The Erosion of Pluralism: International Concerns and Domestic Shifts in Indian Politics
Secularism Under Scrutiny: Domestic Rhetoric Flouts India’s Pluralistic Claims
Prime Minister of Netherlands Rob Jetten remarked with the Dutch journalists minutes before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the dinner in his honour that the developments in India are causing concern for Netherlands and other European countries.
“It is not only about press freedom, but also about the rights of minorities, who are under severe pressure. That applies in the first place to the Muslim community, but also to many other smaller communities,” Jetten said. “The concern is to what extent India remains an inclusive society where the same rights apply to everyone.”
Jettin said these concerns were “regularly raised” with India, even as sources on the Indian side maintained that this didn’t come up during talks between the two leaders. However, Jettin did not mention this narrative in his press conference after the dinner.
But a Dutch journalist raised this question when a joint press conference was not addressed by Modi and Jettin on Sunday at the end of two days official visit of Netherlands by Indian prime minister.
The Diplomatic Response
Answering the criticism, Sibi George, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “We face these kinds of questions basically because of the lack of understanding of the person who asks the question.”
Sibi George recalled the five thousand years of India’s history without giving the concerned journalist the proper answer to his specific questions. George said India belongs to a civilization that is five millennia old. Stressing the country’s cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, he said “India is a country of 1.4 billion people, the largest populated country in the world. A country of civilization of more than 5000 years old. It’s a diverse country…diversity in terms of culture, language, food, religion etc. There is no other country in the world which has four religions originated in it. India gave birth to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. These religions originated in India and continue to flourish in India,” he said.
“Jewish religion continuously coexisted with other religions in India for more than 2500 years. India is one of those few countries where the Jews never faced persecution. Christianity came to India immediately after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Islam came to India during the time of Prophet Mohammad himself and both religions are flourishing in India today.
Criticisms of Contemporary Representation
The diplomat, citing the recently held assembly elections in in the country, said India is a “vibrant democracy” where “peaceful transition of power” is a key feature. “Recently, we had elections. You know what the level of participation was? More than 90% of the electorate voted. This is the beauty of India,” he said.
What George said is not wrong. But the fact of the matter is the trend in the country has been changing from inclusive to divisive politics. The BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak about Muslims of the country, comprising more than 14 percent of the population, in a way which is not acceptable in secular, democratic society. The way Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma treats the Bengali Muslims is not acceptable to any secular country.
Suvendu Adhikari soon after taking oath as chief minister of West Bengal after the recent elections said openly, in the presence of the Governor, that he would not work for the Muslims since they did not vote for him. This statement was not condemned by the PM or any other BJP leader. The Governor did not react. President of the West Bengal BJP Samik Bhattacharya said his party will try to work ‘subka sath (for) sabka viswas (and look at) sabka hisab.’ There is a clear threat implied in that statement. Bhattacharya implies that his government will try to see everybody’s background and take action accordingly.
Media Relations and Policy Changes
The diplomat cannot say why there is not a single Muslim member in BJP Parliamentary party or the Central cabinet or UP cabinet. For that matter there is no minister from Muslim community in Suvendu’s cabinet in West Bengal where they constitute more than 27 percent of the population. There are 18 states in the country today where there are no Muslim ministers.
Is it not a fact that the PM did not address a single press conference in his twelve years of stewardship? He discontinued the practice of prime ministers taking journalists with them on their foreign trips. He does not grant interviews to journalists except at election time when he talks to select journalists who ask apolitical, harmless and flattering questions.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari asserted that it was not the government’s job to distribute doles to imams, muezzins and purohits. “Our job is to improve education, to give jobs to youths. We have stopped every religious dole. We will provide Vivekananda scholarship to meritorious and poor students from all communities. There will not be any appeasement politics in Bengal,” he said.
“Financial assistance to imams, muezzins and purohits is being discontinued. A fresh notification will be issued listing the schemes that are being discontinued,” Urban development and women and child affairs minister Agnimitra Paul said on Monday after a cabinet meeting where the decision was taken. The payments will be stopped from next month.
These pensions were introduced by Mamata Banerjee government. Welcoming the government decision to stop the pensions, West Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya said, “The constitution does not allow discrimination among communities based on religion. Government will work for the people of Bengal. It will neither favour Hindus nor Muslims.” He is better than the chief minister who announced that he would not work for Muslims since they did not vote for him.
Himanta Biswa Sharma is on recording telling a Delhi meeting some time ago that since they (the BJP) cannot forcibly send the Muslims out they will deprive them of all facilities and force a situation in which they themselves will opt to go away. This blatant undemocratic statement was made by a chief minister in the national capital and no BJP leader or no constitutional head had condemned it.
The media in India is called Godi media which means it works for Narendra Modi and the BJP. If you care to look at daily newspapers from England and the US, you will find their coverage of the recent elections entirely different. The manipulations by the Election Commission are not published by India newspapers. But they are published through detailed reports by the newspapers in the West.
Prominent Journalist
Dr. K. Ramachandra Murthy is a versatile journalist with a distinguished career. Dr. Murthy began his extensive career with Andhra Prabha of The Indian Express group in Bengaluru. He was editor of Udayam, Vaartha and Andhra Jyothy. Dr. Murthy founded and edited HMTV news channel and The Hans India, an English newspaper. He was also editorial director of the Telugu newspaper, Saakshi. He was awarded Ph. D for his research work in rural reporting. Dr. Murthy’s five decades in journalism showcases his influential roles across both print and electronic media. He wrote the political biography of NTR published by Harper Collins.
