West has many areas to work on with India, but false virtue-signalling on democracy isn't one of them

On 4 April 2023, former American president Donald Trump was arrested at the New York court following the criminal charges against him. He became the first American president in history to face criminal charges. “Respect for the rule of law and judicial independence is a cornerstone of any democracy, and we are watching Mr Trump’s case in American courts, and we engage with the Government of USA on our shared commitment to democratic values – including, of course, freedom of expression… In our engagements with our American partners, we continue to highlight the importance of democratic principles and the protection of human rights, including freedom of expression, as a key to strengthening both our democracies,” said no Indian minister. But replace “America’’ with “India” in the above statement and “Trump” with “Rahul Gandhi”. Then it will become the exact statement of the US State Department’s Deputy Spokesperson. It came after the disqualification of Waynad’s Member of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, following his casteist and disparaging comments on the Modi community due to political mudslinging against Prime Minister Modi. Court in India proceeded with the case for three years, and the then-accused didn’t apologise even after having multiple chances to do so. But, still, America wants to poke its nose into these affairs. The notion of “White Man’s Burden”, a term coined by Rudyard Kipling, a British writer and poet, by seeing the inclusivity around, should be tweaked with the “Westerner’s Burden” term. This term refers to the phenomenon that the Westerns have a moral obligation to civilise and humanise the world’s non-western people and bring them the benefits of Western civilisation. While this concept has been heavily criticised over time, it still persists in the form of Western countries’ interference in other nations’ affairs. One of the most common forms of Western interference is the preaching of democracy and human rights in other countries, particularly in India. White men in the West seem to have an unending desire to tell India how to run its affairs and what it should do to be more democratic. They often preach the importance of free and fair elections, the rule of law, the need for strong institutions, and the freedom of expression. But, ironically, white men in the West continue to sermonise about democracy and human rights in other countries while turning a blind eye to the same issues within their own borders. This preaching is the honesty preached by a thief to a beggar. The United States, for instance, has long been guilty of this hypocrisy. Despite touting itself as the champion of democracy, the US has a long history of supporting authoritarian regimes and undermining democratically elected governments. For instance, the US supported the military coup in Chile in 1973, which overthrew the democratically elected government. The same US promoted the Mujaheedins in Afghanistan, which took the country back to the medieval age. The US also supported the apartheid regime in South Africa for many years, despite its gross human rights violations. More recently, the US has been accused of violating human rights in Guantanamo Bay and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The US, in essence, is a pyromaniac masquerading as a firefighter. The Irish republican party carried out the violence in the northern Ireland region of the United Kingdom and now a regular crackdown is carried out by the British government to prevent the same. Corsica, an island administered by France much against the will of the locals who want more autonomy, faces a regular crackdown from the French government. Canada, the USA, or any other Western country isn’t virtue-signalling on this. But when India’s Punjab province tried to take legal action on the genocide-enabler, separatist, and militant Amritpal Singh in Punjab, the politicians from the West suddenly started preaching about the rule of law and freedom to India. One must remember that Singh and his fellows move around with deadly weapons and terrorise the citizens by threatening and torturing them. Similarly, when India draws its own line on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the so-called saviours of democracy start condemning India for not bending to their side. However, they don’t mind taking any stand in India’s battle with its hostile neighbours. How dare a former colony stand for itself but not with masters who taught democracy? In essence, when Trump is arrested, it is the rule of law, but when Rahul Gandhi is disqualified from being an MP, it is the death of democracy. When a crackdown happens in northern Ireland and Corsica, it is necessary to maintain law and order but not when it happens in Punjab. When the West takes a neutral stand in India’s matters, it is their prerogative but when India does the same in the West’s matters, it suddenly becomes inhumane. If the West thinks this approach would be okay to deal with India, a re-emerging economy and a future global superpower with a sheer populace on its side, they are wrong. They must adopt the approach France is adopting lately- ‘kaam se kaam’, minding their own business and cooperating in whatever areas possible. France has realised that it needs to stop playing God and start playing fair. The country with the historical traditions of democracy doesn’t need to be preached, especially by those who take pride in ‘civilising’ it. The West has many areas to work on with India–and false virtue-signalling on democracy isn’t one of them. The writer is an independent columnist who writes on international relations, and socio-political affairs. Views expressed are personal. 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