By: Riley Boekhoff
Last week, Boris Johnson decided to visit India. He is getting a lot of backlash for this, saying that he was trying to escape his troubles in Westminster, only to go to a place with a major human rights problem.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and his party, Bhartiya Janata, have been accused of numerous hate crimes. In states run by Modi and his party, JCB bulldozers have been flattening unsubstantiated Muslim homes and businesses in the city of Delhi and other states. However, some of these buildings were encroaching the roads, and one of them was even Hindu-owned. This is an example of all the human rights violations Modi has been accused of although it was done by the Delhi Municipal Corporation and not Modi himself. He has become the only person to ever be denied a US visa for severe religious freedom violations. This was because, as Gujarat’s chief minister, he failed to stop deadly anti-Muslim riots.
The main reason for this visit is a trade deal. India has one of the biggest economies and is expected to be the biggest soon. The UK would benefit a lot from this deal. Also, Boris Johnson is attempting to get India to not be as dependent on Russian oil and arms with the war in Ukraine. Even though Modi has shown concern about Ukraine, he is still reluctant to hold his Cold War ally, Russia, accountable. Another topic brought up was economic fugitives. These people would flee to the UK to avoid getting prosecuted by the laws in India for economic-related crimes. Boris Johnson said he does not welcome these people and is ordering the extraction of two people that went to the UK to go back to India and face trials on tax fraud.