This is brilliant rhetoric. It hits Modi and his image-obsessed promoters precisely where it hurts most - by making what to them is surely the most insulting comparison imaginable.
I hear that this headline is going viral. Please help passing it around. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/12/india-hindu-taliban-narendra-modi -------------------------snip Of late, many Indian journalists and human rights activists have been harassed and threatened with “sedition” charges: for example, Teesta Setalvad <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-34105194>, who still seeks justice for the victims of communal violence in the state of Gujarat in 2002 <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/14/new-india-gujarat-massacre>, when Modi was the state’s chief minister; and Santosh Yadav <http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/india-release-santosh-yadav-ua-22415>, arrested in September in the state of Chhattisgarh on what Amnesty International believes are fabricated charges resulting from his investigatory journalism exposing police brutality against Adivasis (indigenous people). A few weeks ago, even a musician who sang a satirical song criticising the state governor of Tamil Nadu over alcohol sales was charged with “anti-Indian activity”. This alarming erosion of democracy is a slippery slope that may end up targeting not just minorities and “outsiders” but any dissenting “insiders”. What I’ve seen happening is a spirit of fear taking hold, which threatens to silence activists, artists and intellectuals alike. We’ve never known that before. A Hindu version of the Taliban is asserting itself, in which Indians are being told: “It’s either this view – or else.” A friend told me: “There is huge oppression of anyone who’s different.” Last month, dozens of Indian writers handed back their literary awards <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/06/returning-award-ashamed-india-arundhati-roy> in protest, following communal violence against Muslims and attacks on intellectuals.
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