Modi tells FT ‘any talk of amending the Constitution is meaningless’
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, December 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interview to Financial Times is inviting wider scrutiny for his spoken words on contentious issues raised by the western media. Modi told the FT that “any talk of amending the Constitution is meaningless”.
The FT underlined that the interview was followed by a round of written answers. As is the norm with Modi, the prime minister’s office seeks the interview script before publishing and ensures multiple revisions by directly calling the editor of the publication. This has been experienced first hand by this author, and thus the FT’s claims that written answers were provided are well understandable. The FT, however, didn’t state that the whole of the answers orally given were taken out from the final version that came out eventually.
The FT’s standout question to Modi was the financial daily’s claims that Opposition in India claims that the Bharatiya Janata Party after a third mandate in 2024 would amend the Constitution and declare India a ‘Hindu Republic’. This has not yet been heard of from any of the frontline Opposition leaders. Also, the political leaders of credible stature seldom make such statements on the basis of a hypothesis.
Yet, Modi is quoted by FT having said that any talk of “amending the Constitution is meaningless”. Modi also responded to the claims of democratic backsliding and human rights issues in India. He was assertive in dismissing any concerns on the two issues. He dismissed the claims by stating that they question the intelligence of the people in India. The FT added a commentary to Modi’s replies, saying that concerns on the count of democratic backsliding and human rights issues are raised by “a chattering class out of touch with India that Modi is building”.
While the religious freedom issue being raised by the US with India is not new, it invites a yawn from developing countries after Israel exposed the hypocrisy by bombing Gaza to kill and maim the population with the children and women also not counted as exception.
Modi, however, gave a measured reply on religious freedom issue, saying such “claims not only insult the intelligence of the Indian people but also underestimate their deep commitment to values like diversity and democracy”.
Sputnik India quoted Dr Anant Bhagwat, a strategic affairs expert, saying: “The US is not particularly happy with the Indian growth story under Prime Minister Modi. We are growing at 7 to 8 percent a year. We are not exactly a stooge of the US and have a fiercely independent foreign policy. The western media, including FT, have in the past been guilty of peddling anti-India narrative.”
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