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US President Barack Obama on Tuesday tempered the euphoria around his successful three-day state visit to India by reminding his hosts that protecting religious freedom was the job of each citizen, and not the government alone. He said Article 25 of the Constitution of India entitles each citizen to “freedom of conscience” and the “right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion”.
Obama didn’t directly refer to the work by Sangh Parivar affiliates — the Vishva Hindu Parishad, for example — which have carried out campaigns in the name of ‘ghar wapsi’ and against religious conversions in recent months, but spoke of rising intolerance and terror incidents across the world. He said India, as also the US, should guard against the “darkest impulses of man” that might use religion to divide the society. Obama said India will be successful if it isn’t “splintered” on religious or any other lines.
The US president said his wife and his “Christian faith” were a source of strength for them. Obama recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s words on religious tolerance, and said it was important that India upheld its “foundational value” of religious freedom so as to be an example to the rest of the world. Obama named actor Shah Rukh Khan, athletics legend Milkha Singh and boxer M C Mary Kom as examples of India’s diversity.
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The US president delivered a nearly 35-minute speech – ‘India and America: the future we can build together’ – peppered with inconvenient reminders of how America expected India to do more to protect human rights in its backyard, particularly in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, and shoulder its responsibility towards mitigating the effects of climate change.
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New Delhi hasn’t taken kindly to such lecturing from a visiting dignitary in the past, including from Obama in 2010. But the 2,000-odd people at the Siri Fort Auditorium — most of them university students — listened with rapt attention. The ‘Town Hall’ event was the last engagement of their three-day visit to India before Obama and wife Michelle flew out to Riyadh in the afternoon to pay their condolences at the passing away of the Saudi king.
The audience had waited since 7 am to listen to Obama deliver his typically rousing speech. The US president eventually began his speech at 11 am after receiving a standing ovation that lasted nearly five minutes. Many in the audience broke into thunderous applause when Obama said the US was the “best partner” India could have in the world, or when he reiterated American support for a reformed UN Security Council with India becoming a permanent member.
He welcomed a greater role for India in the Asia Pacific, stating that freedom of navigation should be upheld and disputes resolved peacefully in the region. He also spoke at some length about the need to educate women and said he was deeply impressed at the sight of “incredible” Indian women leading the march past at the Republic Day parade. Obama said nations become successful when their women make progress. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’ campaign in Haryana’s Panipat.
Obama also identified human trafficking as a scourge the two countries should fight together. Child rights activist and Nobel Peace prize winner Kailash Satyarthi was one of the invitees at the event. He said he hoped to see more Indian students visiting America and vice versa. The US president offered American cooperation in the health sector, in designing smart cities, building infrastructure, etc.
On climate change, Obama called upon India to do more while acknowledging the Indian position of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’. He said the US admitted to having been a major contributor to climate change, but its current emissions were at a two-decade low. He said India should do its bit to mitigate climate change in its own interest as “few countries will be affected by a warmer planet than India”. Obama promised US technological help for cleaner energy in Delhi, including nuclear energy.
The US president said equality of opportunity was what made nations, recalling how his grandfather was a cook in the British Army in Kenya, and that he himself had faced discrimination in his life because of the colour of his skin. He alluded to his and Modi’s humble origins to stress the need to create enabling structures for all to achieve their dreams and ambitions. Obama pointed at Michelle sitting with 16-year-old Vishal, the son of a daily-wage labourer whom the two had met during their last visit to India at Humayun’s Tomb. Vishal was studying and aspired to join the Indian armed forces, Obama said.
The American president regaled his audience with a smattering of Hindi — beginning his speech with a “namaste” and “dhanyavaad”, and interspersing it with a line from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. He talked of Michelle and his tryst with bhangra and dancing with children during their last visit to India, but said they couldn’t schedule any during the current visit. “Senorita, bade bade deshon mein... you know what I mean,” he said. He ended his speech with a resounding ‘Jai Hind’, before Michelle and him shook hands with several people in the audience. Wishing him a safe journey, Modi tweeted how Obama’s visit “has taken India-USA ties to a new level and opened a new chapter. Wish you a safe journey”.
