India's image as a tolerant society is under duress due to untoward incidents happening rather frequently

The Indian government has sharply reacted to the comments made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that religious freedom is being undermined in India and the attacks on a place of worship were on the rise. Losing no time  MEA spokesperson debunked the statement saying   vote bank politics was being practiced in international relations and that the comment was ill-informed and advised the US to 'avoid making an assessment based on biased views.' Indeed the MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi did the right thing by rejecting the report on international religious freedom on which Blinken made a statement. Though it will take some time to decipher what he actually meant by saying ‘vote bank politics is at play in international relations.’ The report on international religious freedom was released some time back and took a serious note of religious intolerance manifesting in attacks on minorities and places of worship in India. We have to make it clear to everyone in unequivocal terms that it is nobody's business to tutor us. India is a sovereign country capable of dealing with such incidents if any.  It has been our long-standing policy. We have maintained that no one has the right to interfere in our internal affairs. But now it seems we are wobbly in our approach. When Nupur Sharma made comments that didn't go down well with the gulf countries, she was quickly admonished and an FIR was filed against her. 

The fact of the matter is that today the old plank of 'don't meddle in our internal affairs' doesn't work. Several human rights organizations and individuals take it to the international fora and that becomes an embarrassing situation for the government. In today's world nothing can remain under wraps for long and becomes headlines around the world.  Besides, no country can survive in isolation, sanctions and boycott by the world community can hurt.The best way to avoid it is to not let such things happen in the first place. The government should take strict steps so that religious freedom is protected. Let's face it no matter how hard we try to sell that everything is hunky-dory in the country but there aren’t buyers for it. Reason,  it is not. We all know it and sweeping it under the carpet doesn't help. If we can criticize Pakistan for the plight of minorities and religious intolerance there, we cannot stop others from pointing figures at us. The world has changed and it is becoming difficult for all governments to hide their dirty secrets. Even the US has a lot to explain when it comes to human rights abuses there.