Dangers
of Modi’s ‘Meta-Nationalism’ for India By Sajjad Shaukat JR176SS50
Indian Prime
Minister Nerendar Modi’s extremist party-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had got a
land sliding triumph in the Indian elections 2014 on the basis of anti-Muslim
and anti-Pakistan slogans. Therefore, since the Prime Minister Modi came to
power, he has been implementing anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan agenda with the support
of fanatic coalition outfits.
General
elections 2019, which started in India on April 11 are being held in 7 phases
and will continue till May.
It
is notable that the Constitution declares India to be a secular state, granting
equal rights to the religious minorities, but in practice, ideology of Hindutva
prevails. Hindu politics and culture, dominated by the fundamentalists parties
such as BJP, RSS, VHP, Shiv Sena and other similar groups have been propagating
Hindutva agenda. Under Modi rule, Muslim anxiety in India is multiplying due
the fact that during the election campaign, Hindu majority was mobilized on
‘hate Muslim’ slogans.
In fact, Modi’s “New India” is transforming into a
“fascist and extremist India” which is intolerant and inflexible to any kind of
opposition and criticism. As per
reports, in the backdrop of recent Indo-Pak escalation, a professor of civil
engineering department in Karnataka namely Wathar, attempted to vent out his frustration on social media. In
a Facebook post, he had used expletives
to refer to India’s ruling party and said it had endangered millions of lives. Two days later, right-wing Hindu group students/activist gathered outside
his office, and forced him to
apologize for his “anti-national” comments. He was even forced to beg for forgiveness. In a related
activity, Sathiyaraj Balu, a
member of a local pro-Tamil party, who posted a picture of Modi with a begging bowl on Facebook, was arrested in
Tamil Nadu in January 2019.
Waves of Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’
(Bhagva or Hindutva plus) have engulfed India more pronouncedly in the backdrop
of Pulwama incident starting
with Television anchors “calling for
revenge” and even not hesitated to portray any questioning of the Indian
government or armed forces as equivalent to helping Pakistan.
Many TV newsrooms were transformed
into caricatures of military command centers, while anchors were assessing
military technology/strategy. Speculation and conjectures were repeated
and several journalists even took to Twitter to encourage the Indian Army. Reportedly, one particularly strident channel
recently pushed the hashtag #Expose Pak Lovers.
Leading columnist and former editor of the Tribune Harish Khare
said that “the recent climate marks a
new turn for India. The government had stampeded the country into a volatile,
edgy, anxious nationalism.” Reportedly, Mrs Mita Santra whose husband was amongst the persons, killed in
the false flag terror attack at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
had dared to comment that “war should
be the last option”, but, she was roundly criticized on social media.
Regrettably, Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’ in the aftermath of
Pulwama incident generated so much pressure on the Indian political parties that
initially, they also ascribed to “soft”
Hindutva themes and accepted
Pakistan’s direct culpability in the attack. However, after the Pakistan’s robust reply, arrest and return
of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinanadan and exposure of the false story and
exaggerations of the Modi BJP leaders—blatant lies about casualties in Balakot,
some elements of India have started
daring to raise questions about New Dehi’s falsehood. In this regard,
besides other internal entities, Indian National Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s recent remarks igniting
Modi and BJP might be cited as instance.
It is mentionable that that various moves and developments
in India are part of Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’. In this connection, since 2014, Modi government has been constantly
attempting to weaken and tame institutions for political influences and
benefits. In the same regard, he fiddled with judiciary resultantly, four
Indian Supreme Court judges held a press conference in January 2018
to raise alarm bells regarding the independence of the judiciary. In
2017, India fell three spots to 136th
on the World Press Freedom Index, amid fears of the government
strong-arming the media. Resignation
of governor Reserve Bank of India Urjit Patel also cast aspersions on
the RBI’s autonomy. Modi also fiddled
with Central Bureau of Investigation and “Removal of ex-director of CBI
Alok Verma episode” has topped the media headlines.
Apart from such
fiddling, Modi government also attempted to manipulate laws; nevertheless,
sensing signs of defeat, he opted for
early retreat.
Following are some episodes of Modi’s retreat which has exposed his
real face:-
In mid-2014, Modi government proposed an amendment to National Rural Employee Guarantee Act (NREGA)
aimed at restricting NREGA. Seeing this as a dilution of the Act, 28 leading
economists wrote that Modi and the government had to reconsider its ill-advised move
with proposed amendments which were quietly withdrawn without
even being introduced in parliament.
In December 2014, Modi-led regime promulgated an ordinance
amending Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act 2013.
LARR (Amendment) Bill 2015 was introduced; however, the bill generated strong protests
by Anna Hazare, farmers, civil society groups and a walkout by the Congress.
NDA allies Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and Swabhimani Paksha also expressed opposition
to the Bill. In August 2015, ahead of elections in Bihar, Modi announced the lapse of the ordinance.
In May 2017, the Ministry of Environment and Forests
notified rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act banning sale of
cattle in animal markets. The move generated strong resentment and protest from
the political parties. West Bengal,
Kerala and Meghalaya saw the rules as infringing upon their jurisdiction, while protests in the
form of ‘Beef Fests’ were
held in Kerala and Karnataka. The ban was deemed to have
been imposed on ideological grounds, detrimental to the cattle trade economy
and was alleged to be a dog whistle to
cow vigilante groups. In July 2017, Indian Supreme Court expanded a stay imposed by the Madras High Court
into a nationwide bar on the rules. Following consultation from states, in April
2018, a fresh set of draft rules were brought in to scrap the ban.
In August 2017,
Modi government introduced Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill in Lok Sabha. The Bill
faced criticism from several opposition parties, and Trinomial Congress held protests
outside the parliament. All India Bank Employees’ Union and industry body
Assocham also opposed it. Despite vociferous attempts by the government to
criticize this opposition, public concerns over security of bank deposits did
not die down. The
government withdrew the Bill citing need for a comprehensive
re-examination.
In early 2018,
the government announced its decision to stop printing the last page of the
passport, which contains family and address information along with Emigration
Check Required (ECR) status. The status was to be signified with an orange-coloured jacket. It was seen as
segregating people with low education
and economic status. The Congress
termed it as equivalent to creating a new caste system. The Kerala high court considered it a violation
to the fundamental right to privacy and dignity, issuing a notice
to the MEA. In just over two weeks, the MEA announced withdrawal of the proposed
changes.
In April 2018,
the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting put up a ‘Request for Proposal’ to set up a Social Media Communication Hub to monitor online social media
data. It proposed a “social media
analytical tool” that would deploy 360 degree monitoring to create
digital profiles of citizens (bid document said the tool should be able to
“listen” to email). The Internet
Freedom Foundation sent a legal notice to the ministry asking for withdrawal of
the tender. Indian Supreme Court, while hearing a petition also observed
that the decision to create the hub will be “like creating a surveillance state”.
Following this, the request for proposal was withdrawn.
In April 2018,
the Information and Broadcasting Ministry announced that in an attempt to
tackle fake news, it had amended the guidelines on accreditation of
journalists. It was told that journalists against whom complaints of fake news
had been registered would have their accreditation suspended till the complaint
had been heard. The guidelines
faced political and media outrage on various grounds such as
violation of freedom of press and lack of a clear definition of “fake news”. Overwhelmed by the
outrage, the
guidelines were withdrawn within 24 hours under orders from the PMO itself
Nevertheless Modi and BJP have been exploiting ‘meta-nationalism’ narrative since last
year as a part of “Lok Sabha 2019
preparatory activity. Reports
suggest that BJP General Secretary Amit
Shah during (September 18) poll gatherings in North Eastern states, has
been openly terming Muslim and other
migrants to Assam etc. as ‘Termites’. Modi-led BJP government also passed
controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill to facilitate Hindu migrants
only whereas; the Muslim migrants were deliberately ignored. His remarks
attracted criticism from the US, as
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had expressed concern that “even some of our friends, allies, and
partners around the world have human rights violations”. The annual assessment by the US state department
of human rights concerns across the world-report 2018 also took notice
of the Amit Shah’s remarks.
But, Prime Minister Modi and
leadership of the extremist ruling party BJP continue
with tirades against the opposition with
‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign. RSS and Modi financed media outlets
continue to hound against any dissenting
voice, while terming them as “internal
enemies”. The political intent behind this ultra-nationalist frenzy is
patently clear under which every effort is being made to get the voter to think that the nation needs to
unite behind one man – a decisive
leader who can give a befitting reply to those who threaten the country.
It has been a gen feeling in the Indian
secular and liberal classes that by
making everyone a chowkidar (guard), Modi has issued a national call to citizen
vigilantism.
In this respect, Christophe
Jaffrelot’s recent book “Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism Is Changing India” has
amply exposed the surge of Hindutva
(or meta-nationalism). It is statistically analyzed that Muslims participation in Indian politics is
shrinking to alarming levels. The author proves that in the period of 1980-2014, the number of Muslim MPs in the
lower house of the Indian parliament have shrunk in comparison to the Muslim
population in India. In another recent book of famous author A G
Noorani titled “The RSS: A Menace of
India”, examines and exposes the rise of RSS and Hindu fascism.
However, by inducing the Indian public with Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’,
Indian prime minister has been able to
make a significant part of the population of the country to forget the collapse
of the economy—the crisis in agriculture, the stagnation of industry—11 million
jobs lost by it over the past five years, and the hollowness of the grandiose
promises, he made to them when he came to power. It is now up to Indian people, if they are allowing ‘meta-nationalism’
to prevail in the country or they opt for respecting the secular and simple Indian nationalism, as inside
India and abroad, dangers
of Modi’s ‘meta-nationalism’ has been accelerated
