Lessons for India from its neighbour

This week mostly university students were detained by Indian police as they gathered to watch a recent BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the government calls propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media. The documentary questions premier Modi’s role during deadly riots two decades ago in his home State.

The Gujarat riots of February 2002 were one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in independent India at a time when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of the State. Violence was sparked when a suspected Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. In reprisal attacks across the state at least 1,000 people were killed, mostly Muslims. Premier Modi was exonerated in 2012 following an inquiry overseen by the Supreme Court and has always denied accusations of not doing enough to curtail the violence to instigating some sections of the religious mob.

Despite its attempts at pluralism India has not escaped several bouts of religious violence since gaining independence in 1947. Yet throughout these sectarian violence India has remained a representative democracy upholding values of pluralism amidst extraordinary diversity. India’s republican constitution which marked its 74th anniversary this week recognised group-differentiated rights and multiculturalism that included quotas for marginalised castes and tribal communities, and self-government rights for linguistic, ethnic and religious groups.

This pluralistic, secular democracy which is enshrined in the Indian constitution has served that nation well throughout the last eight decades. While countries around it succumbed to militarism, majoritarianism, nationalism and religious extremism, India managed to keep its territorial integrity and maintain relative stability against many odds. On the economic front also, it has done remarkably well throughout the years. From being a wretchedly poor, famine-prone country with numerous challenges, it has achieved remarkable economic growth, uplifting hundreds of millions out of poverty and becoming the world’s 5th largest economy.

Yet all this progress is anchored on the democratic values which the modern republic of India is founded on. The recent escalation of State sponsored or in the minimum State tolerated violence against minority communities, the growth of rabid nationalism and intolerance and now the shrinking of democratic space should be a concern to all. The recent events concerning the BBC documentary is but a manifestation of the increasingly authoritarian bent of the current Bharatiya Janata Party led government.

In recent years Hindu nationalism has raised its ugly head. Whether tacitly offered patronage by powerful sections of the polity or not, these forces of division are affecting the very fabric of India. The intimidation and oppression of Muslims have become particularly pervasive under the BJP government. Intolerance towards dissent, free expression and shrinking of democratic space will only lead to greater instability and possible chaos.

All these matter not only for the citizens of India but for those of us who live under the shade of this great nation and civilisation. Just as the freedom struggle that was sparked in India delivered independence to the whole South Asian region and beyond, the attacks on democratic space in India will also be taken as a template by others who wish to suppress the freedoms of their people in order to retain political power. Sri Lanka has witnessed the devastating effects of allowing demi-gods and ‘benevolent dictators’ to ascend to the highest offices in the land. As the events of 2022 proved in Sri Lanka there are no good outcomes for the rulers or the subjects in these scenarios. It is a lesson hopefully India will learn from looking at the economically devastated, politically divided land to its South.