The Violence of Hindu Nationalist Statecraft

The Hindu nationalist movement’s ideological vision has been systematically pursued through the use of state-sanctioned violence. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, this strategy has relied on both grassroots activism and vigilantism and a form of statecraft implemented through legislation at state and federal levels to marginalize Muslims and other minorities. In the process, India’s secular democracy has been transformed into an authoritarian ethnostate.