India as South Asia's Beacon of Inclusiveness

When the United Nations Human Rights Council convened in Geneva on September 8 for the side event “Voices from the Margins: Protecting Minority Rights in South Asia,” the testimonies offered painted a grim portrait of the region. From Pakistan to Bangladesh and Tibet, minorities continue to face systemic discrimination, violence, and erasure. Yet amid this bleak landscape, one country stands out as a counterpoint, India. Despite its challenges, India remains the only true democratic experiment in South Asia where pluralism is not merely rhetoric but constitutional principle.

South Asia’s Disturbing Record

The accounts in Geneva were damning. Ahmadis in Pakistan criminalized simply for identifying as Muslims. Sindhi Hindu women and girls forced into conversions under the shadow of violence and impunity. Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and indigenous peoples in Bangladesh enduring repeated cycles of communal violence.

These are not isolated abuses; they are entrenched systems of exclusion. And they reveal an uncomfortable truth, large parts of South Asia remain unwilling or unable to guarantee the basic dignity of their minorities.

The Indian Contrast

India, with all its imperfections, provides the starkest contrast to this dismal record. The world’s largest democracy has enshrined equality, secularism, and religious freedom in its Constitution. Its judiciary, independent press, and vibrant civil society act as safeguards. Most importantly, India’s national identity is not built on one faith, ethnicity, or language but on the principle of unity in diversity.

It is no accident that India’s minorities, over 200 million Muslims, 30 million Christians, 20 million Sikhs, and countless other communities, participate fully in politics, arts, business, and science. Presidents, chief justices, army generals, cricket captains, Oscar winners, tech CEOs, and entrepreneurs from minority backgrounds are visible proof of the country’s pluralist fabric. Contrast this with Pakistan, where Ahmadis are barred from even identifying as Muslims, or Bangladesh, where Hindu families routinely face intimidation.

Why India Matters Globally

India’s pluralism is not just a domestic strength. It is a global message. In an age where sectarianism and authoritarian nationalism are on the rise, India demonstrates that democracy can be both diverse and stable. This is not to deny India’s own challenges, communal tensions, sporadic violence, and social discrimination persist. But unlike its neighbors, these issues are confronted within an open system of debate, courts, and elections, not buried under censorship or institutionalized persecution.

As the Geneva discussions highlighted, international accountability mechanisms often fail minorities in South Asia. States refuse to act; impunity reigns. India, however, provides a model where problems are not denied but addressed through a functioning democracy. Its success is vital, not just for Indians but for the entire region.

A Call to Recognize India’s Role

The Human Rights Council must ask itself a hard question: why does the international community too often equate India with its neighbors when the record is so different? India is not perfect, but it is the one South Asian state where pluralism is real, institutionalized, and resilient.

The lesson is clear. If South Asia is to escape its cycles of minority persecution, India’s model of inclusiveness, rooted in democracy, law, and the celebration of diversity, must serve as the benchmark. Anything less would be a betrayal of those “voices from the margins” who spoke so powerfully in Geneva.

India has been, and must remain, the region’s beacon of inclusiveness. The world should not only recognize this, it should also support and strengthen it.