Unacceptable remarks

Indian PM Narendra Modi and his BJP’s anti-Muslim policies and rhetoric have finally caught up with them, as several Muslim countries with close ties to India have condemned the party for allowing two of its spokespersons to make blasphemous remarks about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). While it is true that many of these countries have not done enough to pressure the Modi government to back down from its anti-Muslim policies, in terms of geopolitics, it not too surprising, as India remains a major trade partner and source of labour, and the impact of New Delhi’s policies is not felt by Muslims outside India’s borders.

However, this lack of action has helped encourage the ruling party to push the envelope even more, culminating in not one, but two spokespersons passing remarks so offensive that they threaten to cause unrest outside of India’s borders. Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that have demanded an apology from India, with Qatar’s initial statement also pointing out that the spokespersons were not even punished after making the remarks. Since then, the BJP has suspended one and expelled the other, while trying to distance itself from the remarks. This effort has also played out as somewhat farcical for anybody paying attention to what BJP leaders have been getting away with saying for several years. Vile, anti-Muslim and anti-Islam comments are commonly used by BJP members and elected officials. The only difference is that this time, the comments were in English.

In all of this, there was also a lesson for Pakistan’s political leaders and voters alike. Although Pakistan was among the countries to condemn the comments, it was not until criticism emerged from a handful of economically strong countries — some of them tiny — that India fell into line.

The BJP did not punish two senior party officials for the “insult” of “religious personalities”, as the BJP’s statement put it. It was the threat of an economic and diplomatic boycott. Economic power is what ‘convinces’ countries to listen to you.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2022.

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