Modi seeks to ‘define Indians as Hindus’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on India’s Independence Day this year marked a departure from his predecessors’ addresses in which they traditionally set aside partisan rivalries, and focused on the importance of the country’s founding leader, MK Gandhi, and the nonviolent movement, the Indian democracy, and the need for tolerance and inclusion, according to two Indian-American experts on South Asia.

In a joint article in Foreign Policy, a prestigious American magazine, Dinsha Mistree, a research fellow at the conservative think-tank, Hoover Institution, and Sumit Ganguly, a magazine columnist and a professor of political science at Indiana University Bloomington, said that Modi mostly stuck to this formula, “but this year’s speech signalled how Modi is trying to redefine what it means to be an Indian.”

Noting that the Indian prime minister also departed from convention in important ways, celebrating more than a dozen freedom fighters who had adopted a violent approach to independence.

“These freedom fighters operated independently of Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, undermining Gandhi and nonviolence within India’s independence movement, ” according to the article, headlined: Modi is Rewriting India’s National Narrative.

“By highlighting them in the speech, Modi subtly pushed back against the conventional narrative and Gandhi’s central role in it,” it said.
Secondly, “although Modi touched on inclusion when it comes to geography and gender, he avoided mentioning secularism or religious tolerance,” the experts pointed out.

Instead, according to the article, Modi sought to define Indians as Hindus. “This is our legacy. How can we not be proud of this heritage? We are those people who see Shiva (a Hindu god) in every living being,” he said.

“We are people who see the divine in the plants. We are the people who consider the rivers as mother. We are those people who see Shankar form of in every stone.”

“For India, a country with 280 million non-Hindu citizens that has struggled with religious tensions since its founding, Modi’s religious interjections clearly signal a break from the past,” Mistree and Ganguly wrote.

Finally, Modi used the occasion to launch familiar jabs against the opposition Indian National Congress party while overlooking critical challenges facing the Indian state—including religious intolerance, it was pointed out. “He concluded his speech by slamming people who defend corruption and by condemning nepotism.

But this was coded language that may sound like a threat to some Indian citizens: Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have weaponized charges of corruption and nepotism to go after political opponents and dissidents. Just days after Modi’s speech, his government conducted an anticorruption raid against Manish Sisodia, one of the main leaders of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party.”

Experts Mistree and Ganguly also said, “Modi’s Independence Day speech is emblematic of a larger change taking place under his rule, which has faced criticism for democratic backsliding—moving away from the very constitution that came shortly after its independence. The prime minister and the BJP are working to unshackle India from its liberal and secular moorings, advancing a new national identity that champions Hindu supremacy…

“Modi’s BJP government is also undercutting India’s institutions in unprecedented ways. It has made a mockery of India’s rich tradition of civil liberties by charging activists and dissidents with crimes under colonial-era laws. One egregious example is the case of left-wing activists detained under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged links to Maoist groups and allegedly fomenting riots.

One of the accused, lifelong Jesuit activist Rev. Stan Swamy, died in custody last year. Furthermore, Modi and the BJP have co-opted much of the media and important private sector actors. Journalists have faced intimidation and harassment; prominent nongovernmental organizations have been cut off from foreign funding while others can receive overseas money only into accounts with a government-owned bank.

“Unfortunately, the most important lessons from the independence movement seem to be lost on India’s contemporary leaders, as shown by their approach to religious pluralism and democratic institutions. Although India’s leading revolutionaries were committed to nonviolence, tensions between Hindus and Muslims marred the independence movement.

These tensions pulled the British Raj apart, and two new countries emerged in its place: India and Pakistan. This week also marks the anniversary of the Partition of India, which triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters as Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs were forced to flee in different directions across the new border. A few months later, India and Pakistan went to war over the status of Jammu and Kashmir—a disagreement that still plagues the subcontinent.

The article added, “The contrast with then-Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s epic ‘A Tryst With Destiny’ speech, delivered on Aug. 14, 1947, couldn’t be starker. Nehru said he sought to “bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic, and progressive nation.” Most poignantly, he highlighted that India’s religious pluralism was integral to the newly founded country: “All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India, with equal rights, privileges, and obligations.”

“India’s Independence Day has traditionally provided an opportunity to reflect on the horrors of colonialism and the dangers of religious discord while also celebrating the vibrance of the country’s democracy. Modi’s speech this week reflects the departure that India’s contemporary leaders have made from these foundational values.”