When the State Turned Predator: Indian National Congress and the Politics of Pogroms

The Indian National Congress, often hailed as India’s liberator, repeatedly used the state’s power against its own citizens, turning secularism into a cover for political violence and repression.

After Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, Chitpavan Brahmins were massacred across Maharashtra with Congress complicity, erasing their historic influence without any inquiry or justice.

In 1966, police, under Congress orders, fired on unarmed sadhus demanding a cow slaughter ban during the Gopāstamī protest, killing scores and exposing the state’s hostility toward Hindu traditions.

The 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom was orchestrated and enabled by Congress leaders and police, leaving thousands dead and cementing a pattern of state-enabled mass violence.

Beyond communal violence, Congress also weaponized the state during the Emergency (1975–77), suspending liberties, coercing sterilizations, and silencing dissent, proving its willingness to sabotage democracy itself.