NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi link wasfeatured in TIME’s 100 list for 2020 most influential people, apparently,for all the wrong reasons. The annual list – which puts down 100 of theyear’s most influential artists, icons, leaders titans, and pioneers — wasreleased on Tuesday night.
In the category for world leaders, Modi was named among the world’s 100influential people by Karl Vick – who is a TIME editor at large.
Discoursing that India link been the world’slargest democracy for more than seven decades, the author also highlightedthat the population of 1.3 billion includes Christians, Muslims, Sikhs,Buddhists, Jains, and other religious sects.
“The key to democracy is not, in fact, free elections. Those only tell whogot the most votes. More important are the rights of those who did not votefor the winner,” Vick penned down while referring to Modi’s win in India’sgeneral elections from last year.
He then pointed out how Modi link has trampled thesecular image of the country where people belonging to various religionsonce lived with harmony and acceptance for each other.
“All [minorities of the country] have abided in India, which the Dalai Lama(who has spent most of his life in refuge there) has lauded as ‘an exampleof harmony and stability’. [But], Narendra Modi has brought all that intodoubt,” Vicks opined.
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“First elected on a populist promise of empowerment, his Hindu –nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party rejected not only elitism but alsopluralism, specifically targeting India’s Muslims.”
The author termed the “crucible of the pandemic” as a “pretense forstifling dissent” in the country, leading the world’s vibrant democracy tofall into “deeper into shadows”.
The Indian prime minister has been criticised globally over the treatmentof minorities under his watch especially the Muslims who have been underconstant threat from extremists Hindus.
The Human Rights Watch in a recent report had also highlighted that Muslimsin India have been “increasingly at risk” since the Hindu nationalist BJPgovernment led by Narendra Modi was first elected in 2014.
