"Hinduism is inherently inclusive ....centuries preceding Christ," says Indian diplomat
New Delhi
This is quite an unusual outburst from an Indian diplomat. India's envoy to Ireland, Akhilesh Mishra, has drawn flak as his "rejoinder" to an Irish newspaper in defence of the Narendra Modi government and India's inherent pluralism went viral on social media and a section of web media.
Mishra slammed 'The Irish Times 'for its description of India in its editorial as an intolerant, Hindu majoritarian nation. “A stereotypical description of India as “80 percent Hindu majority” nation is quite misleading because Hinduism is inherently inclusive and fundamentally pluralistic, since centuries preceding the birth of Buddha or Christ,” he said.
The ambassador's statement was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Indian embassy in Ireland through official handle.
Mishra also stated, “Numerically, Hindus of India outnumber the entire population of European Union and the North America, and obviously do not represent a monolithic vote bank. Hindus of India possess incredible diversity of thought, ways of life and political beliefs, covering the entire spectrum from extreme left to extreme right".
The Irish newspaper had compared the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Turkish Islamist leader Recep Erdogan and claimed, “Modi’s embrace of Hindu nationalism in this 80 per cent Hindu nation has stoked anti-Muslim tensions and violence and seriously eroded the traditional Nehru-inspired secularism of its politics.”
The edit under the headline "An intolerant Hindu-first majoritarianism is the order of the day" refers to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister and a key anti-Modi campaigner Arvind Kejriwal"over an alleged scam involving alcohol sales".
"He is now languishing in jail. And Congress, India’s largest opposition party, has seen the tax authority freeze millions in its bank accounts, crippling its ability to campaign," the edit said.
"An intolerant Hindu-first majoritarianism is the order of the day, sustained by a BJP populist welfarism that has a strong appeal among the country’s poor. A recent Pew poll reported 67 per cent of respondents expressing support for a “strong leader” who “can make decisions without interference from parliament or the courts”.
The age of strongman leaders like Viktor Orbán and Recep Erdogan, and their “illiberal democracies”, marches on," the editorial commented.
India's envoy Mishra wrote, “Indian prime minister Narendra Modi enjoys unprecedented popularity and profile not only in India but globally because of his impeccable personal character and integrity and thought-leadership on innovative, inclusive governance and sustainable development.”
“As he does not belong to any elite political family, his personal life inspires millions of ordinary people in India and other developing countries,” the Indian diplomat emphasised, adding how the Modi government has empowered the youth, women and the poor.
The Modi government taking actions on the ecosystem of corruption has led to the popularity of the Prime Minister,Mishra said.
“The people of India are excited to witness the vibrancy of democracy in action on the ground…There is huge sense of relief at the grass-root level to witness action being taken and recoveries made from the rich and powerful elites who operated with a sense of entitlement of impunity,” he wrote.
The Irish paper had said that Modi has also leant heavily on a "widespread crackdown on free speech and opposition parties, with hundreds of politically targeted corruption and tax cases filed against opposition MPs and leaders. India’s democratic credentials have been severely tarnished".
Such elaborate statements from Indian envoys to newspaper articles is also rare.
Congress party has reacted to the episode calling Mishra's statement as "disgraceful".
“Defending the Government of India is one thing and is to be expected. But to attack Opposition parties openly in this manner like a party apparatchik is not expected from an Ambassador ...This is unprofessional and disgraceful behaviour on his part-but is part for the Modi course I guess,” tweeted Congress in-charge of media communication Jairam Ramesh.
"This Ambassador is actually a career diplomat which makes his comments even more shameful, disgraceful and completely unacceptable. He has actually breached service rules and should be sacked right away,” Ramesh said in a follow-up post.
Without naming the Congress, Mishra said that as PM Modi does not belong to an “elite political family”, his life inspires millions of ordinary people.
Modi enjoys popularity in India and globally for his “impeccable personal character and integrity and thought-leadership on innovative, inclusive governance, he had written.
The envoy in his statement also had said, "The anti corruption drive is so successful because the governmenthas given free hand to the relevant agencies" and added that all cases are being pursued strictly as per theestablished procedures.
The first phase of voting will be held on April 19 Friday and will continue till June 1 in different phases.
Even those making critical comments on Modi (like the Irish Times) says: "...there will be little doubt about the result: Narendra Modi will sweep easily to a comfortable third term as prime minister and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems set for an even greater parliamentary majority than in 2019".
In an article London's 'The Guardian' says, "The BJP is expected to march on with its Hindutva agenda if re-elected. While Modi has denied allegations that it will rewrite the secular constitution to enshrine India as a Hindu-first country".
For his part Prime Minister Modi has denied any such move saying Indian Constitution is sacrosanct.
"Even if Babasaheb Ambedkar (chairman of the Constituent assembly during Independence in 1947)himself comes, he cannot abolish it. The Constitution is Geeta, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bible, and Quran for the government. For us, the Constitution is everything," Modi told a poll rally at Barmer in the desert stateof Rajasthan.
ends
Only 27.5 percent of the young workers were in salaried jobs in 2022-23, with this share being lower in rural areas. The majority (45.3 percent) of India's youth were self-employed with this share being higher for women and for those living in rural areas.
As we notice the current employment scenario in India of December 2021, there are around 53 million unemployed people. Among those, 35 million are actively seeking work. And 17 million people are willing but are not actively seeking.
The number of unemployed people declined from 26.4 million in 2019–20 to 24.3 million in 2020–21 in India, while an additional 119 million people were not added to the potential labour force during the same.17 Feb 2024
*** Pointers The International Labour Organization estimates 29 percent of India's young university graduates were unemployed in 2022.
That rate is nearly nine times higher than for those without a diploma, who typically find work in low-paid service or construction jobs. 'Demographically expanding' Over half of India's 1.4 billion people are aged under 30.
** Jobs are not rising as fast as the potential workforce is demographically expanding.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is widely expected to win a third term in the upcoming elections, points to his success in convincing global tech giants like Apple and Dell to set up in India.
But critics say this has not translated into the millions of manufacturing jobs that people demand.
The World Bank warned this month that India -- like other South Asian nations -- was "not creating enough jobs to keep pace with its rapidly increasing working-age population".
South Asia is failing "to fully capitalise on its demographic dividend", said Franziska Ohnsorge, the bank's regional chief economist, calling it a "missed opportunity".
Many young Indians say they have no choice but to join the frenetic race for government jobs, prized for their decent pay, benefits and security, as per an AFP report.
Akhilesh Kumar, 52, a wheat and sugarcane farmer from the small village of Puranpur, who was attending a local BJP rally, said he used to vote for the opposition Congress party until the BJP had “awoken” him to his religion and the “importance of protecting our Dev Bhoomi from Muslim evils, like love jihad”. (as reported in 'The Guardian')
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