As the curtain draws on 2019’s general election in India and the incumbent NDA government comes to power for their second term with a sweeping majority, the country settles in for another five years of Modi Sarkar. The phrase itself summarizes the spirit with which this great nation went ahead to cast its vote.
The level of euphoria of the electorate surrounding one person is almost unprecedented in the country’s political history, only closely matched by the euphoria surrounding another Prime Minister of yesteryear: Ms Indira Gandhi. Both Prime Ministers are regarded as ‘strong, decisive leaders who apparently propagated India to the global map as a strength to reckon with.
One cannot help but notice the uncanny similarities between the paths on which both the regimes embarked on. In both cases, the leaders strived to invoke nationalist pride by positioning themselves as the saviour of the country, the only leader strong enough to be capable of defending the country’s pride.
Indira Gandhi is best remembered till date by the common people as the Prime Minister who won us the 1971 war against Pakistan. It is quite appalling that one of the most autocratic leaders that India has ever had in recent history is eulogized as one of the strongest Prime Ministers of the country. With economic policy failures, the unconstitutionality of the National Emergency; attempts to change basic tenets of the constitution, which would have been the final nail in the coffin for the democracy and a complete collapse of the structure of meritocracy within the Indian National Congress, her tenure in power is marred with corruption and ill-governance. What is unfortunate is that, despite the terrible political track record, all that she is eulogized for, is the 1971 victory of India over Pakistan.
That essentially summarizes the nearsightedness and the political acumen of the Indian population. We, as a country, like our leaders to exhibit a show of strength, however, hollow the basis for it may be. We essentially look to a leader with a ‘strong’ image, with an ‘iron hand’ who can put the ‘bad boys’ (read Pakistan) in their place. Our desire to be perceived as a superpower on the global platform is very shallow in its vision. We tend to associate national pride with frivolous showmanship. This is the fertile ground where right-wing ideology can thrive and prosper; Mr Narendra Modi has got the pulse of the country right.
He based his entire election campaign on the impeccably timed Balakot surgical strike. He used the credibility of the Indian Armed Forces to garner brownie points for himself, he launched a vicious attack against his adversaries and he made full utilization of the nationalistic sentiments that these incidents invoked in the people. It was an election where issues like the concerns of growth slowing down, rising unemployment rates, suppression of crucial economic data, farmer distress or destruction of the social fabric did not matter. The election was won primarily on two issues: Hindutva and nationalism.
It is astonishing to see how an entire population’s psyche has been manipulated to believe that they are vulnerable in a country where they are actually a resounding majority. It is a long cherished dream of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which is going to be realized now. The people of this country stand completely polarized and divided. The electorate has chosen fundamentalism to power with a sweeping mandate. The BJP no longer needed the mask that it had worn for 2014’s general election. Having achieved its agenda of polarizing the country on the basis of religion, claws were finally out when it openly provided candidature to a terror-accused Hindu fundamentalist.
What makes the mandate infinitely more dangerous is the total breakdown of oppositional strength and the lack of any credible alternative in the near future. What a responsible citizen of India needs to understand, before rejoicing for NDA’s sweeping majority, is that the presence of strong credible opposition is absolutely essential for the survival of a democracy. A government is just an elected representative of people trusted with the governance of the country, but which also has an affiliation towards a certain political party with its own ideology and agenda. Therefore, it is important to have necessary checks and balances in the form of opposition, for the democracy to function in the best interest of the country.
It is quite possible for an elected representative of the people to act in an irresponsible manner and there is enough evidence of this in Indian political history. A country vesting its massive mandate on just one person is not a democracy, it is a sweeping mandate for dictatorship.
Let us all take a step back to realize what the current mandate means for us as a country and what it may have it store for us. It has been a steady endeavour of the NDA to get an absolute majority in both houses of parliament, in which it has already been successful to a large extent.
Having achieved close to a two-third majority in Lok Sabha already, it can be assumed that they will soon be out to grab the majority in Rajya Sabha as well. With three major states scheduled for assembly elections this year, along with a very disappointing performance of the Indian National Congress and with very few regional parties to put a strong resistance, one can imagine that the BJP will leave no stone unturned for nailing this campaign.
We are yet to see if defection happens on a mass scale from opposition parties after the dismal performances of the opposition in the Lok Sabha election. If that happens, that may unilaterally alter the dynamics within the Rajya Sabha itself. Once the governing party achieves a two-third majority in both the houses, provisions under the Indian constitutions grants this government almost a free hand to alter the constitution of this country.
As citizens of India, we need to understand what it means for our country’s future. Hindu Rashtra? Yes, for sure. For the current situation of polarized India, it does not seem to be much of a concern for anyone other than the minorities at risk. But one needs to understand, once we have chosen fundamentalism to power, we have created a Frankenstein for ourselves.
We need to take a cue from Islamic countries worldwide. The uprising of the ultra-conservative Wahhabism movement, which started from the 1970s with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s patronization, has reached an explosive growth rate in the current world. An ultra-conservative fundamentalist doctrine, it is growing stronger by the day. It is spreading like an octopus on million legs, threatening to pull down Islamic countries into anarchy and slowly taking them back to the Middle Ages. A similar fate may await us too, once we have chosen the right wing religious extremists as our representatives across all federal levels.
We may also look forward to a future where we all are going back to the ages of the Manusmriti. It does not seem all that unrealistic if we look back at history and compare countries like Afghanistan or Syria of today versus what they were like in the 1960s. Once the agenda of polarization against Muslims or other minorities have been completed and the Hindu Rashtra achieved, the agenda of polarization may turn inwards within Hinduism itself.
Once the people of this country are drawn onto the slippery path of sectarianism, the boundary will become increasingly smaller and more exclusive. The Hindu religion, already plagued with the centuries-old caste hierarchy, can be further polarized basis the divergences between upper caste vs. lower caste, Brahmins vs. non-Brahmins, cow-belt Hindus vs. non-cow-belt Hindus, liberal Hindus vs. conservative Hindus, Hindus with different sectoral interests, and many more. Next, there may be a demand for a Brahmin Rashtra or a Thakur Rashtra or maybe a Kayastha Rashtra.
Most importantly, this strategy of alienation of minorities is bound to give rise to reactionary forces on the other side as well, making it a fertile breeding ground for what may be a fundamentalist Muslim uprising. There could also be other political parties who, being desperate to gain mileage from identity politics, may start indulging in politics of appeasement directed towards non-majority fractions. This is a path where there can be no redemption, only a free fall to extinction.
There are two significant areas where this government has still not made inroads, namely the judiciary and central-state relations. The next most logical step for the government could be to attempt to reduce the judiciary’s power by making it subordinate to the executive, the process of which can be kickstarted by gradually influencing higher level judiciary appointments. The significance of this move, if it goes through, will be momentous because under current provisions of the Indian constitution, the judiciary is vested with the power to exercise judicial review of executive and legislative actions. The independence of the judiciary is fundamental to democracy because they are the only authority vested with the power to determine constitutionality.
Another significant area is the federal structure of the union i.e. the division of power between states and the centre. That can also be unilaterally altered by constitutional amendments if the BJP achieves required majority in both houses of Parliament and State Legislatures.
All of these mean a slow and painful death for our democracy. With centralization of power, breakdown of federal structure and breakdown of the judiciary, we will also observe an erosion of our democratic and fundamental rights. The attack on fundamental rights has already started with incessant bullying of liberals, retorting to any dissenting voice with an accusation of anti-nationalism, right-wing ideologies being forced into young minds, the suppression of free press, the threat to strengthen what is already a draconian sedition law, loss of independence of systematically important institutions, suppression of freedom of expression by instilling fear and in more extreme cases, assassinations or prolonged incarcerations.
An India that was Gandhi’s idea has long changed. We, the people of India, have ushered in a new India, with a very different heart and soul. Now, only time will tell, if we go down in history as the people who were responsible for the destruction of their own democracy.