Once despised and now courted by Western powers, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi He obtained a third term in the legislative elections, after ten years of applying a nationalist policy identified with Hinduism, which distanced the country from its secular traditions.
His political rise has been tainted by accusations of having fueled the worst religious unrest of this century in India and his tenure has coincided with growing hostility toward Muslims and other minorities.
Yet the 73-year-old leader consistently ranks as one of the world’s most popular rulers.
His followers celebrate his image as a tough man, which has been reinforced by his profile as a defender of India’s majority faith and the myths that exalt his humble origins.
“They don’t love me because of my humble origins”, he said at the rallies prior to the last election, in a criticism of his rivals.
Modi was born in 1950 in the western state of Gujarat, the third of six siblings whose father sold tea at railway stations.
He was an average student but his oratory skills began to stand out as a member of his school’s debate club and his participation in theatrical presentations.
His political destiny was marked at the age of eight when he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a hardline Hindu nationalist group.
There Modi dedicated himself to promoting Hindu supremacy in secular India, leaving an arranged marriage shortly after marrying at age 18.
Remaining with his wife, whom he did not officially divorce, would have slowed his advance in the ranks of the RSS, which requires celibacy of its leaders.
The alliance led by Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), won a majority in Parliament in the legislative elections, according to data released by the Election Commission this Tuesday.
Deadly riots
The RSS groomed Modi for a run in its political wing, the BJP.
He was appointed chief minister of Gujarat in 2001, and the following year the state was rocked by sectarian unrest sparked by a fire that killed dozens of Hindu pilgrims.
At least 1,000 people died in the ensuing violence, with Muslims being the main victims.
Modi was accused of helping to spark the riots and failing to order police intervention.
An investigation by India’s highest court determined there was no evidence to charge Modi, but for years he was prevented from entering the United States and the United Kingdom.
However, its popularity did not stop growing in India.
He forged a reputation as a leader willing to defend the interests of Hindus, who he believed were marginalized by the secular forces that had governed the country almost continuously since its independence from the United Kingdom.
“A new story”
He became prime minister in May 2014. Since then, his critics have warned of the persecution of Modi’s political rivals and the control of a once vibrant press.
At the same time, the Muslim community of more than 200 million fears for its future.
After his rise to power, India experienced a wave of lynchings of Muslims for the slaughter of cows, a sacred animal in Hindu tradition.
But Western countries put aside their concerns to cultivate a regional ally capable of countering China.
Last year, Modi spoke before a joint session of the US Congress and was hosted by President Joe Biden for a state visit at the White House.
He takes credit for India’s growing diplomatic and economic clout, and says that under his leadership the country became a “vishwaguru”-a teacher to the world.
He claims that India is assuming its rightful place in the world after being subdued by the Muslim Mughal Empire and then British colonization.
His transformative project had a milestone in January, when Modi presided over the inauguration of a Hindu temple in the town of Ayodhya, built on land where a Mughal Muslim mosque existed for centuries, destroyed in 1992 by Hindu fanatics.
Modi stated at the ceremony that the temple shows that India was overcoming “the slave mentality”. “The nation is creating the genesis of a new history“, held.
Source: Gestion
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