Lack of understanding: India rebuts questions on press freedom, minority rights during PM’s Netherlands visit

The Hague: India strongly pushed back against questions relating to “press freedom” and “minority rights” during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Netherlands, as senior diplomat Sibi George delivered a firm and detailed defence of India’s democratic structure, constitutional framework and civilisational diversity.

These remarks came as an answer to a Dutch journalist who questioned why both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Dutch leadership were not jointly available for media interaction and also raised concerns over press freedom and the condition of minorities, particularly Muslims, in India.

Responding sharply to the queries, Sibi George, MEA Secretary (West), said such questions often stem from a “lack of understanding” about India, its history and its social fabric.

“We face these kinds of questions basically because of the lack of understanding of the person who asks the question. India is a country of 1.4 billion people, the most populous country in the world. A country of civilisation of more than 5000 years old. It’s a diverse country,” George said.

Highlighting India’s religious and cultural diversity, the diplomat noted that India is the birthplace of four major religions and continues to remain a land where different faiths coexist and flourish.

“Look at India, how beautiful it is. There is no other country in the world where four religions have originated — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. These religions originated in India and continue to flourish in India,” he added.

George further stressed that followers of all major world religions have lived in India for centuries and continued to practice their faith freely.

The Ambassador pointed out that the Jewish community had lived in India for more than 2,500 years without facing persecution.

“India is perhaps only one of the very few countries where the Jewish population never faced persecution. This is the beauty of India,” he said.

He also referred to the long history of Christianity and Islam in the country.

“Then again, look at Islam or Christianity. Christianity came to India immediately after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Continued to flourish in India. Today, Christianity is more than 30 million Christians in India. Christianity came to India much before it came to Europe, and it flourished in India. This is the beauty of India. Islam came to India during the time of Prophet Muhammad himself and flourished in India,” George added.

The diplomat further said that whenever communities faced persecution in different parts of the world historically, many sought refuge in India and continued to thrive there.

“Every religion, whenever there was persecution in any part of the world in the past, they all came to India and thrived in India. This is the beauty of India. This question comes because of the lack of understanding of this,” he said.

Defending India’s democratic framework, George described the country as a vibrant democracy with peaceful transitions of power and constitutional freedoms.

“Today we are 1.4 billion people, diverse, living in peace and harmony, and a democratically elected government where peaceful transition of power happens. Again, a beautiful thing… Everyone has the freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the country. And that makes our democracy a very noisy democracy, and we are proud of that,” he stated.

Referring to the recently concluded Assembly elections in several Indian states, George highlighted the scale of voter participation, noting that polling percentages crossed 90 per cent in several areas.

“It’s a vibrant democracy. So, we need to have more understanding for people… You need to have the information about India’s transformation today. That is how we are moving ahead with the democratic process to become a developed country,” he said.

George also underlined that India’s economic rise and development had taken place without compromising democratic values or constitutional principles.

“When we became independent, the minority population in India was 11 per cent. Now it is more than 20 per cent. Name a country where the population of minorities have gone up, you won’t find it other than India. This is the beauty of India. So, I would request you to learn more about India so that you will have more appreciation of what India is, and how it is progressing,” he said.

The diplomat further referred to India’s linguistic diversity, saying every language and culture in the country continued to flourish.

“Another minority, the linguistic minorities, every language is flourishing in India. There are 22 official languages. If you take an Indian currency, there are 22 languages written in it. Again, every language is flourishing in India. This is the beauty of India. I would also invite you to visit India and see for yourself how India lives, how thriving an economy it is, how vibrant a democracy it is,” George added.

IANS