The recent events in the Middle East have illustrated the poverty of international law, human rights discourse, and the rather fickle nature of the so-called international community. Following a bewildering terror attack by Hamas—which killed hundreds of civilians—Israel has retaliated with a no-holds-barred vengeance to decimate the Gaza Strip, leading to a massive humanitarian crisis. While the Western world largely supported Israel’s right to retaliate, their appeals to alleviate the crisis in Gaza have been mostly ineffective. By extending unqualified support to Israel, the West is losing moral ground to lecture developing nations on how to deal with strategic challenges.
At the core of the Gaza crisis lies an age-old conflict among the Abrahamic religions in Europe. This conflict initially resulted in the Holocaust across Europe, followed by a model of settler colonialism backed by the might of the British Empire.
The Middle East crisis, therefore, is at its root a European problem exported abroad. While Europe has tried to project itself as the epitome of secularism and human rights post-World War II—justifying its moral interventionism in other countries’ affairs—the current crisis is an occasion to remind ourselves that the continent has been at war forever. A Hundred Years’ War here and the Crusades there. A Seven Years’ War here and a Holocaust there. In fact, the two ‘World’ wars of the 20th century could be termed ‘European’ wars instead.
It is pertinent to quote India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar’s observations on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict as to how “Europe’s problems are the world’s problems, but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems.” To its credit, the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy has carefully resisted this import of ideology and taken principled and rational stances.
Also read: As Gaza weeps, Kolkata sleeps. What happened to the ‘city of protests’?
Indian vs Western secularism
The current crisis reminds us that the model for Indian secularism cannot be based on Western secularism. India’s secularism is civilisational and not merely rooted in a statute. It is, more appropriately, pluralism. While Western secularism relies on a ‘separation’ of Church and state, political theorist Rajeev Bhargava calls the Indian model of secularism a “principled distance model”.
Even though the Indian state has no religion, it protects, for example, the right of minorities to run their educational institutions that receive government aid, but this is not seen as an affront to secularism or a paradox. Unlike Europe, where the default has been homogeneity, with multiculturalism being a recent phenomenon, the Indian civilisation has always been home to innumerable cultures, Little and Great Traditions—a beautiful mosaic of linguistic, religious, and ethnic diversity. As opposed to the Western model of melting pot multiculturalism, Indian secularism is better described as a salad bowl where each identity sits side-by-side rather comfortably. It is more normal to wear the hijab in India than in France. Viewed as a civilisational tradition, temporary setbacks to Indian secularism such as the Partition are aberrations in a much longer tradition of co-existence, a proverbial blip on the radar.
Muslims are only a numerical minority in post-Partition India, not a ‘civilisational’ minority. Political sociologist Dr. Tanweer Fazal in his 2014 article titled ‘Being Muslim’ in Contemporary India: Nation, Identity and Rights’ shows—in the context of New Delhi—how Muslims resist categorisation as a minority, by claiming that they are ‘the second biggest majority’ in India.
Most of us who advocate secularism have been guilty, at one point or another, of holding up the West as a model for multiculturalism and tolerance. Western values of multiculturalism, human rights, secularism and even liberty are facing immense challenges right now. From clashes between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters across the West to the suppression of demonstrations in liberal democracies, along with the murder of a six-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois in a hate crime and the killing of the president of a synagogue in Detroit, the fragility of secularism in the West and its relatively short tradition are evident. We do not witness this proverbial ‘clash of civilisations’ playing out in India, because India is one civilisation.
Civil rights advocates in India often feel frustrated with the inadequacies of Indian secularism compared to the strong statutory protections in the West. However, the past few weeks have demonstrated the shortcomings of the Western model of plurality: helpless in the face of a great humanitarian crisis in Gaza, ineffective in ensuring a ceasefire, unable to rein in antisemitism or Islamophobia domestically, and incapable of brokering long-term peace in the Middle East. It is the biggest challenge to Western multiculturalism since 9/11.
Journalist Claire Porter Robbins pointed out how Canada, an oasis even within the West, is witnessing backlash from both the left-wing and the right-wing against increasing immigration in the country. Hence, efforts for secularism in India must be rooted in home-grown traditions rather than in an appeal to Western values. For advocates of secularism in India, Western interventionism should no longer be a reference point or a possible source of refuge. At the same time, the Modi government must address the perception of injustice prevalent in the minority communities.
Also read: Rahul Gandhi is reshaping Congress’ welfare agenda. I call it the Shudra Development Model
Model minority
The government’s welfare initiatives are not only faith and caste-agnostic, they also actively benefit the backward sections across all communities. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), etc. provide a social security net to the poor, regardless of faith.
The Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation will ensure unconditional reservation for the poorest of Muslims who are excluded from the Scheduled Caste category. But in order to realise the benefits of these initiatives, Muslims need to come forward and participate in the vision of a rapidly progressing India. We need to equip ourselves with education, relevant skills, and a growth mindset. Community leaders need to ensure that the young Muslim population of the country is steered toward the right opportunities. As India reaches for the Moon and beyond, Muslims need to ignore the noise that is meant to distract them from national progress and carry on like a model minority.
In a liberal democracy, rights are as much a function of political citizenship as they are of economic empowerment. Public intellectual Noam Chomsky recently said that Gazans “don’t have wealth, they don’t have power, so they don’t have rights—it’s the way the world works; your rights correspond to your power”. Both critical and realist perspectives acknowledge that it isn’t enough to claim political rights; empowering ourselves to be able to benefit from the opportunities available is equally crucial. As Prime Minister Modi famously said, “Development is only possible when Muslim youth will hold the Holy Qur’an in one hand and the computer in the other.” This statement is a testament to the uniqueness of Indian secular values where freedom of conscience goes along with development.
Peace, at all costs, is essential for the development of all communities and the growth of India as a nation. For all its advanced weaponry, technological finesse, and hawk-eyed surveillance, Israel’s failure to invest in organic peace and harmony has cost it badly. India, too, faces numerous security challenges, both continental and maritime in origin. With porous borders, a long coastline and huge ethnic diversity, it is essential that all communities come together to be prepared for such threats.
Set to become the third largest economy, India is sure to ruffle some feathers in the neighbourhood, and it is now that we need all hands on deck and everyone on board. The country cannot afford any social tension to be exploited by enemy nations at this point.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)