The Struggle Between Secularism and Majoritarian Politics over India's Personal Legal System

In recent years, the government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attracted criticism from internal and international actors alike for its majoritarian policies. These include the repeal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution providing autonomy to the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir along with the introduction of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The CAA expands the provision of citizenship for refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh exclusively to non-Muslim minorities, while the implementation of the NRC in the state of Assam may disproportionately target Muslim citizens through its efforts to identify and deport illegal immigrants. Clearly, at least from the perspective of Western media outlets like the New York Times, the Bharatiya Janata Party has engaged in an assault on the secular principles of the Republic of India.