For a month and more, it has been the farmers’ agitation that has been giving the Central Government a major headache. It doesn’t seem likely that the problem is going to be solved any time soon in the new year. Unfortunately, the efforts to engage the protesting farmers have never appeared serious.
What is most distressing is that to belittle the glaring and massive demonstration of dissent in the Capital, various tricks have been tried—from painting the farmers as anti-national to ‘misguided’ and ‘manipulated by an opportunistic Opposition’. Forget the farmers braving cold waves and other deprivations, this strategy of putting a different spin every other day has badly misfired.
It seems to insult the intelligence of any one who is not blinded by ultra patriotism and unconditional love for the one and only leader. At the same time we have also been treated to an unending stream of ‘feel good’ news: virtual inauguration of driverless metro trains, six-lane highways, state-of-the-art flyovers and tunnels. All by the indefatigable prime minister.
There is no let-up on pep talks to keep our sagging morale up. We are told that we can do anything once we get over petty differences and stop politicising everything. The trouble is that it’s not just petty differences that divide the nation today. There are major faultlines that can’t be easily plastered over. Caste and religion, gender and the cancer of nepotistic corruption can’t just be wished away.
Let’s make it clear that the PM and the BJP can’t be held responsible for all that is us, and those who were at the helm before them can’t be exonerated. But the new dispensation has been in place for almost seven years now. It shouldn’t be treated as a criminal offence to ask questions about the gap between promise and performance during this period.
No one has the courage to ask questions about the spiralling prices or the Chinese threat at the border. Retired bureaucrats with impeccable integrity and retired judges of the Supreme Court keep writing letters lamenting the erosion of human rights and state governments legislating about crimes like ‘love jihad’ flouting the constitutional provisions regarding fundamental right to life and liberty. Alas, most of us have learnt to live not only with Covid but also with abysmal law and order situations, including the supreme indifference of the judiciary to our plight.
The pandemic can’t be blamed for all our miseries. The fault is not in our stars. We ourselves must shoulder the blame for the suffering we have brought upon ourselves. Superstitious, patriarchal, feudal and casteist in personal and family life, how can we expect to live in a haven where liberty, equality and fraternity are taken for granted? But why invoke the slogans of French Revolution or parrot resounding phrases from the Declaration of the Rights of Man articulated even earlier? It’s deeds that matter, not words. Our own epics provide many illuminating instances of lowering the gaze and losing the voice when what was required was defiant valour not discretion.
Wisdom spouted by Bhishma in Shanti Parva can’t airbrush his conduct in Sabha Parva. How long can the majority nurse the victimhood and bay for revenge? Truth be told, the ‘majority’ is fractured fatally by fissures within—caste and language, class and parochial regionalism render it weak and vulnerable. It needs an enemy to unify itself. The ‘largest minority’ in the land presents itself as a convenient target. Most unfortunately, the aggressive, intolerant interpretation of Islam exported from Saudi Arabia has ruined the prospects of reconciliation.
Nor can we overlook that it was the Congress party dating back to Nehruvian times that failed to see that Western secularism can never strike roots in India? With passage of time its leaders learnt to practice appeasement of all sectarian leaders who could secure its ‘vote banks’. The brutal extermination of urban Naxals was perfected by the red in West Bengal with the Congress satrap Siddhartha Shankar Ray at the helm.
This was half a decade before the imposition of the Emergency. There are few survivors of the atrocities perpetrated by Indira Gandhi during those dark days. Extra judicial executions, disappearance of opponents and the judicial paralysis—to the grey haired there is a strong sense of deja vu. What is intriguing is that no one seems to notice contradictions between different statements. The time is ripe for India to create multinationals and carve out a place for itself.
At the same time we should prioritise self-reliance. Others too, from the US to China, are emphasising atmanirbharta and not exactly waiting with open arms to welcome foreign (read Indian) multinationals. There have been unforeseen fiascos like the labour trouble and violence at an Apple plant in Bengaluru that have done great damage to India’s image as a nation where business can be done with ease.
PM’s approval ratings as published by a little-known company remain high. But let’s not forget that those who monitor India scan other statistics also.
Pushpesh Pant pushpeshpant@gmail.com
Former professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University