WASHINGTON – A leading international daily, the Washington Post, says freedom of speech and dissent is at the verge of collapse in India as anyone speaking up against the BJP government is termed a terrorist.
In an opinion piece, the paper writes that Indian government’s mistreatment of farmers’ protest against farm bills is turning the protest into a revolution, shaking the government as the protest is intersectional including farmers, laborers, women and Dalit community long facing systemic caste-based discrimination in India.
Noting Narendra Modi’s entire political career of extremism and human rights violations, the paper termed the farmers protest as a last hope to restore dissent and freedom of expression in the country.
Separately, in an article, the New York Times says that Modi-led BJP government’s mishandling of Covid-19 pandemic has made India second worst hit country across the world after the United States.
The paper writes that Narendra Modi’s hasty nationwide lockdown led to fleeing of migrant workers to their homes that spread the virus to every nook and corner of the country.
The paper criticises that Modi government and especially his Covid-19 Task Force, dominated by upper-caste Hindus, never adequately contemplated how shutting down the economy and quarantining 1.3 billion people.
