The United States has done it again—indicted India on several counts for what it calls human rights violations, in the State Department’s latest “2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”. Among the litany of charges hurled at India, from Manipur to the alleged ill-treatment of LGBTQ+ population, the most astounding is the charge of anti-Semitism.
The State Department of the world’s most powerful county has decided that Indians speaking against businessman George Soros are guilty of hatred for the Jewish people, as Soros is a Jew. In its “Antisemitism” section, the report says: “(Indian) Government officials made public statements and released social media posts alleging certain opposition political party figures and diaspora leaders were connected to George Soros, playing on an antisemitic conspiracy theory of an ‘all-controlling Jewish individual’ who was influencing events in the country.” It is perhaps the most absurd charge possible, because anti-Semitism as a concept is alien to India. Historically and culturally, Indians have never had any reason to hate the Jewish people.
According to Israelis, when they look east from Israel, the first country that they can land in without any fear of persecution is India. It is because of the complete lack of anti-Semitism in India that a multitude of Israeli youngsters, soon after finishing their conscription duties, travel to this country and spend many months here. Even otherwise, the majority population of India have an affinity with the Israelis, because they see the Jewish people as victims of terrorism, just as Indians are. In fact, Indians were among the most vocal supporters of Israel on social media post the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas. But when demonization is the goal, why let facts come in the way of spinning a nice fiction?
Interestingly, this charge of Indians being anti-Semitic in the context of Soros, was first raised on social media platform X. The State Department seems to have regurgitated social media talking points and passed that off as a serious report.
What is also surprising is the cognizance that the report takes of the allegation made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India was behind the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Till date, Trudeau has not been able to provide a shred of evidence about India’s involvement in the killing, but a supposedly responsible arm of the US government has tried to give legitimacy to Trudeau’s charge by associating India with the killing. As a result of all this, the report ends up reading like a politically motivated screed targeting one’s opponent. No wonder it was rightly rejected as “deeply biased” by India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
The question is: why is an arm of the US government so hostile towards a country, which, by virtue of being the world’s largest democracy, deserves better treatment as a natural partner of the United States? But then the State’s messaging seems to be directed primarily at the higher echelons of the US administration—towards those who are for deepening security and strategic ties with India. This has to be seen in the context of major steps such as the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), which has facilitated the transfer of critical technology for the first time ever from the US to India, including that of GE’s F404 fighter jet engines for the purpose of co-production in India, as well as initiating the building of a resilient supply chain in semi-conductors, among several other areas. The message from the State Department is simple: go slow on building a strategic and security relationship with India. After all, it was the State that was totally opposed to iCET between India and the US, but was overruled by the National Security Council, which is the final authority on advising the US President on national security and foreign policy.
Recent Indian media investigations have shown that much of this anti-India narrative is inspired by Pakistani deep state, or their front groups who influence bodies like the infamous United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). They work together, to the extent that the USCIRF acts as a willing tool of Pakistani propaganda.
It’s a case of the Pakistan factor being weaponised whenever needed. The aim is to demand compliance from India. There is also a certain degree of unwillingness to accept India as a partner, given its Russian links and its pro Soviet past. Analysts say that a lot of this duality, where the Department of Defense is working for bettering relations with India, while State is throwing a spanner in the works, is also a reflection of inter-departmental rivalry, where inputs need to be taken from all departments before formulating policy, but the State Department tries to bulldoze everyone into submission. In the process if it hurts US’ relations with India, so be it—the State has had its say.
Hence, all this could also be a manifestation of the very clumsy way the US government functions—clumsiness that allows the government to be duped by those smart enough to exploit the fault lines that exist. But then India is no pushover. In addition, it has the backing of the Indian diaspora, which is the most successful of all diaspora communities in the US and carries enough clout to be able to influence US policymaking towards India. So it may not be that easy to drive a wedge between India and the US as yet. But India needs to be vigilant, for such “human rights” reports will keep coming.