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New York Times criticises Yogi Adityanath's appointment as UP CM, India hits back

By FnF Desk | PUBLISHED: 25, Mar 2017, 11:46 am IST | UPDATED: 25, Mar 2017, 13:11 pm IST

New York Times criticises Yogi Adityanath's appointment as UP CM, India hits back New Delhi: India on Friday reacted sharply to a New York Times editorial, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to name Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh CM. “All editorials or opinions are subjective. This case is particularly so. The wisdom in doubting the verdicts of genuine democratic exercises, at home or abroad, is questionable,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay said at a weekly briefing.

In the editorial, titled ‘Modi’s Perilous Embrace of Hindu Extremists’, the paper said since he was elected in 2014, Modi has played a “cagey game, appeasing his party’s hard-line Hindu base while promoting secular goals of development and economic growth”.

It noted that there were “worrying signs” that Modi was willing to humour Hindu extremists while adding that he had refrained from overtly approving violence against the Muslim minority. The paper noted that Modi “revealed his hand” when emboldened by a landslide victory in recent polls in India’s largest state, his party named Adityanath as the state’s leader.

“The move is a shocking rebuke to religious minorities, and a sign that cold political calculations ahead of national elections in 2019 have led Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party to believe that nothing stands in the way of realising its long-held dream of transforming a secular republic into a Hindu state,” the editorial said. It noted that Adityanath has made a political career of demonising Muslims. The editorial said that Uttar Pradesh badly needs development and not ideological showmanship.

“But the appointment shows that Modi sees no contradiction between economic development and a muscular Hindu nationalism that feeds on stoking anti-Muslim passions,” the editorial added. It said Modi’s economic policies have delivered growth, but not jobs at a time when India needs to generate a million new jobs every month to meet employment demand.

“Should Adityanath fail to deliver, there is every fear that he and Modi’s party will resort to deadly Muslim-baiting to stay in power, turning Modi’s dreamland into a nightmare for India s minorities, and threatening the progress that Modi has promised to all of its citizens.’’
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