Donald Trump praised India for its tradition of religious tolerance. Yet Narendra Modi’s policies have increased sectarian tensions
THE CONTRAST could not have been starker. At one end of the city, Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, America’s president and India’s prime minister, were celebrating a new “strategic partnership”. With the shared passion of politicians eager to shift voters’ attention, the two leaders exchanged hugs and compliments. The other side of India’s sprawling capital was feeling a different kind of warmth: it was on fire.
Most of the victims were Muslims, a largely impoverished group that makes up 14% of India’s population . Ironically, in a flattering speech, Mr Trump had praised India for its commitment to freedoms and its tradition of religious tolerance. Yet it is the policies of Mr Modi’s own Hindu-nationalist government that created the current polarised atmosphere.
The immediate trigger for the riots appears to have been a rally by the same local politician, who declared that if a sit-in by Muslim women protesting the citizenship rules was not lifted by the time Mr Trump left India, his supporters would no longer remain peaceful. Soon after, mobs went on the rampage in Muslim neighborhoods, often with police looking mutely on or, say many witnesses, aiding the attackers.
The police, which in Delhi are controlled by the central government, only deployed in strength on February 26th. On the orders of a court, they also began registering complaints of incitement. Mr Modi’s national-security adviser toured affected districts, giving his “word of honour” that residents could feel safe. The prime minister himself, after three days of silence, belatedly tweeted a plea for calm.
Delhi is now eerily calm, but anger and fear linger. India’s press and social media appear to describe starkly opposite scenarios. Pro-government organs gleefully blame “a particular community” for the trouble, insisting that images of burned Muslim shops or orange Hindutva flags raised atop a minaret are fake. Critics instead suggest that the government itself had a hand in the riots, perhaps as a ham-fisted way of putting an end to weeks of street protests.
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