A plethora of articles have been written in various media by writers slamming Modi as a right-wing PM of India. More so particularly by newspapers like NYT/Washington Post equating him with Republicans of the US. But do his actions even justify these terms? Let me examine certain facts in no order.

• He is the only PM to go on stage on Indian Independence Day and talk about population control.
• Set up of International solar alliance headquarters in India to migrate to green energy.
• Free health insurance coverage for 500 million poor citizens of India. This specific plan was highlighted by Bernie Sanders in his 2020 presidential campaign. He said if India can do it, why not America?
• Free bank accounts with zero balance for those with no money (With some initial balance given by the government). 300 million accounts opened.
• Free ration for millions of those affected by the pandemic.
• Aggressive installation of green energy in all of India.
• Aggressive building of infrastructure in India’s northeast which is heavily isolated from the mainland owing to a 4000 km long border with Bangladesh.
• Home building incentives (PM Awas Yojana) for rural poor.
• Merit-based national awards (Popularly known as Padma awards) to deserving achievers in various fields.
• World’s strictest enforcement of lockdown during the pandemic.
• Belief in climate change.
• Belief in covid vaccines. India provided 2 billion vaccines to her citizens and millions worldwide.
• Jal Jeevan mission facilitating clean potable tap water to one and all.
• Namami Gange project to clean 2700 km long river Ganga the banks of which is home to 40% of India’s population. Some states have found it impossible to clean much smaller rivers like Cooum.
• Multiple schemes and freebies for the poor and farmers.

Looking at most of these schemes, do these even look like republican or right-wing schemes? It is not even close.

Another abomination (unfortunately, there is no better word) is equating Modi with former President Trump. Look at the following facts.

• PM Modi is one of the most abused people on Indian Twitter handles. Yet, how many times have you seen him abusing them back? One Chief Minister publicly called him a psychopath. Yet, he has never tweeted or spoken one word against him. Just once he called him out for showing part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir as part of Pakistan. Per Indian law, it is a crime to represent the India map wrongly.
• Many a time the incumbent Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar walked out of alliance with Modi’s party BJP. Every time he congratulated him on becoming the chief minister. Not once has he tweeted against him.
• Once again in the 2019 state elections Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena ditched the pre-poll agreement with BJP and walked into the arms of the opposition. He congratulated the party chief.
• Short story: He has been a thorough gentleman everywhere and has demonstrated good diplomacy.
• He has worked with chief ministers of all states irrespective of parties involved with respect to enforcing pandemic-related restrictions. This is despite some of them saying “Go back Modi”. All of India spoke in one voice while enforcing pandemic-related restrictions. Can you even imagine Trump working with democrat governors amicably?
• He has been constantly abused by the opposition. Yet he never responded in kind.

Does any of this look close to President Trump’s behavior? Did he even question the election results? Prejudice against a leader cannot blind one to facts. At some point in time, one must realize that those media barons living in the ivory towers of London, New York and Washington nor the Ivy league faculty who write so much against him cannot control what happens in the Indian political scene. You can hire columnists like Rana Ayyub traditionally hostile to Modi and can also ask for sanctions to be imposed by the US (they often speak against their own homeland and hence are never respected in India). What was applicable in colonial times is not applicable 75 years post-Indian independence. Time to wake up to facts. India is 1.4 billion strong and we have our own way of figuring out who is best for us.

Coming to the most important point. Why do people even think he is right-wing?

• The answer may be the fact that President Trump boasted about a good relationship with Modi during his 2016 campaign and even adopted his campaign message “Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkar”.
• Very often people point out the Citizenship Amendment Act which grants expedited citizenship to persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan seeking refuge in India. It is a well-known fact that these are theocratic states with a state religion. Many religious minorities in those states do not have the same rights as the majority. Many of the religious minority women were kidnapped and converted to the majority faiths. I have personally funded Pakistani Hindu refugee camps in Delhi and elsewhere. So, I am fully aware of the situation.

In fact, Pakistan and eventually Bangladesh was formed solely because their people wanted a separate state for their faith. This is well documented and needs no further explanation. India cannot provide citizenship for all the neighboring states’ citizens. If it must provide citizenship to everyone in the neighborhood, why have a separate country at all? The neighboring countries are the biggest source of refugees. It was precisely this refugee problem that forced India run by the opposition party Congress to repeal birthright citizenship effective 1987.

From the following link¹- Ethnic conflict in neighboring Lankan civil war in 1983. Following the start of hostilities, about 100,000 people sought refuge in India. This event, combined with sustained unrest in Assam, led to another amendment to the Citizenship Act in 1986 that limited birthright citizenship to children born to at least one Indian parent.

If Citizenship Amendment Act was wrong, what about our own Lautenberg amendment for persecuted religious minorities? How about the permanent residence for Bhutanese Hindu refugees in the US? How about condemning India’s neighboring states for persecuting religious minorities?

Most of the hatred for Modi also comes from the fact that he is an unapologetic Hindu. This was clearly something that many of the earlier Prime Ministers weren’t comfortable with. Being pro-Hindu does not have to mean he is Islamophobic. His chosen ambassador for the UN was Syed Akbaruddin. His chosen ambassador to Poland is a Muslim woman. Many such examples can be given. He is a proud Indian who values merit. Also, President Biden and earlier presidents have often said they are proud Christians. Now, is it a crime to say one is a proud Hindu? Based on various media and Twitter handles, it seems to be yes. The problem my dear is their Hindu phobia. Nothing else.

Among the reasons he was elected repeatedly were

• There were hardly any riots in his home state of Gujarat after Mar 2002.
• He has a single-minded focus on development.
• Having followed Indian elections for quite some time, the biggest reason people vote for him is that he is incorruptible.  To date, there has been no blot of corruption on him. For Indian voters, it means a lot.
• Most of his schemes are focused on benefiting poor people. Delivery of these services was without any corruption (per media interviews in various states).
• He had the guts to repeal article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir. This helped the laws applicable in the rest of India relevant in Kashmir as well. Since there is a lot of detail regarding this act, it merits an entire article.
• Most opposition parties and mainstream media in India are Hinduphobic and tend to appease religious minorities. The government prior to 2014 tried to pass laws to that effect. There are several examples to highlight this fact. If you consider yourself secular, you are expected to treat all faiths equally and with respect including the majority faith. Failing to do so has electoral consequences.
• BTW, have the earlier governments done anything for the internally displaced peaceful Kashmiri Hindus who were thrown out of their homes post-1990? No sensible discussion on media has ever talked about this issue. To the Indian opposition, the Kashmiri Hindus don’t seem to exist. Circa 2014 when Modi was campaigning in Kashmir, a Kashmiri Hindu put up a placard saying, “You are our only savior”. The earlier Indian governments miserably failed in protecting them. The media failed in highlighting their plight as well. The overwhelming truth is that no Kashmiri Hindu took up arms even in the face of the worst onslaught on their lives and livelihood.
• He is strict on national security. One specific episode that comes to mind is when India’s financial capital was attacked on Nov 26, 2008, by terrorists who held siege to major landmarks in Mumbai. Modi was seen motivating the commandos who eliminated the terrorists at Hotel Oberoi. Irrespective of who was in power, he supported the right decisions and a true Indian at heart. His emphatic response to Uri and Pulwama terror attacks further cemented the position. India is a land of 1.4 billion citizens. Safeguarding them is the direct responsibility of the government. He did what was expected of him. Coming to think of it, India should have responded that way in 2008 as well. India led by Congress in 2008 failed in its job.

Diplomatic relations with the US.

• Modi dealt with the incumbent government in the US from 2017-21 just as he did with the Obama administration earlier. He was one of the first world leaders to wish President Biden on his historic election win in 2020 even before US Senator Mitch McConnell who waited for President Putin to wish Biden.
• For the longest time India has never commented about foreign governments and elections. It has always been business-like relations with the US. It continued under all Presidents in the US and Prime Ministers in India for a long. Courting the incumbent President Trump is what India needed to do to secure her interests. Just “Diplomacy 101”.

Circa 2016 an article in Guardian newspaper² was widely circulated among Indian voters in the US. This prompted a lot of Indians to vote against Clinton and the Democrats. It is such a major paradox because most Indians value diversity and are liberal by nature. All of these are core democratic party values. But when Democrats target him by saying bad things about him, Indians will not be quiet. Taking one’s hands off Modi helps. It is none of America’s business. President Biden has thankfully demonstrated a good friendship with him. It matters a lot with Indian voters. That warmth is necessary for the two major democracies to work together. Going forward that will also get Indian-origin voters to vote for Democrats as well. As a Democrat, it is my wish too.

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nationality_law
2. https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-sunday-guardian/20140420/281479274406631

Image source: Zee Business