Questioned on minority rights in India, Jaishankar says, ‘I defy you to show me discrimination’

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday questioned the status of minorities in India under the Narendra Modi government. “What is the test really of fair and good governance or the balance of a society?” he asked. 

“It would be whether in terms of the amenities, the benefits, the access, the rights, do you discriminate or not and in every society in the world, at some point, there's been some discrimination on some basis,” Jaishankar replied. 

He further said, “If you look at India today, it's a society where there is a tremendous change taking place, the biggest change happening today in India is the creation of a social welfare system in a society that has less than USD 3,000 per capita income.”

The minister told the media persons, “I defy you to show me discrimination. In fact, the more digital we have become, the more faceless the governance has become. Actually, it's become fairer.”

Additionally, Jaishankar also emphasized the Modi government has paid a lot of attention to the issues of the Sikh community, saying the extremist elements are just a small minority and, hence, do not represent the entire group. 

“...Everyone is aware of the amount of attention that the Modi government has paid to the issues of the Sikh community in the last 10 years and the suggestions it has made," the foreign affairs minister said as quoted by ANI. 

“I do not believe that the discussions that are taking place right now are the representative issues of the entire community (Sikhs). Those who talk about terrorism, the separatist people, whose arguments include violence...this is a small minority, and the respective governments should take unbiased actions," he added. 

The remarks came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government is involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’.

Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India has suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's allegations of Indian involvement in the killing.

India has also issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are traveling to Canada to exercise “utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence" in the country. 

(With ANI inputs)