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DR ANTHONY GONZALES, former head of the Institute for International Relations, UWI, St Augustine, has some concerns over allegations being made against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but overall has no problem with him being awarded the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT), he told Newsday on July 2.
Modi is due to arrive in TT on July 3 where he will be presented with the ORTT by President Christine Kangaloo, and later attend a diaspora cultural show, and on July 4 address a joint assembly of both Houses of Parliament.
Local Muslim group, ASJA, expressed concerns about Modi's past including the occurrence of the 2002 Gujarat riots, Citizenship Act, revocation of Kashmir's special status, construction of a Hindu temple where a Muslim mosque had stood, the Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, and Modi's description of Muslims as infiltrators. Gonzales said Modi had been governor of Gujarat where some had accused him of not adequately protecting local Muslims.
Gonzales said, "I do have some concerns myself, following what he has said about Muslims and acted towards them. He doesn't give citizenship to Muslims migrating to India say from Bangladesh or Pakistan, unlike for other nationalities."
He said Modi has been the subject of a lot of accusations against him, including building a temple where there was formerly a Muslim mosque.
"So there are these things. In spite of that, I think he is liked by the vast majority of Hindus who make up the majority of the Indian population.
"They feel he has done quite a bit for them. He has built a lot of infrastructure – a lot of roads and so forth – promoted education a lot. The Indian economy has not been doing badly. So I think there are these positives they tend to look at."
Gonzales noted a lot of countries had given Modi national awards including Barbados and Dominica.
"The vaccines during covid which he gave to the region, I think a lot of them remember him for that."
Gonzales said, "There are these negatives and positives which we have to weigh. I think some feel he has promoted a lot of good relations between India and TT.
"I can't really tell you much about that but some are insisting the relations have improved a lot."
Gonzales said countries give awards to a leader if they think he has done a lot for them.
"On the international stage he has been talking out very much.
"For example with respect to Guyana and so forth, I think a lot of people look at him as someone who could probably in a diplomat sense, help defend Guyana against Venezuela." He reiterated a need to weigh up the negatives and the positives.
Seemingly referring Modi's visit and the award, he said, "If you think this will help to promote TT in some sense in terms of its relations with India and so forth, I think we should probably do it.
"I hear where ASJA is coming from. These are comments made a lot in India from the Muslim groups – that they have not been treated properly and so forth."
Gonzales shared an anecdote from his student days abroad. "I met Indians and I used to be talking about crime in the United States, and I remember one of them one day told me, 'You are talking about crime in Washington DC. You should come to India and see crime.'
"What he was talking about was these Hindu-Muslim communal riots. Thousands of people get killed."
He said villages were burned down and people were slaughtered.
"One village would attack another. In the very early days – in the 50s, the 60s and the 40s right after India's independence.
"These communal riots went on and on and on and on.
"Today you don't find so many of them. You still have the odd thing from time to time occurring and so on.
"I'd say yes we have to be concerned, but we haven't seen a revival of these communal riots, which occurred before.
"One is hoping to some extent that Hindus and Muslims settle down in India and respect each other and live happily together."
He said he did not have a problem with Modi getting the ORTT award.
"I read the comments. I think what ASJA is saying is they don't mind him coming and they don't mind him getting the award, but we have to be conscious of what he has been saying and let him know we are conscious of that. So I am basically agreeing with that. I don't have a problem with that.
"They weren't against him coming here. All they were saying is we have to be careful how we are dealing with him, because he has done these things in the past."
Gonzales said India was quite a divided society between Hindus and Muslims, particularly in certain areas where there are flare-ups now and then.
"If the army dies not come in and stop them, they could brutalise each other. So one has to be concerned about it.
"There are negatives and positives in people, and the country (India) which they are running is a very difficult and complex country.
"One has to understand the country they are running before one can make a judgment."
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