World perception of India is fast changing. India sceptics keep growing. A peaceful land of democracy-loving people has been rapidly transformed into an abode of highly polarised people who wish to spread their ‘mutual-hatred’ virus to distant lands. 

In Canadian understanding, the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar merely alleged that Narendra Modi wanted to convert all Indians into Hindus. Justin Trudeau said he could not interfere as Canada stood for freedom of expression. India was not satisfied. Then followed Nijjar’s mysterious death. All concerned feel the need of studying the issue exhaustively. Was he eliminated as a Khalistani radical? Possibly he was. In any case, diplomatic fuss is not the answer to a sensitive problem between responsible nations. Nor is a Modi-hug a quick-fix solution.  Dialogue and remedial action alone can settle matters.

Trudeau claims to have evidence that Nijjar was gunned down by the ‘agents’ of the Government of India. Antony Klinken and others in the White House insist that the Canadian charges should be fully probed. There are, certainly, international conventions to be respected. Fairness is due to all. Truth must be exposed. QUAD relationships may come under stress. Biden, of course, does not want to embarrass his close comrade. China fear persists. Between India and Canada too, trade bonds and education-related links have made the two great nations dependent.

But there have been reputational repercussions. India’s ‘holier than thou’ stand is damaged. As Bedanga Chutia says, “The world’s collective gaze remains unwavering”. The Viswa Guru pose has to be toned down; in fact, it has been greatly Modi-fied in recent years! A Viswa Mitra image refuses to take off. 

Death Threat to Critics

But what is going to worry India even more is the creation abroad of Dharm Yodhs by Hindutva activists. The aggressive Long Arm of the Parivar is reaching from Cork to California. Indian or Western scholars in the US who criticize the Hindu nationalist Government keep receiving death threats. Will the fate of Gauri Lankesh and M.M. Kalburgi overtake them? Exporting communal violence brings no credit to India. 

India’s message to the rest of the world seems to be changing from Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Non-violence’ to Godse’s ‘Violence’ under Hindutva social order and a supra-nationalist Government. From Vasudhaiva Kudumbakam to casteism, regionalism, groupism and general hypocrisy. Preserve us, Lord from our follies!

Former President Ram Nath Kovind spoke the other day of India as the Mother of Democracy, referring to the tribal federation centred round Vaishali. He also referred to the tradition of “Gana-tantra”, a word that occurs in Rig Veda 40 times. But unfortunately, the same land today has become the Graveyard of Democracy under the present leadership, says historian Gyan Prakash of Princeton University. Indira Gandhi’s Emergency in comparison was no more than the “lawful suspension of the law” for a while. For all her strong-handed ways, she believed in democracy, not Manusmriti. Today’s Indian situation is nothing but majoritarianism turned ‘totalitarianism’, argues Gyan Prakash. There is an evident determination to remake India in a new mould, controlling every “person who thinks”. 

When Modiji spoke of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” in G20, he sounded greatly inspiring. But the domestic scenario at the same time was of a fractured nation, an alienated Kashmir, a divided Manipur. Congress jibe, of course, was ready and prompt: One Man, one Government, one Business group. Amit Shah would say: one nation, one language. RSS: one people, one religion. Nadda: one country, one ideology. Yogi: one Hindurashtra, one diet (vegetarian). The eccentricity goes on: one nation, one election; one homeland, one name (Bharat); one country, one slogan (Jai Sri Ram); one Government, one tax; one nation, one ration card.

Modiji is satisfied if all agree on one formula: one nation, one leader. Xi or Putin would be equally satisfied. Erdogan of Turkey and Orban of Hungary too.  These are countries where all criticisms have been silenced.

No Human Rights

Gyan Prakash says, anyone in India who thinks differently from the Hindutva ideology is throttled, proscribed. What regulates the nation today is not Indian legal system, but Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Central Government can interfere in anybody’s affair as they think best. The nation functions today like a Concentration Camp, insists Prakash. And detainees have no rights!

Manish Sisodia has been under detention a long time. Stan Swamy died in detention. No apologies, no explanations. The Supreme Court is asking for evidences against Sisodia. According to Saffron ethos, accusation is proof! Opponents and critics are guilty by their very profession. The other day, a million people gathered in Poland before the general elections, pressing for freedom. There have been sturdy protesters against Netanyahu in Israel. The political critic Maria Ressa is acquitted of tax evasion charge in the Philippines. Such “return-to-democracy” moves have still to take off in India. The TMC has only but made a mild attempt.

Super Performer

Advani used to consider Modi, his helper, a good slogan creator, sensation-raiser before elections. That gift has still remained.  The Prime Minister’s proposal at G20 was: ‘Time has come for humanity to move from the “Global Village to Global Family”. It was widely welcomed. Of course, he did not confess that he was heading a ‘broken family’, that his children in Manipur were crying for attention. His breakthrough to Africa, especially opening doors to the Francophone region was much appreciated, at least by the business community. In fact, India is the third investor in Africa, after China and EU, especially in areas like oil and gas rigs.

Jim O’Neill hailed Modi as a greater “visionary statesman” than Xi Jinping. Anurag Thakur called him the “Man of global alliances”. Rajnath Singh admired his “impeccable leadership and unwavering commitment”. Manmohan Singh had only good words for Modi’s diplomatic performance. Shashi Tharoor echoed the same sentiments. Honour to whom honour is due. It was through effective performance that Modiji earned accolade from diverse quarters.

But what he needs to admit is that the Indian attitude of taking the Middle Path helped him immensely. He himself may not have been fully aware of it. He may have been helped by Jaishankar or Sitaraman in drafting formal statements which won near unanimous acceptance.  It was good that Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath were not involved.

Readiness to Bend     

What arouses our curiosity is Modiji’s ability to own and disown any of his policies to suit the situation. He can contradict himself with convincing eloquence in quick succession. No wonder an Ukranian official set aside the G20 statement as a shallow document, since India has “weak intellectual potential”, as he alleged.

Yet, we must honestly admit that Modiji did gather a number of experts from different disciplines in purposeful meetings. He knew how to play his game at Rajghat as well, appropriating Gandhiji’s peace to the edification of the international community.

Interestingly, Kapil Sibal refers to a G20 booklet that praised Akbar as a great Indian Emperor and an inspiring proponent of dialogue and peace. It is surprising that Akbar was given recognition under Modi’s guardianship; ironically Akbar’s name had been taken out of Indian textbooks. Modiji himself had been lamenting endlessly the era of Muslim rule as one of humiliating slavery. Here is an example of Muslim-bashing at home, Muslim-flattering in the Middle East and at G20! Markets count! Saudis are our major trading partners!

Hiding the Ugly Face

Nor was walling off slums and screening off beggars and hawkers from G20 view a small achievement. The silence of the participants about such questions points to their sense of decency and the interest of everyone in the Indian market. While the whole world knows India’s poverty status, multinationals are least interested to know that 50% on the Indian population own merely 3% of the national wealth, and that more than 800 million Indians depend on government rations. Income disparities are worsening.

Recent National Family Health Survey revealed that 6 of 10 female teens are anaemic in India, having serious deficiency in red blood cells, lacking energy and vigour. May be, Northeast situation is a little better due to the consumption of red meat. But at the national level anaemia is increasing day by day. The consequence is that housewives make over 50% of India’s female suicides. 

But the international business magnates would be happy to be introduced to the top 5% who own 50% of India’s wealth.  That is where Modiji feels at home. Patricia Mukhim exclaimed that when Manipur burnt, adulation of the Prime Minister floating among business barons was the highest.

We are just beginning to see what happens when cultural nationalism reaches its heights. We have heard about Xi Jinping’s “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”, which amounts to Communist Party domination.  When we learn that the Defence Minister Li Shang-fu and Foreign Minister Qin Gang have disappeared, along with many more, we understand the meaning of “Democracy with Chinese characteristics”. Uyghur intellectuals too keep disappearing.

The Chinese Government interferes even in cultural styles, food and dress. Recently, for example, they forbade the Japanese Kimono. The same government can threaten Taiwan and Philippines on the one hand, but invest to the tune of $21.7 billion in Indonesia, and offer them high speed trains; press Sri Lanka for debt repayment and hold out hope to Maldives. Play tough and soft in turn, that is Chinese diplomacy. According to Australian High Commissioner in India, Philip Green, China is engaged in the largest military build-up since WW II. They believe in the Roman dictum “If you wish to have peace, prepare for war”.   

Similarly, BJP’s “Democracy with Hindutva characteristics” allows NIA, ED and local police to cook up cases, arrest, detain, humiliate, even annihilate dissenters and critics. It leaves room for NewsClick to be taken by surprise, their 100 places to be raided unexpectedly, 46 of the staff to be quizzed simultaneously. Its allegation that they are receiving funds from China is taken as established. It considers as normal to allow a ruling party member, Ramesh Bidhury, to insult  a Muslim MP, Danish Ali. It rushes bills through Parliament, allows the Prime Minister to be absent most of the time. John Brittas, MP of the CPM, calculated PM’s presence in the Parliament to be about 0.001%. Protests many and boisterous, discussions nil.  That is the quality of ‘Hindutva democracy’ today.

What has this Double Engine Government been busy with last nine years? Cooking up slogans, distracting people from real issues, bewildering the poor, impoverishing farmers, demonetizing currency, crippling midium scale businesses, threatening people with CAA and NRC, juggling with the name Bharat, changing place names like Allahabad to Prayagraj, making statues of Hindutva leaders, constructing temples, organizing melas, subsidizing pilgrimages, picking the pocket of the poor man with steady price rise. 

Due to constant polarisation, domestic demand remains stagnant, investment feeble, and the Rupee falls against the Dollar. Jairam Ramesh says, jobs in the manufacturing sector dropped 31% between 2017-23, the rate of suicides has risen. In the field of science, scientist G. Madhavan Nair claims that, long before Chandrayaan-3, Modiji had assured him that there was water in the Moon, as it was mentioned in the Upanishads!

Get Rid of Pessimism

Our Hindutva friends have learned a great deal from religious radicals in Pakistan. Now that negative experiences are accumulating in Pakistan, there is a measure of rethinking in that society. After 21 churches were destroyed in Faislabad and dozens of Christian homes torched, the Government came forward to help. Muslim clerics themselves were the first to condemn the wrong done. Faizur Rahman proposes a re-study of prevalent religious concepts and a re-evaluation religious expressions. Nawaz Sharif, the self-exiled Prime Minister, exclaims: ‘Pakistan is going round begging while India reaches out to the moon!’  There are more than 95 million Pakistanis under poverty line, inflation is up to 31.4%. Re-thinking helps.

Our Hindutva friends could rethink their ultra-nationalism, loyalty to Manusmriti and Savarkar-Golwalkar exaggerations. Healthy ‘Secularism’ protects not only minorities, but the majority community itself from fanaticisms and un-reflected mob culture. After all, every community recognises the danger of unintended negative consequences of its over-fervour. Very probably BJP lost their allies in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, due to its unnecessary feud over Sanatana Dharma. The Hindi belt must realize that communities elsewhere are at another cultural wavelength, they vibrate differently.

Neighbouring countries and communities can re-think their way of settling differences. Ma Jia, China’s Charge d’affaires, said recently, ‘India and China are eternal neighbours’!  Sujeev Shakya believes that the interests of India and China converge in the long term. Hearts can warm up.

Internal value-systems can be rejuvenated, external relationships can be improved.