Democratic Institutions Held Captive Under BJP-Led Government
The intersection of BJP mainstream politics with the press, law enforcement, and courts has weaponized these once neutral pillars of society — orchestrating anti-Muslim prejudices. According to Ballard Brief, a majority of religion-based hate crimes (documented between 2009 to 2019) coincided with the BJP electoral victories of 2014. Political hate speech has become a norm — shooting up by 500% between 2014 and 2018 during Modi's first term as prime minister.
Many law enforcement officers reflect prejudiced views in policing practices and do not extend the same protection to Muslim victims as they do others. This is particularly evident during historic episodes of communal violence, in which a conflict involves two or more social groups. During the 2020 New Delhi protests to the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) officials reportedly did not intervene to stop the violent actions of Hindu mobs, while Muslim protestors were arrested in disproportionate numbers.
Even when Muslim victims manage to file complaints with the police, the names of complicit law enforcement members and individuals affiliated with the BJP are often omitted.
Although vigilante and paramilitary violence have constituted much of these hate crimes, municipal institutions have also been instrumental to anti-Muslim violence and repression. The practice of punitive demolitions, in which accusations of encroachment or the absence of a permit, are used to procure demolition orders for Muslim properties.
In India's press, independent media face growing censorship as many partisan news organizations no longer practice watchdog journalism, but act as mouthpieces for the BJP. Popular channels like Asianet News Network, News18, and Zee News are directly overseen or consolidated under franchises owned by BJP members while growing financial pressures in the news industry pressure networks to carry sponsored content.