GhoseSpot | Nupur Sharma saga: Lessons for Modi government and the importance of managing narratives

A week they say is long in politics. Even a weekend can sometimes feel like a month. A few days ago, many across India, barring a few compulsive critics of the present dispensation, were celebrating a virtuoso performance of the Indian External Affairs Minister at a European conference where he had to field some curveball questions on India’s foreign policy in a post-Ukraine world. However, after developments last Sunday, when Islamic countries in the Middle East took strong exception to the statement of a ruling party spokesperson on a television debate that was deemed insulting to Prophet Mohammed, the mood changed in a matter of hours. While there was virtually a meltdown in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) camp at the decision of the party to suspend the lady in question, Nupur Sharma, and the head of BJP’s Delhi Unit Communication Cell, Naveen Jindal, who they felt were thrown under the bus by the party, there was widespread outrage in the anti-BJP camp about the embarrassment it had caused the nation in the global order. This one incident was seen to puncture claims of the Narendra Modi government about India’s rising stature in the world. The fine print of the Ministry of External Affairs communique was analysed with a microscope. Labelling the ruling party representative as “fringe” came in for heavy criticism. Also Read:  Nupur Sharma has erred, no doubt: But why are liberals mutedly supporting Islamist challenge to her right to life? The discomfiture of the government at the sudden turn of events was viewed with visible glee in quarters that are known to be hostile to the Modi government. Many turned this into Narendra Modi’s moment of reckoning. Op-ed writers got busy writing pieces on how the countdown has started for the end of the Modi regime. But it is not the first time that Narendra Modi’s political obituary is being written. Whether the Modi government will survive, or BJP get re-elected in 2024 the future will tell. Similarly, the BJP leadership will take a call on Nupur Sharma’s future. Will she be consigned to a footnote of history or return from exile depends on her own political acumen and destiny. For us, the concern should be what this means for India both internally and internationally. Blown out of proportion this can have implications on multiple fronts — political, socio-religious, economic, diplomatic and, even, strategic affairs. Don’t Miss:  Nupur Sharma’s suspension: Why BJP’s decision is a rational one First is the timing of the denouement, if one can call it that. It is somewhat intriguing why the Islamic countries of the Gulf waited more than a week to react, and the timing of their outburst coincided with the Vice President of India’s visit to the region. All of them appeared to speak in unison adopting the same tenor and text. Close on its heels, the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) Secretariat issued an almost identically worded statement followed by other Islamic states like Indonesia. This was, of course, amplified by social media in India along with stray reports of Indians and Indian products being boycotted in the Middle East. Curiously, a few days before this precipitation, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while delivering his speech on the 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, had named India among other countries where there were rising instances of attacks on minorities and threats to religious freedom. This had drawn a sharp response from the MEA, which termed the report as “ill-informed”.

Our response to media queries regarding the release of U.S. State Department 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom:https://t.co/zlwdjgzoOn pic.twitter.com/rBkJaVpxq5

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) June 3, 2022

This left some wondering if Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia were prompted by the United States to take a stand. In fact, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh went on to say as much in a tweet. Must Read:  The 14 nations which have condemned remarks on the Prophet Diplomacy is the art of managing setbacks and making small signs of progress. India too will surely tide over this minor turbulence — since in an interdependent world there is a lot at stake for all sides. However, a question does arise on how far India will allow foreign powers to influence or dictate domestic issues including matters of faith and religion. As a country of 170 million Muslim population, the second-largest in the world, does India need to be told by others about how to manage relations between its own people? The irony lies — when the sermons come from nations that are avowedly non-secular, do not themselves allow much room for the practice of other religions, have an unenviable human rights record, and are conspicuous for their double standards of atrocities or curbing minority rights in countries of greater economic might like China and many European states. A pragmatic response can be to press on with our ambitions and once India attains the economic heft the rest of the world will fall in line. But, that is the proverbial chicken and egg story. It is precisely India’s economic progress in recent years that attracts the envy of others. In particular, many are not happy with the improvement of India’s relationship with Gulf nations — something they had ruled out when BJP — termed by Western media as a “Hindu Majoritarian” party — came to power in 2014. So, it is only to be expected that forces that are inimical to India’s interest are going to spread seeds of discord with countries that matter. This is where lies the importance of managing narratives and optics — both within and outside India, which has been the Achilles’ heel of the Modi government. The government and the top BJP leadership are either blasé or genuinely deficient. The Nupur Sharma episode should be an alarm for course correction. People are waiting to see India fail. Sadly, many of them live in India and have still not come to terms with being out of power for so long. In their eagerness for regime change, they are willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater. They too must understand that by pushing the envelope too far and ratcheting up the surround sound they may provoke further polarisation on either side, which would be a greater threat to secularism and communal harmony. For sure, Narendra Modi understands the risk. He is working for a legacy to leave behind. He will not run the risk of the India Story being derailed in the auspicious hour of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. The author is a current affairs commentator, marketer, blogger and leadership coach, who tweets at @SandipGhose. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.