India — the land of spices and cultural diversity, loved for the dancing tunes of Bollywood, celebrated as world’s largest democracy and now ready to rule the future with a vision to digitally empower all of its citizens.
Little can go wrong in this dynamic and young country. Or is this what we were duped into believing by the media? The ghosts of Gujrat’s 2002 communal violence are back. The recent spate of attacks against religious minorities has stirred a heated debate about tolerance and spirituality in India, and the future of a stalled peace process with Pakistan.
India’s recent slide into radicalism started with the tragic killing of Mohammed Akhlaq, a Muslim accused of consuming beef. The fundamentalists then smeared black paint on the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni, a think tank leader, for hosting a book launch event of Pakistan’s former foreign minister. The response from Modi government and BJP’s state government to these incidents has been shockingly muted. Silence implies consent — to many, it seems that the Hindu nationalist government of Modi has given a tacit approval to violence by hardliners.
After facing heavy criticism on his inaction over communal violence, the Twitter-savvy Modi finally termed these incidents as “sad and undesirable,” and appealed for tolerance to preserve secular identity of the country. However, the central government has refrained from direct action even though official investigation into the mob lynching incident has revealed that the killing was premeditated, and not a result of public outrage over hurting religious sentiments. Strangely enough, the world continues to look the other way and there has been no condemnation of these despicable attacks from the global community.
Such is the grim reality of our double standards, we see and believe only what we want to. To the world at large, India presents a large, untapped economy that has made rapid progress over the past few decades and is now hailed as an emerging superpower. Modi’s stardom on the world political stage has further concealed India’s shortcomings and presented it as a land of endless possibilities.
The snail paced Indo-Pak peace process may well be another victim of this tide of radicalism in India. The normalization of ties had already suffered a major setback earlier this month as India turned down Pakistan’s peace proposal. The rise of Indian far-right threatens to bring it to a complete stop altogether as Shiv Sena intimidates just about anyone sympathetic to Pakistan and the peace process. The climate of fear and insecurity, marked by the harassment of Pakistan’s cricket chief on his recent tour, could also freeze cricket diplomacy and other cultural exchange efforts between the two countries.
Modi must stay true to his open-minded and progressive persona by not allowing hawkish forces to hijack the peace process. It is time that Modi takes a clear stance against extremism in the country and sternly deals with elements trying to sabotage stability in India, and its foreign relations. The radical bandwagon must be stopped before it tarnishes India’s secular image and poses a challenge to national unity. At the same time, India and Pakistan should lead Asia into the golden era by working together to resolve their geo-political differences and putting economic uplift of the region as a top priority.
