Is India Going The Way Of 1930’s
Germany? From Foreign Policy In Focus and
MotherJones
Is the India’s government accountable to its people? Not according
to Arundhati Roy in an interview with
MotherJones.com. After leaving India’s prison, Roy’s
decision to pay the fine for contempt of court has drawn criticism
from many, but given Roy the power speak for the rights of her
countrymen. ‘Today the court is in retreat from democracy,’ says
Roy, whose charge of contempt is not uncommon. Roy questions the
Sardar Srovar dam project and other impositions on political
freedoms, asserting that a series of judicial decisions lays the
framework for emerging political and social ideologies. Roy is not
alone in these sentiments. Rising violence against India’s Muslim
population has largely been ignored and is perhaps even supported
by Indian politicians, reports Arun R. Swamy, of Foreign
Policy In Focus. Targeted attacks on Islamic mosques by
Hindu fundamentalists may be edging toward fascism, as religion is
being used to justify destruction and violence. Swamy charges that
recent riots in Gujarat were not only disturbing because of the
calculated efficiency of the attacks which ‘identi[fied] Muslim
homes and businesses through the use of public records,’ but also
because of the complicity of the Indian government, whose lack of
response has held little accountability to the perpetrators. Civil
liberties have the potential to be further trod upon with the
passage of the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in which the
‘government will have most of the tools it requires to gradually
reduce the space for dissent.’
–Mary Matze
LINKS:
- Is India Going the Way of 1930s
Germany? Arun R. Swamy, Foreign Policy In Focus - Out of Jail, in the Spotlight: Arundhati
Roy, Vanessa Gezari, Mother Jones