India according to Modi

"Le monde selon Modi: La nouvelle puissance indienne" is a 2021 French TV documentary about Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India. I´ve seen it in a version with Swedish narration, French not being my strongest suit! (Neither is Hindi nor Gujarati, btw.) 

The documentary doesn´t explain Modi or the BJP (the Hindu nationalist party currently governing India) in any depth, and most people interviewed are sharply critical of the PM. Notably absent is any mention of the COVID pandemic and the protests against the farm laws. This is strange, since obviously a critic could use *this* against the BJP administration with some effect! Indeed, there is very little about Modi´s neo-liberal economic politics overall. Perhaps the makers of the docu are themselves neo-liberals, but of a more "Western" and "democratic" variety? 

Still, "Le monde selon Mondi" (which I assume means "The world according to Modi") works quite well as a kind of teaser trailer. It turns out that Modi is a long-term cadre of the BJP, who joined the paramilitary Hindu nationalist organization RSS already as a child. Modi is depicted as very ideological, and the ideology of the RSS is painted as obviously fascist and inspired by Mussolini. The goal of both the RSS and the much larger BJP is to "make India great again", to restore the greatness of Indian civilization - identified with Hinduism - after 1000 years of Muslim and (later) British domination. Indeed, Indian Muslims are a main target for the BJP. The documentary accuses Modi of fomenting communal violence against Muslims in his home state of Gujarat, where he served as Chief Minister before becoming Prime Minister. As PM, Modi took a hard line against Muslim separatists in Kashmir, and also symbolically dedicated the first stone of a new Hindu temple in Ayodhya at a location where Hindu nationalists famously or infamously demolished a mosque in 1992. 

Despite the above, the West has embraced Modi as an ally, due to the recent confrontation between the United States and China, with India offering her services as an anti-Chinese power due to fears of being effectively encircled by the Chinese "new Silk Road" (or rather its Chinese-controlled ports at strategic locations around India). The United States, India, Australia and Japan have formed an alliance against the perceived Chinese threat. The documentary also takes us to the Himalayas, and the constant stand offs between Chinese and Indian troops in that highly volatile border region. As part of his alliance-building, Modi has visited Israel, apparently the first Indian PM to do so (despite Israel´s long-standing support to India against Muslim Pakistan). 

We also get some insights into Modi´s campaign strategy. He is often depicted as a "populist", and this seems to be correct. Modi portrays himself as a "man of the people", a semi-ascetic spiritual person, but also as a kind of superman on a mission to save India. His election campaigns bypass the "official" media by concentrating heavily on social media instead, and includes cartoons and memes. That Modi is a self-made man of low caste is an important part of the mythology surrounding the BJP leader, and so is his life with ascetic sadhus in the mountains. The most exotic part of his messaging (in my opinion, at any rate) was an international day of  "peace and yoga", led by himself, which seems to have lured many Western yoga practitioners to participate! 

"Le monde selon Modi" ends with a critic opining that we now know how a Hindu state looks like in practice, with a collapsing economy and soaring unemployment. Although I´m not a big fan of PM Modi, I must say that this is somehow unserious, since the real reason for this crisis is surely the COVID pandemic...

As already stated, perhaps a good trailer for those who want to continue their studies of these issues.