Watch: What’s missing from India’s glitzy video of Obama’s visit
|
Version 0 of 1. On Wednesday, India's Ministry of External Affairs released a video showing President Barack Obama's official visit to the country. The glitzy, eight-minute long video showcased a lot of the political achievements as well as the personal ones (Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Obama tea and the U.S. president joked about how little sleep they got). However, there was one major element of Obama's visit to India that went missing. As the Wall Street Journal first noted, when it comes to the U.S. president's final speech to students in Delhi, the MEA was selective: Obama's jokes and platitudes were mentioned, yet more provocative comments that some interpreted as a warning to Modi's Hindu nationalist government were omitted. "India will succeed as long as it’s not splintered along religious lines," Obama had said. "In our lives, Michelle and I have been strengthened by our Christian faith. Still, as you may know, my faith has at times been questioned — by people who don’t know me — or they’ve said that I adhere to a different religion, as if that were somehow a bad thing." The president's call for religious freedom was hard to miss. "Every person has the right to practice their faith how they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do so free from persecution and fear," Obama said. Modi, who has his roots in the right wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) group, has worked hard to escape allegations of sectarianism. Many of India's Muslims, however, find it hard to forget the deadly riots in Gujarat during his time as leader of state. In 2005, the U.S. government revoked a visa for Modi on the grounds that the had was responsible for violations against religious freedom, though as Modi became a national leader his relations with the U.S. improved. Additionally, Obama brought up woman's rights in India, another raw subject given concerns about street harassment and sexual assault in the country. “Every daughter deserves the same chance as our sons,” Obama had said. “And every woman should be able to go about her day – to walk the street, or ride the bus – and be safe and be treated with the respect and dignity that she deserves.” While the MEA might like to forget it, Obama's speech in Delhi was perhaps his most high profile and it sparked a wave of debate in India. For many Indians, it may be the part of the trip they remember the most.
|