News - World: A woman who hails from a marginalized minority ethnic community has been chosen as India’s new president, a largely ceremonial position.

Partial results released by the election commission showed Droupadi Murmu, who is from the Santhal tribe, secured the position with the support of more than half the electorate of MPs and state legislators.

She was nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is accused of trampling the minorities' rights, for the post.

Born in the eastern state of Odisha, the president-elect began her career as a schoolteacher before joining politics.

Murmu, 64, succeeds Ram Nath Kovind, the second president from the Dalit community, the bottom of the Hindu caste system.

But critics say the post is largely ceremonial and her election is not expected to make significant practical difference to the tribal community, which has long been relegated to the margins of society.

Under the country’s constitution, the prime minister and the cabinet wield executive powers in India, although the head of state can send back a few parliamentary bills for reconsideration and also helps in the process of forming governments.

Modi tweeted to congratulate Murmu, saying her "exemplary success motivates each and every Indian".

"She has emerged as a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, marginalized and the downtrodden."

But some activists saw Murmu's success with skepticism, saying her win would further help the right-wing party consolidate the power.  

"Whatever agenda the BJP... has to place a politician from a tribal community in the post of the President, she will only be able to do anything if she is allowed to use her pen,” Dayamani Barla, an Indian activist, was quoted as saying.

Modi's pursuit of a "Hindu first" agenda since coming to power in 2014 has stoked communal tensions in India.

The developments follow increasing violence targeting India’s Muslim minority carried out by Hindu nationalists who have been emboldened by Modi’s silence on such attacks.

Over the years, Indian Muslims have often been targeted for everything from their food and clothing style to inter-religious marriages.

Critics say the tensions have further been exacerbated by right-leaning Indian television anchors during raucous TV debates.

International rights groups have warned that attacks could escalate.

They have accused Modi’s governing party of looking the other way and sometimes enabling hate speech against Muslims, who comprise 14% of India’s 1.4 billion people but are still numerous enough to be the second-largest Muslim population of any nation.

In the world’s largest diverse and plural democracy, Muslims are becoming victims of vicious hate campaigns and violence amid recent calls for genocide against Muslims by Hindu extremist groups.

The BJP party’s Hindutva philosophy—the creation of a great Hindu state—envisages a Hindu state where citizens with other religious beliefs are tolerated but have second‐​class status.

Source: Press TV