ABSTRACT
The trajectory of India after 2014 has led it to renege on its traditional secularism by establishing a de facto ethnic democracy during Narendra Modi’s first term, as evident from the role of Hindu nationalist vigilante groups. After the 2019 elections, it embarked on the path of a de jure ethnic democracy, through the passing of new laws (including those making interreligious marriages difficult), the Citizenship Amendment Act, reforms of the Constitution (including the abolition of Art. 370) and greater recourse to the police which has taken up the task of Hindu vigilante groups, transforming social violence into state violence. State vigilantism is resulting in a pure ethnocracy at the expense of the liberal pillar of democracy. This trend suggests that India is now emulating the Pakistani trajectory.
