Electoral violence, religious riots and Indian democratic process

India, the largest democracy and a highly populated nation in the world, general elections have become a democratic festival. Concept of democracy is based on the principle of universal adult franchise. Which provides the right to vote for the Indian adult population to choose the government for the protection of their rights and fulfill their needs. Abraham Lincoln said, “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. It empowers people to form or throw out any government. The paradox here is, what if this decision-making power gets hijacked through diverse reasons such as fusion of politics with religion, promotion of class and caste divisions, use of violence, hate speech, booth capturing, money laundering, financial manipulation, use of masculine power and abuse of power by influential actors. These actions can undermine its core principle and suppress the notion of free and fair elections. In the current scenario largest and oldest democracies in the world are facing democratic decline [1].

Source: Cartoon Moment 

In 2023, India was positioned into a league of countries, that are facing a sliding shift towards authoritarianism like Brazil, Poland, the United States, and Hungary to the democracy report of the V-Dem Institute. Almost one-third of world population, 415 million to 2.3 billion people lived in these countries. Countries which are on democratic decline, faces  various problems such as rise in disinformation, communalism, control on media, literature and increased populism. Democratic erosion mainly attacks on media, academic, and cultural freedom which increases polarization in the society. “Reporters without Border” and “V- Dem Institute have identified that these countries are dangerous for journalists. Media houses are mainly concentrated in the hands of actors, which are loyal to the ruling party. Government sometimes uses defamation and sedition laws to silence critics. Their data indicates that social media platforms have been used to mobilize ethnic cleansing during elections. Lührmann (2023).

Social polarization spreads hate and animosity in society. It also intensifies the divisions based on caste, class, and religion in the society. After the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, over 600 cases of communal violence were reported, which were mainly concentrated in Uttar Pradesh[2]. A few months before Delhi’s state assembly election in 2014, Hindu-Muslim riots occurred in Trilokpuri[3]. There was a visible pattern of communal polarization within UP and Delhi. The vote share of parties aligned with Hindutav has increased by 4.4% from 2.9% as different riots occurred. Ethnic riots are the best medium to invade the silence about ethnic issues and identities among voters, to create a favorable electoral environment[i]. According to the National Bureau of Crime Records,” Maharashtra has topped in communal riots in 2022 by 8,218 cases of rioting[4].

      Figure: 1  Source: NCRB

A survey conducted by NCRB and CSSS monitoring from 2017-2021 on communal riots, shows that 2020 has seen the highest number of communal riots with a total of 857 incidents. Given graph (Figure: 2) highlights that India has seen the highest surge of communal violence with 857 cases by 2022 and 723 by 2017 after the BJP have come into power.

Figure: 2 Source: CSSS.             

Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Karnataka were highly affected states by communal riots.  Citizenship amendment bills and protests against the law fuelled various violent incidents at some educational institutions. Which were motivated by communal hate against Muslim minority communities, vote bank politics, and appeasement policies for particular sections of society. Red Corridor, Northeastern India, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, and Kerala are considered highly vulnerable areas for electoral violence

Figure: 3 shows the unsocial activities that took place during the Indian general Election 2019. It highlights that activities of electoral violence during 2019 concluded highest no. of violence against civilians and deaths. The main reasons for violent activities during elections are Maoist insurgency, ongoing militancy, and civil conflicts. Jammu & Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh are highly affected areas. When left-wing insurgents denounce and oppose the state’s legitimacy and election. These activities include targeted political murders, booth capturing, attacking polling stations, journalists, and security personnel.

Figure: 3

Source: ACLED[5]

West Bengal has a very old history of political violence, due to rivalry among the Trinamool Congress Party (TMC), Communist Party of India (CPIM), and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). The rise of TMC and the increasing vote share of the BJP in the state takes back to the era of the communist state government[6]. The aggressively charged environment of the state explodes during elections in the form of murder, clashes, firing, rioting, and violence.

Figure: 4

Indian elections can be divided into three periods Candidate nomination, Election date announcement, and election period. There is a pattern of events with periods of elections, such as Inter-party clashes and demonstrations occur in the candidate nomination period, which are fuelled by disappointed, deserving, and potential candidates, who don’t get nominations. Given below graph shows, that events exponentially spiked during the election period and election days. The first day of voting becomes highly vulnerable to these types of events. Compared to the first day of voting lower number of these events were recorded. Post-election period spiked due to clashes among supporters of different parties and targeted civilian killings

Source: ALCED[7]

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[1] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/maternitybenefitactboonandbaneforthenation/is-religion-a-political-tool-in-india-51620/

[2] https://indianexpress.com/article/india/uttar-pradesh/express-investigation-part-i-over-600-communal-incidents-in-up-since-ls-results-60-near-bypoll-seats/

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-29828802

[4] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/maharashtra-tops-country-in-rioting-cases-in-2022-ranks-3rd-in-murders-and-4th-in-rapes-ncrb-data/articleshow/105752509.cms

[5] https://acleddata.com/2019/06/03/the-indian-general-election-2019-a-final-recap/

[6] https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/west-bengal-election-political-violence-history-trinamool-congress-bjp-left-mamata-banerjee-amit-shah-1526598-2019-05-16

[7] https://acleddata.com/2019/06/03/the-indian-general-election-2019-a-final-recap/

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[i] Wilkinson S., “Votes and violence: Electoral competition and ethnic riots in India”, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (2004) 

India's Demographic dividend, challenges and opportunities

Demographic dividend of any country is the potential for economic growth derived from a young-ward shift in the age distribution of its population. It occurs when the share of working-age population (15-64 years) increases, while the percentage share of non-working age population decreases.

As number of working-age population in labor force rises, the dependency of elderly decreases on labor force, which leads to economic surplus. For achieving this phase, a country transitions from phase of high fertility/mortality rate to low fertility/mortality rates. During demographic transition, families tend to have fewer children, which allows household resources to be invested in broader range, such as long-term well-being and education.

India stands as the world's largest provider of human resources, contributing approximately 24.3% of the global international workforce. The country is home to around 600 million people aged between 18 to 35 years, with approximately 65% of its population below 35 years old. India's demographic dividend is expected to peak around 2041, and it is estimated to last until 2055-56. Dependency ratio of India is about to reach its lowest point at 31.2% by 2023. India’s overall labor force participation have increased to 42.4% in 2023, compared to 41.3% in 2022. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, India’s female labor force participation rate has increased in FY 2022-23 by 4.2% to 37% total. Trend of FLFPR in last five years was as follows: 37%, 32.8%, 32.5%, 30.0%, and 24.5%.

India has become world’s most highly populated country in 2023, with the largest youth workforce. This is both an opportunity and a challenge for India, because young workforce is the driver of economic growth while, if it’s potentials is not channelized properly, it can turn into a national crisis. Three-fourth of India’s workers are engaged in low paying jobs, while around 45% of Indian population rely on agriculture. Around 28% of youth are engaged in unpaid help in household ventures which is ‘disguised unemployment.’

To address this challenge, Bibek Debroy, the Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, suggested that India needs to create around 5 –8 million jobs per year. Despite the increasing economic growth of the country, there is a lack of quality skilled and formally trained workforce also. As India recently surpassed China as the most populist country in the world, it also dreams to take over as world’s manufacturing hub but these dreams seem challenging due to a dearth of adequate skilling.

India-Bangladesh Bilateral Relations

India and Bangladesh are separated by a long border, and connected through shared cultural, social, economic, and civilizational ties. Bangla national anthem, written by none other than Nobel Laurette “Rabindranath Tagore”, who also wrote the Indian National Anthem. which signifies a truly composite nature of the relations between both people. Bangladesh shares 4094 kilometres of land border with India. It is almost surrounded on three sides by Eastern part of India and a small border with Myanmar. India played a crucial role in the Bangladeshi freedom struggle by launching “Operation Jackpot”, and also sheltered approximately 10 million refugees, who fled East-Pakistan in 1971. As both countries completed 50 years of relations, the focus of the relations has shifted from shared concerns about Pakistan to fledging economic ties.

Located strategically at the North of the Bay of Bengal, major powers such as China, Japan and the United States court Dhaka as a maritime hub. Owing to the vulnerable Chicken’s neck corridor, India has a quintessential requirement to keep solid ties with Bangladesh to open-up multiple access-points to the North-Eastern part of the country as well as build trans-national corridors spanning South-East Asia. Hence, Bangladesh has remained a major recipient of India's "Neighborhood First Policy" and "Act East policy".

In 2023, the Bangladesh government led by Sheikh Hasina allowed access to four transit routes to India, namely Port-Akhaura-Agartala, Chittagong-Bibirbazar-Srimantapur, Mongla Port-Akhaura-Agartala and Mongla Port-Bibirbazar-Srimantapur for transporting goods and services. There are major four rail links between India – Bangladesh namely, Bangladesh- Petrapole – Benapole, Gede – Darshana, Singhabad -Rohanpur, and Radhikapur – Birol. The Agartala-Akhaura railway project was inaugurated by Indian PM Narendra Modi and his counterpart Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina in 2023. There is large consensus on most policies among both countries which includes increasing the connectivity via land and maritime routes.

People-to-people relations remains the special character of both Bangla-speaking lands. Since, the division of Bengal happened only a century ago by the British, there is a deep inter-connectedness among people on both side of the Eastern boundary of India. Bangladesh is the fifth largest destination of foreign remittances in India. Almost $4 billion Indian nationals are working in Bangladesh. Indian tourism statistics highlight that, the Bangladesh ranks second

in foreign tourist arrival in India with 20% of percentage share. According to Union Tourism Ministry, “It sent the biggest number of medical tourists in India, with 54.3% of percentage share in 2019".

According to the "India Brand Equity Foundation," the total trade among India-Bangladesh in FY 2023 touched US$ 14.22 billion. India's total exports to Bangladesh crossed US$ 12.00 billion. India exports various products to Bangladesh such as cotton yarn, petroleum products, cereals, cotton fabrics and electricity. In FY 2023 India also imported various products from Bangladesh such as RGM Cotton, Cotton Fabrics, RMC manmade fibers, jute and spices worth almost US$ 2.02 billion. Various Indian public sector companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, unmilitary Refinery Limited, and Perronet LNG are working in collaboration with Bangladesh. Thus, both countries remain one of the top bilateral trade partners of each other.

Just like Nepal and Bhutan, Energy cooperation is a hallmark of the India- Bangladesh relationship with the former sourcing its substantial power needs from India. In 2023, at “Two-day India-Bangladesh Strategic Dialogue” in New Delhi, Bangladeshi High Commissioner to India MD Mustafizur Rahman said, “his country is importing nearly 2,000 MW of electricity from India”. According to the Business Standard in 2023 "India- Bangladesh- Nepal" has finalized a draft of the tripartite trade agreement for power sharing among nations. Since 2015, under a coastal- shipping agreement, Indian merchant vessels could use Chittagong and Mongla ports instead of using the Singapore route which cuts costs. In addition, India – Bangladesh also signed an MOU on maritime cooperation and blue economy to promote green tourism apart from extensive interactions regarding disaster mitigation. Both countries face multiple devastating seasonal and recurring cyclones in the Bay of Bengal.

In 2013, India- Bangladesh signed an extradition treaty to counter the threat of radical Islamic fundamentalism linked to AL-Qaeda and Pakistan's intelligence operations. They exchanged political prisoners also under this agreement. In 2015, Bangladesh transferred separatist group ULFA’s founder Anup Chetia to India, who was in Bangladeshi jail from 1997. India also handed over Narayanganj seven-murder accused “Nur Hossain” to Bangladesh in 2015. Shared security concerns over radicalism remains a key metric of jointness for both countries’ agencies. India has previously engaged Bangladeshi agencies in multiple security-related concerns and this engagement has also built momentum. This can be ascertained by the reduction in violent incidents between the border police of both countries. Annual defense

exercises such as SAMPRITI continues to enhance interoperability between security forces of both countries.

The impending agreement for sharing Teesta waters is an important issue plaguing relation, but historical examples of successful cooperation make it achievable. In 1996, Ganges Water Treaty was signed by India - Bangladesh to share drinking water for 30 years, which is near to expire in 2026. Various other challenges between both nations do exist and needs quick resolution, namely illegal trade carried out through porous borders, such as bootleg smuggling; Farakka Barrage and Teesta River dispute; human trafficking; radicalism; arms smuggling; etc. The issue of poor treatment of minority Hindu citizens of Bangladesh, including communal tensions have remained a major irritant in the political ties among both countries.

However, Bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh reflect strong cultural, historical and economic ties. A recent example can be the US objection to the status of democracy in Bangladesh. Despite the American objections to Dhaka’s current democratic process, Status of non-wavering ally among India and Bangladesh haven’t changed. The frequent in-person talks between PM Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina suggests that both countries continue to share deep insights regarding the shared future of the strong bilateral relations.

Criminalization of Indian Politics, reason, effect and analyzing action taken by State

Indian politics is widely connected with candidates who have criminal charges on them. According to the Association of democratic reforms, 43% of newly elected Lok Sabha MPs have criminal records. BJP has 116 MPs winning candidate who faces criminal charges against them and Congress consists of 29 MPs. Criminal charges include includes Money laundering, robbery, crime against women, corruption, electoral malpractice, use of muscle power, caste, religion and violence. Four union ministers and 35 ministers of state assemblies have declared criminal charges of dacoity, Murder and cause of serious injuries.

The criminalization of politics can be attributed to various factors such as money power, muscle power, caste, religious factors, weak party structure, and lack of awareness among voters. Indian legal system faces challenges in delivering justice on time, which leads to an increase in criminal charges. This allows politicians to contest elections with pending criminal charges and hold public offices till they are not convicted.

A significant section of voters particularly women in rural India due to the digital divide lacks information such as newspapers, television and digital media. This leads to a lack of awareness among voters about criminal charges against the candidate and makes them unintentionally vote against their self-interest. Indian society is very diverse and deeply separated based on caste and religious identities. Candidates exploit voters based on their identities and promise special treatment and promise to fulfil their benefit. Identity politics overshoes the importance of their criminal records in the eyes of voters.

Using money and muscle power during an election narrows down the voter's choice to elect a suitable leader and violates the ethos of free and fair elections which is considered as the bedrock of democracy. When lawbreakers become lawmakers it affects governance, increases lack of transparency and affects the efficacy of the democratic process in the country.  A corrupt system leads to an increase in the circulation of Black money and increases corruption in society, affecting the functioning of the bureaucracy. Communal politics introduces a culture of communalism and violence in society which affects social harmony and set bad examples for youths to follow and reduces people's belief in democratic values. Huge investment in the election by the candidate is the major cause of increasing corruption in India, criminal activities help in generating the money which is used in elections.

For the prevention of the criminalization of politics, the election commission of India has mandated the disclosure of criminal records of candidates contesting the election before the nomination. Under Section 8(1) of the Representation of People's Act, a candidate who has been convicted or sentenced for 2 years or more will be disqualified from the contesting elections. The government have established a fast-track court for fast trials of criminal cases against politicians.

ECI has also launched a flagship program “Systematic Voter's Education and electoral participation (SVEEP) "to educate, inform and motivate voters to take decisions and participate in elections to make Indian democracy transparent and meaningful. Any concerned citizen of India can file a public interest litigation and gather information about the candidate and expenditure of a particular political party on election campaigns.

The criminalization of politics is a problem which poses a threat to the democratic process and weakens democracy. It is a very complex issue which needs a multi-dimensional approach to solve for example candidates with charges of heinous crimes should be barred from contesting the elections, the state should start funding the election campaign to reduce the use of black money and macule power and create a level playing field for every candidate. The focus of the election campaign should be based on people's problems rather than caste and religion and Democratic values should be maintained within the party lines.  

Rape as a weapon of war

It is widely recognized that sexual violence in wartime is a violation of human rights. If we talk about the weapons used during war, then according to feminist ideology sexual violence in war takes place in many ways. For example, gender is  used as a much-needed weapon, from women and girls facing rape or sexual  violence to being sex slaves for male combatants, from being the so-called 'wife'  to being a maid who spends the day. Does domestic work during the day and provides sexual services during the night, etc.

The most recent example of all this is the sexual assault on women in Ukraine by  The Russian military which is named as “Bucha killings”. Ukrainian women have been victims of being raped by Russian soldiers in Ukraine amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Doctors say that autopsy reports suggest that many Ukrainian women were raped before being shot. According to a Guardian report 124 cases of alleged sexual violence in Ukraine have been reported to the UN team.

Our patriarchal society believes that raping someone is an attack on the most sacred part and dignity of a human being. A woman is a man's property and cannot take decisions related to her body. Therefore, sexual violence and rape of women during the war are considered an attack on the pride of the enemy.

“The use of women's bodies and rape is used as the most effective weapon in war,” raises many questions. Such as, how women's bodies and their individual parts are seen and understood by soldiers in the military. How this is related to misogyny and militarism? How this affects the principles of training and instruction of military personnel that leads to sexual violence and promotes rape culture. Also how different cultures and countries all over the world understood this? How they made policies for their benefit which justifies sexual violence or rape.

As in Western civilization, it is believed that the most sacred soul is in the human body and the vagina is a door to reach the soul of women. Rape is seen as an act of access to that property and it turns the woman into a 'thing'. According to the research authors, when someone rapes a woman, rape is not an aggressive expression of sexuality, but a sexual expression of aggression. The rapist does not act on sexual urges; rather he uses sexuality as a way of showing his aggression and dominance over the woman.

It is an attack on his identity. It weakens the enemy mentally, making it easier to attack and defeat. The worst thing is that women do not even have the right to claim their pain as their own. Due to this women have to bear double pain. One is rape and the other after rape, women are not considered 'pure'. They are thrown out of the house. Their own families refused to adopt them.

Violence against women in times of war undoubtedly involves humiliation and displays of power, but sometimes impregnates women, infecting them with HIV or AIDS as a tool to exterminate an entire enemy race. There is a very unfortunate patriarchal idea in our society that rapes are caused by the uncontrolled sexual power of men. It focuses on the ideology that man's nature is like a pressure cooker, uncontrollable and bound by his desires.

During the Bangladesh Liberation War (1971), the West Pakistani army raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women in camps, repeatedly raping them to reinforce the belief that West Pakistani chiefs were more powerful and populous, not like those Bengali men who can't protect their people so they are better than East Pakistanis and deserve to be ruled over. Many women committed suicide or were thrown out of their homes. Some women who became pregnant did not even get a chance to have an abortion. The gang rape and murder in Bangladesh have not yet been recognized by the United Nations as genocide. A film was made on this incident in 2014 with the name of ' Children of War '.

In the year 1937, the Japanese army invaded China and captured the capital of China. This became known as the Nanjing Massacre. Japanese soldiers and officers systematically raped all the women in the city on the orders of General

Iwana Matsui and Prince Asaka Yasuhiko. These incidents occurred in China as well as with South Korean women. These women were forced into sexual slavery. These women are called ' comfort women '. They were known by the name of soldiers who used them and kept them in army camps. Japanese soldiers used them as per their wishes. In the civil wars of Rwanda, Africa and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the late 20th century, rape was used as a systematic tool of intimidation, intimidation, ethnic cleansing and genocide. The policies of war included taking women captive, raping them, and cutting off their breasts.

During a meeting of the United Nations Security Council in 2013, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that “the international community needs to understand that rape is a weapon of war that can be used to destroy lives, tear apart communities and for military purposes”. To achieve this is done in the same way as tanks and bullets are used.