India at 75 — Still a postcolonial poster child for democracy?

12 August 2022

On a visit to Germany in June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi labelled India “the mother of democracy” and declared the country has demonstrated that “democracy can deliver and has delivered”. He then joined the G7 in pledging to protect freedom of speech, an open internet, and the independence of civil society actors. Ironic, considering that India leads the world in terms of internet shutdowns, has been cracking down on social media, and increasing arrests of journalists critical of the government. Sunil Khilnani once characterised the history of independent India as “the third moment in the great democratic experiment launched … by the American and French revolutions”. With India celebrating 75 years of independence on 15 August this year, how is its democracy faring? And what are the prospects of Modi’s India serving as a bulwark against China’s authoritarian expansion in the Indo-Pacific?

An atrophying democracy

Prime Minister Modi has brought Hindu rituals to the front and centre of the country’s government. But India is neither a Hindu nor a Hindi country; contrary to popular belief, it is also not a vegetarian country. While nearly 80 per cent of the Indian population practices Hinduism, it is not the country’s ‘official’ or ‘state’ religion. The constitution treats freedom of religion as a fundamental right, and India is home to the world’s third-largest Muslim population. Although Hindi and English are used for the government’s official business, the country does not have a single national language, with 22 languages recognised in the constitution for official and educational purposes across the country. And while eating meat and eggs has become a political issue in the last few years (with several local governments imposing bans), over 90 per cent of Indians eat some kind of non-vegetarian food. India is a multi-religious, multi-lingual, and multi-ethnic country, which took pride in its incredible diversity for decades. Sadly, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government intent on pursuing upper-caste Hindu and Hindi supremacist politics, too many — even in India — seem to have forgotten these facts.

Although unique in its particular causes, India’s democratic backsliding is part of a global trend. Like other polities, India too needs new ideas if it is to overcome this divisive, fascist turn in its politics.

The preamble to independent India’s constitution, adopted in 1950, lists several founding ideals — democracy, justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity — along with secularism, which was added via an amendment in 1976. While the Modi government has not directly interfered with the integrity of India’s electoral processes, unfortunately, each of these principles has been undermined over the past few years. India’s democratic backsliding is by now well documented, much like many other democracies worldwide. But the frequency of brazen violence against minorities, as well as infringements of civil freedoms (both implicitly and explicitly state-sanctioned), seems to be increasing. “Jai Shri Ram” (i.e., “Hail Lord Ram”) has become a popular rallying cry of the Hindu right-wing, with religious processions becoming increasingly sinister as both religious and BJP leaders openly call for Hindus to take up arms against Muslims. Since April, homes and businesses belonging to Muslims have been destroyed across the country.

Worse yet, parliamentary processes have also been systematically undermined, with members of the opposition being suspended to stifle debate and policies passed with little deliberation. The PR-loving prime minister is also famous for avoiding press conferences and for not addressing direct questions. For decades after independence, nationalism was based on taking pride in dams and steel plants — the Nehruvian ‘temples of modern India’. Today, it is rooted in unquestioning anti-Muslim rhetoric, the symbolic politics of statues that cost upwards of USD 400 million and changing colonial and Muslim-sounding names of cities and streets to Hindu ones, and intolerance of any criticism of the government or its leader, Narendra Modi.

Heading towards turmoil

Since forming the national government on an anti-corruption and “smart” government agenda, the BJP has tried to walk the tightrope between actively pursuing more pro-Hindu ‘moderate’ politics while tacitly allowing extremist factions to propagate unabashedly hateful politics. The result is a highly polarised society, with fraying social trust and rising vigilantism and violence. The Hindu hardliners believe the BJP is not doing enough to ensure the rights of the majority and to install a Hindu state, while minorities, especially the country’s sizeable Muslim community, are increasingly afraid of their very right to exist. This dire social and political situation in a country that is struggling economically is a cause for alarm.

Following a decade of stagnation, despite a growing digitech sector and revived manufacturing industry prospects, the Indian economy continues to struggle as the cost of living rises and income inequality widens. Unemployment rose to 7.8 per cent in June this year, with less than 36 per cent of the working age population employed. GDP per capita (PPP) was only USD 6,675 in 2021, lower than USD 6,689 in 2019; for comparison, China clocked in at USD 17,603 last year. Looking ahead to the general elections in 2024, whether the BJP will aim to strike a more moderate and conciliatory tone or be pushed toward a more extremist, hard-line agenda remains an open question. What is, unfortunately, clearer is the government’s inability to deliver sound policies or on its infrastructure development promises, despite claims to the contrary. The Indian government has actively stifled the country’s economic rise.

Why this matters

The West has been making much of bringing together “like-minded democracies” to shore up a weakening ‘rules-based international order’ and counter “autocrats and illiberal strongmen”. While there may indeed be few takers for a China (and Russia)-led world order, the US and its allies can no longer count on shaping and sustaining the order along their own preferences. To be sure, India’s sheer size ensures that it will remain an important partner to tackle present and future international challenges. But if the Indian government is unwilling to preserve the democratic order that the country’s constitution envisions, what kind of international rules-based order is it going to help uphold in the Indo-Pacific and beyond?

The EU has tried the approach of distancing values from interests in pursuing ties with China as a ‘strategic partner’ and has spent years negotiating the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment. Although negotiations were finally concluded in December 2020, its ratification by the European Parliament has been derailed due to sanctions against China for human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. With China now labelled a ‘strategic rival’, the EU is scrambling to negotiate comprehensive trade and investment agreements with other Indo-Pacific countries, including India. However, if the EU continues to value democracy, liberalism, respect for human rights, and social inclusivity as core aspects of its identity, it may become increasingly harder to justify partnering with the new India in the coming years. Questions about India’s human rights record have already been raised in the European Parliament.

India is unlikely to become a systemic rival in the way China has, or flout international rules as Russia has with its invasion of Ukraine. However, in ideology and ruling style, Modi is closer to Xi and Putin than any of his Western counterparts. The Modi administration’s rhetoric is certainly different from Xi’s — New Delhi has not sunk to ‘wolf warrior diplomacy’. But Modi’s India is no less sensitive and much more outspoken in calling out the West, especially the US, for its hypocrisy on human rights, with foot soldiers in the national media ever ready to sniff out conspiracies to derail India’s rise lurking behind any criticism of its domestic affairs.

Too big to fail?

At the stroke of midnight on 14 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India’s first prime minister, observed in his speech before the constituent assembly that the country was “step[ping] out from the old to the new”. An age was ending, he said, and the country was awakening to life and freedom. 75 years later, it seems another age is ending and India is once again stepping into the ‘new’ — but what is the country awakening to? There is perhaps a sense of complacency about India’s future, not only in India but also abroad. After all, it has a nearly unblemished record of democracy among post-colonial states. India has muddled through social, political, and economic travails before, and perhaps it will do so again. Alternatives are too discomfiting to consider.

A descent into fascism or widespread religious violence across the country seems impossible and the consequences, including a humanitarian and refugee crisis, appear too difficult to contemplate. But the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine were also unthinkable until they happened. Maybe India will overcome; as a citizen, I can only hope so. But for now, the country’s imperilled political opposition remains unable to channel popular dissatisfaction into votes, leaving Modi’s BJP the only party with nationwide influence. A third term for Modi currently seems more than likely. Although unique in its particular causes, India’s democratic backsliding is part of a global trend. Like other polities, India too needs new ideas if it is to overcome this divisive, fascist turn in its politics.

DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.

Author biography

Dr Manali Kumar is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow & Lecturer at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland, and Editor-in-Chief at 9DASHLINE. Her research focuses on India’s interests and aspirations as a rising power as well as the value of prudence for guiding decision-making under uncertainty.

An Italian version of this article appears in ChinaFiles and can be found here. Image credit: Flickr/Srinivas Savaram.