The BJP’s track record in India shows that democracy and extremism do not gel. Despite the pitfalls and an increasingly negative international reputation, Narendra Modi and his BJP carry on regardless. As a result, the future of Hinducracy as a democracy appears quite bleak.
ByS.G. Jilanee | May 2020
Since its independence, nearly seven decades ago, India has been basking in the sunshine of its reputation as the “world’s largest democracy.” But the reputation was due to the fact that the country was founded on secularism which is the soul of democracy. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharal Nehru, a devotee of secularism, watered the sapling with his blood and sweat, so it took firm root in the country.
Fanatical concepts like Hindutva were unheard of at the time of independence. So, there was no lynching of a Muslim on the suspicion that he had stored the flesh of “Mother cow” at his home.
At present, however, democracy in India seems to be at the cusp of decline, due to the onset of extremism under BJP’s rule, because democracy and extremism are incompatible. Democracy is rooted in tolerance of dissent and exchange of views to arrive at a compromised resolution of issues that, in turn, fosters goodwill and unity among the people. Extremism, with its concomitant of a rigid attitude on issues, therefore, spawns disunity and fissiparous tendencies among the people.
As proof of the negative effect of the BJP’s extremist policies, several separatist movements have currently sprung up in the country. Seven states in the north, such as Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim are, all, agitating to seek separation from India. In addition, there is the Sikh demand for Khalistan. These movements have no nexus with the Hindutva dogma. They are the result of the denial of democracy.
At the same time the BJP not only rules with a fascist hand, it even regards its 200 million odd, Muslims as outsiders, which is a totally bigoted and undemocratic notion. It is also a lethal blow to national unity, because, such a huge population cannot be wished away. It can neither be eliminated through mass genocide a la Hitler, nor can it be proselytized en masse.
There is no question that, not only India’s prosperity, but its very salvation depends on pure, unalloyed, democracy and secularism. Abandoning the path of democracy will cost India dearly. Not only will it forfeit its cherished status as the largest democracy in the world; it will also fall prey to separatist movements. But, the ruling BJP is sworn to upending whatever Jawaharlal Nehru stood for.
The ongoing separatist agitation in seven states is not an ordinary matter. It is a fairly large number, which triggers the suspicion that there is “something rotten in the state of Denmark” and gives food for thought to India’s rulers. There is no scope for complacency, because, although the movements are peaceful for now, but, the future is unpredictable. There is no certainty they will stay the same course in the coming weeks and months. If they turn violent, there would be hell to pay as India might plunge into a civil war.
The situation should, therefore, sound alarm bells in New Delhi. It calls for urgent notice of the BJP government whose arrogant policies have caused disunity among the people and sparked separatist movements. The government should, urgently, look into the grievances of the disgruntled states and adopt measures to redress them.
Obviously, all the seven states may not have the same issues. Each will need to be dealt with, individually, on its own merits. And it will be for the country’s good if the problems are peacefully resolved. Meanwhile, the Union government ought to investigate the root of dissatisfaction among the states.
However, though the separatist agitation of the seven states in north-eastern India has claimed the limelight, sight must not be lost of the struggle in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and Khalistan. Although the Khalistan movement has not erupted, but it continues to fester and may, one day, spill over. This, too, is a volatile issue that India could ignore only at its peril.
IOK is becoming progressively more restive. The Indian government looks at it through the communal prism and adopts increasingly oppressive policies, both politically and administratively. The most lethal political blow New Delhi has struck so far was the repeal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that conferred a special status on the state of Jammu-Kashmir. This arrogant measure, in addition to other ongoing atrocities, has been counterproductive insofar as it has further fuelled the resentment of the Kashmiri people against India, instead of crushing their resolve. This policy has led to tragic incidents like the one in Pulwama, in the Valley, in February 2019, in which more 40 Indian troops of the Reserve Police Force, traveling in a convoy, were attacked and killed by a Kashmiri suicide bomber.
The solution of the problem lies not in less but more democracy; not oppression and the use of force, but accommodation of dissent and negotiation. There is no question that India’s attitude towards IOK is undemocratic. Only democracy can heal its running sore. Hence, the sooner it adopts corrective measures to solve the problem, the better it would be for all concerned.
BJP’s extremist policies are like throwing a spanner in the works. Democracy is the only answer to the running sore of the IOK, whereas extremism is its antithesis. The more aggressive and oppressive policies India adopts in order to absorb IOK into India, the more it alienates the local people.
More importantly, BJP’s narrow-mindedness could trigger an explosion of democracy in India. The separatist movements across the land do not augur well for the country’s unity. They are a clarion call for the Indian government to wake up and correct its political sights before it is too late and the country is blown apart into smaller units.
The separatist movements in India have created a critical situation. The situation is getting worse by the day. It is high time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cronies understood the fact that India may soon disintegrate. He and his BJP claim to be champions of democracy but have laid down the roots in India of a version of governance that recognizes only one religion – a superior version of Hinduism. Everything and everyone else is supposed to be subservient to the dogma of Hindutva. How the BJP plans to grapple with the problem remains to be seen. Will Modi use the big stick or try to find a peaceful solution through talks? Will he and his party accept other parties and religions as equal elements of the Indian state is a million dollar question that begs an answer.
In the Hands of Goons
In his comments in a TV program, Justice Markandey Katju, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, has said politicians had time and again looted the country and divided the people along caste and religious lines just for the sake of their vote banks. He said the BJP had divided people along religious lines while other parties had divided them on caste basis but they were all the same. He said it was so sad that the country (India) was in the hands of goons who were nothing but criminals.
He said in his view, the country was heading towards a revolution. He pointed out that prices were shooting up the roof with Rs. 200 for only a kg of daal while the price of onions and mustard oil was beyond the reach of the common man. He mentioned the massive unemployment that was increasing in the country and it was heading towards a crisis. He said this could only be changed through a revolution as it was the only hope left.
Justice Katju said if there was a single not-so-worthy building, it could be repaired or renovated but if there was a building that needed demolition and new construction, this could not be done without destruction. The system needed to be destroyed as it was outdated. He felt the Indian Constitution had exhausted itself and all institutions had collapsed. He said the Parliament was also finished and it would never deliver because whoever was in opposition would never allow the Parliament to function.
He said, first the BJP did not let the Congress work and now the Congress was doing the same. The Parliament was nothing but useless and the judiciary took around 25 to 30 years to decide a case as half of the judiciary was now corrupt. The former judge said he knew this because he was part of the system. He said the same was the case with the bureaucracy. In short, he said, everything had collapsed in the country.
Justice Markandey said there should be a complete change in the system. There was need for a just social order as the standard of living of the people was rising. He said one could tell a lot by seeing whether the living standards of the people was rising.
He said the solution to the country’s problems did not lie within but outside the system which meant the system had to be destroyed as it would never allow the kind of progress to take place that had been witnessed before. He said the BJP talked about ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ but this had proven hollow as there was no development and it was all a fraud.
The former Supreme Court judge said corruption and communalism were both dangerous but they were complementary to each other. He said the country had great diversity with different religions, caste, ethnic groups and languages and the only way to be united and further progress was secularism and giving equal respect to everyone. In his view, communalism was an enemy of the nation and all those who were communalists were traitors. He said the same applied to corruption as it was deeply embedded at every level.
Justice Katju said some tough measures had to be taken and this was not possible in the system. He said that during the French Revolution, they guillotined all the ‘meritocrats’. India would have to do the same as the politicians were incorrigible. He said they could not be reformed and hence, should be shot or hanged. The former judge said that just like a leopard never changes its spots, the politicians wouldn’t change their nature. They had no genuine love for the country and they only wanted their vote banks for which they spread hatred and polarised the people. He asked: are those persons not enemies of the country who divide people and make them fight with each other?
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