Anti-Muslim record, rights abuses dim Modi's charm offensive on US visit

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is embarking on a visit to the US, kicking it off in New York City with a made-for-TV yoga session to coincide with the international Yoga Day on Wednesday, and culminating with a rare address before a joint session of the US Congress and a state dinner at the White House hosted by US President Joe Biden on Thursday.

Other events set for Friday, include a lunch with US Vice President Kamala Harris and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

But as the leader of the world's largest democracy makes what has been referred to as "the most important visit of an Indian prime minister to Washington DC", he is being hounded by accusations of supercharging Hindu nationalist supremacy, inciting anti-Muslim violence, stifling media and suppressing political opposition.

Modi has been to the United States five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but this is his first state visit.

The trip comes as concerns have grown over what is seen as a deteriorating human rights situation under the rule of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rights groups and some political observers are critical of the man, who is now being celebrated in the West as a champion of the "pursuit of inner tranquility" and an advocate of anti-violence and peace. Mode was the chief minister of Gujarat state, when the 2002 riots broke out in which over a thousand people were killed, most of them Muslims.

Now as India's prime minister, he is accused of turning a blind eye towards the growing religious bigotry and espousing discriminatory laws.

In 2019, Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the country’s citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalisation for Chirstian and Hindu refugees but excludes Muslims.

As Muslim took out rallies against the act, Modi infamously said that Indians who are "creating violence" can be "identified by their clothes" - a reference to the loose shirts and trousers that many Muslims in South Asia wear.

New Delhi also faced questions over the rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India’s top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi's surname.

According to the latest estimates, there are as many as 213 million Muslims in India, representing about 15 percent of the country's total population of more than 1.4 billion people.

Hindus, meanwhile, constitute about 80 percent of the population. That's equivalent to about 1.1 billion people of the total population. India has the largest population in the world surpassing China earlier this year.

As US President Joe Biden prepares to host Modi on Thursday, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the US leader in a letter not to shy away from confronting Modi on India's “worsening human rights situation.”

"It’s important for Prime Minister Modi to see that US leaders are scrutinising his government’s actions and that worsening abuses are affecting US-India relations," said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at HRW.

On Tuesday, just as Modi arrived in New York, HRW hosted a screening in Washington DC of a documentary critical of Modi's role of in the Gujarat riots that was banned by the Indian government.

In 2005, Washington DC had revoked Modi's visa to the US, citing concerns that he did not act to stop the communal violence. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered.

Violence against Indian Muslims

Since Modi came to power in 2014, tensions between Muslim minority and the majority Hindus have increased in many parts of the country.

In February 2020, dozens of people were killed and more than 200 were wounded following an unrest in largely Muslim-populated areas in northeast Delhi. It was described as the worst religious violence in the country in decades.

During the three days of violence in the Indian capital, a mosque was set on fire by Hindu mobs, and several Muslim-populated areas in the city were attacked, after Muslim Indians protested against the country new citizenship law. The law has been described by critics as divisive and a violation of country’s secular constitution.

Across the country, there have been numerous incidents of attacks against Muslims for butchering or even transporting cow, which is considered by the Hindu majority as sacred. In recent days a video also became viral on social media after a Hindu man telling off a veiled woman, that Muslims were banned from visiting the Ganges River, a sacred place for Hindus.

In India-administered Kashmir, violence against the region's Muslim population has also escalated in recent years.

In August 2019, the Indian government also revoked Article 370 of India’s constitution that guaranteed special rights to the Muslim-majority India-administered Kashmir, including the right to its own constitution and autonomy to make laws on all matters except defence, communications and foreign affairs.

Deadly violence by state forces soon followed as protests erupted over New Delhi's ontroversial decision.

Elaine Pearson, head of HRW in Asia, pointed out, Modi’s government has demonstrated "blatant bias" in protecting members and allies of his party, BJP, who are accused of various crimes, including "murder, assault, corruption, and sexual violence."

In a statement on social media, Ilhan Omar, Biden's fellow Democrat and a member of the House of Representatives, wrote on Wednesday that she will not attend Modi's expected speech before Congress.

"Prime Minister Modi’s government has repressed religious minorities, emboldened violent Hindu nationalist groups, and targeted journalists/human rights advocates with impunity."

The Indian government has continually defended its human rights record and insisted that India’s democratic principles remain robust.

'Defining relationship'

With US relations with China at its lowest, Biden sees Washington's ties to India — one of the fastest growing economies — as a defining relationship, likely putting the human rights concerns at the back burner.

Asked about the human rights situation in India, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that Biden is expected to bring up US concerns about democratic backsliding in India, but he will not lecture Modi on the subject.

"Ultimately, the question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians. It's not going to be determined by the United States," Sullivan said.

New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence, and China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific.

“Now, we know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the US-India Business Council in Washington ahead of Modi's visit.

"We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable, and it is filled with promise.”

Modi, for his part, is trying to usher in a more prosperous era for his nation, delivering on a promise he made when he swept into office more than nine years ago.

The Indian prime minister hopes to strengthen US-India economic and military ties. He also has his own worries about Chinese military activities, along the Himalayan border and in the Indian Ocean.

Writing for the Observer Research Foundation, senior Indian journalist and analyst Manoj Joshi said that Modi's visit to the US "could transform India’s geoeconomic and geopolitical fortunes."

India has been locked in a long-running standoff with China in the rugged mountainous area of Ladakh, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

“As China has risen, India and the US both need one another and the US needs more partners in the Indo-Pacific,” Jitendra Nath Misra, a professor of diplomatic practice at the OP Jindal Global University and a former Indian ambassador, told the Associated Press news agency.

“They can’t do it alone anymore because China is catching up with the US, and the Chinese economy is significantly larger than India’s. So, there is a congruence of geopolitical interests here.”

Russia factor

At the international level, Modi’s government is seen to be reluctant to stand with other governments on key human rights issues, abstaining or refraining from condemning grave human rights violations elsewhere.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian operation in Ukraine in 2022, records show that India has boosted its economy by purchasing increasing quantities of cheap Russian oil. Russian oil now accounts for almost 20 percent of its annual crude imports compared to only 2 percent before the war in Ukraine.

The New Delhi-Moscow relationship dates back decades, with Moscow offering key cooperation on defence, nuclear energy and other issues.

The Biden White House has privately pressed India to cut its reliance on Russian oil, but has largely avoided publicly criticising Modi's government, seeks to solidify its relationship with Delhi.

And there are plenty of signs that the relationship already has taken a leap forward. Trade between the US and India in 2022 climbed to a record $191 billion. The Indian diaspora in the US stands at nearly 5 million and has become an economic, cultural and political powerhouse.

Biden has also sought to reinvigorate the Quad, an international partnership of the US, Australia, India and Japan. And US defense sales to India have risen from near zero in 2008 to over $20 billion in 2020.

Still, the state visit comes with some problematic aspects for Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that human rights would be a driving force in his foreign policy.

But as the warm US welcome indicates, it is likely that Modi will get away with only the slightest reprimand and the maximum political reward.