leaders spoke in my support, the Karnataka BJP referred to me as a “Pakistani sympathiser who wants India’s break up” and criticised “#AntiNationalCongress” for having invited me. I have travelled to India numerous times since 2010. The issue wasn’t my 2010 tweet – which I explained in some detail. It was my more recent work on problems such as the increasing authoritarianism under Modi, use of anonymous political funding instruments called electoral bonds, and the treatment of dissent by the BJP government. Though I grew up in, and work on, India, I cannot know when I will see my only living parent again – an elderly and ailing mother unable to travel to me. Various other authors, journalists, academics and activists have been similarly targeted. Many who have spoken up from Srinagar or from Delhi have been imprisoned. Roy’s persecution is part of this wider pattern which attempts to delegitimise any criticism of Modi and his government and clamp down on freedom of speech, while trying to trap the opposition into being called anti-national. Roy and Showkat’s persecution must be seen for what it is: a chess move that is part of a strategy designed to continue the undermining of democracy in India.  India Narendra Modi BJP Indian politics Arundhati Roy Give me perspective India election 2024 You might also like The prosecution of Arundhati Roy is business as usual for the Modi government – and bad news for freedom of expression in India The authoritarian leader’s playbook: how Narendra Modi captured India’s legal system and is rewriting the country’s history in his image India election: how Narendra Modi’s BJP uses and abuses religious minorities for political purposes 0 Comments How Narendra Modi’s cult of personality was formed by a powerful Hindu nationalist group with a dark history Subscribed to comments Comments are open on selected articles and must comply with our community standards. 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