India: Is Hindu Nationalism Endangering its Democracy?

03/05/20 • 23 min

In December last year, Narendra Modi's government passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. It's raised concerns that India's secular constitution is at risk, and critics say it discriminates against Muslims.
Last week, in Delhi, the hitherto peaceful protests against the law erupted into the worst violence the Indian capital has seen in decades. More than 40 people were killed, hundreds were wounded and some remain missing. There's also mounting evidence that Muslims were targeted in a planned manner. Parliamentary proceedings have been disrupted for three days straight as opposition MPs continue to protest the riots.
Madhav Kosla is a constitutional expert from Ashoka and Columbia universities. He joins us to discuss the protests, and the roots of rising Hindu nationalism in India. Drawing on Madhav's books, we also discuss the wider question of the challenges facing a modern Indian state, and its constitution.

Previous Episode

Chinese Economy: Mounting Debt, Deeper Headaches

China’s economy is facing its biggest challenges for years as growth slows and debt piled up. How worried should we be?
This week Andrew is joined by Stephen Roach, former Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs; and Dinny McMahon, author of the book ‘China’s Great Wall of Debt’, which chronicles the country’s growing debt problem.

A note to listeners - this episode was recorded before the true scale of the coronavirus outbreak was revealed.
As ever, get in touch if you have any comments at [email protected]. You can also follow us on Twitter: @AsiaMattersPod

Next Episode

COVID-19: How Have Asian Approaches Differed?

Welcome to podcasting in a time of COVID-19...
The new coronavirus has run rampant throughout the world, and disrupted the global economy, transport and everyday life (including our studio access.)
But the show must go on - so joining Andrew and Vincent this week on a four-way Skype chat are Dr. Parag Khanna, managing director of strategic advisory firm FutureMap and the author 'The Future is Asian'; and Ian Johnson, China correspondent for The New York Times.

The topic, is of course, the coronavirus - specifically, as the epicentre has switched to Europe and parts of Asia seem almost ready to begin recovering, how Asian countries have differed in their approach to the virus. What can we learn from the various strategies they deployed, and what do they reveal about the different political systems themselves? And taking out our crystal balls - at this early stage are there any clues about how this epoch-defining pandemic will affect the region's geopolitical order?