New York: In a September 2026 interview on the PBS program ‘Firing Line with Margaret Hoover’, celebrated author Salman Rushdie offered a measured but critical assessment of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

When host Margaret Hoover brought up a past statement by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani characterising Prime Minister Modi as a “war criminal” for his alleged role in the anti-Muslim protests in 2002 in Gujarat, Rushdie said, “I believe him to have been responsible for some of that violence.”

While he clarified that he wouldn't use the specific term “war criminal” because there wasn't an active war, Rushdie explicitly noted, “I think he has a very brutal side.”
 

Erosion of free speech and historical revisionism

Expanding on concerns he had previously voiced, Rushdie expressed deep worry about the current democratic climate in India. He pointed to widespread concern among his peers regarding “the attack on the freedoms of journalists, writers, intellectuals and professors”. 

In addition, he criticised what he described as an active effort under the current administration to rewrite Indian history to promote a polarising narrative that portrays “Hindus as good and Muslims as bad”. 

‘Hold hope in Indian youth, women’

Despite these concerns, Rushdie noted that he still holds strong hope in the Indian youth and women, whom he believes are actively pushing back against imposed societal restrictions and can ultimately reclaim a secular India.

Global expansion of RSS and Hindu nationalism

Addressing the ideology behind these societal shifts, Rushdie took aim at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the global expansion of its ideology. He specifically criticised the expansion of the RSS and Hindu nationalism into America, warning against the internationalisation of an intolerant, radical strain of Hinduism that strays from the country's foundational secular principles.