Comments by "peabase" (@peabase) on "The Modi Model: Can India’s democracy keep up with its growing clout? • FRANCE 24 English" video.

Sure, but can you cope without resorting to whataboutism?
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@leaderofmass Bitter? I have no dog in this fight, "bro", so I'm not blinded by nationalism. If you insist on playing the hypocrisy card, there's plenty of hypocrisy in India's human rights record. As a matter of fact, France easily outscores India in human rights according to the Freedom in the World index. France is in 39th place; India, 87th. You needn't worry about Europe in general either. Just about all European countries do better than India.
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You're suffering from hyperopia, a.k.a. far-sightedness. Worry not, it's easily corrected with glasses.
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@anilkrmost Your lot are trying to twist criticism back on the critic. That's the very definition of whataboutism. In other words, you have no retort, so you deflect with unrelated counter-criticism. I'm not French, so there's no hypocrisy. I don't know what to do with your "Western hypocrisy". Definition please? Try to explain how it differs from Eastern hypocrisy, or for laughs, from Martian hypocrisy.
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Why is it that you go to pieces whenever France 24 releases a news clip about India? If they did an unflattering one about us (which they do on occasion), I'd take it into consideration or shrug it off, but I certainly won't go accusing half the world of being meanies and cry myself to sleep.
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You easily buckle under criticism. Sad.
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@hanzofunai4238 You're confused. The whole point about you whataboutists is that you won't answer a legit question yourselves. Instead, you raise another, unrelated question in a sorry attempt to deflect. The supreme irony is that you get your panties in a bunch because your unrelated question goes unanswered.
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Secularity isn't incompatible with democracy -- nor are minority rights, for that matter. Secularity certainly goes a long way in keeping religion out of politics. India should take note. Like France in a more distant past, you've had your fair share of religious violence.
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@YS27122 Which hypocrisy is that? We enjoy free speech. We can't quell critical voices even if you think they're hypocrisy.
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Pray tell, how is France facing an existential threat from these recent coups in Africa? Scapegoating France may be a convenient way of galvanising some popular support for the coup leaders, but in France, it's merely raising eyebrows. I pity the thousands and thousands of well-adjusted and productive Nigerien immigrants in France, who'll have to face awkward questions from their puzzled French compatriots.
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@honestpetvideos9307 The question you should ask yourself is how significant a uranium producer Niger is globally. A mere 4% of the world's uranium comes from Niger. The French are instrumental in mining it, so without 'French dressing', no Nigerien uranium. Moreover, the uranium market has been depressed for years, with nuclear power plants closing and fewer new ones coming online. Also, new producers have entered the market, dropping prices even further. In case you can't figure out what this means, there's no shortage of alternative suppliers should Niger exit the uranium market.
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Your whataboutism is a manifestation of "this colonial mindset". Snap out of it already.
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Can you comment on a news clip concerning India without turning on the newscaster? Big question.
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That would be French schools banning abayas. In my school days, in the seventies, we had a dress code in school, too. Our stuffy headmistress was always measuring girls' skirts and sending some home for a change. If you need some democratic perspective, here's some: according to the Democracy Index, France rates as 'full democracy' (#22) whereas India's rating is 'flawed democracy' (#46). Not bad, actually, but you have some work to do.
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@hanzofunai4238 Of course not, I don't do whataboutism. You, on the other hand, can't stop yourself.
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@MrMaverickanand No, whataboutism stings me. You Indians are going full Soviet on us. I thought better of you.
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@MrMaverickanand Where's the self-aggrandisement? And where did I engage in whataboutism? Whataboutism is decidedly Soviet in nature. The Soviets practically had copyright on it. It's not something you want to emulate.
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@daakuredpanda5782 You should read what I wrote earlier in this thread. The Freedom in the World index puts practially all European countries ahead of India, and the criteria for awarding points include religious freedom. Moreover, Europe is a continent. Religious freedom varies from country to country, even considerably so. It would be apples and oranges if we were to compare the whole of Europe to India. Let's stick with continents and compare Europe to the Indian subcontinent. I'm afraid Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan drag your score down further. As to diversity, I suspect you're not that well travelled, but it's plenty clear to me -- having travelled extensively in both Europe and India -- that there's more interracial interaction in Europe than in India. My former school is now a mosque, but it hasn't kept us from organising reunions there. My Turkish and North African schoolmates -- Muslims -- think it funny, and the rest of us are just happy that the building found a worthwile purpose. Finally, I don't recall telling you what to do. I'm merely noting that whataboutism amounts to childish behaviour. Take criticism like an adult, and don't whine like a petulant child.
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@MrMaverickanand Oh, I see. It's condescending that India doesn't fare as well as we do in human rights. You guys brought up human rights. I brought you down to earth.
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@MrMaverickanand I've told you, I don't play with whataboutists. You need to take up your grievances with compilers of the Freedom in the World index, or produce a credible source that puts you ahead of Europe in religious tolerance.
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@MrMaverickanand I knew it. You have no source -- none whatsoever -- for your claims. For the record, I have not interfered or judged India. I have dryly noted, based on careful analysis by a renowned research institute, that India is not a leading light in religious tolerance. Please be more assertive, but don't make claims you can't back up.
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@MrMaverickanand To quote you: "And for the record, we have far older and better religious freedom records than you do." That sounds like a claim. Provide a source that supports your claim. Put up or shut up. I encouraged you to be more assertive. How is that me shutting your mouth? For the sake of your credibility, don't make claims you can't back up.
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@MrMaverickanand Uh, we don't control Freedom House any more than you do.
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It's not so much France that the African Union has a problem with, but rather, the African Union has a problem with these African coup plotters, who're seizing power all over the continent, France or no France. The same goes for ECOWAS, who're at odds with these opportunistic soldiers-turned-autocrats. Just an idea, but have you thought about growing a thicker skin? As an outsider, I'm a bit embarrassed for you that you're trying to kill the messenger. It doesn't speak well of your self-esteem. Also, whataboutism is more like a Soviet throwback. I didn't know it was a thing in India, too.
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