Muslim Body Says "India Becoming Illiberal Democracy"
Salim Engineer, Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), a Muslim body, voiced his concern over the situation in the country. Addressing the media at the monthly press conference at the JIH headquarters, he said, “We are concerned about the steady slide of our country from a constitutional democracy to an illiberal and majoritarian democracy”.
He put forward recently happened incidents like suspension of the MPs during the winter session of the Parliament over “frivolous charges”, and the passing of the “new legislation like the criminal laws, the Telecommunications Act, and the appointment of the Election Commission of India”. The Vice President said that without the opposition, there will be zero accountability, as there are no one to “question the government”s decisions and actions” (as the opposition are massively suspended by the government).
It said India is moving towards the concentration of power in the hands of executive or the hands of a single leader, diminishing the effectiveness of constitutional checks and balances as the new laws grant extraordinary powers to the executive and the ruling party. the Vice President of the JIH said, “the narrative of hyper-nationalism and populism coupled with divisive rhetoric that targets religious minorities is leading to polarization and the steady deterioration of pluralism and tolerance in society”. He said the move towards “one nation, one language, and one culture” is turning India into an illiberal democracy and added that without democracy, India’s quest for global leadership may not materialize.
When asked about his opinion on the inauguration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, he said, “The inauguration should not be politicized, patronized and used to polarize. We feel the Ram Mandir inauguration is becoming a tool for political propaganda and a means of reaping electoral dividends. The consecration program is becoming a glaring example of how religion can be misused by some politicians, a phenomenon that was consistently criticized by the ruling party but which now it is unabashedly indulging in.”
The Jamaat leader also raised concern over the recently passed Telecom Bill of 2023. He said the legislation has granted the government, unprecedented power to “access every form of communication, posing a serious threat to privacy and civil liberties for the sake of commercial interests”, and added the Bill make India a “surveillance democracy”. The Muslim body also condemned the Israeli occupation force’s killing of more than 22,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
