Gujarat, India
Hindu hard-liners won a landslide victory in state elections in Gujarat this week after campaigning on an anti-Muslim platform. The Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist party that dominates the federal government, swept the state by reviving fears of Muslim violence. Last spring, a group of Muslims burned alive a trainload of 59 Hindu activists on their way to a temple. The killing sparked a retaliatory wave of lynchings and burnings as Hindu mobs slaughtered hundreds of Muslims. Political analysts said the BJP’s exploitation of religious tensions was a troubling development in India’s secular, pluralistic democracy. The BJP is effectively saying that “in order to be Indian, you have to be Hindu,” analyst Mahesh Rangarajan told The Washington Post.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Time-honored political tactic: Throw your wife under the bus'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
Best non-alcoholic spirits for summer cocktailsThe Week Recommends As hard liquor takes a backseat for many, the ingredients for the perfect mocktail are dryly delicious
-
Will Biden's tariffs hinder China's EV dominance?Today's Big Question Climate change goals and American jobs in tension
