BJP must crack down on hate

Divisive rhetoric undermines the efforts of Indian foreign policy machinery, and its pluralist ethos

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has a problem — and the problem is of the party’s own making. Over the last eight years, the latter has appeared to legitimise anti-Muslim rhetoric as a part of its ideological outlook. It has created what could be seen as incentives for its workers and supporters to engage in this rhetoric by rewarding them. This combination of an ideology that excludes Muslims, institutions (including the media), that provide the platform articulating this worldview, and incentives where there is an abundance of leaders and workers who see this rhetoric as a route to quick upward mobility, has proved insidious. It has undermined India’s national unity, communal peace, pluralistic ethos, and now foreign policy.

The provocative rhetoric of the BJP’s spokespersons against Prophet Mohammad has drawn a strong backlash from West Asian countries — with whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to his credit, has done a lot to improve ties. (REUTERS)

The reason to reverse this outlook is internal, not external. At stake are India’s own principles and its future. But India is not insulated from the rest of the world — to think so would be a misreading of the evolution of the concept of sovereignty and the dense inter-linkages that govern ties. For years now, the Indian foreign policy machinery has been investing precious political and diplomatic capital to convince the world that India remains secular, that its policies and laws are not targeted at minorities, that the country’s democratic institutions and constitutional protections are robust. The world has been growing sceptical about these claims, but India’s strategic importance means these concerns have been relegated to the margins.

Until now. The provocative rhetoric of the BJP’s spokespersons against Prophet Mohammed has drawn a strong backlash from West Asian countries — with whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to his credit, has done a lot to improve ties. These countries are home to millions of Indians, and central to India’s energy security. Separately, there remains a powerful official constituency in the United States, which continues to track what it considers India’s democratic backsliding. India’s soft power, which often came from its democratic and secular ethos, is facing constant erosion, with global civil society and international media critical of India’s record on minorities. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s rebuke to those stirring up the mandir-masjid row, and now the BJP’s decision to act against two spokes-persons, is welcome and courageous (even if the latter came when the writing on the wall was clear). The BJP must persist and crack down on hate; it must not give in to the worst impulses of some members of its base. That is the best way to serve the larger national interest.