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CIVILISATIONAL CONNECTIONS
Modi’s Buddhist pitch is not just diplomatic PR
While other empires were built by kings and soldiers who conquered vast swathes of territory, the Indian civilisational empire, it can be said, has been raised by saints and seers who found a place in our souls. Unfortunately, in the recent past, India has failed to acknowledge, leave alone develop, those spiritual ties of yore with its friends and neighbours. This is partly the result of the misguided policy perspectives of some post-Independence leaders, who confused secularism with irreligiosity, (if not willfully undermined it through minority appeasement), and also partly the result of the public's own detachment from its civilisational history. It is against this backdrop that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's heartfelt address on Buddha Poornima, highlighting Lord Buddha's relevance in the contemporary world, must be viewed.
This is the first time in recent memory that Buddha Poornima has been celebrated on such a massive scale by the Government with a message for audiences abroad and at home. In the first case, Mr Modi's Buddhist pitch reaches out to our South Asian neighbours such as Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, and our friends across Asia, from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar to China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore and Mongolia. It highlights India's civilisational connect with these countries and its undisputed position as an Asian powerhouse. Hopefully, these efforts to underline India's soft power will bring in, apart from more tourists, also diplomatic leverages in the years ahead.
Those who have sought to dismiss the Buddha Poornima speech as publicity gimmick for Mr Modi’s upcoming China trip, should keep in mind that Buddhism has been an important leitmotif of Mr Modi's diplomacy. In Japan last year, he prayed at the Toji and Kinkakuji Buddhist temples, and in Sri Lanka this March, he addressed Buddhist monks at Colombo's Mahabodhi Temple and worshipped the Mahabodhi tree in Anuradhapura. In China, later this month, he is expected to visit the Great Wild Goose pagoda, dedicated to famous Buddhist pilgrim Huen Tsang.
On the domestic front, the speech marks a rare outreach to the Buddhist community which, though tiny, is still about eight million-strong. Moreover, after centuries of decline, Buddhism is on the rise in the land of its birth, primarily due to the migration of Tibetan Buddhists and the conversion of Hindu Dalits. Also, the Prime Minister's focus on Lord Buddha as a social reformer was a message to his domestic constituencies. It is too soon to predict with certainty but the Buddha Poornima speech could be an important indicator of how the Modi Government, often derided as a Hindu-majoritarian force, hopes to shape the debate on religion and secularism, nationalism and identity. Indeed, it is to be hoped that through more such measures, the Modi Government will take its historic mandate to a different level and refurbish that elusive ‘Idea of India'.
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