Opinion: Politicians stoked the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ attacks against Muslims in India – so where’s Modi?

In his home state of Odisha, he furthered India’s sectarian divide, pushed the idea of Hindu supremacy and with that, violence against Muslims, Christians and other minorities. Indian supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dance as they celebrate on the vote results day for India's general election in Siliguri on May 23, 2019. An Indian member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) shouts slogans and shows portraits of party president M.K. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have a commanding lead in early vote counting from the country's six-week general election. Indian supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dance as they celebrate on the vote results day for India's general election in Siliguri on May 23, 2019. An Indian member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) shouts slogans and shows portraits of party president M.K. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have a commanding lead in early vote counting from the country's six-week general election. In the last five years of Modi rule, we have had lynchings of Muslims and the lower castes across India by Hindu mobs, ostensibly for the “protection” of the holy cow. In the run-up to May’s general elections and after the results were declared, Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of Bengal, was constantly heckled by BJP mobs to shout, “Jai Shri Ram”. Modi as prime minister had two options: to be the reformist PM he was sold as, or to take further the agenda of the party he belongs to, to make India a theocratic Hindu country.