It is high time the Government cracked down on all fringe elements and renewed its focus on ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’
The contemptuous and abominable remarks of the BJP leaders on Prophet Muhammad unleashed strong reactions not only in India but also in the Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, etc, resulting in calls to ban Indian products.
Though the BJP has strongly denounced the remarks and said that insult to any religious personalities is not permissible, and immediately suspended its leaders from the party’s membership for not toeing the official line on sensitive matters, it has become an international issue in no time. However, for consolation, the action taken by the BJP has been welcomed by many Muslim countries.
Provocative speeches are not a new phenomenon in India, irrespective of whether it is Congress regimes or the BJP’s. However, the intensity of such communal sledging from both sides has increased during the BJP’s regime.
Why did it happen?
The role of the mainstream and social media has been questionable over the last few years as they have often been found adding fuel to the fire. India’s splendid past is full of glory and wonders. History develops the ability to avoid mistakes and create better paths for societies. Nevertheless, some of the media houses delve into the history and spoil all its might to prove that rottenness is actually producing high quality of fragrance. The uproar on TV channels on religious lines has mostly been provocative and derogatory. Allowing fringe elements to disrespect religions and make controversial statements on TV shows with impunity put the anchor’s role in question.
The 200 million Indian Muslims who have been living here have opted to live in India in the hope that this country will give them more respect and freedom than the neighbouring Muslim countries. Then the moot point is what purpose the provocative speeches serve.
Although there are some differences between the Muslim aspirations and the BJP’s ideology, but these are ideological which is permissible in a healthy democracy. The nation is already facing numerous problems, people themselves are fighting against poverty, environmental degradation, joblessness and various health problems, but some media houses for their vested interest, instead of raising the genuine issues, have deliberately been dividing and creating gulf in society in the name of religion, and this is the greatest obstacle in the way of development.
Possible trade threats
India’s overall economy during Mughals was several times more than many European countries which attracted many Europeans to India. It is believed that the only reason of this richness and prosperity was peace and tranquility. However, economic destruction began during the British rule. They divided people along religious lines in order to loot India’s resources. People were dying in starvation but the British were busy draining the wealth of India. History is evident that peace, brotherhood and justice bring prosperity and development, and on the contrary hatred ruins and destroys nations. Therefore, it is required that the Government crack down on fringe elements and renew its focus on “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas”.
The recent reactions from Muslim countries will further damage the Indian economy if no quick remedial action is taken. As per media reports, the Gulf countries account for almost one fifth of India’s total trade. For instance, in the year 2020-21 the total value of the goods imported from the GCC countries was worth $110.73 billion. India imports 40 per cent of crude oil, 18 per cent of petroleum gas and 8 per cent of diamond from the Gulf countries, while it exports 14 per cent of refined petroleum, 8 per cent of jewellery and 7 per cent of rice. In other words, India imports 72 per cent worth $111 billion and exports 28 per cent worth $44 billion.
It is noteworthy that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are the third and fourth biggest trade partners of India. The UAE alone is accounted for 6.6 per cent of India’s total export, and 7.3 per cent of imports last year touched about $73 billion. Saudi Arabia on the other hand is accounted for almost 80 per cent of import worth $34.1 billion and 20 per cent of export worth $8.75 billion. Other GCC countries trade volumes are: Iraq 34.3 per cent, Qatar 15 per cent, Kuwait 12.2 per cent, Oman 10 per cent and Bahrain 1.7 per cent.
Gulf countries are well known to be the second home of almost 10 million Indians making it the largest Indian diaspora across the globe and contributing immensely in the foreign reserves of India.
As a matter of fact, India is the largest recipient of the foreign remittances. As per last year’s World Bank report, India received $87 billion foreign remittances in 2021, half of these foreign remittances was sent from just five Gulf countries i.e., UAE 26.9 per cent, Saudi 11.6 per cent, Qatar 6.5 per cent, Kuwait 5.5 per cent and Oman 3 per cent. In view of the emerging trade and cultural ties between India and the Arab world, it shall be disastrous if the differences aggravate further and no remedial and timely actions taken.
It’s a well-known fact that India and Arab world have very strong trade and cultural relations for centuries. They believe in coexistence and mutual cooperation. It is the responsibility of the Government of the day to be accountable for both the successes and failures. Hence it is high time for India to work on the immediate corrective measures both internally and externally to fight the true evil of the society i.e hatred, poverty, unemployment, etc, and have proper control on the fringe elements and the media houses that are trying to divide and damage the true spirit of India.
(The author teaches at King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, KSA. He is founding Chairman of Indo-Arab Helping Hands and the International Adviser to Millennial India International Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture.)