It’s been an eventful December in India, weeks after the nation-wide Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National register of Citizens (NRC) protests shook the nation, the Indian Express reported that the foreign diplomatic community has been concerned and at unease over the unrest.
While the diplomats have firmly stated in the public that the issue is internal to India, when the paper reached out to the ambassadors and diplomats of over sixteen countries, most have expressed concern over the growing chaos.
The paper also reported that while India had held brief meetings with them on several other ‘domestic’ issues like the Pulwama attack, Balakot strikes, abrogation of Article 370 and the Ayodhya verdict as well, there has been no discussion on the CAA and its consequences.
The diplomats who decide to speak to the paper from the G-20 and P-5 groupings chose to remain anonymous fearing negative effects on bilateral ties between nations. The diplomats said that even when bilateral talks happened, there was no attempt at briefing them together or in batches as was done earlier. However, some information in the form of FAQs on the amendment act has been forwarded to the embassies.
The diplomats have come to believe that the protests are not primarily being held by the Muslim community and are now wanting to know of India is bothered in any way by the international media’s criticism of the act.
While the first ripple effect of the protests was the cancellation of visits by the Bangladeshi Foreign and Home ministers and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. While the diplomats are convinced that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be responsive to international criticism, the Home Minister Amit Shah.
One of the diplomats told the paper, “The international press is being read by our headquarters, and they have been asking us about how much political and diplomatic risk can the Modi government take.”
The diplomats have also talked about how the unimpressive reports of the protests and the government’s crackdown on the people in international media have made India’s friends question the nation’s commitment to shared values.
The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had recently cancelled a meeting with the US Congressional delegation after they refused to exclude Pramila Jayapal who has vocally criticised the government’s crackdown on Kashmir.
Another diplomat told the paper, “The government is making it tougher for its friends to defend it… at this rate, it is losing friends in places where it had bipartisan support earlier.”
A European ambassador said, “With each passing day, the government’s position is getting weakened, as these images are not going away. And the action against the protesters and the latest reports of torture and intimidation are giving more credence to the view that the government is intolerant of criticism and dissent.”
The latest controversy with a German national student and Norwegian tourist who were asked to return to their countries for taking part in the protest has only added to the charring image of the Indian BJP government. “It doesn’t speak well of the world’s largest democracy,” a diplomat from a G-20 country said.
While Bangladesh and Malaysia have openly criticised the CAA, other countries like the USA, UK, France and Australia have issued travel advisories.
The Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen has said that the act could weaken India’s image as a secular nation and the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that the law has caused deaths, which India’s capital was quick to label as ‘factually incorrect’.
The US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo had very cautiously stated that it “cares deeply about protecting minorities and religious rights” and “honours Indian democracy”. However, earlier the State Department spokesperson had also urged India to “protect the rights of its religious minorities” in keeping with its “Constitution and democratic values”.
The UN High Commission has also criticised the law by calling it “fundamentally discriminatory” and appears to “undermine the commitment to equality”.
Another diplomat who has stayed in India for about three years said that the “feel-good” factor about the re-elected government has “vanished”.
