By Promod Puri

Gurcharan Singh Banwait, 77, a Canadian citizen for nearly half a century, recently found himself at the mercy of India’s bureaucratic muscles. Detained at Amritsar airport for over 36 hours and subsequently ejected, Banwait was ostensibly visiting India as part of his long-standing charity healthcare mission. But this time, he was labelled a “Khalistan activist” in Canada—a tag that seemingly sufficed to bar his entry.

This incident is a textbook case of weaponization: the ruling establishment flexing its administrative and judicial might to silence or punish political and ideological opponents.

Examples abound. Weaponization takes many forms: veiled threats of probes, election result challenges, raids by police, income tax, or revenue authorities—all tools wielded with strategic precision. A chilling illustration comes from the Nixon era. In 1972, President Nixon infamously quizzed a White House aide:

“Are we looking over the financial contributors of the Democratic National Committee? Are we running their income tax returns?”

When the aide responded, “Not as far as I know,” Nixon retorted: “We have all this power and aren’t using it.”

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has often been the weapon of choice, targeting both Democrats and Republicans. Politicians worldwide, with closets brimming with skeletons, are easy prey for regimes eager to bend opponents to their will.

Journalists, writers, and activists who dare challenge the powers that be fare no better. Their grim reality includes phony charges, dragged-out court cases, and relentless raids.

In India, weaponization of power has taken a particularly insidious turn under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his trusted lieutenant, Home Minister Amit Shah. The list of targets is long and illustrious: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, celebrated writer Arundhati Roy, independent media organizations like the BBC, outspoken journalists like Ravish Kumar, and even Bollywood icons Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. Each has faced everything from tax raids to smear campaigns orchestrated by street-level goons linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its affiliates.

Weaponization doesn’t just tarnish reputations; it corrodes democracy itself. Institutions that uphold democratic values—like an independent judiciary and a free press—are being systematically undermined.

The alarming part? 

This is not an Indian anomaly but a global epidemic. Across the world, the pillars of democracy are cracking under the weight of weaponization of power, leaving citizens to wonder if justice and fairness are relics of a bygone era.

Promod Puri is a veteran journalist and author and founder of the first Indo-Canadian English language newspaper The LINK.