Modi's India is not 'Hindu Taliban'
Of late, an "eminent" Indian historian named Irfan Habib compared India's Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the synonym for new age Islamic terror which is eclipsing the virtues of Iraq and Syria with inhuman and uncivilised practices alien to a developed society. As I partially agree with Firstpost editor R Jagannathan's observation that Irfan Habib and the "Hindu" fringe are mirror images of each other, I would like to take Habib's comments as the selective outcry of an annoyed pseudo-secular-left intellectual who has been trained to be intolerant and critical to an RSS-inspired Prime Minister.
What disturbed me is an article that appeared in the UK-based Guardian newspaper titled "India is being ruled by a Hindu Taliban" by artist Anish Kapoor on November 12, in the backdrop of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much celebrated UK visit. No doubt that India has been witnessing "events" that can be dubbed as acts of intolerance and rigid thinking. But that doesn't mean India is under the reins of a horrific religious group which is clamping down on tolerance and freedom of expression. This kind of isolated incidents is not a new thing. The only novelty here is the presence of Modi as the ruler of the land. Equating Indian government under Modi with Taliban is totally nonsensical and unequivocally contemptible. By doing that, is Kapoor trying to brand India a country like erstwhile Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Islamic Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or Communist China? You are totally wrong.
Before labeling the government of the world's largest democracy as Taliban, the author could have done some homework on the "ideology" and norms of Taliban. You come to India and speak out against the policies of Modi government, there's no mechanism here to put you in prison. You can use social media platforms to vehemently criticise, "abuse", and condemn the rule of the government, there's no "diktat" here to deport you or ban your account. You can propagate any line of thought here until it hurts the sentiments of others, there's no rule here to behead you. Could you do all these in any state where the laws are set by religion or even in Communist China and write a column on your experiences?
In a recent article written by MC Govardhana Rangan in The Economic Times, he did a sensible comparison of Dadri lynching with some similar events that happened in the US under the rule of Barack Obama. Let me borrow the words of Rangan, "Remember the Charleston church massacre in South Carolina in the US in June this year where nine people were killed in an attack by a White supremacist gunman? Have you followed cases of White Americans, even policemen, indulging in racist attacks on Black Americans? And yet, do intellectuals portray the US as an intolerant society and return their Oscars or Pulitzers? Do they blame President Barack Obama for every crime that happens in the name of race or country of origin?" I am adding one more question. Did anyone call the US as "racist", or white Taliban? Why can't the self-proclaimed intellectuals apply the same logic in the context of India is a tough question that they would not like to answer.
When the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Left parties were mauled by the BJP in the 2014 elections, it gave the Indian neo-middle class a new hope that Modi would take India to new heights of development and restore national pride. What did Modi achieve in the last 18 months is a debatable point. Experts have diverse opinions on that, and they are free to express their conclusions. But, one can never say that India has turned out to be a Taliban state under his leadership.
Modi's address to the British parliament was the first by an Indian prime minister. He did it in style with a spirit of shared expressions and raised a new feeling of hope in diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom. Even Modi's opponents would have little doubts on the diplomatic masterstrokes he has been delivering since May 2014.
The culture of openness has been in the DNA of India, so the Habibs and Kapoors don't need to bother about it too much. Every society has the presence of fringe elements. Generalising it and maligning a civilisation under its label cannot be appreciated. Never equate Hindu with the popular definition of religion, Hinduism or the culture of India stands for a harmonious synthesis among the people of multiple faiths and not for their annihilation.