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Vigilantism and Political Assassinations in Democratic India: The Role of Hindu Right-Wing Organizations

This talk examines the political assassinations of four prominent critics of Hindu nationalism under India’s BJP-led government since 2014, exploring the ideological context behind the violence.

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The right-wing nationalist government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ascended to power in India in 2014. Its charismatic leader, Narendra Modi, assumed the role of Prime Minister, and is currently serving his third term in office. A fundamental tenet of the party is Hindutva, which seeks to utilise the political influence of Hinduism to achieve the objective of transforming India into a majoritarian Hindu nation. This ideological orientation of the BJP coincided with a spate of targeted violence directed at prominent public figures who had voiced criticism of the prevailing orthodoxies in the Hindu religion and were vehemently opposed to its political exploitation. This talk will focus on four prominent public figures who were victims of political assassination during this period. 

Suparna Banerjee is a researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), a member of the Regional Research Centre Transformations of Political Violence (TraCe), and currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Conflict Studies from May to July 2025.