Does criticising former US President Barack Obama help India’s case? Given that the Prime Minister has just returned from a rather successful US trip where he was feted by President Joe Biden, why is the BJP so rattled by a former President’s comments? The reference here is to Obama’s interview to Christian Amanpour where he had said that –“If I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know well, part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility India at some point starts pulling apart. And we’ve seen what happens when you start getting those kinds of large internal conflicts. So, that would be contrary to the interests not just of Muslim India, but also Hindu India.” This had the entire BJP leadership up in arms, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman questioning Obama’s own attitude towards Muslim dominated countries; Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and party Vice President Jai Panda too took potshots at Obama. Contrast this with the PM’s own actions as he went to follow the US trip with a trip to Egypt—one of the largest countries in the Arab world. That visit sent its own signal to the minority community, even though Egypt had boycotted the Srinagar G 20 meet.
The BJP’s critics took to social media to wonder if Obama was acting on his own or whether this was a case of Tweedledum and Tweedledee with Biden and Obama playing good cop/bad cop. Certainly, Obama’s role in the Biden administration cannot be undermined and if a message had to be sent, then this was one way of communicating it. Prior to the PM’s visit, the US media has been speculating as to how Biden would manage to felicitate India (as is the need of the hour to create a counter balance to China), but at the same time flag certain issues that are concerning the US administration.
The BJP has made criticising Obama into a test of national pride, and to a limited extent they are right for no foreign power has the right to meddle in our internal matters. Having said this, the party should be concerned that at a time when we are playing host to G 20 leaders, the issue of how minorities are treated in the Modi era has become part of the narrative. Hence, the BJP leaders would be wise to take a leaf from the PM’s own book and counter criticism with constructive action, not empty rhetoric.
PRIYA SAHGAL