The Terrifying Implications of India’s Elections for People and the Planet

The Modi government's far-right bigotry is well-known, but its equally disturbing environmental record isn't.In a sweeping victory, the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Narendra Modi has returned to power in India's elections. It's a profoundly disturbing development.The most pressing concern about the BJP government is its systematic persecution of India's minorities, particularly Muslims.A cloud of suspicion still hangs over Modi himself for his role in instigating, or at least tacitly endorsing, massacres of Muslims as chief minister in his home state of Gujarat. Modi failed to use the state law enforcement machinery to stop the 2002 pogrom, and systematically covered up the inaction.Not unexpectedly, the Modi and the BJP's ascent to national power in 2014 has had terrifying consequences for Muslims nationwide since then. Brutal mob killings of Muslims and Dalits (Hindus who are low in the caste hierarchy) in the name of "cow protection" have become common in India.