:dateline:Controversial Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, 63, will be India’s next prime minister.
The former chief minister of India’s western state, Gujarat, and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi ran on a platform heavily focused on economic growth and opportunity. He’s wants to revive the country’s stalled economy, with promises of a prosperous India with bullet trains and hydroelectric plants.
While it might be a happy day for Modi and his supporters, for others, it marks the start of a potentially dangerous time for the world’s largest democracy.
Modi is a lifelong member of a paramilitary Hindu nationalist group called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has carried out assaults on the country’s religious minorities. The right-wing group was created back in 1925, directly inspired by Europe’s fascist movements.
With 117 million Muslims and 28 million Christians in India, there’s reason to worry about what Modi will mean for religious minorities, especially because of his alleged involvement in anti-Muslim riots that led to the murder of thousands in early 2002.
The riots took place in Gujarat, while it was under Modi’s leadership.
The massacre began after reports that Muslims had set fire to a train carriage, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims. Anti-Muslim riots were sparked in relation over the course of the next few months, leaving 2,500 dead � most of them Muslim.
Writing for the Guardian, Pankaj Mishra described the riots as “carefully planned and coordinated attacks of unprecedented savagery.”
However, according to a 2002 Human Rights Watch report, “the attacks against Muslims in Gujarat have been actively supported by state government officials and by the police.”
Modi has denied a role in the massacre � and has even condemned the riots. However, even over a decade later, the victims have yet to receive justice. According to Human Rights Watch, Modi’s government was swift to investigate the train attack but has yet to investigate the anti-Muslim riots that ensued.
While India’s Supreme Court did not find sufficient evidence to convict Modi, the Gujarat High Court called the riots a “negligence of the state.”
Still, Modi’s inaction during the tragedy, as well as his leadership’s track record for discrimination against minorities, leave many reasons to worry for India’s future.
Here are 11 photos from the riots that show why there’s still reason to worry about Modi’s leadership of India:
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We are supporters of human rights and using our hearts and minds to decipher what is the right thing to do.
Guru Tegh Bahadur gave his head for the Hindus when they were being oppressed and set an example for all Sikhs.
If any group is being oppressed, we are all being oppressed.