US subtly nudges Modi govt to let media, court, civil society uphold democracy in India

The United States on Wednesday subtly nudged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to support media, judiciary and civil society to freely uphold democratic principles in India, even as it noted that all democracies, including its own, were work in progress.

The Modi government, however, defended its human rights records, underlining that “freedom” should not be equated with “lack of governance”.

The shared “commitment of India and the United States to democratic values” is part of the “bedrock” of the relationship between the two nations, President Joe Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said in New Delhi. He tacitly conveyed to his counterpart and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar the concerns in the United States over the perception that India was backsliding on human rights and freedom of speech and religion.

Jaishankar, however, said during a joint news conference with Blinken that many of the policies and decisions of the Government of India in the past few years had been driven by its “moral obligation” to right the historical wrongs. He was apparently justifying the decisions the Modi Government had drawn flak for – stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and reorganizing the erstwhile state into two Union Territories and amending a law to provide only for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan a fast track to citizenship in India.

At a time of rising global threats to democracy and international freedoms – “a democratic recession” – it was important for the US and India, the two leading democracies of the world, to continue to stand together in support of free media, independent courts, a vibrant and free and fair electoral system, the Blinken said during a meeting with the civil society representatives. “And, of course, both of our democracies are works in progress. As friends, we (India and the US) talk about that, because doing the hard work of strengthening democracy and making our ideals real is often challenging.”

“Freedoms are important, we all value them. But never equate freedom with non-governance or lack of governance or poor governance,” said the External Affairs Minister. He was responding to a question by a US journalist on the state of freedom of speech and religion in India.

With the US lawmakers expressing concerns over the state of freedom of expression and religion in India, the officials of the Biden Administration had last week indicated that Blinken would take up issues related to democracy and human rights with the Modi Government during his visit to New Delhi. The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, journalists and media executives, too had on Tuesday urged the US Secretary of State to express concern during his visit to New Delhi over “the stifling press freedom environment in which independent media is operating in India, amidst threats and legal harassment by the government at the Centre and in the States ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party”.

“The Indian people and the American people believe in human dignity, in equality of opportunity, the rule of law, fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion and belief,” Blinken said on Wednesday, adding: “We believe that all people deserve to have a voice in their government and be treated with respect no matter who they are.”

“These are fundamental tenets of democracies like ours, and our purpose is to give real meaning to these words and constantly renew our commitment to these ideals.”