A senior Indian diplomat strongly defended India’s record on religious pluralism in The Hague, Netherlands, on Saturday, after a Dutch journalist asked him to respond to reported concerns about press freedom and minority rights in India.
The exchange took place at a media briefing following delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Rob Jetten, during which the two leaders elevated bilateral ties to a strategic partnership and signed 17 agreements covering defence, semiconductors, critical minerals and other sectors.
Also read | What are the Chola plates? Netherlands returns 1,000-year-old Indian heritage to PM Modi
What was the question?
The journalist, from a Dutch newspaper, told Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ secretary (west) Sibi George that Jetten had reportedly said the Netherlands and European Union were worried about press freedom and the rights of minorities in India, including the Muslim community and smaller communities. He asked for an official response. The Dutch-Indian joint statement did not mention such a concern having been raised.
Indian diplomat George’s reply was more wide-ranging: “We face these kind of questions basically because of the lack of understanding of the person who asked the question.”
On religious rights
No other country in the world, he said, had given birth to four major religions. “Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — these religions originated in India and continued to flourish in India”.
He added that major world religions had also come to India and thrived there, such as Judaism for over 2,500 years, Christianity since shortly after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and Islam since the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
On minorities, George cited population figures: “When we became independent, the minority population in India was 11%. Now it is more than 20%. Name a country where the population of minorities has gone up.”
On press freedom
He also defended India’s press freedom record. “Everyone has the freedom of expression, freedom of press in the country. And that makes our democracy a very noisy democracy. And we are proud of that,” he said, as per news agency ANI.
He pointed to recent elections in which, he said, over 90% of the electorate participated.
George invited the journalist to visit India and “see for yourself how India lives, how thriving an economy it is, the vibrant democracy it is”.
Concerns about India’s religious minorities had been prominently aired in Dutch media in the days before Modi’s arrival, with human rights groups urging the Dutch government to raise them.
