HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT

A new theocracy. The Citizenship Amendment Act is the latest in a series of steps that critics say are moving India away from its secular traditions into a Hindu mirror image of Islamic Pakistan. In August, the government withdrew Kashmir’s autonomy and imposed a communications blackout. It has since kept all Kashmiri politicians — including pro-India former chief ministers — under arrest. Internet access there has been blocked for 134 days, the longest in any democracy. The Supreme Court last month allowed the construction of a temple where Hindu nationalist mobs had destroyed a historic 17th century mosque. And the government plans to deport 2 million migrants, many of them Muslims — including veterans who fought for India — because they don’t have adequate documentation.

One step too far? While the crackdown in Kashmir enjoyed broad support in the rest of India — just as the Hong Kong protests have elicited limited sympathy from most people in mainland China — the popular response to the citizenship law has been different. Regional nationalists in the northeast who largely voted for Modi and his BJP party in the 2019 elections are turning against him, even as liberal protesters pressure the government from the opposite end. Faced with images of police thrashing unarmed students on the streets of New Delhi, popular Bollywood actors and authors who had previously cozied up to Modi are beginning to speak out against the violence.

Global impact. Bangladesh and Afghanistan, close Indian allies, have lashed out at the new law for its suggestion that these countries systematically persecute minorities. The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom has sought sanctions against Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, profiled by OZY this summer. The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has criticized the religious test as contrary to the shared secular principles that bind the world’s two largest democracies. And India’s attempts to get Japan to invest more in its northeast regions have taken a hit, with Prime MInister Shinzo Abe putting off a planned visit to Assam amid the protests.

WHAT TO READ

As Protests Rage on Citizenship Bill, Is India Becoming a Hindu Nation? by Jeffrey Gettleman and Maria Abi-Habib in the New York Times
“India’s Muslims had stayed relatively quiet during the other recent setbacks, keenly aware of the electoral logic that has pushed them to the margins.”

Citizenship Act Has Corrected a Historic Blunder by Swapan Dasgupta in The Times of India
“Acknowledging the injustice to minorities in three neighbouring countries and fast-tracking a solution does not mean India is emulating these countries.”

WHAT TO WATCH