Bengalurean Salil Shetty heads worldwide 'Open Society'

In an exclusive interview, he talks about government-backed violence, the Twitter controversy, and resistance movements across the global South

Salil Shetty, 60, just appointed vice president, Global Programs of The Open Society Foundations, sees a quiet resistance building up against the Modi regime. In an interview with Metrolife, he shared his views on the government’s social media policy, the Twitter controversy and more.

Excerpts:

How has the lockdown and the restrictions that come with it impacted the daily wage earners?

The impact has been devastating, the economy was already doing very badly under the current regime, but with the successive lockdowns those reliant on daily wages and small business have been virtually decimated. The numbers in dire poverty have swelled, unemployment skyrocketed and the middle class has shrunk. The irony is that in the same period the rich as a whole have amassed wealth, not just the Adanis and the other favourites of this regime that apparently bankroll this regime.

When it comes to vaccination do you think the Indian government is doing enough to get down to the grassroots, especially to the labour force (which forms a large chunk) to get them vaccinated?

The poor and most vulnerable who should be supported with guaranteed incomes and safety by the state have no choice and have lockdown exemptions to work on the streets, in construction work, in food delivery etc. While the privileged (the core vote bank of this regime) work safely from home. Instead of procuring and delivering vaccines for all, the regime was a super spreader holding huge election rallies, Kumbh Mela and promoting cow urine. The pandemic needs to be tackled with the robust science, data, transparency and decentralised management - none of which this regime is comfortable with. This is criminal negligence which in any other country would lead to legal action against the regime.

How do you react to Amnesty International being forced to halt its India operations?

No government likes being held to account for their human rights abuses. This was true of the previous Congress government, but the current regime is even more thin-skinned. Truth hurts and Amnesty speaks truth to power on gross violations; state-sponsored crimes against Muslims and students in Delhi, ‘encounter’ killings in UP, and the huge increase in atrocities against Dalits, adivasis and women in so many parts of the country. This regime manufactures allegations every now and then against Amnesty and other advocacy groups to delegitimise their work, using lapdog TV channels and newspapers and paid trolls. The allegations are consistently proven to be lies in court but their aim is to disrupt the work of these organisations. They can’t come to terms with the fact that every time they muzzle one voice, 10 new ones emerge.

What is your take on the government’s social media regulations and its recent standoff with Twitter?

This regime loves social media and has used it on an industrial scale to poison the minds of people, particularly the youth. Big business is mostly at the bidding of this regime, leading to the suspicion that Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram are run from the PMO. But if they can’t control the platform and the platform allows for any dissenting voices, whether it is TikTok or Twitter, then they are shut down. Laws are made up or interpreted overnight, according to whatever objectives the regime has.

Bengalurean girl Disha Ravi’s arrest got a lot of young Indians thinking about whether they would be able to express their view freely. What is your stand on this?

If you are promoting the regime’s agenda, then you have full freedom. The fact is that the RSS ideology, which is in complete violation of our Constitution, drives this regime. How can a secular democracy belong to one religion, that too a religion which is completely at war with itself, with its war between Varnas, castes, sub-castes and genders? Yes, like most authoritarian regimes, this one too thrives on fear. It intimidates and threatens, abusing laws and security agencies. But if we don’t speak up now, it will be too late. If not us, who? If not now, when?

What happened in Kashmir is unthinkable. What do you think should have been done to win people's confidence?

The people of Kashmir, like the people of Palestine and Afghanistan, have been used for decades to further other people’s political agendas, to a large extent agendas set in Delhi and Islamabad and abetted by local satraps. Kashmir has been lost to India for some time now. But by taking away Article 370 and the special status and cutting off not just the internet but all Kashmiri voices, this regime in Delhi has made the situation almost completely irreparable. Using Kashmir and dialling up conflict with Pakistan and China before elections is not a new trick, but again this regime is just completely brazen.

Is India’s democratic fabric under threat?

Virtually all the checks and balances in a democracy---judiciary, civic society, parliament, media---have been systematically emaciated over the last seven years. The carefully crafted propaganda that there is no viable alternative to the BJP-RSS has been swallowed lock stock and barrel even by those who are against this regime’s communal agenda. People forget that a huge proportion within the regime have switched from the opposition. It is equally true that the opposition at the national level leaves much to be desired. But I have immense hope in our youth, our women, particularly from the Dalit, OBC, adivasi communities. They are hurting and can’t be fooled by this upper caste male-dominated regime beyond a point.

Did your parents, who were also activists, inspire you to turn to activism?

Yes, the Emergency, my involvement in the students’ union, the Josephite Jesuit values, all shaped me. As far as young activists go, as Martin Luther King famously said, “in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”.

What is your vision in your new position as vice president of The Open Society Foundations?

The three big challenges that India faces - elected authoritarianism (and the attack on democracy and rights), growing inequality, and ensuring justice for the poor in the climate crisis - are also some of the big priorities at the global level in this role.

Salil’s milestones

Salil Shetty has worked as secretary-general of Amnesty International and director of the UN’s Millennium Campaign. He was heading ActionAid globally and in India and Kenya. In his role as senior fellow at Harvard University’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, he led a seven-country study on resistance to elected authoritarian leaders. Shetty did his schooling in St Joseph’s Indian High School and later went to St Joseph College of Commerce, and now lives in Cooke Town in Bengaluru.