The US and Britain, like other western democracies, have been too ready to overlook Modi’s authoritarian trajectory as they seek his backing in their battles with Russia and China. Modi, the BJP, and their ugly brand of intolerant Hindu hyper-nationalism look set to win again. Yet the all-controlling Modi machine appears unstoppable. It is with great humility that I accept the Grand Cross of the Legion of. Gross human rights abuses in Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority state, corruption allegations swirling around the Gautam Adani business empire and “state capture” by industrial conglomerates are other aspects of a growing democratic deficit. Modi began a two-day visit to Paris on Thursday, when he was granted the Legion of Honour, France’s highest award. congratulated for it by senior ministers.” Impunity continues, judging by last week’s acquittal of 69 Hindus accused of many murder in the Gujarat pogrom. “For most Indians,” the author Arundhati Roy wrote recently, religious persecution is “the texture of our daily lives: sword-wielding mobs, saffron-clad god-men routinely calling for the genocide of Muslims and the mass rape of Muslim women, the impunity with which Hindus can lynch Muslims on the street. Schoolbooks are doctored to remove references to Mahatma Gandhi’s opposition to Hindu nationalism and to pre-Raj (Muslim) Mughal rulers. Modi’s abandonment of the secular legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, and his redefinition of India as a Hindu nation has intensified discrimination against minorities, especially Muslims. He and his ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) pose a fundamental threat to that other crucial pillar of Indian progress: democratic governance based on the rule of law, civil rights and freedom of speech. Yet all this potential is set at risk by Modi’s divisive and destructive actions. Contrasted with the creaking economies, fading influence and ageing populations of western countries such as Britain, the former colonial power’s future looks bright indeed. In a world dominated by great power rivalries and blocs, India stands out as an independent force in global affairs, drawing on a proud post-1947 history of non-alignment. The significance of this shift is geopolitical as well as economic. UN figures published last week indicate India will become the planet’s most populous country by June, with a population of 1.4286 billion compared with China’s 1.4257 billion. Annual GDP is projected to overtake Germany and Japan by 2027, making India the world’s third largest economy after the US and China. The economy has rebounded faster than most after the Covid-19 slump, according to the IMF and the World Bank. India has many things going for it these days but the growing authoritarianism of prime minister Narendra Modi’s rightwing Hindu nationalist government is not one of them.
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