Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hi, I'm Avantika Chilkoti, a foreign correspondent at The Economist. I started out in journalism just over a decade ago in Mumbai. There was one big story in India back then: the landslide election of a new kind of leader: Narendra Modi. Ten years on, the big question in my mind, and in the minds of anyone interested in India, is still the same: who is Narendra Modi, really? Travel around India and Modi's everywhere.
on billboards, on TV, at the cricket. But he's also elusive. The prime minister doesn't do press conferences. As the leader of the world's biggest democracy, Modi has proven to be a strong man with a dangerous streak of authoritarianism. He rarely gives unscripted interviews. So to tell a story, I've tried to find those closest to him. Modi had only one 22-inch suitcase. So a very simple man.
Bharat Barai is an Indian-American oncologist who hosted Modi on one of his first visits to America. He calls Modi a friend. After Modi was elected prime minister, Bharat Barai helped organize a rally in America. 18,000 Modi supporters filled Madison Square Garden in New York. And his speech, of course, was extraordinary as usual.
It was clear from the start that Modi was on a mission to change India. Under Modi, the economy has doubled in size. It's a rise reminiscent of the epic transformation of 19th century America. And India's positioning itself as a powerful, independent player in the new world order. But there's a second part to Modi's vision for India. He's the front man for a chauvinistic Hindu nationalist dogma.
Many Indians, especially Muslims and other minorities, are terrified. This year, Bharat Barai was at another big event centred around Modi: the opening of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya, a site in northern India that Hindus and Muslims have battled over for centuries. It's made of white stone and it was decorated so beautifully
We felt so divine. Modi led the consecration ceremony. It was a blatant blurring of religion and politics, an attack on India's secular democracy. He's the first citizen of India. Why should he not go there? Now, Narendra Modi is eyeing another five years in power. I want to find out how he got this far, and whether he can continue to balance both parts of his agenda.
the Hindu nationalist ideology and the pro-growth push to finish the job of turning India into a superpower. You can have a computer and you can have Bhagavad Gita in your hand. This is the story of the enigmatic outsider who rose up to dominate India and shape its destiny. It's called the Modi Raj. He acted quite a bit in school plays and school functions, but he always wanted the lead role.
If you don't give him the lead role, he will not be part of it. He has every quality to make the image of the country, you know, bigger and magnified many times on the world stage. It's one of the basic tenets of democracy that you're answerable. Mr. Modi is answerable to no one. He said, you have placed your gun on my shoulder and fired. And I said, that is precisely what I told you would happen. And I forewarned you. Muslims were just scared of what this man will do.
What's next? What's coming our way?