Today, the 26th of January, India celebrates "Republic Day," the day it adopted its constitution as an independent country after 200 years of British colonialism — as a “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular Democratic Republic committed to Justice, Equality and Liberty for the people.”

In sharp contrast, earlier this week, the current government, led by Narendra Modi, made a decisive move to overthrow India’s secular constitution in the name of a new Hindu supremacist nation.

On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his re-election campaign with the inauguration of a new multimillion-dollar Hindu temple upon the ruins of a mosque destroyed by fundamentalist mobs.

30 years prior, on 6 December 1992, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led a violent mob to demolish the Mosque to rubble — claiming that it was the ancient site of a Hindu temple for Lord Ram or the “Ram Mandir”. In the bloody communal riots that followed, over 2,000 people were killed.

A thorough investigation led by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan found 68 people to be responsible for the demolition of the Mosque — mostly leaders from the BJP, including senior figures and members of Parliament such as AB Vajpayee, who went on to become the Prime Minister in 1996, LK Advani, and Vijaya Raje Scindia. None of them have faced legal repercussions to date.

Since then, the ruling BJP government has embraced “Ram Mandir” as a battle cry for their nation-building project. “Ram is the faith of India, Ram is the foundation of India. Ram is the idea of India, Ram is the law of India,” Modi said in his address to the nation on Monday.

As Prime Minister, Modi has pushed this Hindu-nationalism as India’s dominant political force: banning the hijab in schools, introducing “anti-conversion” laws, abusing municipal forces to demolish Muslim households and shops in cities, and pushing for a “uniform civil code” in law.

Now, in open defiance of India's secular constitution, Modi fuses "Prime Minister" with "Chief Priest" to conduct the consecration of this controversial temple.

The “celebration” is not limited to Ayodhya. A holiday was announced in several states, instructing government offices, schools, and markets to remain closed for the public broadcast.

“Islamophobia is no longer a fringe sentiment in India. It has become a state-manufactured ideology,” read the warning issued by Genocide Watch in 2023. The 10-year term of the country’s Hindu nationalist government has seen escalating violence and conflict against Muslims, who make up its largest minority — and a steady weakening of democratic institutions that could stand in the way.

We will be reporting from the ground across India, organising briefings and keeping you updated with developments ahead of and through the general election in April.

The people of India have struggled for decades to secure a democracy that is secular, just, and equal. Modi must not be permitted to rob them of it now.

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Argentina’s general strike

On Wednesday, Argentina’s workers went on general strike to defend their rights and living standards under full frontal attack by capitalist fundamentalist President Javier Milei. Last month, Milei issued the Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU) #70/2023 — an unprecedented abuse of presidential powers to strip Argentina’s workers of their fundamental rights in the name of ‘anarcho-capitalism.’

Argentina’s workers and unions are not taking this repressive assault lying down. Workers and union banners flooded the country’s streets as factories, shops and schools were shuttered and flights cancelled. Progressive International member, trade union federation CTA-T was at the heart of the campaign and, with the PI, called for solidarity from the labour movement around the world.

Trade unions representing millions of workers around the world heard the call and stood in solidarity with them including PI member and Brazil’s biggest trade union federation CUT, PI member and Indian people’s movement MKSS, Spain’s largest trade union CCOO, the global federation of transport unions ITF and six British unions: RMT, FBU, TSSA, ASLEF, UCU and BFAWU.

G77 at 60

This week in Kampala, the Progressive International celebrated 60 years since the birth of the Group of 77 Nations, a body that encompasses today all 134 members of the Global South. At the Group’s Summit in the Ugandan capital, a delegation from the Progressive International discussed the trajectory of sovereign development in the 21st century and how governments of the Global South can combine forces to exercise collective action on natural resources, debt, technology, trade and climate change. Over the past two years, the PI has collaborated with the G77 to develop a plan of action to realise a New International Economic Order. This work continues in 2024, in Africa and beyond.

Kenyan progressives say “Hands off Haiti”

The Progressive International landed in Kenya this week with a small delegation to meet popular forces and political parties to help forge a new international front against the so-called security mission in Haiti. In Nairobi, the PI was hosted by member organisation the Mathare Social Justice Centre and participated in a public meeting, along with members from the Communist Party of Kenya and the Orange Democratic Movement, against Kenya sending security forces to Haiti on behalf of the United States.

Art: Kaun Mara? (Who Died?) was painted on the street during a protest just days after the demolition of the Babri Masjid by the artist Manjit Bawa (1941–2008), who captured the grim and bloody scene.