Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has cracked down on independent media outlets, harassed opposition leaders, and changed electoral laws to favor his party.

“Over the last decade, Viktor Orbán and his ruling Fidesz party have ‘unceasingly attacked media pluralism and independence,’ according to the World Press Freedom Index report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Public broadcasting, in particular, has been turned into a government ‘propaganda organ,’ with very limited time given to opposition parties. According to leaked emails, the Hungarian National News Agency (MTI) receives instructions from the head of the Prime Minister’s Press Office on what to cover and what not to cover, including precise terms, headlines, and leads to be used.”²

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has imprisoned journalists and opposition leaders and shut down independent media outlets.

In 2018, Türkiye, for the third consecutive year, was the biggest jailer of journalists. “Even as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been the fiercest critic of Saudi Arabia for the murder of Adnan Khashoggi, his government continued to jail more journalists than any other on the planet. CPJ found at least 68 journalists jailed for their work in Turkey, which is slightly lower than in previous years. In the course of the year, dozens more have been jailed or released as prosecutors continue to seek arrest warrants and apply new charges, and courts ordered some journalists released pending trial and acquitted others. For the third consecutive year, every journalist imprisoned in Turkey is facing anti-state charges. Erdoğan began the crackdown before the 2016 failed coup attempt but afterward intensified it, shutting down more than 100 news outlets by decree. Those on the periphery of the journalistic profession are also vulnerable.”³

Former President Rodrigo Duterte branded his opponents as terrorists and enemies of the state and encouraged his supporters to commit extrajudicial killings in the framework of the so-called “war on drugs.” The case of former Senator Leila de Lima is emblematic of the treatment of opposition figures. For more than 6 years, Sen. de Lima has been in detention on politically motivated charges. “On multiple occasions, PGA’s global membership has called on the government of the Philippines to release Sen. de Lima from prison. Despite international efforts and condemnation, Sen. de Lima remains arbitrarily deprived of her fundamental right to liberty.”⁴

Intolerance of opposition is a dangerous trend that is undermining democracy around the world. It is important to be aware of the signs of democratic backsliding and to speak out against intolerance of opposition in all its forms.

Majoritarianism is the traditional philosophy that the numerical majority of a population, which can be categorized as a certain race, ethnic group, social class, gender, religion, or other identifying factor, has the right to have the final say in determining the outcome of a decision, i.e., take decisions that affect the entirety of society even if they are harmful to minorities. Indeed, a majoritarian ruling style is a form of government in which the majority dominates the minority, leading to policies discriminatory against minority communities undermining their rights. Such discrimination affects these communities’ ability to participate fully in democratic life.

Since the accession to power of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014, India’s politics have become increasingly majoritarian. The BJP has promoted a Hindutva ideology, which purports that India is a fundamentally Hindu country and its culture should comply with Hindu values. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has established an ethno-religious and populist style of rule. Its agenda transcends the formal branches of government. “The BJP also traces its values to the Indian civilization whereby the Abrahamic faiths are foreign elements and a threat to Hindus and Hinduism. Muslims are portrayed as regressive, dangerous, and primitive; Christians as proselytizers. As for the other religious minorities, including Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains, they are considered a part of the greater Hindu polity.”⁵

Hindutva ideology has permeated formal state institutions as well as civil society, allowing vigilante groups to exert cultural policing. This majoritarian ideology pervades public discourse and affects the judiciary, universities, and cultural institutions, increasingly captured by Hindu nationalists. Individuals who dissent are silenced and sidelined. The press is not free to operate independently and suffers intimidation via the court system. At the international level, the BJP government has privileged hard power and the strengthening of a security state.

Since 2019, the year of reelection of the BJP under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), it has carried out a series of controversial Hindu nationalist policies viewed as majoritarian. The majoritarian ruling style is characterized by the following:

• The government may promote Hindu identity and culture through policies and programs that favor Hindus. For example, the government may provide financial support to Hindu temples and organizations or promote Hindu values in schools and other public institutions.
• The government may marginalize minority groups, such as Muslims and Christians, by discriminating against them in terms of access to government jobs, education, and other services. The government may also pass laws that restrict the rights of minority groups.

“[…] Indian Muslims have been underrepresented in parliament since independence. Structural factors, such as India’s electoral rules and the spatial distribution of Muslims across the country, have contributed to this problem. However, the marginalization of the Muslim community has become more overt since 2014 because the major political parties have shied away from representing Muslims’ concerns and including their perspectives through informal mechanisms. Notably, Muslims also have minimal representation in the ruling BJP: Of the party’s 303 members elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2019 general elections, none are Muslim. […]”⁶

• The government may also condone, or even encourage, violence and intimidation against minority groups by Hindu nationalist groups. This violence may take the form of lynching, riots, and other attacks.
• The legislature may pass laws that discriminate against minorities, including those restricting minority religious rights, educational opportunities, or employment opportunities.
• Minorities may be excluded from political participation through the gerrymandering of electoral districts or making it difficult for minorities to register to vote.

The BJP has implemented several policies that favor Hindus and marginalize minority groups. For example, the BJP has also supported the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of a former mosque, which has been a source of tension between Hindus and Muslims.

Thirty-three years ago, “[…] Hindu extremists armed with pickaxes tore down a 16th-century mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya, sparking riots that killed thousands of Muslims.

On Wednesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi fulfilled a campaign promise to his Hindu nationalist base by laying the cornerstones of a grand Hindu shrine on that very same spot. The ceremony coincides with the first anniversary of India's revocation of special rights in Kashmir, its only Muslim-majority state.

Under Modi, both Ayodhya and Kashmir have become symbols of Hindu nationalist dominance over India, despite the secularism enshrined in its constitution — and a painful affront to the country's Muslims. About 1 in 6 Indians is Muslim; they are the country's largest religious minority and one of the largest Muslim communities in the world.”⁷

Human rights groups have criticized the government over its discriminatory policies, which infringe upon India’s secular tradition. The BJP and its supporters argue that they are protecting the interests of the majority Hindu population. Although there is a diversity of views within the BJP itself as well as among the Hindu electorate, a majoritarian ruling style has grown in recent years and has had negative consequences on the country, with a surge in religious intolerance and social tensions between the Hindu majority and minority communities, including religiously inspired violence against minority communities. This climate of fear and insecurity has harmed India’s international reputation.

Some of the laws and policies against minority groups are:

• The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) approved by the Parliament of India in December 2019. This Act makes it easier for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to become Indian citizens. Quickly after the CAA’s passage, protests erupted across the country. The government instituted a violent crackdown against the protestors.⁸
• Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, revoked by the Indian Government in August 2019, granted special status to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.⁹
• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) released by the State of Assam in 2019. The NRC required all residents of the state to prove their Indian citizenship. The NRC was widely criticized for being discriminatory against Muslims and other minority groups.

“On August 31, 2019, the government of the northeastern Indian state of Assam released an updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), originally introduced in 1951 as part of India’s first census. The purpose of updating this list was to verify the citizenship of Assam residents and aid the government in identifying so-called “infiltrators” or “illegal immigrants.” India’s Union government supported this effort, and both national and state leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have pushed for the implementation of an NRC in other states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has expressed his desire to implement a nationwide NRC.”¹⁰

The majoritarian ruling style in India is a severe threat to the country’s democracy and pluralism, as it contributes to weakening democratic institutions. Although some argue that a majoritarian type of government is legitimate, the rights of the minority must be protected, and robust policies and legislation must ensure full participation of all citizens in civil and political life.