Close X
Monday, December 2, 2024
ADVT 
India

Don't View Kashmir Issue Through Communal Lens: Jaishankar

Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Sep, 2019 07:55 PM

    External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Kashmir issue should not be seen through a communal lens as the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind, one of the leading Islamic organisations in India, had backed the changes there, and the fact that India's relations with the Muslim nations of the Gulf have seen an upward trajectory in the past five years negates the idea that the government is anti-Muslim.


    Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, Jaishankar, to a question on the "rise of politicised Hindu nationalism" in India, said he did not agree with the analysis of the questioner.


    "I would put it differently. What we have seen after 70 years of independence is the result of the democratisation of India. Today political power, social power and to some extent economic power has shifted out of the big cities, the more cosmopolitan cities, where people speak English and have a global comfort level, and moved to a different set of people; to those who are comfortable speaking in their own languages, to a milieu far more rooted on the ground."


    He said the changes in India "actually demonstrate the successes of democracy, and what it has meant in terms of consequences on the ground".


    He said he does not accept the view that secularism is under threat in India.


    "At the end of day, secularism was not promoted by a law or by a constitutional belief, it was promoted by the ethos of the society. If the ethos of a society was not secular, no law, or constitutional provision would have ensured it. I don't think the ethos of our society has changed, and the ethos of India, the Hindu ethos, is very secular."


    To another question that there is a "deep perception of Hindu nationalism" in the country, and a view that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "nationalistic and anti-Muslim", Jaishankar debunked the view.


    He said the Jamaiat-Ulema-e-Hind, a "national organisation of great influence and weight in Indian, at their annual meeting, have spoken out very clearly in favour of changes in Kashmir. I would not agree that the Kashmir issue should be seen through a communal lens".


    He was referring to the allegations of Pakistan that India is out to change the demography of Kashmir from a Muslim majority one to a Hindu majority, under what Imran Khan calls a "fascist, Hindu supremacist" government led by Modi.


    "If you look today at changes in India, probably the word that captures it best is, India is modernising, in a very interesting way. And it's not necessarily state driven. Anything the state does is overshadowed by what the smartphone does. The moment people have money, when I had money the first thing I dreamt was having a car. Today someone who is 16, 17,18 wold think of getting a phone and improving the phone.


    "Today we are seeing a more urbanising society, a society that is more meritocratic, the social gains are spreading, but at the same time, there is more internal mobility, which was not there before. I would predict that you would have a society where increasingly traditional identities matter less than they did in the past."


    Jaishankar also said: "In terms of how to approach the Indian state of the ruling political party.. today if there is one area of where we can boast of visibly good relations in the last five years is the Gulf, and you know the dominant faith in the Gulf.


    "I think they (Gulf nations) see it, there is an objectivity about them, they don't have vested interests in what is essentially an Indian domestic discourse.


    "I would not be comfortable with the view that we are headed for some kind of a collision with the Muslim community globally. That is not the case."

    MORE India ARTICLES

    PV Sindhu Only Indian On Forbes List Of Highest-paid Women Athletes

    India’s badminton star PV Sindhu is the only athlete from the country to be named among the world’s highest-paid female athletes by Forbes, a list topped by tennis great Serena Willams.

    PV Sindhu Only Indian On Forbes List Of Highest-paid Women Athletes

    1952-2019: Sushma Swaraj Cremated With Full State Honours, Daughter Performs Last Rites

    Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, on Wednesday performed her last rites.

    1952-2019: Sushma Swaraj Cremated With Full State Honours, Daughter Performs Last Rites

    Preneet Kaur Duped Of Rs 23 Lakh; Gang Kingpin Arrested

    Preneet Kaur Duped Of Rs 23 Lakh; Gang Kingpin Arrested
    The Patiala police on Wednesday unearthed a gang involved in duping Patiala MP Preneet Kaur and businessmen, whose accounts, the gang knew, were managed by their staff and they would “not bother about transactions” worth lakhs.

    Preneet Kaur Duped Of Rs 23 Lakh; Gang Kingpin Arrested

    Kerala Nun Rape Case: Sister Lucy, Who Protested Against Rape Accused Bishop Franco Expelled For Her 'Lifestyle'

    Sister Lucy Kalappura had also published poems, purchased a car and taken part in a protest against a rape accused former bishop of Jalandhar dioecese.

    Kerala Nun Rape Case: Sister Lucy, Who Protested Against Rape Accused Bishop Franco Expelled For Her 'Lifestyle'

    Hope Karatarpur Corridor Not Hit By Ties Downgrade: Amarinder Singh

    Reacting to reports of Pakistan's decision to expel the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad and to review 'bilateral agreements' with New Delhi, the Chief Minister described Islamabad's reaction as knee-jerk and uncalled for.

    Hope Karatarpur Corridor Not Hit By Ties Downgrade: Amarinder Singh

    Intelligence Above Looks For Millennials, Finds Survey

    Intelligence Above Looks For Millennials, Finds Survey
    Do you think looks precede intelligence? Well, millennials find intelligence way more appealing than looks, according to a survey.

    Intelligence Above Looks For Millennials, Finds Survey