The Guardian Weekly

India’s fading secularism is becoming increasingly evident on the world stage

When the US state department recently told a court that the Saudi Arabian crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, should have immunity in a lawsuit over the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it portrayed its argument as a legal and not moral position. It pointed to a rogues’ gallery of foreign leaders previously afforded similar protection. Nestling between Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, who, it was claimed, assassinated political rivals, and Congo’s Joseph Kabila, whose security detail was accused of assaulting protesters in Washington, was India’s Narendra Modi.

Adding Mr Modi to such a list was a reminder that while Delhi basks in its diplomatic success at recent G20 and Cop27 summits, it might find the international environment less accommodating if Mr Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) continue to stir up hatred to win elections. Washington’s gesture suggests its strategic partnership with India cannot be completely insulated from domestic politics. Mr Modi’s failure, as chief minister of Gujarat, to prevent anti-Muslim riots in 2002 that left hundreds dead saw him denied a US visa, until he became Indian prime minister. The message was that the ban had not been withdrawn, but suspended, because Mr Modi ran a country Washington wanted to do business with.

India is considered an indispensable actor on the world stage. But Mr Biden’s team will be less tolerant than the Trump administration of Mr Modi’s attempts to remould Indian democracy so that Hindus become constitutionally pre-eminent, with minorities reduced to second-class citizens.

India’s ascent depends on building bridges with others. The Middle East is a key energy supplier and trade partner that supports 9 million Indian workers. When BJP functionaries made derogatory remarks about the prophet Muhammad this summer, Gulf states protested. One official was suspended and another expelled, with the party saying it accords “the highest respect to all religions”.

Bland assurances may not be enough. The intimidation of India’s 200 million Muslims hides in plain sight. State elections in Gujarat were due to begin this Thursday, weeks after ministers approved the early release of 11 men convicted of rape and murder of Muslim women and children during the riots.

Worryingly, there are signs of clashes being copied elsewhere. In Leicester, in the UK, many south Asian Muslims – like the city’s Hindus – have Indian roots. When violence erupted between these communities in September, the Indian high commission in London condemned the “violence perpetrated against the Indian community in Leicester and vandalisation of premises and symbols of [the] Hindu religion”. But there was no condemnation of Hindus’ violence against Muslims. Once careful to proclaim its secularism, India’s government appears content to export its Hindu chauvinism. That should trouble everyone

Opinion

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2022-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-02T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://theguardianweekly.pressreader.com/article/282355453760408

Guardian/Observer