Lok Sabha polls 2019: BJP may incite low-level communal violence, warns US intelligence report

“Parliamentary election in India will increase the possibility of communal violence, if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stirs up the Hindu nationalist themes,” said a report released by the US intelligence community on Tuesday.

Stating that the BJP leaders may use nationalist campaign to galvanise their supporters, the report goes on to add : “BJP policies during Modi’s first term have deepened communal tensions in some BJP-governed states, and Hindu nationalist state leaders might view a Hindu-nationalist campaign as a signal to incite low-level violence to animate their supporters.”

The annual report Worldwide Threat Assessment was tabled by the Director of US Intelligence, Daniel Coats on Tuesday in the US Congress. He deposed before the Senate Intelligence Committee of the US, reported the media.

The report also said that an increase in communal clashes could alienate Muslims and “allow Islamist terrorist groups in India to expand their influence”.

On India-Pakistan relations, the report said, “that cross-border terrorism, firing across the Line of Control, divisive national elections in India, and Islamabad’s perception of its position with the US relative to India will contribute to strained India-Pakistan relations at least through May 2019, the deadline for the Indian election, and probably beyond.”

It warned that militant groups supported by Pakistan “will continue to take advantage of their safe haven” in the country to “plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan, including against US interests”.