All language subtitles for India The Modi Question S01E02

This programme contains scenes
which some viewers may find
upsetting.

My name is Alishan Jafri.

I am a journalist reporting
on hate crimes

and the rise of extreme politics.

India is a state where calls
for genocide against Muslims

are on the rise.

There is a very direct call
to violence

to make India a Hindu nation.

The Prime Minister of this country
should have spoken against it.

But he does not speak up.

CROWD CHANTS: Modi! Modi! Modi!

REPORTER: The man of the moment.

Prime Minister of India.

He is the leader
of the world's biggest democracy.

Narendra Damodardas Modi.

He came to power promising
a new age of prosperity.

CHEERING

But his rule has been marred
by religious turmoil.

REPORTER: There have been
violent protests

in opposition to a new
citizenship law,

which many see as discriminating

against the nation's
Muslim minority.

REPORTER: Many in India see this law
as anti-Muslim.

REPORTER: Massive pelting.

Massive pelting as of now
is going on.

This series tells the story
of Narendra Modi's

troubled relationship
with India's Muslims.

As a young child, Mr Modi joined
an organisation which believes

that this is a country
of the Hindus.

Could he have done more
to prevent violence

that killed hundreds of Muslims?

We were hearing that those orders
to let all this happen

were coming from the top.

It is obviously a stain
on his reputation.

There's no way out of that.

I'm not agree with your analysis.

I'm not agree with your information.

From where you have picked up
this type of garbage, I do not know.

He was cleared
of criminal conspiracy,

a finding upheld
by India's highest court.

Agenda was to destroy
Narendra Modi politically.

The agenda was explicitly political.

But concerns will not go away.

Questions remained over Mr Modi's
head for a long time,

and they remain over him now.

Narendra Modi has promised
to build a new India.

But what does that mean for
the millions of people who belong

to its largest minority?

This regime wants to disenfranchise
the Muslims

and make India a Hindu nation.

HORNS HONK, THEY SHOUT

Mariam's husband,
Alimuddin, was a Muslim.

His attackers were Hindu.

Prior to Modi coming to power,

there is intercommunal violence
in India.

Sometimes this involves lynchings
of Muslims, of Hindus, of Sikhs.

But definitely we can say

that after 2014
there are increased

numbers of lynchings
towards the Muslim population.

Alimuddin's attackers accused him
of trading beef,

something that had been becoming
increasingly controversial

under Narendra Modi's rule.

Hindus consider cows to be sacred.

REPORTER: Two Muslim women were
beaten, allegedly by the members

of a Hindu radical group.

REPORTER: Now, this happened
when the police

received a tip-off that two women

on a local train were bringing beef
to sell...

A large mob dragged 50-year-old
Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi

out of his home,

killing him in front of his family
with the equipment he uses for...

And it began with a speech
that the Prime Minister made.

Mr Modi said that India
was participating in what he called

the Pink Revolution.

The Pink Revolution refers
to the export of beef

and the sort of bloody images
of meat.

In response to that, the BJP states
criminalised the possession of beef.

After that, the violence began.

Over three and a half years,

vigilantes would kill 44 people
and injure around 280

in cow-related violence.

Most victims were Muslim.

Few of the attackers
were brought to justice.

There were calls for Mr Modi
to condemn the violence,

but he was largely silent.

His silence is heard by the people
as appreciation.

It is a clear signal that -
go ahead,

nothing will be done against you.

Amid mounting criticism,

on the day of Alimuddin's murder,
Mr Modi spoke out.

Then there was
a surprising development.

REPORTER: Three days after Alimuddin
Ansari was killed by cow vigilantes,

the first political arrest
in the case, Nityanand Mahato,

the BJP's district spokesman.

Police say a video of the incident
shows Mahato dragged Ansari

out of the van.

BJP spokesman Nityanand Mahato was
found guilty of Alimuddin's murder

and sentenced to life in prison.

But one of Mr Modi's
government ministers helped him

and the other convicted men
with their legal fees.

And when they were bailed,

he welcomed them
with garlands of flowers.

REPORTER: Jayant Sinha remains
brazen,

despite outrage over his move

to welcome and garland the eight
convicts of the 2017 lynching.

So is there tacit support
by the state for actions like these?

Mr Sinha said he assisted the men
because they were poor.

He criticised the way photos of him
with them had been misused,

but said he would not do it again.

Over four years later,
the men are still free.

The clear message is that
this is a Hindu majoritarian country

and anybody who does anything
or takes any action

which is against the sentiment
of the Hindus of India

are going to be targeted.

If there is evidence
that certain people

have been guilty of things
like lynching,

it is not the business
of a political party

to condone them or felicitate them.

At the same time, to generalise
from this incident

to mean that this is the standard
practice in India,

this is the character of
the BJP, is, to my mind,

an unwarranted assumption.

If you look back at it now,

the lynchings are the beginnings

of things that became bigger
and bigger.

They are so disturbing
and horrifying.

They were the early warning system
of what was coming.

CROWD CHANTS: Modi! Modi! Modi!

When Mr Modi ran for a second term
as Prime Minister,

his brand of Hindu nationalism

was backed by a record number
of Indian voters.

His party won the largest majority
it had ever seen.

India's Prime Minister,
Narendra Modi,

has secured a second five-year term

in the country's historic
general election.

For the first time, the BJP won in
areas which they had NEVER won in.

You got stupendous victories.

Modi had really, truly become
a pan-India figure.

A victory for Mr Modi was
interpreted

as a mandate
for the muscular nationalism

that Mr Modi and his government
had been projecting.

CROWD CHANTS: Modi! Modi! Modi!

REPORTER: The man of the moment

who will take oath
of secrecy and office

for the second time
as Prime Minister of India.

He was now one of
the most powerful politicians

the country had ever seen.

They realise that they can quickly
instigate their agenda.

The fundamental aim is to Hinduise
the way that India functions

and irrevocably change
the political, social

and cultural nature of India.

Essentially, the gloves are off.

Mr Modi is definitely trying to make
India a majoritarian country,

you know, where Hindu primacy
is established.

I don't think
that there's any doubt about that.

This regime wants to accommodate
the Hindus

and basically disenfranchise
the Muslims.

The idea is to make India
a Hindu nation.

There is a Hindu population
in India.

It's more than... Around 80%.

Major support for BJP
comes from those people,

those who consider themselves
as Hindu.

That doesn't mean
anti-Muslim party or anti-Sikh

or anti-Christian party.

It is the most centralised
government that has ever

been run in India.

There's almost no pushback
to any kind of order

that comes from Narendra Modi.

All decision-making
is directly controlled.

Mr Modi would quickly turn
his attention to the only part

of India with a Muslim majority.

I'm Habeel Iqbal.

I'm a lawyer
and I work in Kashmir.

Many rumours were going on that
the government are going to change

Jammu and Kashmir.

What the politicians were saying
made it clear that something

sinister is in the offing.

Kashmir is one of India's
most sensitive areas...

..marred by years of terrorism

and part of a bitter conflict
with neighbouring Pakistan.

For some 70 years,

special rules had allowed Kashmiris
to run their own affairs.

But this was unacceptable
to the party in power.

The BJP's manifestos,
right from the '90s or even earlier,

had certain particular demands
which were there.

One was the rescinding
of Article 370,

which gives special status
to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

We regard the whole of Kashmir
as a part of India.

So we said, "Why should we have

"this Article 370
to keep Kashmir differently?"

Nine weeks
after Mr Modi's swearing in,

troops were sent into Kashmir.

REPORTER: The government approves
sending in 10,000

additional paramilitary troops
to Jammu and Kashmir.

REPORTER: The centre is now rushing
about 25,000 more

paramilitary personnel
to the valley.

Now, this is all for a massive
security drive to counter terrorism

and bolster the security
preparedness.

REPORTER: Major politicians
in the region

were placed under house arrest.

Internet and phone services
are completely cut off.

Strict curfew was put
throughout Kashmir.

There was a complete
communication blackout.

Completely, we were cut off
from the outside world.

The fear and anxiety
was creeping up.

On the 5th of August, Mr Modi's
government scrapped the arrangement

that gave Kashmir autonomy
and took direct control.

REPORTER: India's government has
made a significant move

to take direct control
of the state of Kashmir.

Opposition parties have called this
one of the darkest days

for Indian democracy.

Now you can say that Jammu and
Kashmir is ruled from New Delhi.

And a new policy of
"Indianisation" is taking place.

Three days later,
Mr Modi addressed the nation.

It was a hugely popular decision
within the country.

It may have been contested
and there might have been other

issues which, vis-a-vis relations
with Pakistan,

but within the country
it was hugely popular.

But in Kashmir,
the reaction was stark.

EXPLOSION, PEOPLE SHOUT

REPORTER: In spite of a curfew,

hundreds of protesters clashed
with police after Friday prayers.

The government knew that
there would be huge protests.

But the response of the state
has been the same

whenever any protest takes place

to suppress
and to silence the protesters.

People were arbitrarily detained.

They were arresting people
left, right and centre.

It was like a horror show.

Nearly 4,000 people were detained
in the first month alone.

Habeel says he began to hear claims
of beatings and torture

at the hands of the authorities.

People had been taken
in the dead of the night

and they were subjected
to extreme physical torture.

One guy I met,

torture was being done on him

and at the same time,

a public address system
was kept near him

so that the entire village
could hear him cry.

It was the tactic to intimidate
the entire population.

They don't want the world to see
what is happening in Kashmir.

The Indian army has vigorously denied
claims of torture.

But the UN's most senior
human rights expert spoke out.

I am deeply concerned
about the impact of recent actions

by the government of India
on the human rights of Kashmiris,

including restrictions on internet
communication and peaceful assembly

and the detention of local
political leaders and activists.

Kashmir is very important
for Mr Modi

to harness the Hindu vote
in other parts of the country.

Showing that the Kashmiri Muslim
citizens are being controlled,

are being checked, are being shown
their place

is very important for Mr Modi's
political sustenance.

After, you know, 70 years of this
being in a limbo,

Jammu and Kashmir is back
to where it should be.

It's a fully integrated part
of the Indian Union.

NEWSREADER: There is a growing set
of concerns

over a wave of killings
targeting Hindus

in Indian-administered Kashmir.

In the years that followed,

there were incidents
of anti-Hindu violence.

REPORTER: The Indian government
denies

that there's an atmosphere of fear
in Kashmir.

It says its policies are bringing
peace and development.

During his election campaign,
Mr Modi had promised to tackle

a major concern for Hindu
nationalists -

illegal immigration.

He said he would introduce

a national register
of Indian citizens.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The NRC was already being tested
in Assam, in a long-term trial

monitored by India's Supreme Court.

For decades, large numbers of Hindus
and Muslims

had migrated here from neighbouring
Bangladesh.

The Muslim migration into Assam
has been for economic reasons.

The Hindu migration was basically
because of religious persecution

and edging out of the minorities
from Bangladesh.

If you want to create
a modern state where citizens

should have all the rights,
so at least you should define

who your citizens are.

In every other country, there is
a national population register.

BJP wanted to do that
and they should do that.

They have all the right.

Some feared what the NRC would mean
for Assam's large Muslim population.

But Mr Modi said it would only
target illegal immigrants.

What it said was, if you could show
documentary evidence

of your ancestors being in the state
of Assam before 1971,

you would be included in this
National Register of Citizens.

If you could not do so,
this would become a problem.

One of those who had to prove
he was Indian

was Muslim rickshaw driver
Nur Hussain.

The authorities said there was also
a problem

with the papers
for Nur's wife, Zahara.

So she was arrested, too.

Nur and Zahara took their children
with them.

They would all spend the next
18 months in a detention centre.

This is not a country that is trying
to manage a refugee problem.

This is a country
that's manufacturing refugees

out of its own population,
you know?

This is incredible.

Under the National Register
of Citizens, 700,000 Muslims

were reportedly declared
illegal immigrants,

but so were more than a million
Hindus.

The government proposed
a controversial amendment

to India's Citizenship Act
that would help solve this problem.

The CAA says that those people
who migrated to India

without documentation
from Afghanistan, Bangladesh

or Pakistan, which are India's
neighbours,

before December 31st, 2014, would be

given citizenship automatically,

unless they were Muslim.

It's meant, purely, in my opinion,
to go after Muslims in this country.

It was not against any particular
community or group.

It was in favour of persecuted
minorities, which includes

Hindus, Sikh, Christians, Buddhists
from Bangladesh,

Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, it was misinterpreted
in some quarters as meaning

that it could lead
to the citizenship of some people

being taken away.

The law never said that anything
can be taken away.

The law spoke about giving
citizenship to people.

Was Mr Modi right in getting this
into parliament

and getting it enacted? Yes.

It is something that was welcomed
all over India.

THEY CHANT

But protesters took to the streets
to voice concern

about the future for Muslims
in Narendra Modi's India.

REPORTER: Thousands gathered
to protest against the bill

in several states in India,

describing it as a discriminatory
legislation

intended to target Muslims.

TRANSLATION: This bill will not harm
even a little bit any minority,

especially our Muslim brothers and
sisters who live in this country,

because this bill only gives
citizenship.

It doesn't take it away
from anybody.

In this bill, they are targeting
a community without naming it.

It violates the basic structure
of the Constitution.

It is divisive and exclusive.

They are directly saying
that all refugees are welcome

except Muslim refugees.

You're just putting
a whole population into insecurity.

So that was the basis on which
these huge protests rose up.

REPORTER: Many in India see this law
as anti-Muslim and say it goes

against the fundamentals of India's
constitution, which says everyone

is equal before the law.

The reaction in the country
was massive.

The stake was very high.

It defined the identity of India.

The very identity, the very nature

of the Indian state was at stake.

In Delhi, students at a prestigious
university

gathered for a protest march
on India's parliament.

All we wanted was one march
to the parliament

to register our protest
against the CAA and the NRC.

I strongly believe that the CAA
can make a lot of Muslims stateless.

That is why, you know,
we've been very vocal.

The police barricaded the road
and, you know, stopped the students

from marching forward.

That is when some students tried
to cross the barricade.

Tear-gas shell is fired,

and it just falls
right in front of me.

I just couldn't breathe.

One of my friends, he was completely
drenched in blood.

We did not expect that a students'
protest would be met out

with such brutality by the police.

It was an unbelievable situation
to be in,

in Delhi, in the heart of capital.

It suddenly seemed like a war zone
now.

The violence prompted
more student protests.

The demonstrations spread.

Then, at the university,

the police decided to move in.

THUDDING, SCREAMING

Suddenly, the police burst inside...

..beating people like anything.

SHOUTING

Students were hiding
under the tables and, you know,

they were shouting for help,
for mercy,

but the police action continued
indiscriminately.

GLASS SHATTERS

SHOUTING CONTINUES

REPORTER: Students try to hide
from the police

and shield themselves
from the tear gas in the air.

In the men's bathroom,
an injured student,

and another one,
who lay unconscious.

Dozens of them were taken
to the local hospital.

Police came inside.
They dragged us all...

They say they were beaten
by the police for protesting

against India's new citizenship law.

They beat up the students.

They vandalised the university,

created an environment of fear and
terror, to teach us a lesson,

to never protest again.

The police said they were trying
to restore law and order.

Their actions led to even
bigger protests.

REPORTER: Today, people marched...

..in Delhi...

..Mumbai...

..Kolkata, against what they see
as a divisive law

that discriminates against Muslim
migrants.

An unprecedented show of dissent

against the country's
Hindu nationalist leadership.

REPORTER: Protests have now
escalated

and it's across the country.
It's now a pan-India agitation.

NEWSREADER: There have been violent
protests in major cities

across India, mostly in opposition
to a new citizenship law,

which many see as discriminating

against the nation's large Muslim
minority.

In Delhi, protesters occupied parts
of the city

and said they'd stay
until the new law was repealed.

Safoora Zargar was among them.

I think more and more people become
aware of the consequences

of the CAA and NRC,

you know, and that is why I feel
that this protest became a movement.

I'm puzzled as to why there should
have been

a significant Muslim protest
in places like Delhi.

They were very much Muslims
who'd been settled in Delhi

for a long, long time.

They were not threatened in any way.

And in my view, this was not
a protest about citizenship.

This was a protest about Muslims
feeling

that they had lost
their foothold

in the political system
over the past...

..seven, eight years.

Hardline Hindu clerics made threats
against the Muslim protesters.

Supporters of Mr Modi held
their own demonstrations.

You had senior BJP politicians
appearing

and threatening the protesters.

As the protests
entered their third month,

Narendra Modi's India had never
seemed so divided.

But support for the embattled
Prime Minister

came from an unexpected quarter.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We now invite the dynamic,

dedicated and determined architect
of New India,

Honourable Prime Minister
Shri Narendra Modi

for his welcome remarks.

CHEERING

CHEERING

Friends,

I present to you, my friend...

..India's friend, the President
of the United States of America,

Mr Donald Trump.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Namaste, Trump!

Namaste, Trump!

Namaste, namaste.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Let me begin by expressing
my profound gratitude

to an exceptional leader,

a great champion of India,

a man who works night and day

for his country, and a man
I am proud to call my true friend,

Prime Minister Modi.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Your nation has always been admired
around the Earth as the place

where millions upon millions
of Hindus and Muslims

worship side by side in harmony.

Your unity is an inspiration
to the world.

We love you.
We love you, India, very much.

Thank you. Thank you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

LOUD BANG

REPORTER: The situation is
deteriorating as we speak.

Anti and pro-CAA protesters
clashing.

Violence and vandalism continues.

REPORTER: This violence between
anti and pro-CAA protesters

took a turn for the worse.

REPORTER: You can see the situation
is very volatile.

Both the sides are clashing with
each other.

You can see again, massive pelting.

Massive pelting as of now
is going on.

REPORTER: The national capital,
a battleground.

Violent clashes between Hindus
and Muslims have rocked the city.

ANIMATED CONVERSATION

LOUD CRACK, HE CRIES OUT

HE SINGS QUIETLY

RAGGED SINGING

PROTESTER GROANS

POLICEMAN SHOUTS

The video of Faizan's beating
went viral.

This Muslim man was beaten to death
by the police.

Faizan was 23.

When I saw that video,
I really thought,

what a disgusting society we are.

What a disgusting society we are.

EXPLOSION

The violence lasted for six days.

They are meant to protect
all of India's people.

But here, the police are seen
with Hindus throwing

stones towards Muslims.

Videos like these have been emerging
since the violence last week.

500 people were injured
during the riots.

53 were killed.

Two thirds of the dead were
reportedly Muslim.

An investigation by Amnesty
International concluded

that the police committed serious
human rights violations, including

torture and ill treatment,
excessive and arbitrary use of force

on protesters, and active
participation in the violence.

The Amnesty report on the violence
in Delhi showed that the police

did not act as it should have acted.

Where it did act,
it often named the wrong people.

Often the victims were named
as the perpetrators of the violence.

And we called for a proper
investigation into these acts,

which hasn't happened so far.

Delhi police said the Amnesty report
was lopsided,

biased against the police,
and maliciously made a case

of human rights violations.

In the larger scheme of things,

the Delhi riots were not important,
but they were important to the media

because it means less work
and you can get good media footage

just at your doorstep.

No police officers have been charged
over the beatings

of Asim and Faizan.

Delhi police say their investigation
continues.

The police arrested more than 2,000
people over the violence,

both Hindus and Muslims.

And in the weeks that followed,
they launched operations to arrest

those they considered ringleaders
of the riots.

On 10th April, the doorbell rang.

My husband came and he just said,

"Some people have come
to ask you questions."

A group of seven or eight
policemen said, "Pack your bags."

I was not expecting my arrest.

They took me.

And the roads are completely
empty and deserted.

I couldn't see anybody.

That was the scary part of it.

That feeling of being so alone.

There were charges against me,
including hate speech, rioting,

criminal conspiracy,

murder.

Attempt to murder.

The maximum sentence would be
lifetime imprisonment.

This is the Tihar Jail.

India's most-hardened criminals
are kept here.

Muslim student Safoora was arrested
and charged under a new legal

provision in an anti-terrorism law

called the Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act, or UAPA.

The first act of Mr Modi
after becoming Prime Minister

in his second tenure was to make
an amendment in the UAPA

which permitted the government
to declare individual citizens

as terrorists, which was completely
different from organisations

being declared as
terrorist organisations.

Anybody could be declared
a terrorist and be put behind bars

and would not be able to get bail
for a long period of time.

First of all, I was put
into complete isolation.

There's a cell, a very small cell.

I was pregnant
and it was my first baby.

My biggest nightmare was
giving birth in jail.

I couldn't imagine doing it
all alone inside a prison.

Safoora spent 74 days in jail.

Safoora Zargar, the pregnant Jamia
Millia Islamia student, was granted

bail today by the High Court
after the police did not

oppose her bail
on humanitarian grounds.

She is one of 16 Muslims accused
of being key conspirators

in the Delhi riots,
and charged under anti-terror laws.

TOY SQUEAKS

It started like a complete witch
hunt of all those people who were

involved in the anti-CAA protests.

And, you know, to suppress dissent,
to make an example out of us

and to put us behind bars.

I'm very confident that
they will not be able to prove even

one charge against us.

There was CCTV footage,

there were messages,
there were WhatsApp group chats.

On the basis of that,
they got arrested.

And they were people from different
communities,

not from a particular community.

The irony is that when...after
the riots were over, the victims

became the guilty men and women,

and were accused of being
responsible for the riots.

So, many were sent to jail,
and they are still in jail.

By now, India was battling
a new threat - coronavirus.

Strict lockdowns made further protest
impossible.

But enmity between
Hindus and Muslims remained.

I am a journalist reporting
on hate crimes and the rise

of extreme politics.

Mostly my job is to go through
videos of violence and hate speech.

India is a state where calls
for genocide against Muslims

are on the rise.

A colleague was reporting
from the Dharma Sansad,

that is basically Hindu
religious parliament.

What they talked about was
how Muslims should be eradicated

from the face of the earth.

Generally, we come across
10 to 12 videos per week.

Sometimes there are 10 to 12 videos
per day.

These videos spread like wildfire.

They just go viral.

Muslims have got the message that
they should not expect the state

to protect them.

We are talking to each other saying,
"Do you think it will happen?

"Do you think it's really
going to be like Rwanda?"

Why do I speak to you on this film?

Only so that there's a record
somewhere that all of us

didn't agree with this, you know?

But it's not a call for help,
because no help will come.

In June last year,
a BJP spokeswoman made comments

about the Prophet Muhammad on TV
that angered Muslims in India

and around the world.

Two Muslim men killed a Hindu
who they said supported

the politician's comments.

The men were arrested after
they posted a film of the killing

online and made threats
against Mr Modi.

There are extremist groups
from either side.

And because of the provocation
of social media,

that has become a phenomena,
you can say.

Even if there are calls
from Hindu groups, then there

are Muslim groups also.

This is happening from both sides,
and this should be stopped.

We should take action,
whether it's said by Hindus,

whether it's said by Muslims,
whether it's said by Sikhs,

or whoever, there are boundaries
of free speech...

..in India.

And there should be.

I think the larger issue
that we do not promote any form

of extremism has been said
by Mr Modi many times.

The work that many of us do
is very dangerous.

I have received death threats,
but that does not deter me.

Reporting today has become
more risky, more dangerous,

more difficult, and quite frankly,

based on where we are today,

the path looks even rockier.

Today in India, reporters face
violence, intimidation and arrest

for doing their jobs.

Campaigners say press freedom
has declined since Narendra Modi

came to power, and is now in crisis.

He views independent media
as something that is going to do

damage to him and that is hostile
to him.

I think he believes in the politics
of full-spectrum dominance.

From his point of view, throttling
the media, or exercising a high

degree of control over the media,
is essential to his project.

Human rights campaigners say
they are also under attack.

Amnesty in India says it was forced
to suspend operations

by the government.

The government said the group had
broken the law by circumventing

rules around foreign donations.

What he has done, in effect,
is to be able

to shut down a very large part
of civil society in this country.

Thousands of NGOs have shut
after 2015, and it's quite dire.

I don't think that the NGO space,
the civil society space,

has seen such a time ever
in the history of independent India.

When Narendra Nodi came to power
in 2014, India was considered

to be a free country by
the US think-tank Freedom House.

Now it is only partly free.

Our democracy may not be perfect.

But it keeps on improving.

And I think there's enough elbow
room for everybody to have opinions,

whether they are...rational
or otherwise.

Safoora Zargar remains on bail.

They have dehumanised Muslims
in the country.

It is being made very clear -

Muslims will have to live
like second-class citizens.

Kismatun is still fighting
to identify the police officers

who beat her son to death.

The men accused of attacking
Alimuddin Ansari are

still out on bail.

Under Narendra Modi,
India has been transformed.

He remains enormously popular

and hugely divisive.

What was politically incorrect
has now become the consensus.

No longer does a Hindu think
that it is wrong to demand special

rights for Hindus.

Mr Modi has been able
to successfully give voice

to this sentiment.

Muslims in India are in a position
that they've never been before,

and I don't know how it is that
we'll be able to come out of it.

The perception that Mr Modi
is anti-Muslim is widespread.

I don't deny that. It's there.

But I think what is important to
realise is that - is there a single

institutional obstacle
which debars Muslims or gives

Hindus exceptional privilege?

There isn't.

The West is looking at India
as the best way

to balance China.

And that is the reason why they will
not criticise, they will not condemn

most of the decisions
which have been made.

Human rights are not very high
on the list any more

because there is a bigger challenge.

It is important to the West not only
economically but also politically.

Any big conversation
in international affairs,

climate change, global finance,
requires India to be in the room.

There can be no solution
without India.

But it looks to be descending
into some form of authoritarianism

where power is in the hands
of one individual.

I think with a high degree
of certainty, he'll win the next

election, maybe he'll win
the election after that.

And that means for young people
in India that that will be the only

India they know.