As I watched India’s prime minister designate Narendra Modi’s supporters do the victory dance on Ache din aane wale hain, I was reminded of the ominous words by one of my favourite poets, W H Auden: "We can watch a thousand faces, made active by one lie." Promises, demagogy and lies are tools that politicians often employ to gain political mileage.
From having a mere two seats in 1984 to clean sweeping the elections in 2014 with 282 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) political status has undergone a sea change. It is too soon to determine whether BJP’s Modi will be the harbinger of change that many perceive him to be. But I shudder to think that an integral nationalist and hardliner like him will be the face of a secular and democratic India.
What worries me more is whether a right-wing party at the centre represents the prevalent mindset in India. Are Indians tilting towards a regressive outlook on politics? What has been the driving force behind India’s electoral choice?
A mere skim at public statistics from India makes it obvious that the country has borne the brunt of unemployment, corruption and harrowing human rights violations. With more than 120 million first-time voters, the young generation in India is yearning for better jobs. Throughout the election campaign, BJP supporters were seen to have blown the trumpet of the ‘Gujarat development model’. It seems that this glittering example shrouded Modi’s belligerence for most voters — for Hindus and Muslims alike.
But what does Modi’s victory mean for Indian liberals and Muslims, who comprise a large population? The gravity of India’s economic concerns can be determined by the fact that Modi has garnered support from a sizeable number of Indian Muslims and it can be argued that this addition to the vote bank has contributed to Modi’s landslide. Will Modi, then, be exonerated for extremism if he revives the economy? While making electoral choices in both India and Pakistan, it all comes down to weighing the opportunity cost of options and selecting, as they say, the ‘lesser’ evil.
The voting trends and impassioned reactions of the Indian people bear a striking resemblance to the fervour that we saw in Pakistan during the 2013 general elections. Brimming with hope, individuals, especially the youth, took to polling booths to exercise their right to vote for a better Pakistan. The pursuit of ache din is what the people of India and Pakistan seem to have in common.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 19th, 2014.
COMMENTS (35)
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May I ask our Indian friends that if secularism in India is not our business then y most of Indian commentrators are commenting on an article written in a Pakistani Newspapaers ,by a Pakistani...???? Should not be our Indian friends commenting in their own newspapers....???
@Lalit: ("..there is always a Shahbano,before a ram temple…....") Bravo Sir! No better example of Argumentum ad absurdum (argument leading to absurdity) exists in the realm of Logic. A classic definition I had read was in Indian secular literature by great Indian Logician of the Ancients, Gautama. Said he of "Tarka" (reductio ad absurdum):" Tarka is causal reasoning about a thing whose nature is not known in order to know its nature." Irrespective of when Masjid-Mandir dispute began,the Causal reasoning provided is to hold Shah Bano responsible (six months after her death) for demolition of Mosque and is meant to know true nature of Advani's actions. At last I got it!! Now someone may start Mandal-Kamandal too being responsible (Hindutva reaction to Mandal Commission & backward caste reservations).
@Rakib: there is always a Shahbano,before a ram temple.....
@abhi: Modi's Party was rejected by 70% of voters. Yet he is pm. Such is the crazy calculation of Indian democracy
Author is influenced by anti Modi propaganda. Let see after one year of his rule, if we see no sign of descrimination agains minorities hope you would be convinced that he is not such a bad guy after all.
@Rakib Ram mandir movement may be a catalyst but it is not an issue for this election. This election was fought on development issue and there Modi scored.
fascist attracts fascists
“But I shudder to think that an integral nationalist and hardliner like him will be the face of a secular and democratic India.”
Why? Why Indian election result shudders a pakistani journo? Why this Kolkaveri Di??? :-)
@Gp65: I am humbled. But who am I to reject or oppose such a huge mandate by voters? The results speak for themselves. I might have voted for AAP myself but after elections politics should be over and governance should start. Cheers, M
@Gp65: My response was limited to the sentence of the author that I had quoted..The Initiator matters more. Credit goes to Advani for dramatically increasing the tally starting from 2 seats to a position of power, even if it was thru reprehensible vandalism. Once such momentum was gathered it was not that difficult for BJP-despite setbacks-to get where it has reached. Why didn't people vote for Advani? Who cares! IMO, the man should have been behind bars for breaking law, really!
@Rakib: What an illogical answer. If Babri is the reason for Modi's victory, why then did Indians not vote for BJP when Advani was the PM candidate for BJP in both 2004 and 2009?
@Author: why do you care whether India remains secular or not? If secularism is so important to you, you shold try to work to make Pakistan secular.
@Madhu S: BJP swears by Indian constitution which is secular, Apart from having 'Muslim' as part of its name, PML-N swears by the Pakistani constitution which has discrimnation against minorities baked in it. To say BJP is as right wing as PML-N is incorrect.
@Mirza: Thanks as always for a sane comment.
As a CM, worked as leader for all and there is no reason he wold act any differently as PM. Despite all the fear mongering plenty of Muslims voted for him as well. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-muslims-muslim-voters-bjp-narendra-modi-delhi-lok-sabha-constituencies-harsh-vardhan-parvesh-singh-verma-ec-aap/1/362351.html
He won, I presume, because there was no rigging, just like Imran would have won if there wouldn't have been rigging in our elections.
@Author : 1. Are Indians tilting towards a regressive outlook on politics? 2. What has been the driving force behind India’s electoral choice? . Ma'am : The answers to your Two Questions are : . 1. It is wrong to use the word "regressive"*, I would use the word "Nationalistic" . 2. Four Wars imposed by Pakistan on India' . In Addition : . 3. Terrorism being Perpetrated in India by the so-called Pakistani "NON-STATE" ACTORS. . 4. Constant Cross Border Violations by Pakistani Army and its supported Pakistan based "NON-STATE ACTORS". . Cheers
Great men of Asia who shaped and altered the destiny of millions seem to have the alphabets M and O in their names . Mohammad Jinnah , mohandas Gandhi , Mao tse tung and now Narendra Modi...
@Razi: can you stop first publishing india's news??
It seems that Pakistanis have forgotten that they are Pakistanis and not Indian Pakistanis.
(From having a mere two seats in 1984 to clean sweeping the elections in 2014 with 282 seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) political status has undergone a sea change.)
Sindh can take justifiable pride in this. Entire upswing in BJP fortune is owed to one man-LK Advani. He was the master of engineered spontaneity at Babri mosque!! An articulate Sindhi Hindu from Karachi who migrated to India after independence Advani, drawing his ideological sustenance from a very exclusive philosophy of RSS with some heady cocktail of race & religion, made a dramatic impact by "creating" a movement with his Chariot-Pilgrimage that culminated in Ayodhya. That epic centre was to send shock waves across the country leading to biggest mass hysteria since Partition, finally leading to Bombay & Gujarat carnage. The seasoned men who led the Ayodhya Movement knew what was going to happen, allowed it to happen and communal violence, though endemic in the country, found for the first time since Independence a sound constructive political use. Advani's movement was in 1992 & by 1996 he had made Vajpayee the PM! Intolerance was at last providing results for the second time within 50 years of Partition. In one way or the other two Karachi-born but very dissimilar individuals were involved in the two major events. Both achieved something in shortest possible time; one carved out a country within 7 years, the other carved out a permanent niche for his Party in 4 years-their ability to divide sharp, their proclivity to unite nebulous..
What these Indian polls 2014 tell us is that young India does not live in the past. Modi has been demonized for the Gujarat riots 2002, rightly or wrongly. The Congress Government running India since 2004 tried everything in their Power and more to try and pin Modi for the conflagration and failed. There was no dearth of trying, they would have put him away with the thinnest shred of evidence. Once the investigating agencies under the same Congress Government examined the evidence available, they simply could not make a case. Yes, they did put away a Minister when they did find the evidence,
What the polls also show is that Indian aspirations have moved way beyond the clutches of caste and religion. The traders of fear and insecurity who reaped dividends by dividing India along caste and religious lines have lost the battle. It is one India led by its youth that wants to march forward now, liberate itself from the past and regain its leading place in the comity of nations, which it held for centuries. It is a new India today and sadly few Political parties had the connect to read it. It is a very confident India too, not tolerant to excuses, but demanding performance from its representatives. Modi is elected on his plank of good governance and speedy economic growth. If he digresses and does not deliver he will be booted out unceremoniously, not because the world wants it but because he failed to deliver. Those sunk and brought up on a diet of isms and ideology will fail to read the aspirations of a new and young India, bold enough to challenge narrative and dogma and confident enough to believe they can thrive in a global Knowledge based Economy.
I am always amazed that Pakistanis thinks India should remain secular even though the entire argument for Pakistan was based on the premise that India would not remain secular. I guess 8-10 generations of intense cognitive dissonance can only result in such confused output. Whether Modi is a bumbling liberal or the next Aurangzeb is hardly a concern - you will continue to spin tales that suit your existing narrative (ref 'exonerated for extremism' and other illogical expressions), so the truth should not get in the way.
@Razi Please note that when a Pakistani paper publishes an article that talks about events in India that has nothing to do with Pakistan and contains views that are not factual or logical "all Indian" are obliged to write comments. At least I never pass any comment on matters relating to Pakistan happening in Pakistan when they have nothing to do with India.
@Razi we will do that when stop posting articles about internals matters of our country which is our business not yours. 2. stop commenting on indian newspapers sites. Do that then lecture us.
@all Indians
You guys should also stop commenting on a Pakistani site and mind your own business.
Well said, Pakistani's stop worrying about India and its internal dynamics. Take care of your back
@Raj - USA Are you smoking low quality Mexican weed these days or you are always illogical ?
"But I shudder to think that an integral nationalist and hardliner like him will be the face of a secular and democratic India." I don't know why it should concern a Pakistani journalist, or Pakistan for that matter, as to how effective or ineffective Mr Modi will be in a secular or democratic India. The writer doesn't know that the people of India were quite fed up with the dynastic outgoing party and the snobbish attitude of the sycophants of the Gfamily and have shown them the door. The dynastic party has been defeated so badly that it doesn't even qualify to be accorded the status of the leader of opposition, which requires at least 10% of the strength of the Parliament. The writer has failed to note that what matters to the Indian voter is performance and not isms.
The concern for Indian muslims is touching. First of all, any Modi led govt or even Togadia led govt (shudder) will not declare our Ahmedis as non-muslims. Secondly, there will be no objectives resolution like thing declaring that all laws adhere to the Hindu code of laws and lastly there will be no death penalty for blasphemy. Also, the top posts in India will still be open to all. Just on those four counts, our harrowing human rights record will be less harrowing than certain other countries.
It is none of your business to find how he won.
"But what does Modi’s victory mean for Indian liberals and Muslims, who comprise a large population?"
As far as what Modi's victory mean to muslims of India, it is my prediction that within the first five years of his rule, India, which still today is not a member of OIC, will depose Pakistan in OIC. Pakistan will hesitate and think ten times to talk of muslims of India within one year of his becoming PM of India.
India badly needs a strong, decisive leader who will do what is best for her citizens and not be swayed by external diktats.
In last 6-7 years of ConAngrez rule, the New East India Company looted $1.7 Trillion. Since GOI gives at the most $8000 per dead to the nearest kin of the victim in a terrorist attack. ConAngrez murdered 1/5 of Indian population. Shri. Narendra Modi is exceptionally clean himself and also his rule in Gujarat in last 13 years. After 2002 not a single riot happened in Gujarat where as in so called sickular rule of UP more than 100 riots happened in the same time frame.
Moreover why Pakistani should bat for sickularism? Don't they know the Matlab of Pakistan?
BJP is no more right right wing than PML-N. The shift towards center of right politics is a global phenomena. Moreover, the reason for BJP getting such a decisive mandate is that the people of India are tired of Congress and their politics of handouts. Looking at the economic situation, it is not as bad as it would seem considering the global economic outlook (China's GDP growth is down to 7.5 percent, i.e., 2% higher than India as it has always been and Brazil's is down to 2%). But Indians want their rightful place in the world and the weak and corrupt Congress is clearly not the party of change!
This is a huge protest vote against the incumbency and old corrupt politicians. Now the elections are over and the real work starts. Let us hope the new PM would be for all of India and work as a leader of all.
Why would a Pakistani care about secularism, or even democracy for that matter? You guys chose your anti-secular path when you created Pakistan. Your guy Jinnah never even bothered to leave your country with a constitution before he died, so nobody even cared about democracy. India has now thrown off the Brown Sahibs of the Congress Party and is free to forge ahead. Modi is no Yellow-Cab-Schemer like Nawaz - he really knows how to get things done, and that's why Gujarat has progressed so much compared to the rest of India.