When Modi/ BJP government won the popular mandate in 2014, the opposition did not accept their defeat lightly. Neither did those intellectuals who enjoyed acche din under Congress. Having lost at the hustings, the strategy of Congress, turned to one of disruption of legislative work by BJP. Parliamentary proceedings were disrupted on ridiculous grounds with shouting and screaming to prevent any one’s voice being heard. If bills were pushed through, despite the din in LS, there was RS to block the progress and frustrate the BJP government. All this drama was enacted daily in camera, to impress its followers, with the majority of citizens as mute spectators, wondering if law makers are elected to play silly personal games or are they elected to ensure that legislation is properly scrutinised, debated and then only allowed to pass after suitable amendments in the larger interest of the nation?
When disruption in parliament was not enough and legislative work was able to be pushed through despite the din, disruption was taken to the streets. For this to succeed the strategy evolved as follows. It was necessary to fabricate issues that could be sold to the public convincingly. BJP promoted itself as above corruption with Modi a reputation of being an anti-corruption crusader (Na khaunga Na Khane dunga). So the first strategy was to somehow damage this very image. At the same time, it was necessary to convince the public by engineering a fear factor that all is not well under BJP rule. Fear had to be instilled in the minds of minorities. The chest thumping ‘hindutva’ brigade (newly emboldened by BJP success in UP), helped provide much ammunition with their anti Romeo squads, gau-rakshak brigades who started lynching alleged ‘cow thieves’ – all from the minority Muslim community. The presence of a saffron clad mahant as CM in UP and a few MPs of similar ilk added fuel to fire. Psychologically all these factors added up to help the anti BJP propaganda. Muslims who voted for BJP were disillusioned and understandably frightened. BJP’s choice of CM was questionable and inability (or deliberate) to reign in the hindutva elements has been tragic for the party.
Congress capitalised on the situation. A lot of time and money was spent gathering crowds, planting stories in media even friendly elements of foreign press were used. Stories were scripted by those not keen on the BJP’s ascendance. The award wapsi gang got activated. Open letters of concern were sent to the PM, reproduced in the media, scripted it is suspected by babus who were losing out now and most likely implicated in scams. The more people that gathered around this ideology of disruption, the more TV debates and media stories planted, the more influenced the public and fence sitters became – that there must be substance in the barrage of fake news delivered with such conviction. This had a multiplier effect. Since the BJP lacks convincing orators, government response is repeatedly weak and come late, the followers of the fake propaganda become more and more convinced of its veracity. ‘If there are so many people out there shouting, there must be substance in the argument’ This strategy has succeeded and was thus repeated on multiple occasions using different storylines to progressively build on the anti-BJP anti Hindutva mindset. It is more than likely that this type of disruption will keep on gathering traction, until the main perpetrators are exposed. Unprovoked errors by BJP leaders make matters worse, and are helping the fake news brigade.
The Rafale ‘scam’ played out for months and became the main plank of the Congress attack on Modi/ BJP government in the months leading up to the 2019 election. It did not deliver the desired electoral results for Lok Sabha. Even the Courts were not convinced by the scam angle (this has even evoked the argument that even the judges are pro BJP). Interestingly Rafale was a UPA baby in the making but nursed into delivery by BJP due to the urgency of replacing our aging squadrons. Allegedly some procedures were cut short and hasty decisions taken, by it is alleged the PM himself. It is this ‘hurried action by the PM’ allegedly bypassing procedures, that provided the plank for the corruption charge albeit this is vehemently denied even by members of defence procurement. No convincing facts have been produced to substantiate the ‘corruption’ charge in the Rafale purchase. But since such a huge following was created for the ‘chowkidar chor’ argument, the matter still lingers on somewhere in the mental archives of many citizens. They are ready to believe that something remains hidden, and wrongs were done by the ‘angelic’ PM.
After 2019, the second convincing defeat at the ballot, life became unbearable for the Lutyens gang. How frustrating that despite so much traction the results were so contrary to what they believed would happen. To make matters worse, an empowered and energised Modi/Shah combine set about rubbing salt on the wound by correcting the serious fault lines bothering the very idea of a progressive and peaceful nation, for all its citizens and not biased towards a small aggressive vote bank. Settlement of Triple Talaq law, settlement of the Babri Majid issue and green light for a Ram temple, followed by revocation of 370 and bifurcation of J&K are all seen as direct assault on the Muslim population, by keepers of that faith.
But how were the Congress and others smarting from defeat by the BJP behemoth, to bind the Muslim vote bank together against Modi/Shah juggernaut? The final results of the SC supervised and botched-up NRC exercise in Assam, presented its results in 2019 with 19 lakh ineligibles for citizenship. This exercise was about updating the citizenship register of 1951, designed by Congress. Assam exercise was necessitated by the 1985 settlement of Assam uprising (by Rajiv Gandhi). First launched in 2010 but abandoned. Then taken up by SC in 2013 at the behest of Assam PWD – ie pre BJP!. The 2019 list of those left out of the register (19 lakh) had both Muslims and Hindus. But it also had several legitimate citizens not included on the register. The results caused much consternation and showed how difficult this exercise is. The objective presumably was to identify the illegal migrants bothering Assamese. But this objective was not achieved due the complexities of the program.
In the LS, Amit Shah proposed another amendment to citizenship act of 1955, this time accelerating citizenship for those persecuted on basis of their religion in three neighbouring Islamic countries. This as per the proposed amendment of 2003 under a Congress dominated committee chaired by Pranab Mukerjee. It specifically excluded Muslim migrants as eligible for citizenship from places like Bangladesh. Congress made amendments but these never completely provided the dignity the migrants needed. So this time the unfinished work was taken up by BJP, following the results of 2019 Assam exercise. The opposition which habitually opposes anything proposed by BJP, declared this definition of CAB excluding Muslim migrants to be violative of our Constitution because it was religion specific. BJP should have promoted this as being as per Congress proposal and as per what our founding fathers (Gandhi, Nehru) and other Congress leaders (Gehlot, Gogoi) even Mamta had been asking for. Instead, the passage of CAB in LS and the bold proclamation on the floor of the house by Amit Shah, that this CAA is a prelude to country wide NRC to weed out all illegal immigrants, through the irresistible challenge to all opposition parties, and helped them accelerate the street Hungama.
Constitutionality test of this bill awaits the SC, who alone can determine its Constitutional validity and strike it down if found to be violative.
It is worth remembering that Chidambaram had devised the NRP/NRC parameters for Assam and even started the roll out of the NRP linked to NRC just about the time Aadhaar was being rolled out, in 2012. He announced at the time that NPR will be followed by NRC nation wide and will be compulsory. There are several videos on You-Tube in testimony to show how Chidambaram pushed the NRP and NRC formula. There was no hue and cry at that time. Pratibha Patil the then President was the first to enrol in NRP in a widely televised program.
All these historical facts and episodes only go to prove the hypocrisy of the argument being bandied around to brain wash vulnerable minds, to disturb peace, only for snatching away governance from a group that legitimately won the popular mandate.
Congress in Assam had over the decades encouraged migrants, particularly, Muslim migrants from Bangladesh to bolster its vote bank. Their increasing numbers had caused a lot of consternation amongst Assamese who saw an alien community diluting their culture, taking away their jobs. This caused a revolt in the province with student uprising leading to the Assam accord of 1985.
Seeing how the botched-up exercise went in Assam, the announcement by Amit Shah about NRC when CAA was passed provided the trigger that Congress needed and immediately latched on to, to spread canards that BJP is getting ready to throw out not only illegal Muslims, but even legitimate Muslim citizens. CAA proposes to give citizenship to a few not take away. But the argument is rooted in a non-existent NRC. But the botched up Assam NRC is still fresh in peoples mind!!
Muslim faith leaders also saw this as an opportunity to get even with BJP and re-establish their credentials as keepers of the faith. They began on a mission to convincing their communities that what Congress is saying is indeed the case. As this ball gathered pace, other regional parties (and AAP in DelhI) joined the band wagon with some senior leaders even making provocative statements like ‘through CAA this government is planning to throw Muslims out of India’. Such pronouncements challenge any thinking persons’ imagination but add to convincing an already disturbed minority mind (following a barrage of changes seen as targeting Muslims). Do politicians care about disturbing peace when elections approach?
Communists started taking the lead in energising student demonstrations through their extensive presence in many premier universities. Through this fear and anger filtered down to students and what followed is the massive disruption throughout the country that we witness today. Each time there is action by police to control law and order because their behaviour is always suspect, it provides further ammunition to those gunning for BJP saying here is another instance of police action by a biased BJP who is intolerant of dissent, even peaceful protest. So many students are getting beaten up, others not able to study. Women are suffering sitting in dharnas in the cold – all for a non-existent issue created by irresponsible politicians for personal gain (remember NPR/NRC were Congress babies with PC leading the charge and now misleading innocents).
Indeed, this disruptive logic based on CAA/NRC has gained traction and is gathering pace each day, as more and more provocative confrontations take place during ‘peaceful’ protests -perhaps through infiltration of disruptive elements. Leaders of all regional parties have joined in increasing numbers because no one wants to give up on a solid vote bank or be seen as intolerant like BJP. Also with every State and local election loss, BJP is increasingly seen as vulnerable against a united opposition. So gradually every party is beginning to believe that BJP is on a losing plank with this issue. We see more and more pronouncements of rejection of CAA and NRC (non-existent) implementation.
As always, BJP has been slow to react and has not even made enough effort to hold its allies together. They should not have allowed Maharashtra and then Jharkhand to slip away as a result of refusal to accommodate its allies. There is clear indication of over confidence and even arrogance/dependence in the ability of their main canvasser, the PM, to sale through the next election. Until then they have a majority in LS, but RS is at risk in the foreseeable future.
The Muslim community has over the years been used and misused by every politician since partition. They have been made to believe, by every politician that their interest is being fully protected by them only. In reality the stance of open bias against the Hindu community with discriminatory benefits policies for Muslims, has been the main catalyst of division and alienation between these communities. Muslim unity and aggressive stance does not help.
As per the Constitution all citizens are to be treated as equal. Help of weak and downtrodden should have been based on economic criteria not religion as propagated over the years by Congress and then regional parties. Only the pretenders and keepers of the faith have gained in this game, acquiring wealth and following. They have become rich but the masses whose interest they claim to protect or enhance, have continued to languish in poverty. The same is true of Dalits and perhaps every marginalised community. India needs to learn from other countries which espoused positive intervention and principle of equality for all to resolve such demographic issues. This fact needs to be recognised by every concerned Indian, to unify this nation for harmony and to help all its citizens realise their full potential. Kashmir has also seen wealth accumulated by a handful of leaders who wanted to retain the unjustifiable status quo of protection under 370 and 35A.
In the game of thrones, the nature of political discourse has reached the pits. How worse can it get? For securing the vote of the vulnerable mind today’s politician will stoop to any degree of deception, instigate riots, unconcerned about the damage to property or even loss of life. They are immune from prosecution even though their fiery speeches and deliberately deceptive falsehoods will have caused the vulnerable to act illegally out of fear of what in reality does not exist. Law of tort does not work in India. Certainly not against politicians. The exercise of compensation in UP (or ‘badla’ as some anti BJP media puts it), will not bring the real perpetrators to book and hence lack the deterrent effect..
The bedrock of niche politics lies in stirring up mob hysteria for personal gain at the hustings, for securing one’s own seat, knowing full well that the ability of success in the mainstream politics is missing. Such is the politics of Owaisi and his ilk. Why bother with mainstream if you can carve out a secure prosperous future in a niche area?
The average Joe or even the ‘educated class’ readily align with a political ideology with blinkers on. This provides fodder needed by the vote hungry/ power hungry politician. Our political or ideological alignment is determined by the company we keep, media we follow, writings we are influenced by, and sometimes our own life experience. Man is a social animal and so cannot stray far from friends/ family whose common opinion binds us. Those of us who are blessed with a degree of literacy also depend upon print and electronic media for information – we hardly ever verify the content or research fact ourselves. We allow ourselves to be influenced by social media like WhatsApp because this is a great time pass for us. Political parties invest heavily in generating fake news pushed out via social media. We accept the utterances of our favourite politician as gospel and react to it in the way they wish, without questioning the consequences of our action. A large number of politicians around the world, thrive on niche politics of fake news and disruptive utterances. This gives them relevance in a community of idle and vulnerable minds. Such politicians are unable to succeed in mainstream politics. They are content to have their ego massaged daily by a small group of dedicated followers and gathering illegal wealth through extortion.
We elect our representative law makers. But when we cast our vote, it is for a party symbol, placing absolute faith in the hero or heroine leading the party not for the candidate, who in any event is most likely air dropped onto our area for winnability quotient i.e. muscle/ money or ability to pay for the ticket, do the leaders bidding and then fill the leader’s coffers. Beyond the election, the trust is 100% on the leadership of the party of choice. Never questioning the failures in delivery on promises (with no right of recall this is only a nuisance albeit necessary). Each election this process is repeated. It is a never-ending cycle of trust with an umbilical cord that tying us to the various political fiefdoms ruling the nation. Pre-independence fiefdoms have been replaced by a fewer political ones. We worship dynasties like deities, and this is certainly more evident in the South. The tragedy of our democratic system is that the poor majority, struggling to keep body and soul together, are exploited because of their subservience to the political leaders.
Whenever an ‘outsider’ has reached the highest office, their term is short lived. The fiefdoms do their utmost to ensure this by instigating its followers. After all who wants change to disrupt one’s comfort?
India is a complex web of religions, casts, languages. This diversity is what holds the country together inspite of endless exploitation, deception and literally dacoity by the dynastic rulers who acquire enormous wealth by syphoning off taxpayers’ money. They are the landlords elected by us through the ballot box and empowered to act as they wish, due to our DNA of worshiping leaders like deities with unquestioned faith. India is by no means unique in this. Just look at examples in the African, South American, Middle Eastern countries, where leaders have exploited their followers gathering enormous wealth in the process. If India’s ‘diverse’ citizen groups were to somehow come together as they did in the events leading upto 1947, in times of common stress, it would result in a massive shakedown in our polity as has happened in every country where such diversity did not exist. It is this tolerant ‘un-togetherness’ and mistrust of the ‘others’ that has held this country together and uprisings on a disruptive scale have not happened. Nor are likely to despite efforts by politicians.
Gandhi was able to mobilise masses against an oppressive outsider. Today’s politicians are trying to achieve just this in order to uproot the ruling incumbent, by binding together the regional fiefdoms with a common aim – that BJP with its Hindu following, is damaging to the secular fabric of the Constitution. This effort will quite likely lead to a churning at the hustings, and it will satisfy political ambitions, but the larger population will not be a gainer in this game of thrones in which the gainers will be only a select few belonging to and closely aligned with fiefdoms, whilst our subjugation to fiefdoms remains.
2019, was a bumpy year. The last LS session has seen disruption on petty issues like ‘restore SPG for my leaders’ rather than a healthy debate on economy and other issues facing the citizen.
Why mislead innocents when what has been done is what our founding fathers and Congress leaders had asked for?
Politicians remain unaccountable for their deeds or misdeeds.
But will 2020 be any better? Will this decade see better polity? Lets not give up hope.
Ceng MBCS CITP