On September 23, the Bangladeshi government protested against Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments in Jharkhand in which he targeted “infiltrators” and referred to them as Bangladeshis and Rohingya. He accused the opposition of protecting Bangladeshi infiltrators and vowed that “all infiltrators will be hung upside down” if the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power. Mr. Shah’s comments were widely reported in Bangladesh, prompting an angry dissent from Dhaka and a summons to the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka.
The Dhaka protest letter “calls on the Government of India to advise its political leaders to refrain from making such offensive and unacceptable statements,” and “remarks against citizens of neighboring countries from a position of responsibility must be made in accordance with mutual respect.” It undermines the spirit of the and understanding between two friendly countries. ”
In a tweet posted a week earlier, on September 16, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei criticized India, Gaza and Myanmar, and condemned countries where Muslims are persecuted. “We cannot consider ourselves Muslims if we are not aware of the suffering that Muslims endure in Myanmar, Gaza, India and elsewhere,” he wrote.
The tweet was strange not because accusations of anti-Muslim persecution in India are unfounded, but because Iran’s supreme leader is accused of continuing genocide in the Gaza Strip, Iran’s arch-enemy. This is because he mentioned India on the same level as Israel. Many Indians were quick to point out that Khamenei did not mention the Uyghurs, fearing to anger China.
After the controversy erupted on social media, the Foreign Ministry reacted angrily, deploring Khamenei’s comments as “misinformed and unacceptable.” It advised Iran to check its own record before commenting on India. This is the standard Whataboutism deployed by government sources whenever India is questioned about its treatment of minority communities. It is not specifically intended to dispel accusations. Rather, this response satisfies the domestic audience, which then engages in crude variations of the response.
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In fact, even before an official response was forthcoming, India’s right-wingers, who had earlier been noisily celebrating the pager bombing in Lebanon allegedly carried out by Israel, temporarily shelved their uproar and quickly shifted gears to launch a full-scale An online surprise attack has begun. Ayatollah’s. Iranians were subjected to the usual anti-Muslim abuse now common in India. An influential right-wing editorial even called for Mossad to deal with Khamenei in the same way it did when Israel attacked Beirut.
Wedge growing in the bay
Amidst the angry noise and retaliatory official responses that are now an essential part of our public discourse, we have overlooked important questions. Why would Iran, which has a long history of strong bilateral ties with India, take such a stance and risk annoy New Delhi? Like China, India has repeatedly refused to isolate Iran despite intense pressure from the United States. Earlier this year, India and Iran signed a 10-year deal on Chabahar port, giving India improved access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. According to a 2005 BBC survey, 71 percent of Iranians consider Indians to be friends, the highest percentage of any country in the world.
Recent incidents, including inflammatory statements by Bharatiya Janata Party politicians and policies deemed anti-Muslim, have affected India’s relations with Bangladesh, Iran and Gulf states. |Photo courtesy: MOHD ARIF / The Hindu
Historically, people across Central Asia, not just Iran, have a favorable view of India. India imports most of its oil from this region, and more than 9 million Indian workers are settled in these Gulf countries. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Indians have great relations with Arabs and Iranians. Is that perception changing?
While it is easy to point out Iran’s hypocrisy, New Delhi must realize that Khamenei’s comments are not isolated and haphazard accusations by one country. Khamenei is the leader of millions of Muslims, and his words shape their perceptions. His comments reflect growing concern over India’s divisive domestic politics and rising incidents of anti-Muslim violence. This is not the first time a foreign power has questioned India over its treatment of minorities. Over the past few years, the US has marked India as a country with particular religious freedom concerns. Just two months ago, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke out about “anti-conversion laws, hate speech, and the increasing destruction of the homes and places of worship of members of minority faith communities.”
In June 2022, more than a dozen Muslim-majority countries, many of which have strong diplomatic ties with India, condemned derogatory anti-Prophet comments made by two Bharatiya Janata Party spokesmen. did. The BJP distanced itself from these comments and said it does not agree with statements that go against any particular faith. It was the first time in a decade that the Bharatiya Janata Party was forced to retreat from domestic policy after a television footage of its spokesperson went viral. Notably, the party ignored previous protests by India’s Muslims, and in some cases even targeted and committed brutality against protesters. A similar storm has been brewing in Maharashtra over the past month over hate speech by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, but New Delhi seems oblivious to it.
Similarly, in 2021, India faced a backlash from Indonesia after the Tablighi Jamaat was targeted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Media trials and state witch hunts demonized the group and sparked outrage in Jakarta. Some Indian nationals were deported from the UAE, Kuwait and Oman for similar reasons (spreading hateful propaganda). In 2022, several Kuwaiti parliamentarians called for the banning of Bharatiya Janata Party politicians in Karnataka due to their anti-hijab policy. Despite their proximity to India, it is clear that none of these countries has shown any tolerance for the toxic discourse within India against Muslim incursions into their territory.
The anti-Muslim sentiment prevalent among BJP supporters today is becoming increasingly apparent to people in Muslim countries that have historically been friendly to India. Whether it’s news of bulldozer violence, lynchings, or everyday hate speech, they travel far beyond India’s borders.
On the other hand, one could argue that Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE gave PM Modi the highest civilian award. And it is a worrying read that India’s domestic politics are shaping India’s perception abroad, as PM Modi has not made any radical changes to foreign policy despite his domestic rhetoric. Also, most governments usually engage with India for their own self-interest rather than moral reasons. All of this is true, but the people of these countries are outraged. And beyond a certain point, even the most authoritarian regime cannot ignore public sentiment. As a result, Islamic countries are increasingly banning Indian films and content that demonize Muslims.
Muslim women wear masks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face during Home Minister Amit Shah’s election campaign in Hyderabad on May 1, 2024. Photo credit: RAMAKRISHNA G/The Hindu
For most Arabs, opposition to the atrocities in Gaza is a non-negotiable issue. Historically, India has been considered a friend of Arabs, especially Palestinians. Despite the sudden rapprochement with Israel, India has tried hard to maintain a pro-Arab image and project a neutral position internationally, despite abstaining at least twice during votes on Palestine. Ta. The first time he condemned the Gaza war, and the other time he condemned the Gaza war. Two-state solution. The crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests within India is another issue that shows that India’s image as a friend of Palestine is gradually changing. But what has really changed the world’s current view of India as hyper-partisan and Islamophobic is the huge support given to Prime Minister Netanyahu by India’s right-wing and mainstream media. Both sides are gloating about the destruction of Gaza. This popularity front often obscures official positions.
messy neighborhood
This erosion of goodwill is not limited to the Arab, Islamic, and Gulf world. It also spread to the country’s backyard, where anti-India sentiment is high. China and Pakistan are not known to be friends of India, but we have gradually lost strong allies in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bangladesh as well.
A friend from Dhaka told me how anti-India rhetoric has grown in Bangladesh in recent years. Several factors contribute to this. Many Bangladeshis see India as complicit in Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian rule. There were charges of border killings by the BSF (Border Security Force). There was also anger over India’s domestic politics surrounding the CAA-NRC (National Register of Citizens). The BJP’s crude election fear-mongering about “Bangladeshi infiltrators” only heightens mistrust.
In the aftermath of Hasina’s forced ouster, when violence erupted in Bangladesh, including against the Hindu minority, India’s right-wing media published hundreds of fake videos showing Bangladeshi Hindus facing genocide. The environment has been degraded by claiming that This happened when the Indian government did not use the term in its official statements regarding the situation in Dhaka. Such talk may serve the Bharatiya Janata Party’s domestic political interests, but it could widen the rift between Dhaka and Delhi.
Also read | When “other” meets alienation: Being a Muslim in India
The backlash is also being felt in Hindu-majority Nepal. Some local political observers have accused Indian interventionists of attacking Nepal’s secular constitution and promoting militant Hindutva. Political writer Kanak Mani Dixit said the rise of radical Hindutva in Uttarakhand would have a negative impact on Nepal, which has recently been hit by religious violence, which is rare in the country.
Even conflicts between the government and Sikhs and protesting farmers caused international repercussions due to the government’s poor response. In response to farmers’ protests, a new fault line was created and the bogeyman of Khalistan was revived. Subsequently, the Nijjar assassination, the standoff with Canada, the attack on an Indian Sikh consulate, and other similar events added to the pervasive paranoia.
Foreign actors have learned to use these divisive narratives to their advantage, and it is in India’s interest to engage with the world as a country whose greatest strength is its diversity.
If India wants to regain its place in the world, it needs to actively de-escalate internal frictions. The government needs to recognize how unhealthy and divisive domestic debates can undermine both India’s internal security and external interests.
Alishan Jafri is an independent journalist based in New Delhi. He writes about human rights, media, disinformation, and the rise of extreme politics in India.
