By Uzma Ehtasham
In the troubled paradise of Kashmir, another young life has been extinguished. The Indian army, in its latest act of occupation, shot dead a youth in the north of the valley, labelling him an “infiltrator”—a word that has become a convenient epitaph for too many. This is the brutal, mundane reality of life under the world’s largest democracy: a place where extrajudicial killing is dressed up as national security and where the gun speaks louder than the law. However, the violence in Kashmir, while the most visible symptom of a deeper malaise, is no longer an isolated phenomenon. It is the sharp edge of a widening crack in the foundation of the Indian state.
Across the rest of Indian-administered Kashmir, the dragnet of the state has closed in on the voices of dissent. In a move that speaks volumes about the regime’s paranoia, authorities have arrested scores of young people. Their crime? To have taken to the streets in protest against the recent American-Israeli aggression in Iran. To vent anger over the assassination of a foreign leader is not a criminal act; it is a political expression. Yet, for the administration of the Lieutenant Governor—that creature of New Delhi—it is an act of rebellion. The National Conference, a mainstream political party, has been reduced to pleading for the release of these “innocent youths”.
It is a stark illustration of how political dissent in the occupied territory has been criminalised, and how any expression of solidarity with the Muslim world is met with immediate retribution. This is the landscape of what the Indian government calls its “integral” territory: a place where basic human rights have been systematically suspended, and where the human tragedy has deepened to a critical, perhaps irreversible, point. The world watches, and waits. However, as one observer recently and chillingly noted, the global powers seem content to wait for the last Kashmiri to die before they act. Yet, the rot is not confined to the valley. It has seeped into the very heart of India itself.
The latest report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has laid bare a terrifying truth: the systematic persecution of religious minorities is not a byproduct of rogue elements, but a feature of state policy. For the first time, the commission has recommended targeted sanctions against specific entities—the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW). This is a significant escalation. To recommend freezing the assets of a country’s intelligence agency is to accuse it of state-sponsored terror. The report paints a picture of India where the space for minorities—Muslims, Christians, and others—is closing rapidly.
It speaks of violence, discriminatory laws, and social ostracism becoming the norm. The response from New Delhi was predictable: a furious dismissal, accusing the commission of bias and relying on “questionable sources”. The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement dripping with whataboutery, pointed to attacks on Hindu temples in the US. Nevertheless, deflection is not a defence. The United Nations experts have also weighed in, expressing alarm at the “continuing reports of attacks on religious, racial and ethnic minorities” in the lead-up to national elections. When multiple international bodies, including over twenty UN rapporteurs, issue simultaneous warnings, the world is obliged to listen. The internal dissent is growing louder.
In the far-flung state of Nagaland, Christian-majority civil society groups are up in arms against the compulsory singing of ‘Vande Mataram’. This is not sedition; this is the very essence of secularism that India’s constitution guarantees. Yet, they are met with administrative diktats and the heavy hand of majoritarianism. The picture that emerges is of a nation in the grip of a dangerous, expansionist, and exclusionary ideology. The Modi government’s policies are not just alienating its neighbors; they are tearing apart the social fabric at home. From the daily atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis, meticulously documented in official crime data, to the persecution of Muslims, the trajectory is clear.
The promise of a pluralistic, inclusive India is being sacrificed on the altar of a belligerent Hindu nationalism. The international community can no longer afford to be a passive observer. The sanctions recommended by the USCIRF may be a blunt instrument, but they serve as a necessary alarm. The world must take immediate notice of the extremist policies emanating from New Delhi. It must demand accountability for the state-terrorism in Kashmir and the institutionalized persecution of minorities within India’s borders. To wait any longer is not just diplomatic negligence; it is complicity in a slow-motion human rights catastrophe. The cry from Kashmir and the concerns from the heart of India demand not just observation, but urgent, decisive action.
(The writer is a public health professional, journalist, and possesses expertise in health communication, having keen interest in national and international affairs, can be reached at uzma@metro-morning.com)
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