PRESS RELEASE

16 leading Indian diaspora organisations hold ‘Vigil for Democracy in India’ in London’s Parliament Square on Sunday 5 May

With India in the middle of its most crucial election since independence in 1947 fifteen of UK’s most important Indian diaspora organisations are holding a Vigil for Democracy in India to express their deep dismay and concern about the way the election is being conducted and PM Modi’s attempt to turn India into a Hindu-supremacist fascist state.

They condemn the horrific hate speech against Muslims from Prime Minister Modi himself in one election video after another, the lies he is hurling at the Congress and the opposition INDIA coalition, for example that they would confiscate the property and the wedding necklaces of Hindu women and hand them to Muslims.

The organisers of the vigil point out that in the last ten years, the Modi government has already subverted the spirit of the Constitution which decreed equal citizenship for people of all faiths. The RSS, the BJP’s fascist parent organisation, are now planning to replace it wholesale with the Manusmriti, the horrifically misogynistic and casteist second century Laws of Manu. The organisers note that rapists walk free and are even felicitated in Modi’s India as long as they are oppressor caste Hindu men and most recently Modi himself has promoted a parliamentary candidate, Prajwal Revanna, known to be a serial rapist who has videoed thousands of his crimes. Revanna has now been allowed to flee to Germany on a diplomatic passport.

They abhor the violence and ethnic cleansing faced by the Christian Kuki Zo community which has been continuing for over a year and even during the election.

The organisers condemn the ongoing persecution of Adivasi (indigenous) communities who are being displaced from their ancestral land to make way for corporates like Adani. Those who resist have been incarcerated or raped and killed.

They condemn the blatant corruption of the BJP which with the help of its corporate cronies like Gautam Adani has illegally amassed more money in its coffers than the opposition parties put together

The organisers comment as follows:

Mukti Shah, Spokesperson, South Asia Solidarity Group:

This election campaign is marked by an increasingly desperate BJP campaign with Modi’s election speeches filled with explicit Islamophobic hatred, lies and incitement to genocide. It’s a campaign which is made possible by massive funding by transnational corporations like Adani, whose drones manufactured with Elbit are used against Palestinians in Gaza and Adivasis in central India. In the last decade India has slipped down the Global Hunger Index and now has the highest rate of childhood stunting in the world. Protesting farmers, unemployed youth demanding jobs and women speaking out on sexual violence have all faced violent repression. Indian Muslims’ homes are bulldozed, and their citizenship denied under new laws. This vigil sends a powerful message that the Indian diaspora rejects fascism and is willing to speak out for justice and democracy.

Satpal Muman, Chair, CasteWatch UK:

The BJP bestrides Hindu Chauvinism with deliberate Muslim and Christian bashing; horrific attacks on oppressed castes; silencing of dissent; control of media and every public institution: Income Tax; Enforcement Directorate, Police; Judiciary. Their aim is a Hindu state in which India’s secular Constitution drafted by Dr Ambedkar will be replaced by the barbaric, anti-women and casteist 2nd Century laws of Manu. We as UK’s largest oppressed caste organisation condemn this in the strongest possible terms.

Muhammed Owais, Director, UK-Indian Muslim Council:

We refuse to remain mute spectators while divisive narratives, propagated by prominent figures within the BJP’s Hindutva regime, threaten the very foundations of democracy in India. In one election video after another, BJP politicians from Prime Minister Modi to cabinet ministers, and chief minsters like Yogi Adityanath have been targeting Indian Muslims through hate speech and derogatory stereotypes such as ‘infiltrators’, ‘stealers of wealth’, and ‘those who produce more children’. This fosters and deeply entrenches Islamophobia within Indian society and further marginalises the Muslim community, preventing them from engaging in the electoral process. We reaffirm our commitment to an India where all citizens, particularly its ethnic minorities, Muslims, Christians, and oppressed caste communities are treated with dignity and respect.

Dany Suantak, General Secretary, Unau Welfare UK:

For us the Christian Kuki-Zomi-Hmar people of Manipur, May 3 marks a year of relentless pre-planned criminal acts against us, including arson, sexual assault, murder, dismemberment, all with a clear intent to annihilate us. There is no sign that the attacks on us will cease, no sign of accountability or justice, no sign of closure. The government has wrongly claimed that peace has returned in Manipur. They even went ahead with the General Election in the midst of fresh killings and mayhem. Neither Amit Shah, the Home Minister, nor PM Modi, visited us, while the Chief Minister of Manipur, Biren Singh has shielded and encouraged the criminals.

Dr Aakashi Bhatt, daughter of political prisoner and former Indian Police Service officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who spoke out about Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat genocide:

I’ve witnessed firsthand the vindictive persecution my father, Mr Sanjiv Bhatt, continues to endure at the hands of the Modi regime for daring to hold Modi accountable for his crimes against humanity. False and fabricated cases have been concocted against my father, not only to unjustly punish and silence him, but also to set a dangerous precedent, a warning to those who dare to dissent. Standing in solidarity with my father, and others like him who continue to languish in jail for speaking truth to power, is not just a moral imperative; it’s a crucial stance to safeguard the principles of democracy and uphold the rule of law.

Vigil Co-hosted by: South Asia Solidarity Group, Unau Welfare International, Unau Welfare UK, UK Indian Muslim Council, CasteWatch UK, Ambedkar International Mission, StriveUK, Peace in India, Scottish Indians 4 Justice, Justice Campaign South Asia, The Rights Collective, Nijjor Manush, Women Against Caste UK, Dr B R Ambedkar Ekta Welfare UK International, Hindus 4 Human Rights UK, India Labour Solidarity, Movement For People’s Struggles – Sri Lanka (UK)

For more information, email South Asia Solidarity Group: southasiasolidaritygroup@gmail.com