The inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya after decades of effort has been celebrated by Hindus all over India and abroad. Along with abolition of Article 370 this could be the defining achievement of Modi Government. Speaking of challenges Modi has overcome many in the last 10 years. His detractors keep claiming that democracy is in danger under him, which is ironic considering that he keeps returning to power with more popular votes than before. But after almost 10 years in power, opinion on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in Delhi is sharply divided.

I feel that Prime Minister Modi actually saved ‘democracy’ from losing relevance across the developing world. He has shown the way to make democracy performance-driven, by competing with a totalitarian China that had once caught the imagination of the world for its quick delivery. 

Not too long back we used to lament our slow decision making and lack of decisive action. This was all attributed to democracy where, everyone had a say and every opinion had to be heard and also considered. The democratic nations, failed to ensure growth and prosperity at the pace of a single-party-ruled China.

Democracies gave reasons for their failures but no solution. In short, they lacked a demonstrative effect. Poor, populous democracies, like India, had no role model before them that could be an example of delivering speedy growth, without sacrificing the political freedom of its citizens. Global investors and media admired China and even we, Indians were critical of the country’s slow progress vis-à-vis its northern neighbor. 

Modi took the challenge. “Democracy can deliver,” he said. In May 2014, when Narendra Modi became India’s Prime Minister, efficient governance, and not the type of governance, was the focal point of global debate. 

After the liberalization of 1991, the then prime minister Narasimha Rao famously said that the days of ideological politics were over and that they should be replaced by politics of performance. Modi is the first politician who realized what Rao envisioned. In the past, voters replaced a performance-driven Vajpayee government with a Congress-led coalition. It is hard to see that happen now.

Successive Indian governments have been consistent in their effort to push the growth numbers up. However, external shocks apart, the slow pace of reforms and delays in project implementation limited growth potential in the past. Modi changed this trend and created a new pattern. India delivered under his leadership. The attitude of global investors towards India has changed for the better. Even Modi’s worst critics should agree that the pace of decision-making and implementation has reached an unprecedented high since Liberalization in 1991. 

India’s real GDP grew at 6.7 per cent between 1998-99 and 2018-19. The average increased to 7 per cent between 2004-05 and 2018-19. India’s inflation-adjusted real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a record 8.1 per cent between April 2021 and September 2023. The previous high was 7.4 per cent during Modi’s first term as Prime Minister. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India is set to contribute 16 per cent of global growth in 2023, and that’s no fluke, considering India performance in the last 10 years. India’s current account deficit (CAD) peaked at 4.8 per cent in 2012 (calendar). Since then it is showing a steady decline. The highest CAD of the Modi era was 2.6 per cent (2022)

The parliamentary majority which the BJP achieved under Prime Minister Modi is a reason behind this stellar show. Essentially, Modi introduced new standards in Indian politics. His was the first government that had been highly target oriented. All governments put timelines for project competition, but the Modi government has been exceptional in achieving them. 

This government did not ask people to wait for a lifetime to see benefits coming. Voters experienced a rapid improvement in the nation’s highway and railway infrastructure. Logistic costs have reduced from 14 per cent of GDP to 8 per cent, which will boost future growth. 

Post-2014, one of Modi’s biggest reforms was to give the poor bank accounts; thus, the Jan Dhan Yojana program happened. Many questioned the need for bank accounts, given that the intended beneficiaries were without money to deposit in these accounts. The results are evident now. Jan Dhan, coupled with Aadhar and mobile, eventually became the foundation for the economy’s digitization.

Taking toilets to every home has been a long-drawn agenda. The Modi government is on the way to achieving it. Same with electricity and cooking gas connections. From abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir to promoting digital transaction — the unthinkable has happened. 

The Opposition went after the failures, like the 2016 demonetization. But that’s missing the woods for the trees. In the end, Modi stuck to his target. High-value (Rs 2,000) currency was withdrawn, and digital payments became commonplace. 

Indian democracy is finally giving competition to China in quick delivery. However, there is one weakness in this story. While the BJP has changed under Modi, the Opposition is yet to get out of the old school thoughts. Until that happens, the BJP will gain out of the TINA (there-is-no-alternative) factor, but Indian democracy will lose the opportunity to improve upon its efficiency.

 Having listed the achievements of Modi government and the challenges overcome, I would like to boldly propose its next challenge, which might be bigger than any achieved before.

The riots in some parts of the country and the dark statements by some clerics remind us that we have to deal with the sentiments of over 200 million Muslims in India too. That the Ram Mandir was obtained through a legal process, and the same processes have begun in Mathura and Kashi too, does not seem to matter to large segments of the Muslim intelligentsia.

The real issue is a refusal by mainstream Muslims to even acknowledge that Islamic iconoclasm destroyed many temples. The furthest some intellectuals are willing to go is to say that some temple destruction may have happened in ‘mediaeval’ times, but steer clear of any suggestion that Islam had anything to do with it. Indirectly, it is implied that the desecration was some kind of universal mediaeval phenomenon, and not Islamic in particular. To them the ruling of Supreme court is based on “Legel Technicalities”. And this when iconoclasm is one of the defining features of Islam (and Christianity for that matter).

Some time back there was a lot of hue and cry over the demand of an apology for Jaliawalabagh massacre from the British government. I thought it was just a political gimmick but on introspection I have realized that what the victim of injustice seeks is acknowledgement of the wrongdoing. I have realized that reconciliation based on truth can happen if the perpetrator at least acknowledges that some harm was done by him or his community. And herein lies the nub of the issue. There is no widespread acceptance by the Muslim community that this open sore in Hindu-Muslim relations cannot be healed without an acknowledgement of the truth.

Clearly, the primary challenge before Hindus, and the Modi Government is to engage with many of the leaders of the Muslim community — and not just the clerics — to explain why acknowledgement of the past is important for progress on communal relations. They need to be assured that we understand that today’s Muslims had nothing to do with temple destructions, but if there is no acknowledgement of the harm done in the past, tensions cannot be eased, and everyone will suffer. More importantly, the economic upliftment of Muslims will find no broad support among the majority community.

So, what should the Modi government really do? I will be bold enough to suggest a solution.

Firstly, it must prepare a panel of credible historians and public intellectuals to engage with both the local Muslim leadership and non-Muslim political influencers abroad to explain what exactly happened in the past, and what is being done now. They must emphasize that this is not about exacting revenge for the past or making today’s Muslims in India pay for the sins of their ancestors, but to give some closure to the Hindu community.

Even assuming no apology needs to be given, this acknowledgement is key. But if this can’t happen even in Kashmir, where all the incidents happened within living memory, and with many eyewitnesses around, how will it happen with past history, where there can be contested truths? Therin lies the challenge for Modi government.

If the Ram Janmabhoomi issue cannot be decided on the basis of historical evidence even in the courts, how can any Hindu-Muslim tussle over religious sites be settled amicably?

Being realistic and understanding that, if acknowledgement is not likely, and we still cannot convince Muslims in general of the real issues standing in the way of their progress, what must we do? Is there another way?

It should be possible to work out compromises without acknowledgement of past iconoclasm, as long as there is willingness to negotiate the handover of Kashi and Mathura in return for a promise of no further claims from the Hindu side. Perhaps Only the Modi government can guarantee this. After all, what do Muslims benefit beyond obtaining vicarious pleasure by squatting on religious sites that the Hindus value more?

Should they not seek a better deal in the bargain, as they did in Ayodhya, where the legal compensation decided by the court has been an even bigger piece of land and donations from many non-Muslims to build a great mosque? 

The truth is Muslims in India need to introspect on what their endless passive-aggressive victimhood stance is actually doing to their future. Nowhere in the world have Muslims introspected on the past, and never have they acknowledged past oppression of the non-Muslims (so called Kaafirs), unlike the Christian church. It would be great if this reform and reconciliation movement begins in India, where over 200 million Muslims live. Global and Indian Islam are headed towards a dead-end if they do not rethink their ideological premises.

Can Modi deliver on this challenge which will guarantee communal harmony and also progress and wellbeing of the all the Indians irrespective of religion and caste? If he pulls this off, he will truly fulfill his most aspirational electoral promise “Sabka saath, Sabka Vikas.”