Almost 1.5 billion people live in the nuclear superpower, it has overtaken China in terms of population, but its internal reality is shaped by inter-ethnic and religious tensions and the rise of Hindu nationalism under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On August 15 last year, India marked 75 years of independence from British colonial rule, and a good three months later, with a powerful Prime Minister To Narendra Modi assumed the presidency of the G 20 group. India hosted the high-profile meeting of the leaders of the group of 20 economically most powerful countries in the world at the beginning of this September, and the host Modi did not hide his plans to strengthen his role in the international community and on the international diplomatic floor at the meeting of the superpowers.
The plans of Narendra Modi, who has been holding the reins of the giant country for the last nine years with the BJP, are linked to India’s economic rise and the strengthening of the country’s Hindu identity. According to the forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, by the end of the decade, India will overtake Germany and Japan in the ranking of the most economically powerful countries and will rise from the current fifth place to the third. But beneath the surface of the words, numbers and plans for the rise, unrest is bubbling.
Next spring, the world’s most populous country will hold parliamentary elections, and Narendra Modi and his ruling party are riding on the shoulders of Hindu nationalism. The election campaign is already tumultuous and riddled with violence. Almost 800 languages are spoken in a country with an extraordinary range of diversity, the vast majority of the population are Hindus, almost 15 percent are Muslims, and a good two percent are Christians.
This time, the guest of the Globus show is an Indian political analyst and lecturer at the American Yale University Sushant Singh is critical of Narendra Modi’s rule. In his article for Foreign Affairs magazine at the beginning of September, just before the G20 leaders’ meeting, he wrote: “The prime minister’s central ideological project is the creation of a Hindu nationalist state in which non-Hindus are second-class citizens.”
In an interview with TV Slovenija, Singh also warned of the danger of Hindu nationalism. “It is causing problems in India. There have been no elections in predominantly Muslim Kashmir for nine years. There are tensions in Manipur, where the Christian minority is the target of attacks. Tensions are coming to the surface between residents who speak different languages, belong to different religions and ethnic communities …And all these multiple tensions are tearing India apart right now. It’s all the fault of Prime Minister Modi’s policies.”
In 2047, India will celebrate 100 years of independence and Prime Minister Modi predicts that it will become a developed country by then. “If India changes its policy, it has great potential”believes Singh. “It needs to focus on public education and healthcare and provide higher standards for everyone in the country. India has a lot of potential to rise and can become a really great superpower. But if current policies continue, India in 2047 will not be a superpower that can successfully compete with neighboring China.”
Source: Rtvslo
