The View is Different Depending on where you Sit

The excitement among Indian immigrants in the United States on the election of Mr. Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India is nearly eclipsed by the exuberance on his visit to the United States this week.  Welcome carpets are being rolled out as Indian organizations and communities fall over themselves to welcome Mr. Modi to the United States.   Giddy at the thought of the United States inviting Mr. Modi after rejecting his visa 9 years ago over sectarian violence, my Indian friends and acquaintances, Indian community leaders, and Indian immigrants young and old are reveling in the excitement, seeing it as a personal triumph.

“Proud to be an Indian,” is a repeated sentiment on Facebook pages and websites devoted to this visit.  “Strongest PM of India,” “a true patriot,” “strong leader” are equally popular themes in community dinners, Indian conversation circles, news articles and social media.  The community event planned at Madison Square Garden is packed to capacity and promises to be a mega event with high profile community members in attendance.   Almost every day the last few weeks I have found an email related to this event in my mailbox, or come across an article in an Indian news outlet, or heard someone I know mention it with glee.

Mr. Modi is seen as the leader who will raise India up to be an economic power by accelerating the pace of development.  He is seen as a strong leader, who will brook no opposition from anyone, and who will crush any effort to stop India’s march towards its rightful place near the top of the hierarchy of nations.  Detractors like environmental activists and advocates for the poor prevent India’s progress, these supporters of Mr. Modi argue.  We need an iron fist ruling India, otherwise we will be mired in stagnation, they say.  Some go to the extent of saying India needs a dictator, who keeps moving ahead no matter what.

Closely aligned to this desire for India to be a superpower is the glittering promise of a Hindu India.  The notion of Hindu India, engineered and propagated by Mr. Modi’s party, is seen as rightfully reflecting the majority of the country (India is 80% Hindu, if all the strands and layers of Hinduism are counted as one). It is perceived as a long overdue recognition that values and ideals born of Hinduism should define India.  This push towards dominance of the majority Hindu community necessarily puts down minorities, in particular Muslims.  Pro-Hindu goals go hand in hand with anti-Muslim sentiments.

This is paradoxical.  And hypocritical.

The Indian immigrant community in the United States is very successful at many levels.  They are a minority – including all people of Indian descent they number at just over 3 million, or about 1% of the US population.  The Indian immigrant community (first generation immigrants) is even smaller. Like most immigrants, they are hardworking, have a strong work ethic, have an unshakeable belief in the value of education for themselves and their children, and have close-knit families and communities.  These values, which they bring with them to the United States, are building blocks for a foundation that has led to success in many fields.

This foundation, and the consequent success, has been built on the bedrock of some quintessential American values.  There are two values of significance here.   First is the multi-cultural ethos of the United States that accepts people who are different, and at a personal level is warm and embracing of people from other cultures.   The second is the recognition of the importance of minority rights.  Anyone living in the United States, whichever community they come from, has the right to follow their values, practice their religion, define their own identity, and educate their children the way they wish to.

68% of Indian Americans voted for President Obama.  The percentage of first generation Indian immigrants who voted for him is probably much higher.  Immigrant communities generally support democrats, in addition Mr. Obama was popular since he was not from the majority community.  Indian immigrants welcomed him as a fellow minority.  But paradoxically, in the country where they grew up they support a leader from a party whose ideology is based on stamping out minorities and rallying around a “unifying” (dominant) identity.   Electing Mr. Modi is in many ways like electing Mr. Rick Perry to be the president of the United States.   I suspect very few Indian immigrants would vote for Mr. Perry, yet they are excited about Mr. Modi leading India.  Several Indian immigrants who volunteered for Mr. Obama’s campaign eagerly took the lessons learnt in grassroots campaigning and new technology based tools to campaigns in India – but to campaigns that supported Mr. Modi on the right rather than candidates on the left.

When President Obama celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in the White House, jubilation erupted in the Indian American community.  “Mr. Obama lighted a lamp in the White House!” they exulted.  “Imagine that!  We have arrived – Diwali in the White House!”  Yet when Mr. Modi, for the first time in independent India, chose not to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr by hosting a dinner for fellow Muslim lawmakers, breaking a time honored tradition, there was virtually no comment. 

Every region in the United States with an Indian population has centers for children to learn Indian languages, Indian history and culture, and the Indian fine arts.   Weekends find many an Indian parent ferrying children from dance class to music class to language class.    The desire to keep their children connected to their identity runs deep. The parents welcome multiculturalism in American society, and the ability to have an Indian (or Hindu) identity even if they are a small minority.

An avowedly Christian America would be alarming, but a Hindu India is not.  Public education is secular in America, so the children here are not under pressure to conform to the dominant religious identity.  I can just imagine the outcry from the Indian community if public schools became predominantly Christian and began infusing values considered Christian.  Yet they see nothing wrong bringing in a distinct Hindu bias to education in India.   Particularly egregious is the subtle introduction of Hindu values under the guise of helping educate the severely disadvantaged, as in the case of education of tribals (aboriginals), a minority at 7% of the Indian population.  It moves them away from their roots, their culture, their identity.

Indian parents welcome choices their children have in the United States, and yet, when Mr. Modi’s government attempted to make it mandatory for all children to listen to his Teacher’s Day speech, no one seemed to think anything was amiss.

Indian immigrants enjoy the benefits of an open and pluralistic society where they can thrive while maintaining their identity, where the law declares everyone is equal and institutions protect that most precious law for majority and minority communities.  They see how they can further their hopes and dreams when public infrastructure benefits all, not just the majority, and does not require them to lose their identity.   They take to heart Lincoln’s words, “…dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Yet in India, where they identify with the majority, they forget that everyone is equal is enshrined in the Indian constitution too.  They forget the great lengths the founding fathers of modern India went to embed rights for minorities in the fabric of the new nation.  The struggles of competing interests, the vital part of any democracy, is seen as something that is holding India back.   The rights of minorities is seen as infringing on the majority.  The sacrifices of the less powerful and smaller in number for the greater common good is expected, often demanded.  For instance, for water in Gujarat hundreds of thousands of tribals were displaced by dams across the Narmada river.   But the majority of Indians in the United States consider the decades long protest by the tribals much ado about nothing, and something a ‘strong’ leader like Mr. Modi should fix.  A dictator can ‘fix’ it indeed!

Campaigners of Mr. Modi’s party have gone so far as to say people who do not agree with Mr. Modi should leave India.   If Mr. Rick Perry is elected president of the United States and conservative Republicans ask immigrant communities who do not like his policies to leave, the Indian immigrant community would be the first to make use of every avenue offered to them in this democratic society to fight what was unfair to those who didn't toe the line of the majority. 

The view sure looks different depending on which window you look out of.

The final irony is that multi-culturalism is not a new concept in India.  With over 800 languages, innumerable cultures, ten major religions and scores of smaller ones, India has been the home to thousands of groups, who have lived together, worked together, influenced each other, and learnt from each other, for millennia.   In much the same way that Indian immigrants appreciate what the United States has to offer for everyone, India is a place where minorities have lived harmoniously with the majority.

Almost a century ago my grandfather, with no assets to his name, started a business in a new town.  He knew no one, as there was no one there from his community.  He was a “minority” in that town.  He first rented a piece of land from a Muslim businessman, who also gave him credit because he instinctively trusted him.  My grandfather’s honesty, intelligence, and business acumen so impressed this businessman he took him on as his protégé and they became fast friends as long as they lived.  My grandfather’s family sent over plates full of sweets on Hindu festivals and on Muslim festivals received dishes heaped with lamb and fish delicacies.  They respected each other till the end and did business together.  The town continues to have Muslims, Hindus, and people from other communities.  I remember waking up to the Muslim call for prayer when I visited as a child, and Muslims and Hindus peacefully negotiating prayer times at the temples and the mosques in town.  India has had its share of strife - the horrors of Hindu-Muslim riots in 1947 and the violence in Gujarat in 2002 are just two examples - but it also has plenty of towns like my grandfather’s town. 

That is the view to look for.