January 23, 2018 – Ajmer, Rajasthan, India – Indian national congress and BJP supporters during campaign on bye-elections. Shaukat Ahmed/Press Association. All rights reserved.Commenting
on democracy in Great Britain, a north European journalist attributed its ills
to “too much competition”. His own country is accustomed to a much gentler
version of the democratic order.
If he
were to come to New Delhi and read just a day’s newspapers, he would find that
in the case of India, his diagnosis is confirmed. Cut-throat competition
afflicts democracy in India. Global warming is tracked by instruments but there
are no instruments to measure the rise in sectarian hatred recorded by
newspaper headlines. One such front-page headline may be sampled here: “As
communal heat rises, BJP allies in Bihar rally together”. The same daily
carries as many as ten reports related to sectarian animosity and violence.
Growing
mental pollution causes this upsurge in violence. The poison of bigotry being
injected into society can be felt and talked about but not measured by an
electronic sensor. The seamy side of Indian politics has been highlighted for some
time but earlier the main instruments were money and muscle power. The
marginalisation of a religious minority and consolidation of the Hindu votes through
sectarian incitement are recent developments. Some of the latest polls have
proved that polarisation pays.
The
word “communal” in Indian English is used as a substitute for “sectarian”. What
has triggered the current wave of communal violence? In most cases, the spark
is provided not by religious fundamentalists but by political activists whose
leaders understand the power of religious passion and fault-lines of society. The poison of bigotry being injected into society can be felt
and talked about but not measured by an electronic sensor.
They
call themselves Hindu nationalists. They have become overactive on seeing that
votes can be won by polarisation of communities based on religion and castes.
The voters, fired by baser emotions, can be driven to the polling booths
easily. In a surcharged atmosphere, a gentleman-politician is overwhelmed by a
street-smart man who outshouts him. The former species will be extinct one day.
The
formula for winning elections has been standardised. Create resentment and
anger against the political rival. Intensify religious hatred, promote
inter-caste rivalry and attack the secularists ruthlessly. Tap the voters’
feelings and promise the moon. Administer the right mixture of fear of the
other and hope for the future. That populism and fake nationalism damage the
nation is not the concern of the victorious candidate.
In such
an atmosphere, Indian democracy faces multiple threats, though mercifully none
from any rogue General. However, internal subversion by an elected leader is
subtle and equally lethal. Democracy can easily be hijacked by an
actor-politician, a second-hand car salesman or a seller of snake oil. Anyone
with the power to mesmerise the audience.
Democracy
is turned into a sound-and-light spectacle featuring a 3-D Hologrammed leader.
The leader delivers his line with great effect. He knows all about light and
camera angle. He chooses carefully the colour and style of his dress for the
day’s role. Democracy led in this fashion retains its name but loses its true
spirit. Significantly, newspapers publish elections-related news under such
telling banners as The Carnival of Democracy. No newspaper in Britain uses this
banner.
Lovers
of democracy lament that every election campaign report uses the word “hawa”
(wind) to signify the political atmosphere created, not as a result of the
deeds or the misdeeds of the outgoing government, but by the rhetoric used and
bogus promises made by the leaders. Then there is another set way of describing
the election-eve atmosphere. The word used is “wave”. The biggest democracy
turns into a mighty ocean and the candidate who generates a mighty wave by the
gift of the gab is swept to power.
Offence given, taken and sucked
away
In
India, a community can feel hurt by a word or an image. Politicians can afford
to ignore the basic needs of the electorate but dare not ignore the
sensitivities of the dominant communities. Offence is given and taken very
easily. The book lovers complaining of the writers not writing about “feelings”
should know that feelings have been sucked away by politics!
If
feelings rather than a dispassionate analysis influence the voting behaviour,
consolidation of votes through inculcating hatred for and fear of ‘the other’
pays political dividends. In a cut-throat competition for winning political
power, no holds are barred. More and more street-smart boys and criminals get
into politics which starts losing traditional, dignified public-spirited
leaders.
Social
media makes it easier to create a favourable political atmosphere by rousing
baser emotions. The task of poll strategists is merely technical like that of those
who generate clouds on a film set and create a dream sequence or a nightmare on
screen. The voters get impressed by the performance of the leader descending on
the stage or talking to them from remote locations and forget his dismal performance
in office. The future of democracy in a virtually real world is another topic. In India, a community can feel hurt by a word or an
image. Politicians can afford to ignore the basic needs of the electorate but
dare not ignore the sensitivities of the dominant communities.
A tough
competitor in the political arena knows that feelings are bankable and that
defines the poll strategist’s task. He has to incite the mob frenzy that
characterises developing countries. V. S. Naipaul has written about it in his
books referring to Africa. India is ripe for a fresh visit by Naipaul as he can
witness another version of the million mutinies that he observed the last time.
As in Africa, so in India. Naipaul will see celebrations by violent mobs. He
will be amused by the elected municipal councillors installing their name plates
on public facilities and renaming roads.
Naipaul
will witness a nation in a temper. Long before America voted for Trump, British
journalist Gavin Esler went there and discovered the United States of Anger (USA)
and wrote a book with that title. Today, an illiterate maid in New Delhi, who
has not heard of that book, says that there is krodh (anger) all around. She is
worried as to how long the people like her or the daily wage-earners will be
able to go out to work in safety.
A failure of intent
Anyone
writing about “intolerance” and the spurt in sectarian hatred and violence has
to face “whataboutry” from the Prime Minister’s devotees. What about the riots
of such and such year, is their counter question. Yes, India was never free of
sectarian violence but there is a qualitative difference between the past and
the present.
The
sporadic incidents in the past were not always politically motivated and, in
most cases, the state and the district administration distinguished between the
victim and the accused. The civil servants failed at times because of
incompetence but did not turn a blind eye knowing that the political leadership
would discreetly approve of it. Now an impression has gone around that the
ruling party is determined to marginalise a community. The failure to control
violence and enforce law and order is one thing but the failure of intent is
another.
This
has encouraged the closet communalists in the bureaucracy, police and even judiciary
to be less cautious. The ruling party leaders freely make inflammatory
speeches, the like of which would have ended their political career in another
democratic country.
Till
the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya, one never heard insensitive sectarian
statements in the so-called elite or refined or cultural families. That has changed.
This is the difference between the past and the present of a secular India.
All
these years, those trying to harness Hinduism for political benefit faced
resistance not just from the liberal secular Hindus but also from the staunch
believers who remain committed to their faith’s inherent pluralism and
inclusiveness, extending even to the atheists within its fold.
Diversity hatred and ‘Hindu
Pakistan’
This
diversity is hated by a rising political force trying to inject the foreign
ideology of Fascism into an indigenous faith. It is determined to monopolise
power by establishing the primacy of one single Hindu God – Lord Rama. This chosen
God comes into the picture in the reports of many incidents of politically
inspired inter-religious violence.
The
condemnation by the liberals no longer frightens the sectarian forces. But what
they are up against is a faith tradition having millions of theologically
approved Gods. Thus, forcing homogeneity and uniformity on Hindus is going to
be a difficult project.
This
sectarian agenda has no theological basis. It involves no official plan to
“reform” Hinduism. If anything, the party activists try to enforce some
medieval customs in order to “purify” the faith tempered with modernity over
the years. A top item in this agenda that mobilises many believers is reclamation
of the temples demolished by the foreign invaders belonging to a different
religion.
The
current political confrontation has been given a religious dimension but
essentially it is a political project designed to assert the supremacy of
Hindus in a nation that establishes its new identity in the world. Those who
have generated this cut-throat political competition are not religious
scholars. In fact, they have little understanding of the Vedic literature or of
the classical language associated with their faith. The spirit of argumentation
that marks this faith tradition is foreign to them. The
long-cherished project of the mentor of the ruling party is eventually to
establish a powerful Hindu nation.
The top
leadership of the ruling party is not into politics for pelf or for power for
the sake of power or for public service. It has a single-point agenda. The
long-cherished project of the mentor of the ruling party is eventually to
establish a powerful Hindu nation. Fired by messianic zeal, the party leaders
are perennially focused on electoral strategies, ignoring governance and the
citizens’ problems. For the first time in the history of independent India,
this party has gained unrestricted political power and influence and it does
not want to let go of this opportunity. It is keen to move faster towards its
goal of establishing what its critics call a “Hindu Pakistan”.
The Government
has got away with this till now, despite its failure to fulfil Modi’s
election-eve promises, because of its power of patronage and the Prime
Minister’s charisma. Both are being used by the “cultural” organisation that
holds the real power derived from its extensive network of volunteers.
But now
voices are being heard against the politicians for being obsessed with the
Hindu-Muslim debate and ignoring the issues of public health, education,
malnutrition, safety and transport.
The
constant public discourse on the Hindu-Muslim issue and embedded media’s focus
on it are bringing democracy into disrepute. Politicians are being ridiculed
and condemned more and more. “Plague on both your houses” is a slogan that has
been heard. The Prime Minister’s devotees attack anyone criticising their
beloved leader. One devotee took to social media to seriously suggest that Modi
should impose a dictatorship to teach his critics a lesson!
Full-time politicians
While
the ruling party’s Hindutva agenda is mainly responsible for queering the
pitch, some other factors also intensify competition in Indian politics. Far
too many politicians are full-time politicians. They know no other way of leading
a life. Many are into politics for making money. Some lack the qualifications
to get any job and possess no skills to earn in any other line of business. So,
winning an election at any cost becomes essential for them.
Thanks
to the declining faith in the police and judiciary and the administration’s failure
to provide civic amenities, more and more people are joining politics in order
to secure the necessary clout to get the administration to do their work or to
secure the safety of their families. They use political power to safeguard the
interests of their relations, friends and supporters. They
use political power to safeguard the interests of their relations, friends and
supporters.
More
ambitious corrupt politicians use political power to promote the interests of
their rich friends in the corporate world. Some business leaders and media
moguls do not spend money on sponsoring other politicians and join politics to directly
benefit their business.
The cut-throat
political competition for gaining power exacerbates religious animosities and
widens social fault lines. However, it may be argued that such intense
competition at least proves that democracy is alive and kicking. The people are
willing to kill or die during a heated poll campaign for a leader they love!
Here is
a dilemma. Suppose the voters turn indifferent and spend the polling day
holiday decorating their homes instead of taking the trouble of going to cast
their vote. That kind of mass indifference to exercising one’s right will also
enfeeble democracy.
So,
what is the right measure of passion in politics that is good for the health of
democracy? There has to be a right balance. It will depend not on the
regulatory authorities or election laws
but on the wisdom of the leaders and on the proverbial common man.