Hindutva refers to the belief that India is inherently a Hindu nation. For India’s current leadership, people who defend secular constitutional laws and human rights are betraying not only the Hindu nation, but India as well. India and Hindutva, for the Modi administration, are one and the same.

This discourse is bolstered by sub-narratives and policies aiming to eliminate Muslims and undermine other minorities. Critics and journalists may also sometimes be charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) if they report on perspectives that clash with those of the government.

In early November, local police in the state of Tripura filed a case against 102 Twitter accounts under the UAPA for spreading false information about a recent outbreak of anti-Muslim violence in the region.

In its reporting on the case, Asian News International (ANI), a large Indian news agency, gave precedence to the police’s statement, tacitly reaffirming the narrative that anyone who shed light on Islamophobic attacks opposes Hindu majority rule. Such actions, according to this narrative, is essentially seditious, or “anti-national.”

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“Indian Armed Forces in Kashmir only target and kill militants”

In August 2019, the BJP stripped Kashmir of its rights to statehood, which were granted at the time of India’s independence. The Indian military has since employed heavy-handed crackdowns and frequent communication shutdowns to repress any form of dissent. Today, some regions in Kashmir have no access to the internet.

Mainstream media, the BJP-led government, and the Armed Forces justify human rights violations in Kashmir by citing national security.

Source: Undertones: A deep-dive into Indian hyper-nationalism · Global Voices