NEW DELHI: Shehla Rashid, a former student leader at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), once a bitter critic of the BJP-led central government, has now seems to have made a radical shift.
She said that the people belonging to the 'left and liberal ecosystem' criticized the government for imposing lockdown during COVID-19 for the sake of it. The activist and academician said that she was surrounded by an "echo chamber" and the people critical of the government questioned her for 'supporting' the Centre's decision to impose lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the ANI Podcast interview with Smita Prakash, which aired on Wednesday, Shehla Rashid opened up about her turning into a PM Modi fan from a critic.
"So two things, first of all, I started supporting some of the executive actions in 2020, which is the pandemic year. At that time I had supported the lockdown and because I hadn't made any overtures towards the government. I was still surrounded by an echo chamber that immediately shut me down. They were like why are you supporting the government? It was then that I realised for the very first time in 2020 that a lot of the criticism that 'we' do of the government is for the sake of it. And that's where I come again to the point of polarisation that just because PM Modi is doing something and we have to oppose it," Shehla told ANI adding that the 'we' here means the left, liberal ecosystem or the people who are critical to the government.
She also said that the Centre at that time had no choice but to impose a lockdown.
"I was very much part of that echo chamber yet I still saw in countries like Sweden etc, where the governments did (impose) lockdown but the people protested against it citing citizens' rights, democracy etc. And in the US, where the Trump administration did not (impose) a lockdown. (But) the teachers (in US), you must have seen, saying that you are sending us to death row by not shutting down. So what was the choice with the government in 2020 to shut down or not shut down. I feel that the government had no choice but to lockdown," she added.
Rashid is an activist, researcher, and academician who gained prominence in 2016 for advocating the release of then JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charges.
Recently, she made headlines for applauding the central government for the 'improved' situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Moreover, when asked about the reality of discrimination against Muslims in India, she said that Muslims as per academic experts classify themselves as the second largest majority instead of a minority.
"Dr Tanveer Faisal, who is a sociologist pointed out in one of his papers that the Muslims in Delhi reject the classification of minority and they say that we are the second largest majority. The Muslims as per academic experts classify themselves as the second largest majority instead of minority," Rashid said.
She also said that the communalism in the country didn't come when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government came to the Centre but its history can be traced 70 years back.
"Is there communalism in this country, yes. 70 years back we were partitioned on a religious basis. So we cannot say that communalism began when the BJP came in 2014. We have been partitioned on religious lines and it was a bloody partition by all accounts. There has been communalism and there will continue to be communalism. At the same time, the problem with the critical orientation is that we only focus on the negatives. We forget to celebrate the positives," she said.
The activist said that India is a humongous country and there have been incidents of mob lynching and unfortunate statements made against Muslims in the past.
"Yes, they hurt you as a Muslim, but as a Muslim do we keep focusing or harping on that narrative on the negatives? I don't think so because we've lost years doing that. This is our country as much as it is anyone else's country," Shehla said.
She said that Muslims should feel lucky that they are in this country and not anywhere else in the world.
"Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to Srinagar told Kashmiris that it is their country and they can live and go wherever they want. These were his exact words. And we should take a moment and acknowledge that we are living through a historically very important phase. We should be lucky that we are in this country and not anywhere else in the world right now. Because there is peace, there is development and we've just overtaken our former colonizers, the United Kingdom as the fifth largest economy," she said further.
Rashid praises Centre's policy for Kashmir, says "would invite people to debate on facts"
Responding to the question of why she has started praising the Union government on its Kashmir policy, Rashid said that she is open to debate on the policies of the Centre and will present facts on the changes happening in the Valley.
Shehla Rashid said, "There are people who will say why are you saying this? My answer is because it's true. I am not saying that there are no problems in the country. If certain things happen, I have always been a critic of the Centre's Kashmir policy so now the Kashmir policy is good so I would invite people to debate me on facts."
"There have been court-martial of some army personnel who were involved in the fake encounter is it not what we were asking all along. There will be people who will say why you are saying this? They have not actually visited Kashmir recently. They have not seen the kind of change, the visible change. That's why I decided to speak out," she added.
She further claimed that there are a lot of narratives being peddled out just for the sake of it.
"There are congressional committee reports in the US that will still say restore internet in Kashmir whereas the internet is in full bloom, 5G is working. But a lot of these narratives whether they are motivated they know. It is a feature of our times. It is polarisation. People do not want to acknowledge their opponents for doing good work and that is not good for democracy," she said.
Regretting the post that was put out by Rashid on X in August 2019 accusing army officials of Human rights abuse, she said," I don't think it was my place to put out that information. I regret putting out that information as I did not verify it myself. Someone had given me that information not just to publish it on platforms. It was my decision to publish. It was an ill-considered decision."
"I think my information was used by anti-India forces here and abroad. These things become a truism of sorts, army rapes in Kashmir. It is a truism everybody keeps repeating, I did not check it myself and I regret putting out these tweets," she said.