What Have We Done to Democracy?
India is often called the world’s largest democracy. Narendra Modi is the prime minister. He was elected in 2014 and again in 2019. Prior to becoming prime minister, he was chief minister of the state of Gujarat, where in 2002, a massacre of Muslims took place. Modi denied any involvement. But the State Department was not convinced and banned him from traveling to the U.S. He is a longtime member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS. “Its founding ideologues,” Arundhati Roy, says, “were greatly influenced by European fascism-they openly praised Hitler and Mussolini.” The RSS expounds the doctrine of Hindutwa, Hindu nationalism and is the parent organization of India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP. The BJP, under Modi, has openly embraced Hindutwa and has demonized Muslims and immigrants. His army continues the decades-long occupation of Kashmir.
Speaker
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is a world-renowned, award-winning writer and global justice activist. Tariq Ali says of her, “She is both loathed and feared by the Indian elite. Loathed because she speaks her mind. Feared because her voice reaches the world outside India and damages the myths perpetrated by New Delhi.” She is the recipient of the prestigious European Essay Prize for lifetime achievement, and the PEN Pinter Prize for telling “urgent stories of injustice with wit and beauty.” Among her many books are The God of Small Things, Capitalism: A Ghost Story, My Seditious Heart, and Azadi. Her latest books are The Architecture of Modern Empire and Mother Mary Comes to Me.
Foster Goodwill –
This woman is amazing! Kudos to A.R.