Over the last three months, India’s universities have turned into a battleground between two contrasting belief systems, principles and ideals. Young demonstrators have accused the government of pushing an anti-Muslim agenda and systematically destroying the country’s secular, multicultural and multilingual founding values. In turn, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has branded protesting students “anti-national”, a label that is increasingly being used to silence critics of the government.
India’s liberal student body has long been a thorn in the side of the Hindu nationalist BJP. After taking power in 2014, the government moved to cut funding for research centres and exorbitantly increased tuition and hostel fees, while it's emboldened student wing has led physical attacks on students and faculty members. When, in December, students joined nationwide protests against a contentious new law which extends citizenship to refugees of all faiths except Muslims – it was the final straw.
The demonstrations have presented a challenge to Modi’s party decades-long project of transforming India into a Hindu-centric nation, and the government has responded with force against protesters. Armed police have attacked students on university campuses, emergency laws banning demonstrations have been imposed and internet access has been restricted. In January, a masked mob armed with clubs assaulted students and faculty at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Weeks later, a man opened fire at a crowd of student protesters days after a BJP minister called for “traitors” to be shot at a rally.
