India has always captured the world’s attention. The freedom movement and the leaders who were at the forefront of the movement earned the respect and adulation of people all over the world and shaped generations of world leaders who were inspired and astounded in equal measure by leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. In fact in a number of countries it is quite common to travel by streets that have been named after the Mahatma.
Even before the independence movement, there were many people who were intrigued by India. Home to sages and scientists in equal measure, the rest of the world looked to India both for spiritual guidance and for scientific endeavour. Whenever I have a chance to travel abroad people are absolutely fascinated by India’s diversity, colour and size. They find it unbelievable that so many seemingly heterogenous groups of people live under one roof. It is our diversity and inclusiveness which is often regarded as our greatest export. The world’s eyes are once against firmly fixed on India.
Although this time it’s for all the wrong reasons. When the Narendra Modi led BJP government came to power in 2014, a number of Indians forwarded the idea that this government would make the world sit up and take notice of India as a world power because India finally had a strong leader who would usher in reforms and fast forward India’s progress as a superpower. Unfortunately, the world has stood up and taken notice just how quickly India’s image as an emerging economic power house and as an inclusive democratic society has been taken a beating.
On the economic front, the numbers are abysmal. With unemployment at a 45-year-high and consumer spending declining for the first time in forty years, India is suffering immensely due to the acts and omissions of this government. In terms of its economy, there was great hope by the entire global community; however, moves like demonestisation and the horribly implemented GST regime pulled the handbrake on India’s economic growth throwing the entire economy into a tailspin. The worst affected have been small and medium businesses as well as the informal economy.
Both these segments are the lifeblood of the Indian growth story that had captured the imagination of foreign leaders and investors alike. Other than this, the complete breakdown of trust between the government and its citizens and the state of the country today have forced many western democracies like Canada to issue travel advisories to citizens traveling to the country. This too has severely hampered India’s image as a business destination where foreign investors and businessmen are afraid of even visiting the country. Another area of immense importance in terms of global respect and recognition is the idea of press and media freedom.
On this front too, India’s image has taken a beating. With an increasing number of media outlets serving as mere mouthpieces of the government in power, the idea of an independent and free press has taken a severe beating. We have in the past five and a half years read numerous reports of how this government keeps an eye on exactly the kind of stories that get reported on it and how pressure is used to ensure that only stories that show the government in a good light are broadcast.
This view was made all the more evident to the rest of the world when India’s rank on the World Press Freedom Index fell further and dropped down to 140 out of 180 countries. It is hard to expect better if the Prime Minister of the country himself has only offered (that too barely) one press conference in the past five and a half years. The way India has treated respected intellectuals and academics too has cast her in very poor light. Eminent personalities like Raghuram Rajan, Abhijit Banerjee and Ramchandra Guha who are stalwarts in their respective fields have been treated as hostile foreign invaders.
By using words such “anti-national” and “urban naxal” to describe some of these intellectuals who have merely voiced their concern on matters of grave concern, this government has repeatedly blown the dog whistle for trolls to attack and silence such critics. Our government’s treatment of such personalities who are professors and educators at some of the most highly regarded universities in the world is a matter of great shame for India. The recent protests where the high-handed and brutal approach of the police towards protestors in states like Uttar Pradesh came to the fore has become another source of embarrassment for Indians.
Alumni from eminent universities around the world have expressed their shock at the events taking place in our country. India’s image, in fact, took a real beating when the United Nations Human Rights Commission itself condemned the Citizenship Amendment Act, calling it “fundamentally discriminatory” in nature. By passing the CAA, not only did the government bulldoze a fundamentally discriminatory bill through parliament, it also has tried to brazen its way through the criticism that has been levelled at it both locally and abroad.
Another international embarrassment of this government has been the increase in internet shutdowns by the government. As per reports, the government has shut down the internet in various parts of India 374 times since 2012 and unsurprisingly more than 100 of these shutdowns took place in 2019. It is equally unsurprising that India saw the world’s highest number of shutdowns in 2018 with 134 reported incidents of such shutdowns as per the BBC. The second-highest country on the list was Pakistan. It appears that the BJP’s obsession with Pakistan is not merely on rhetoric but on governance too.
What has been most concerning about this entire episode where the government has sought to shut down internet services with reckless abandon is the fact that the Prime Minister, while speaking about the Digital India initiative, himself said, “I dream of a Digital India where access to information knows no barriers” but the biggest barriers have been erected by his government itself. It is however astonishing just how clueless the Prime Minister Modi remains about internet shutdowns.
This was made all the more evident by the fact that when internet services were shut down in Assam, the Prime Minister tweeted “I want to assure my brothers and sisters of Assam that they have nothing to worry after the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill. I want to assure them – no one can take away your rights, unique identity and beautiful culture. It will continue to flourish and grow.” If only the people who the message was addressed to could read the message.
However, all is not lost. India and Indians still inspire the rest of the world in certain ways. For example, it is a matter of great pride for the Aam Aadmi Party that the work done by us in the field of education and healthcare in Delhi is a focus of research by students of the acclaimed Harvard University. This further strengthens our drive to serve our nation better. I humbly pray that others too turn their attention to making India a centre of positive contribution rather than the focus of troubled examination by the rest of the world.
(The writer is a former IPS officer, a member of the 15th Lok Sabha and a member of the Aam Aadmi Party)