SHEIKH SAALIQ

Saaliq is a reporter based in New Delhi, India

Members of Aam Admi Party, or Common Man's Party, shout slogans during a protest against the arrest of their party leader Arvind Kejriwal, in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 22, 2024. Supporters of an anti-corruption crusader and one of India's most consequential politicians of the last decade in India held protests Friday against his arrest, which opposition parties say is part of a crackdown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government before national elections. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A Modi rival is arrested. Now, supporters of the opposition leader are protesting in India’s capital

Supporters of an anti-corruption crusader and one of India’s most consequential politicians of the past decade are protesting against his arrest.

People walk past a large poster of the movie Swatantra Veer Savarkar displayed outside a cinema hall in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Mar. 21, 2024. The movie, set to be released on Friday, is one of several upcoming Bollywood releases based on polarizing issues, which either promote Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government’s political agenda, or lambast his critics. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

As India’s election nears, some Bollywood films promote Modi politics by embracing Hindu nationalism

A cluster of Bollywood films based on polarizing issues that promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government’s Hindu nationalist agenda are coming out.

Students protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Guwahati, India, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. India has implemented a controversial citizenship law that has been widely criticized for excluding Muslims, a minority community whose concerns have heightened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec. 31, 2014. Banner in Assamese reads, "we will not accept CAA " (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

India’s new citizenship law excludes Muslims. Here’s what to know

India has implemented a citizenship law that excludes migrants who are Muslims, a minority community whose concerns have heightened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.

FILE- Indians raise their tied hands and shout slogans during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in New Delhi, India, Dec. 27, 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Monday announced rules to implement a 2019 citizenship law that critics say is discriminatory against Muslims, weeks before the Hindu nationalist leader will seek a third term in office. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

India announces steps to implement a citizenship law that excludes Muslims

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has announced rules to implement a 2019 citizenship law that excludes Muslims, weeks before the Hindu nationalist leader seeks a third term in office.

FILE- Police officials stand guard during a protest outside Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regional office in Bangalore, India, Oct. 26, 2018. India says several of its citizens have been duped to work with the Russian Army, a day after a federal investigation agency said it had busted a human trafficking network which lured young men to Russia. On Thursday, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation said at least 35 Indian nationals were sent to Russia through these agents. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)

India says some of its citizens have been duped into working for the Russian army

Indian authorities say they are in talks with Russia’s government about the return of Indian citizens who were duped into working for the Russian army.

Three men arrested for the alleged gang rape of a Spanish tourist are brought by police to be produced before the Dumka District Court in Dumka, Jharkhand, India, Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar)

Gang rape of a tourist in India highlights its struggle to curb sexual violence against women

Police in India have arrested three men in the alleged gang rape of a foreign tourist, in a case that has highlighted the country’s long-standing problem of sexual violence against women.

FILE- Leaders from the opposition INDIA alliance raise their hands together in a show of unity during a protest rally against the suspension of more than 140 lawmakers from the parliament, in New Delhi, India, Dec. 22, 2023. Last year more than two dozen opposition parties in India came together to take on Narendra Modi, one of the country's most popular prime ministers in generations. But the broad alliance, beset with ideological differences and personality clashes, is cracking at a crucial time, just months before the country votes in a national election. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

The opposition alliance that aimed to oust Modi appears to be cracking just before India’s elections

India’s beleaguered opposition parties, which are beset with ideological differences and personality clashes, joined hands last year to unseat popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defeat his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral juggernaut.

Protesting farmers face the police across a barricade near Shambhu border that divides northern Punjab and Haryana states, almost 200 kilometers (125 miles) from New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb.16, 2024. Farmers are blocking highways and holding demonstrations in many rural areas in northern India to protest over a range of grievances that have also led tens and thousands to march toward the capital. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian farmers strike to demand guaranteed crop prices as others attempt to march to New Delhi

Farmers are blocking highways and holding demonstrations in many rural areas in northern India to protest over a range of grievances that have also led tens and thousands to march toward the capital.

FILE- Women stand in a queue to cast their votes in Chachiyawas village, near Ajmer, India, Nov. 25, 2023. India’s top court on Thursday struck down a controversial election funding system that allowed individuals and companies to send unlimited donations to political parties without any need to disclose donor identity, a system critics have long said is undemocratic and favored Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party. (AP Photo/ Deepak Sharma, File)

India’s top court strikes down system for anonymous political donations ahead of national elections

India’s top court has struck down a controversial election funding system that allowed individuals and companies to send unlimited donations to political parties without the need to disclose donor identity.

Farmers run for cover after police fired tear gas to disperse protesting farmers who were marching to New Delhi near the Punjab-Haryana border at Shambhu, India, Tuesday, Feb.13, 2024. Farmers are marching to the Indian capital asking for a guaranteed minimum support price for all farm produce. (AP Photo/Rajesh Sachar)

Police use tear gas against Indian farmers marching to New Delhi to demand guaranteed crop prices

Indian police have fired tear gas and detained some farmers who tried to break barricades blocking their way to New Delhi in a protest march.

A general view of the audience during the opening of a temple dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Ram, in Ayodhya, India, Monday, Jan.22, 2024. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to open a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of an ancient mosque in the holy city of Ayodhya in a grand event that is expected to galvanize Hindu voters months before a general election. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Modi opens Hindu temple built on ruins on razed mosque, in political triumph for prime minister

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened a controversial Hindu temple that was built on the ruins of a razed historic mosque.

FILE- A construction crew works on Ram Mandir, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Ram in Ayodhya, India, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Three decades after Hindu mobs tore down a historical mosque, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the consecration of a grand Hindu temple at the same site on Monday in a political move to boost his party ahead of a crucial national vote. (AP Photo/Deepak Sharma, File)

A Hindu temple built atop a razed mosque in India is helping Modi boost his political standing

Three decades after Hindu mobs tore down a historical mosque, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the consecration of a grand Hindu temple at the same site on Monday.

Vehicles drive past a billboard featuring Hindu deity Lord Ram and his temple in Mumbai, India, ahead of the opening of the grand temple in northern Ayodhya city, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Modi’s promised Ram temple is set to open and resonate with Hindus ahead of India’s election

Preparations are underway in India’s northern Ayodhya city to mark the opening of a grand temple for Lord Ram, Hinduism’s most revered deity.

In this photograph released on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's social media platform X on Jan.4, 2024, Modi, walks on a beach in Lakshadweep, India. Relationship between India and the Maldives is facing challenges after officials in the tiny island nation made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s posts that promoted the pristine beaches of India’s Lakshadweep archipelago. (Narendra Modi's social media platform X via AP)

Modi’s beach visit to a remote Indian archipelago rakes up a storm in the Maldives

The relationship between India and the Maldives is facing challenges after officials in the tiny island nation made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s posts that promoted the pristine beaches of India’s Lakshadweep archipelago.

FILE - Sikh protesters demonstrate outside of the Indian High Commission in London on March 22, 2023. India has been asking countries like Canada, Australia and the U.K. to take legal action against Sikh activists, and Modi has personally raised the issue with the nations' prime ministers. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

What to know about the Sikh independence movement following US accusation that activist was targeted

The U.S. has charged an Indian national in what prosecutors allege was a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official.

FILE- People watch rescue and relief operations at the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in mountainous Uttarakhand state, India, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. All 41 construction workers who were trapped have been pulled out after 17 days, on Tuesday, Nov. 28. The efforts to reach the workers, aided by international tunneling experts and spearheaded by multiple Indian rescue agencies, was one of the most significant and complicated rescue operations in India’s recent history. (AP Photo/File)

Why it took 17 days for rescuers in India to get to 41 workers trapped in a mountain tunnel

Indian rescuers faced repeated and unexpected setbacks during the 17 days they dug through a mountain in the country’s north to reach 41 construction workers trapped after a tunnel collapsed there earlier this month.

FILE- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at a rally in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. Modi says his country strongly condemns the civilian deaths taking place during the Israel-Hamas war. During his speech at a virtual summit of more than 100 developing countries Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, Modi urged the leaders of the developing countries to unite in the face of growing challenges rising due to the war. Modi also condemned the Oct. 7 attack by the militant group Hamas. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

At a Global South summit, Modi urges leaders to unite against challenges from the Israel-Hamas war

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged leaders of developing nations to unite in the face of growing challenges due to the Israel-Hamas war.

FILE- India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right gestures and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves to the media as they arrive for a meeting in New Delhi, India, Jan.15, 2018. Modi, a staunch Hindu nationalist, was one of the first global leaders to swiftly express solidarity with Israel and call the Hamas attack “terrorism.” Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel in 2017. Netanyahu, travelled to New Delhi the following year and called the relationship between New Delhi and Tel Aviv a “marriage made in heaven.” (AP Photo, File)

India bars protests that support the Palestinians. Analysts say a pro-Israel shift helps at home

From Western capitals to Muslim states, protest rallies over the Israel-Hamas war have made headlines.

FILE- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives to receive Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan at the Indian presidential palace, in New Delhi, India, Oct. 9, 2023. Two Indian states, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram began voting in local elections Tuesday in a test of strength for India’s opposition that is pitted against Modi’s ruling party, ahead of a crucial national vote scheduled for next year. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

Indian states vote in key test for opposition and PM Modi ahead of 2024 national election

Two Indian states are casting ballots in local elections in a test of strength for India’s opposition, which is pitted against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party ahead of a crucial national vote scheduled for next year.

A security person stands guard outside the office of Delhi Police's Special Cell in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. Indian police raided the offices of a news website that’s under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from China, as well as the homes of several of its journalists, the latest in a series of investigations into the finances of independent media in India. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian police arrest a news site’s editor and administrator after raiding homes of journalists

Police in New Delhi have arrested the editor of a news website and one of its administrators after raiding the homes of journalists working for the site.

Security officers carry boxes of material confiscated after a raid at the office of NewsClick in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. Indian police raided the offices of the news website that's under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from China, as well as the homes of several of its journalists, in what critics described as an attack on one of India's few remaining independent news outlets. (AP Photo/Dinesh Joshi)

India police search journalists’ homes and offices in the country’s latest raids on media

Indian police raided the offices of a news website that’s under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from China, as well as the homes of several of its journalists, the latest in a series of investigations into the finances of independent media in India.

FILE - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon his arrival at Bharat Mandapam convention center for the G20 Summit, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Canada has expelled a top Indian diplomat on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, as it investigates what Prime Minister Trudeau called credible allegations that India’s government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Sikh separatism has long strained Canada-India ties. Now they’re at their lowest point in years

Relations between Canada and India have sunk to their lowest point in years as the two countries swap accusations and expel each other’s diplomats over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada wasn't looking to escalate tensions, but asked India on Tuesday, Sept. 19, to take the killing of a Sikh activist seriously after India called accusations that the Indian government may have been involved absurd.(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

India asks citizens to be careful if traveling to Canada as rift widens over Sikh leader’s death

India has advised its citizens to be careful when traveling to Canada as a rift between the two nations widens further in the wake of Ottawa’s allegations that India may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver.

Mourners carry the casket of Sikh community leader and temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar during Antim Darshan, the first part of a day-long funeral service for him, in Surrey, British Columbia, Sunday, June 25, 2023. Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday, Sept. 18, as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that India’s government may have had links to the Sikh activist's assassination. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

What to know about the Sikh movement at the center of the tensions between India and Canada

Tensions between Canada and India have reached new heights with dueling diplomatic expulsions and an allegation of Indian government involvement in the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,center, greets the media as he arrives for five-day special session of the Parliament, in New Delhi, India, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Monday's sitting is the last one to be held in the old parliament building and the future proceedings will be moved to a new building from Tuesday. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Indian lawmakers attend their last session before moving to a new Parliament building

Indian lawmakers are sitting in the last session before moving to a new Parliament building after responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call that saw him lauding the recently concluded G20 summit.

U.S. President Joe Biden, center, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other G20 leaders arrive to pay their tributes at the Rajghat, a Mahatma Gandhi memorial, in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Kenny Holston, Pool)

India forges compromise among divided world powers at the G20 summit in a diplomatic win for Modi

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted his country as well-placed to bridge gaps in the Group of 20 top economies and solve global problems.

FILE- Indian cricket fans wait for the start of the Cricket World Cup match between India and New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, Thursday, June 13, 2019. India has two official names: India, a nomenclature used and accepted in English communication worldwide, and a Sanskrit and Hindi appellation that is “Bharat.” This choice of name is now under spotlight, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government making calls that Indians should rather call their country Bharat and not India. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)

India or Bharat? A dinner invite sparks speculation as Modi’s ministers push to rebrand the country

India, the host nation of this year’s Group of 20 summit, has two official names. One is India, and accepted in English communication worldwide.

FILE- A man on a bicycle rides past a billboard that projects Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the most popular among world leaders, in New Delhi, India, April 6, 2023. The Indian government has seized upon its role as host of this year’s G20 summit and mounted an advertising blitz that stresses India’s growing clout under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

India’s prime minister uses the G20 summit to advertise his global reach and court voters at home

The Indian government has seized upon its role as host of this year’s G20 summit and mounted an advertising blitz that stresses India’s growing clout under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

FILE- Indian national flags fly in the stands ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy match between India and South Africa in London, Sunday, June 11, 2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has replaced India with the Sanskrit word 'Bharat' in dinner invitations sent for the Group of 20 summit, in a move that echoes with his Hindu nationalist party’s efforts to scrub away what it sees are colonial-era names. Politics over India versus Bharat has gained ground since the opposition parties in July announced a new alliance — called INDIA. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Why India’s government wants to change the country’s name to ‘Bharat’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has replaced the name India with a Sanskrit word in dinner invitations sent to guests attending this week’s Group of 20 summit.

National Conference (NC) leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah speaks to Associated Press at his residence in New Delhi, India, Friday, Aug., 4, 2023. Kashmir’s top pro-India politician says the disputed region is lacking democracy four years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist party stripped its statehood, separate constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Kashmir leader says the region lacks democracy and asks India to restore its special status

Kashmir’s top pro-India politician says the disputed region lacks democracy four years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party stripped its statehood.