Evil comes in many forms, the most powerful of which emanates from state power. It has fuelled pogroms on an unimaginable scale with Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Baghdadi topping the Monster List. However, when evil wears the mask of diplomacy and economic affability, democracies dance to its hypocritical tune. No dictator has ever been ousted by diplomacy.
This week, Mohammed bin Salman or MbS, as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is called, was greeted by the Narendra Modi government without reservations. MbS is a self confessed murderer, going by evidence of his complicity in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing and dismemberment in Istanbul. US Intelligence wiretaps had captured Salman telling a top aide that he would use “a bullet” on Khashoggi. Dismemberment shocks the civilised world, but is an old normal in Saudi Arabia.
In the medieval kingdom, where glitzy buildings, superjets and luxury yachts project modernity, rulers are as morally primitive as any medieval savage. While public executions went out of vogue in the world centuries ago, it is a crowd puller in the Arabian kingdom, which is governed by laws that order women to be publically whipped and the hands of thieves to be chopped off. In August 2018, the Saudis crucified a prisoner and put the body on public display in Riyadh’s Deera Square, which goes by the macabre moniker Chop Chop Square. And MbS is the most powerful man in Saudi Arabia. By posing with Prime Minister Modi in official photographs, he is making a mockery of India’s stand on human rights.
Just after the Pulwama attacks happened, MbS was in Pakistan, partying with Imran Khan before he announced $20 billion in aid to our duplicitous neighbour. In India, MbS condemned the Pulwama terror attack, which was hailed as a victory for diplomacy. Diplomacy is perfecting the balance of opportunism: in Pakistan, he spoke of “the need for avoiding politicisation of UN listing regime,” referring to India’s attempts to declare Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. In India, he supported it. MbS has proved his skill in making friends and influencing the enemies of friends.
Saudi money has been flowing into India for decades to build myriad mosques and madrasas, support hate-spewing mullas in Kashmir and encourage polarisation through conversions. The kingdom has also been actively funding terrorism; a generous portion of the aid would be kept aside by Pakistan’s Generals for its terror budget.
The moral fibre of a democracy is tested when it takes a stand against tyranny, however attractive the economic benefits. And it does not include inviting bloodthirsty dictators to dinner.
Ravi Shankar
ravi@newindianexpress.com