Status: 04/10/2023 5:02 p.m
Courted abroad, restrictive at home: India’s Prime Minister Modi is taking a hard line. Members of the opposition are threatened, unwelcome journalists are cut off from the money supply. Is the world’s largest democracy in danger?
He is a thorn in the side of many supporters of the Indian government: the journalist Hartosh Bal. Because he does what journalists do and has relied on critical research for years, no matter who governs. But there are fewer and fewer people like Bal in India’s media.
Bal speaks of “structural problems” in the country’s media landscape. The private media, according to Bal, are “financed by oligarchs” and they have diverse business interests. In order to be successful, however, one needs “the government at one’s side”.
Bal is editor-in-chief of “Caravan” magazine, which is most comparable to “Spiegel” in Germany. Bal says there’s actually only pro-government monotony in the newspapers and TV stations, and that’s not even the fault of his colleagues:
The owners exercise complete control over their institutions. This means that the journalists are at the mercy of the decisions of the owners without any protection. You can be fired at any time. Once the owner goes along with the government, the whole media follows suit.”
Is India’s democracy tipping over?
Malte Pieper, ARD New Delhi, midday program 1:00 p.m., April 10, 2023
Courted like hardly any other government
The Hindu nationalists of the BJP party have ruled since 2014, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm. It is currently being courted like no other government in the world. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has met Modi four times in the past twelve months alone.
In addition to economic issues and the search for skilled workers, one of the most important goals is to get India on the side of the West in the war against Ukraine. But Modi is shy and prefers to keep all doors open.
According to information from Moscow, India recently imported around twenty times more Russian oil than in previous years.
Criticism of Modi – and the consequences
Domestically, the anomalies are piling up. Some observers are already asking whether India’s democracy is tipping over. The most important opposition politician, Rahul Gandhi, was stripped of his parliamentary seat by a court order because Prime Minister Modi felt offended.
It was about a controversial campaign appearance from 2019, in which Gandhi had asked how it could be “that all thieves have the surname Modi”. He was referring to two fugitive businessmen named Modi – and the prime minister. For this statement, Gandhi was recently sentenced to two years in prison for damage to his reputation, but he has since appealed against the sentence.
He was “kicked out” of parliament, Gandhi said, because Modi was “afraid of my next speech” – he “saw that in his eyes”.
A case of “prejudice”?
The case attracted international attention. Even the federal government has said it expects democratic standards to be upheld.
In New Delhi, people react coldly to the criticism. India’s judiciary is independent, Kanchan Gupta emphasizes quite firmly. He is chief adviser to the Indian Ministry of Information: “Please be professionally critical. We have no problems with opponents, but don’t bring your prejudices with you and please don’t tell us how we should run our country!”
“Hate campaigns” now “everyday”
But life in India is becoming increasingly difficult, especially for journalists. According to Reporters Without Borders, India is only 150th in terms of press freedom.
The organization writes on its website, citing the latest annual report: “Hate campaigns against media workers, including calls for murder, are commonplace on social networks and are fueled by troll armies associated with the Hindu nationalist government.”
Women are particularly affected by the campaigns, and journalists who are critical of the authorities are often “silenced with criminal prosecution”.
An example from the past few weeks: after a critical documentary about the prime minister, for example, a few weeks ago the tax investigators suddenly appeared in an office of the British broadcaster BBC.
Free elections – but one-sided reporting
“Caravan” editor-in-chief Bal is still relaxed. So far he can work as he sees fit because his editor is behind him. Although Bal sees many things differently from the representatives of his government, he still believes in the possibility of changes through elections – and these are still free.
But the problem is that in almost all media only the government’s point of view is prayed down. And the lack of discourse is just not a good perspective for the “largest democracy in the world”.