Disseminating ‘India mother of democracy’ message abroad very much a work in progress: S Jaishankar

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, February 9

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday informed Parliament that India had initiated activities abroad to disseminate the message that it is the mother of democracy.

Responding to a question by BJP member Rakesh Sinha on what India was doing after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unsettled the civilisational discourse on the origins of democracy by saying that India is the mother of democracy, Jaishankar during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha said, “This matter has been discussed by us with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. We have already initiated activities abroad through our cultural centres to emphasise the message that India is the mother of democracy, that India has a pluralistic and consultative tradition that very few societies, if anybody at all, can match. This is very much a work in progress.”

Sinha had referred to the US Constitution makers consulting the democratic practices of Greece in drafting their document and had asked if India would initiate a discourse on being the mother of democracy in leading educational institutes such as Harvard and Cambridge abroad, through its cultural centres on the issue.”

India, the mother of democracy, is also the principal message the government is giving through various platforms during the country’s ongoing G20 presidency.

The Indian Council of Historical Research, too, is working on this narrative to counter the existing narratives of the origins of democracy, including the one that perpetuates the primacy of Magna Carta in the area.