Will Democracy Survive in India?

A few days after an Indian court banned head scarves—also known as hijabs—for Muslim students, 11th-grader Leefa Mahek stood outside the gates of her school.

Leefa, a Muslim who wears a hijab, demanded to be let inside. But the administrators of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi, in southern India, refused. Suddenly she had no way to finish her education.

“Last minute, they are trying to pour water over our hard work,” she said. “They can’t do this.”

Historically, India has prided itself on being the world’s largest democracy and protecting minority rights, like those of its large Muslim community. But in the past few years, India has changed. Increasingly, extremist groups are targeting Muslims with hate speech, and authorities in this Hindu-majority country are deliberately ignoring it. Intolerance for dissent of all kinds is on the rise.

An Indian court banned head scarves, also known as hijabs, for Muslim students. A few days after, 11th-grader Leefa Mahek stood outside the gates of her school.

Leefa is a Muslim who wears a hijab. She demanded to be let inside the school. But the staff of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College in Udupi, in southern India, refused. Suddenly, she had no way to finish her education.

“Last minute, they are trying to pour water over our hard work,” she said. “They can’t do this.”

India has long prided itself on being the world’s largest democracy. The nation also has a tradition of protecting minority rights, like those of its large Muslim community. But in the past few years, India has changed. More often, extremist groups are targeting Muslims with hate speech. The authorities in this Hindu-majority country are choosing to ignore the attacks. Intolerance for dissent of all kinds is also rising.

The changes have prompted many to ask whether democracy—the kind that broadly embraces freedom and human rights—is in danger in India.

“India is a thriving electoral democracy—more people vote in Indian elections than in any other elections on Earth,” says Sadanand Dhume, an India expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. “But as a liberal democracy, it is in trouble: Independent courts, freedoms of the press, and minority rights are all under siege.”

Last year, Freedom House, an organization that issues a yearly report on democratic freedom around the world, downgraded India from its longtime “free” status to “partly free.” The 2021 report cited, among other things, “a multiyear pattern in which the Hindu nationalist government and its allies have presided over rising violence and discriminatory policies.”

The changes have led the nation away from its broad embrace of freedom and human rights. Many are now asking whether this type of democracy is in danger in India.

“India is a thriving electoral democracy—more people vote in Indian elections than in any other elections on Earth,” says Sadanand Dhume, an India expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. “But as a liberal democracy, it is in trouble: Independent courts, freedoms of the press, and minority rights are all under siege.”

Freedom House issues a yearly report on democratic freedom around the world. Last year, the organization downgraded India from its longtime “free” status to “partly free.” The 2021 report cited “a multiyear pattern in which the Hindu nationalist government and its allies have presided over rising violence and discriminatory policies.”

“One is that it’s a secular republic, meaning that anyone who happens to be born there is equally Indian,” he says. “But there’s another view that was always there in the background but didn’t have much political or cultural power, which is the Hindu nationalist argument. Their point is that there is actually an original population, the Hindu population, that has suffered invasions and rule by foreigners for 1,000 years, and now it’s time for Hindus to assert their independence and authority.”

Modi and his allies have widely promoted this Hindu nationalist vision, with widespread effects. Extremist elements once considered on the fringe have increasingly taken their militant message into the mainstream, stirring up communal hate in a push to reshape India’s constitutionally protected secular republic into a Hindu state.

Vigilante violence has spiked: Mobs have beaten people accused of disrespecting cows. Couples have been dragged out of trains, cafés, and homes on the suspicion that Muslim men were seducing Hindu women. Hindu extremists have barged into religious gatherings where they suspect people are being converted.

“One is that it’s a secular republic, meaning that anyone who happens to be born there is equally Indian,” he says. “But there’s another view that was always there in the background but didn’t have much political or cultural power, which is the Hindu nationalist argument. Their point is that there is actually an original population, the Hindu population, that has suffered invasions and rule by foreigners for 1,000 years, and now it’s time for Hindus to assert their independence and authority.”

Modi and his allies have widely promoted this Hindu nationalist vision. Their efforts have had widespread effects. Extremists once considered too radical have taken their militant message into the mainstream. They’ve stirred up hate among the masses in a push to reshape India’s constitutionally protected secular republic into a Hindu state.

Vigilante violence has spiked: Mobs have beaten people accused of disrespecting cows. Couples have been dragged out of trains, cafés, and homes based on claims that Muslim men were seducing Hindu women. Hindu extremists have barged into religious gatherings where they suspect people are being converted.

In Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, lawmakers in 2020 banned religious conversion by marriage, which Hindu nationalists call “love jihad”—the idea being that Muslim men are luring Hindu women into forced marriages to convert them to Islam. Several other B.J.P.-ruled states have since enacted similar laws.

Muhabit Khan, a Muslim, and Reema Singh, a Hindu, are the kind of interfaith couple that these laws target. For years, they kept their relationship secret from their families, meeting in dark alleyways, abandoned houses, and desolate graveyards. Singh says her father threatened to burn her alive if she stayed with Khan.

In 2019, they married in a small ceremony with four guests, thinking their families would eventually accept their decision. They never did, and the couple left the central Indian city of Bhopal to start a new life together in a different city.

“The hate has triumphed over love in India,” Khan says, “and it doesn’t seem it will go anywhere soon.”

This trend deeply concerns those who study Indian democracy. Milan Vaishnav of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace notes that whereas most countries grant voting rights gradually, India instituted universal adult suffrage from the moment of the country’s birth in 1947.

“That was a powerful symbol for the developing world,” Vaishnav says. “India has become a model for how you balance tremendous diversity with democratic practice, so for India to succumb to such backsliding is troubling.”

In Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state, lawmakers in 2020 banned religious conversion by marriage. Hindu nationalists call the practice “love jihad.” The term underscores their belief that Muslim men are luring Hindu women into forced marriages to convert them to Islam. Several other B.J.P.-ruled states have since put similar laws in place.

Muhabit Khan, a Muslim, and Reema Singh, a Hindu, are the kind of interfaith couple that these laws target. For years, they kept their relationship secret from their families. They met in dark alleyways, abandoned houses, and graveyards. Singh says her father threatened to burn her alive if she stayed with Khan.

In 2019, they married in a small ceremony with four guests. They thought that their families would accept their decision someday. But their families never did. As a result, the couple left the central Indian city of Bhopal to start a new life together in a different city.

“The hate has triumphed over love in India,” Khan says, “and it doesn’t seem it will go anywhere soon.”

This trend deeply concerns those who study Indian democracy. Most countries grant voting rights gradually, says Milan Vaishnav of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. But India instituted universal adult suffrage from the moment of the country’s birth in 1947, he says.

“That was a powerful symbol for the developing world,” Vaishnav says. “India has become a model for how you balance tremendous diversity with democratic practice, so for India to succumb to such backsliding is troubling.”

One in six human beings live in India, which is expected to surpass China next year as the world’s most populous nation. If democracy falls apart in India, that’s a huge chunk of the world no longer living in freedom. Furthermore, political scientists note that it’s relatively easy for a homogenous, wealthy country—like many in Europe—to be a democracy, but it’s more challenging if the country is poorer and very diverse, like India.

“India was the direct refutation of the idea that democracy is some kind of luxury good; India proved that democracy could be a product of mass consumption,” says Dhume. “If India ceases to be a democracy, then maybe it means democracy is only applicable to a small subset of the world’s population.”

One in six human beings live in India. The nation is expected to surpass China next year as the world’s most populous country. If democracy falls apart in India, that’s a huge chunk of the world no longer living in freedom. Beyond that, political scientists note that it’s relatively easy for a wealthy country with less diversity to be a democracy. This is the situation of many European countries. But it’s harder if the country is poorer and very diverse, like India, they say.

“India was the direct refutation of the idea that democracy is some kind of luxury good; India proved that democracy could be a product of mass consumption,” says Dhume. “If India ceases to be a democracy, then maybe it means democracy is only applicable to a small subset of the world’s population.”

With reporting by Sameer Yasir, Suhasini Raj, and Emily Schmall of The New York Times.

With reporting by Sameer Yasir, Suhasini Raj, and Emily Schmall of The New York Times.