5/17/2024 India (International Christian Concern) — India is in the fourth phase of its seven-week general elections. From April 19 through June 4, nearly 1 billion votes will be counted in the world’s largest election.
India’s citizens and the international community are waiting to see if Narendra Modi, leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will secure a third term as prime minister. In India’s Southern states, parties that oppose the BJP’s power, like the Indian National Congress, or “Congress Party,” have formed a coalition to defeat Modi and the BJP.
International Christian Concern (ICC) sources have revealed that although the BJP is undoubtedly India’s most powerful political party and will likely remain in power, its support is concentrated in the North. Southern states are more skeptical of Modi and his regime. The South is more ethnically diverse, developed, educated, and politically progressive, and the average person enjoys a better quality of life. The South also generally does not align with Hindu nationalist ideals the way the North does.
Modi has tapped into the angst shared by many in the North. His promises of wealth redistribution and his push for a purely Hindu nation appeal to those who have less. The southern states, which are enjoying prosperity due to years of progressive thinking, see Hindu nationalism as a step backward. Most of the South is Hindu, but average people do not desire a Hindu theocracy, nor do they view religious minorities as a danger to India’s progress. They have worked alongside minorities and immigrants for decades to everyone’s benefit.
“The more civilized Southern states are the only barrier to a Hindu nationalist nation,” an ICC staffer in the region said. “If Modi wins by a significant majority, the BJP party and their RSS agents will be emboldened to make even further drastic changes, such as amending the constitution to push India further from a secular democracy to an intransigent Hindu theocracy.”
Modi and the BJP are known to have persecuted Christians, other religious minorities, and immigrants. To them, only the most ardent Hindu is a true Indian, and anyone not aligned with the BJP is an enemy of the nation and should be dealt with accordingly.
“The hope for Christians and all marginalized groups in India is that regardless of the election’s outcome, Modi will not unite India under the BJP party,” the ICC staffer said. “Southern states will continue to dissent, and the international community will finally recognize that the ‘world’s largest democracy’ under Modi and the BJP is becoming a Hindu nationalist state.”
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