How Right-Wing Media and Social Platforms Are Waging War on India바카라�s Liberal Voices

바카라�Secularism! Damn! What for?바카라� he thundered. There is no place for secularism in India, he declared. He gestured at tearing secularism apart. India was never secular he claimed; former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi forcefully made India secular by inserting the word in the Constitution during the Emergency. Now, secularism must go. Secular Hindus are enemies of the nation; the enemies within. The war against secularism is no less바카라�if not more바카라�important than the war against terror, he contended.

One cannot expect correct facts from such propaganda programmes. However, for the sake of our readers, here is the right fact: the Supreme Court has upheld the inclusion of 바카라�secular바카라� in the Constitution, arguing that the Constitution has always been secular, even if the explicit term had not been used in it before 1976. But a million verbal salvos targeting India바카라�s seculars came from the Hindu nationalist propaganda ecosystem on social media and the mainstream media in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir, where suspected Pakistan-backed terrorists selectively killed 25 Hindu male tourists and a Muslim man who refused to let the Hindus die. Instead of showing collective contempt for terror, the aftermath of the tragedy stands witness to an outburst of hatred targeting seculars and liberals.

Social Media바카라�s Hate Engine After Pahalgam

In the wee hours of April 25, pro-Hindutva 바카라�security analyst바카라� Rakesh Krishnan Simha posted a photo card on the social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), which read: 바카라�Muslims are born in Muslim homes. Christians are born in Christian Homes. Unfortunately, thick-skulled 바카라�seculars바카라� are born only in Hindu homes.바카라� In less than twelve hours, it was shared over 1,300 times.

A Hindu nationalist X user going by the name Shivanya wrote, 바카라�India can never do an Israel. Israel is surrounded by enemies. India is filled with enemies.바카라� Apart from most of the over 4,000 users who shared the post, many of the comments reflect agreement with her, specifying that India faced a great internal threat from secular Hindus. Many social media users echoed that 바카라�secular Hindus should be punished as they are the main culprits.바카라� Varun Bahl, who has over 21,000 바카라�followers바카라� on X, wrote, 바카라�The biggest problem in Bharat is the Sickular Hindus. They are out to destroy us.바카라�

The word 바카라�secular바카라� had long become 바카라�sickular바카라�, implying illness, and liberals became 바카라�libtard바카라�, representing a person of questionable parentage, during the past decade바카라�s Hindu nationalist wave that has swept most parts of India. The Hindu nationalists presumably hold them as the wall shielding India바카라�s minorities, especially Muslims, whom they find responsible for almost every bad thing that has happened to India.

Besides, Hindu nationalists seem to be very much aware that minorities, who form one-fifth of India바카라�s population, and especially Muslims whose share in India바카라�s population is only 14 per cent, cannot prevent Hindu majoritarianism from turning India into a Hindu Rashtra, as they wish; it바카라�s the Hindus preaching secularism, diversity and inclusivity who offer Hindu majoritarians the greatest resistance.

The rising aggression of Hindutva forces against liberal thinking and secular belief and practices reached a significant point in 2023 when Mohan Bhagwat, the helmsman of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)바카라�the ideological-organisational parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)바카라�targeted 바카라�cultural Marxists바카라� and the 바카라�wokes바카라� as a global threat to their kind of politics. The word 바카라�woke바카라� originated in the US, referring to those who call themselves awakened, aware of important issues, including racial and socio-economic discrimination. In his Vijaya Dashami speech in October 2023, Bhagwat held that these people are against all good administration in the world, oppose all things sacred, good moral values and restraints, and reward unchecked autocracy.

바카라�To make their impacts bigger, they take control of the media and academia and ruin a nation바카라�s education system, corrupt its culture and turn politics and social environment into victims of confusion and lies,바카라� he said. The 바카라�wokes바카라� and the 바카라�cultural Marxists바카라� use falsehood, perversion and exaggerations to spread confusion, hatred and fear and entangle people into conflicts and quarrels to take control of society. 바카라�Such forces producing mistrust, confusion and mutual hatred pose a threat to every country,바카라� Bhagwat concluded.

It was a time when the Republicans in the US, including Donald Trump, as well as business tycoons like Elon Musk, were also taking potshots at 바카라�wokism,바카라� as was Italy바카라�s Georgia Meloni and Argentina바카라�s Javier Milei. In February 2025, while highlighting how the conservatives were coordinating globally against the 바카라�global political left바카라�, Meloni summed up what binds Trump, Narendra Modi, Milei and Meloni against the left liberals: 바카라�We defend freedom. We love our nations. We want secure borders,바카라� she said. 바카라�We preserve businesses and citizens...We defend family and life. We fight against wokeism. We protect our sacred right to our faith and our free speech. And we stand for common sense. So ultimately, our struggle is hard, but the choice is simple.바카라�

While critics argue that they have normalised hate speech in the name of free speech, the war against 바카라�wokes바카라�, liberals, the left and seculars has intensified since Trump took charge at the White House in March 2025.

Secularism has been under fire in different parts of the world for over a decade now, as the world witnessed a rise of right-wing populists, who use religious conservatism as part of their nationalist politics. In 2018, Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK and author of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom, said that secularism, like all concepts foundational to the liberal political order internationally, is under threat. 바카라�That바카라�s in the same way that human rights, the rule of law, even the idea of liberal democracy itself are under threat from a number of different forces: religious extremism, nationalistic populism, conservatism and so on,바카라� he said. Copson opined that secularism, unlike those opposing forces, isn바카라�t defended much by anyone. 바카라�Secularism suffers because it바카라�s both under attack and under-defended.바카라�

Those whom Bhagwat referred to as 바카라�woke바카라� and 바카라�cultural Marxists바카라� in Western lingo are 바카라�secular-liberal바카라� in India바카라�s Hindu nationalist vocabulary. Their outburst regarding secular Hindus following the Pahalgam terror attack aimed to carry one message바카라�terrorism will be finished if the shield that the seculars are providing, all supposed sympathisers and supporters of Pakistan and terrorism, is removed.

Advocate Girish Bharadwaj, whose Facebook page with 1.07 lakh 바카라�followers바카라� describes him as a 바카라�Dharmic Warrior바카라�, 바카라�a relentless crusader of Hindutva and Nationalism,바카라� posted what appeared to be a poem. It read: 바카라�And every time one/ bleeds, they shout:/ Let바카라�s not make this/ about religion.바카라�/ No./We will make this/ about religion./ He asked the name/ He pulled the trousers/ He pulled the trigger./ And all you pulled/ was your secular curtain/ of shame.바카라� While sharing this in a photocard, Bharadwaj added, 바카라�The hands of so-called secular people are also soaked in Hindus바카라� blood.바카라�

Ritam Enlish, the RSS-backed news portal, highlighted in a post that All India Majlis Ittehad e Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi 바카라�admits Islamic terrorists targeted Hindus by confirming their religion.바카라� They dubbed Oawisi바카라�s 바카라�admission바카라� as 바카라�truth slipped out while playing secular바카라�. In contrast, 바카라�some 바카라�secular바카라� Hindus still deny the reality for (the sake of) Muslim appeasement,바카라� the portal wrote. 바카라�When will they stop validating terror sympathisers?바카라�

Noticing the trend, Semanti Ghosh, author and editor of the editorial page, Anandabazar Patrika, India바카라�s largest-circulated Bengali daily, wrote in an op-ed that we wouldn바카라�t have known without the media and social media how deeply the poison of unrighteousness in the name of religion and brainwashing in the name of politics have scarred India바카라�s social psyche.

바카라�After such an incident, leaving everything else aside, the 바카라�Secu-Maku바카라�, i.e., the secular camp, is being subjected to relentless offensives바카라�as if it all happened due to their fault!바카라� she wrote.

Why Secular Hindus Are the New Enemy

바카라�Secu-Maku바카라� is the Hindu nationalist lingo to refer to seculars and Marxists. Why they were instantly targeted in the aftermath of the terror attack at Pahalgam may have one simple explanation: Muslims, already cornered in different parts of India over the gradual deepening and expansion of Hindu nationalist influence, are not in a position to raise critical questions. It is the Hindus championing secularism and opposing the Hindu nationalists바카라� Hindu Rashtra venture who will ask questions, and some disturbing ones, about the BJP government바카라�s tall claims on the 바카라�success바카라� of their aggressive Kashmir policy and the state of national security. Silencing them, therefore, appeared necessary.

Snigdhendu Bhattacharya is a journalist, author and researcher