Public Comment

It’s puzzling why the Indian media has devoted so much newsprint to Narendra Modi’s visit. Largely forgotten is the uncomfortable truth that successive US governments barred him from visiting the United States over his role in anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat while he was chief minister. Modi has never apologized or even explained his reasons why he allowed 3 days to elapse while the killings took place. 

More than 100 academics in the U.S. wrote a letter protesting Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley, warning tech giants of the dangers of doing business with a government that has "demonstrated its disregard for human rights and civil liberties, as well as the autonomy of educational and cultural institutions." 

Modi certainly seems to have a penchant for fancy clothes and foreign travel and seems averse to getting tied down to the minutiae of governing. Everywhere he goes he gives himself an air of royalty. Meanwhile, his cabinet has been running roughshod against civil libertarians and other dissenters, especially Teesta Setalvad. A climate of fear has gripped human rights activists who are determined to hold Modi’s feet to the fire and hold him accountable for the pogrom in Gujarat in 2002. 

Soring food prices have imposed tremendous hardship on the poor, but has largely been ignored by Modi’s BJP. The pro-business agenda is very much in display in Modi’s Digital India idea. Facebook has created a web portal called Internet.org, linked up with a major Indian multinational, Reliance. Modi claims that this would allow the poor access to the Internet. 

The problem is that both Facebook and Reliance have made deregulation and development a major theme of their partnership which would surely be the death knell of net-neutrality and fast internet access only affordable to the rich. Privacy advocates have also sounded alarm bells on the potential for surveillance and government overreach. 

If Modi is serious about alleviating poverty he should turn his attention the poorest of the poor, the Untouchables or Dalits. There are 200 million Dalits, in India. According to the country’s National Crime Records Bureau, four Dalit women are raped, two Dalits are murdered, and two Dalit homes are torched every day. Dalits are the modern slaves of India who suffer enormous indignities in their daily lives. Deeply entreated Brahminized religious institutions have perpetuated this system of injustice. Not a single religious or modern day politician has voiced concern for their welfare and demanded an end to Dalit discrimination. 

I urge readers to see the documentary film #Dalitwomenfight., which will be showing in various places around the Bay Area in the next couple of weeks. Asha Kowtal, the general secretary of the All India Dalit Women’s Rights Forum, was highly critical of the rise in power of Hindu extremists groups following the election of Modi. She expressed concern for the erosion of free speech, freedom of assembly, and organizing and demanding justice – the hallmark of a functioning democracy. Perhaps, it’s time to usher ‘a ‘Dalits lives matter’ to bring much needed public awareness on this hideous system of caste apartheid