During his state visit to India last month (August 19-21, 2024), Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim delivered a lecture at the Indian Council of World Affairs on August 20. Its subject was “Towards a Rising Global South: Leveraging on Malaysia-India Ties”. Mr. Anwar dwelt on his vision of the Global South — its unity amidst “all our diversity, differences and discretions”. More importantly, he said that the rise of the Global South is not “meant to exclude the Global North” but to “work together as equals within our complex strategic contexts”.
High praise
He praised India’s role in imparting energy to the evolution of the positions of the Global South which, he said, were in keeping with the principle of cooperating with the Global North. As he put it, “And to me, India has welcomed this reality with grace, fore-vision, and most importantly, a plan. India’s excellent G20 Chairmanship last year and the inaugural Voice of Global South Summits made it amply clear that India is prepared to shape the Global South agenda with its partners, hand in hand”.
This high praise came from a leader whose scholarship and intellectualism, is acknowledged worldwide. This is a scholarship and intellectualism that has been honed through years of political experience, suffering and study, which has seen Mr. Anwar’s evolution from Islamism to a commitment to inclusivism. This would have been music to the ears of the Narendra Modi government but not so his references to India’s leadership that emerged from the freedom movement and the leader who gave shape to the Republic in its formative years — Jawaharlal Nehru. Mr. Anwar’s words about Nehru illustrate that despite all the efforts of the Sangh Parivar, Nehru’s reputation abroad has not been tarnished. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh have left no stone unturned in going after Nehru. Indeed, he is held responsible for almost all of the current national ills. But what Mr. Anwar says on Nehru is indicative of how large numbers globally continue to view him.
Mr. Anwar recalled Nehru’s association with Malaysia’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and thereafter spoke evocatively about Nehru. It is only if his words are quoted fully that their meaning comes through. He said, “Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour?” As we all know, that is the question that Pandit Nehru posed in his ‘A Tryst With Destiny’ speech, and so succinctly answered: “To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman”.
Mr. Anwar thereafter said, “In a world fraught with challenges and uncertainties, it is the unwavering commitment to these principles that will guide us towards a brighter, more just tomorrow. The legacy of the founding fathers is not merely a testament to their time, but a timeless beacon, urging us to dream, to strive, and to forge ahead with undaunted courage and unshakeable resolve”.
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Still relevant
Significantly, Mr. Anwar began his address by quoting Swami Vivekananda on the ‘march’ of ideas from this land accompanied by words which had “blessings” behind them and “peace” before them. Remarkably, he noted that Vivekananda was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna — perhaps no other foreign leader has done so. Pleading for multiculturism and inclusivity, Mr. Anwar recalled what Gandhiji had said, “‘Hate the sin and not the sinner’ is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practi[s]ed, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.” And, he concluded his address by quoting Tagore whose words he said “echo through the corridors of time, urging us to embrace not the comforts of safety, but the unyielding courage to confront adversity head long: “Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them”.
Mr. Anwar’s reference to Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji, Tagore and Nehru point to the agonising difficulty of the Sangh Parivar. While it has denigrated Nehru and sought to co-opt some great personalities of the freedom movement and the Indian Renaissance, its own venerated ideologues and leaders are respected in many quarters in India but they continue to be known only in niche circles abroad.
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Right-wing ideologues may assert that this is because they belonged to indigenous cultural traditions which were ignored by the colonialists and that that tendency continues. The fact is that the timeless message of spiritual unity of Vivekananda, the universalism of Tagore and Gandhiji’s emphasis on non-violence also derived from indigenous Indian traditions but eschewed muscular exclusivism. And, Nehru’s ideal of an inclusive, modern society animated by the scientific spirit was a beacon light for many newly decolonised countries as it should be to India today.
The broad view
India’s present policies to ensure that the power of digital technologies are harnessed for popular welfare are gaining the positive attention of the Global South. These are practical measures which have great importance in the lives of the impoverished everywhere and are important for governance. They evoke foreign admiration but in the realm of political and social philosophies, the ideologues of the Parivar do not inspire as do Gandhiji and Nehru and others who Mr. Anwar mentioned. And, this can hardly be attributed to the conspiracies of left liberals.
Vivek Katju is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer
Published - September 20, 2024 12:08 am IST
