New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is generally known for publicly acknowledging and celebrating Indian successes in various fields on international platforms. However, there are a few notable exceptions where his silence has been conspicuous.

One such instance was when Banu Mushtaq recently won the International Booker Prize in 2025 for her Kannada short story collection Hridaya Deepa ('Heart Lamp'). There are at least two other instances when Modi failed to acknowledge Indian successes in global recognition events.

In all three cases, the absence of a congratulatory message from Modi was in sharp contrast with his usual practice of publicly celebrating Indian achievements in sports, science, and other fields.

The silence is perhaps selective, possibly influenced by the recipients’ perceived political or ideological positions, or the themes of their work, which often include critique of religious majoritarianism and divisiveness, and advocacy for pluralism in India. 

Ravish Kumar: Ramon Magsaysay Award (2019)

Ravish Kumar, a senior Hindi language journalist, was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2019, often called the Asian Nobel Prize.

Despite widespread congratulations from across the Indian political spectrum, PM Modi did not issue any public congratulatory message to Ravish Kumar for this achievement.

Bezwada Wilson and T.M. Krishna: Ramon Magsaysay Award (2016)

Bezwada Wilson, the founder of the Safai Karmachari Andolan and noted Carantic vocalist T.M. Krishna were named as recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay award in 2016. While both Wilson and Krishna were congratulated for their achievement from across the political divide, Modi didn't congratulate the duo.

Despite the fact that Wilson has worked tirelessly for the eradication of manual scavenging, and one of the Swachh Bharat Mission being one of the main flagship programmes of the Modi government, the Prime Minister's silence was conspicuous.

Geetanjali Shree: International Booker Prize (2022)

Geetanjali Shree became the first Indian author to win the International Booker Prize for her Hindi novel Tomb of Sand (Ret Samadhi) in 2022. The union government and the ruling party, including Prime Minister Modi, were notably silent on this achievement, despite the book’s significance as the first South Asian language work to win the prize.

The lack of acknowledgment was widely noted, especially given the Modi government’s general emphasis on promoting Hindi and celebrating international recognition for Indian achievements. Her book, in Hindustani is a bold exploration of pluralism, the meaninglessness of borders and features a strong relationship between a Muslim Pakistani man and a Hindu Indian woman.

Banu Mushtaq: International Booker Prize (2025)

Banu Mushtaq won the International Booker Prize in 2025 for her Kannada short story collection Hridaya Deepa (Heart Lamp). While there was an outpouring of congratulatory greetings from opposition leaders, there is no record of Modi issuing a congratulatory message for this achievement.

This omission is particularly notable given the historic nature of the award for Kannada literature and Indian writing. Her book is about gender and attacks patriarchy which foregrounds her own identity as a Muslim, woman, speaker of Kannada, Urdu, Dakhni and Hindi.

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