Of hegemony
India seems to have a mindset problem. Its self-serving obsession of reincarnating history is at the root-cause of disputes. So is the case with Akhand Bharat (Greater India) narrative through which India eulogises its past, but at the same time infringes relations with its neighbours as it inevitably breeds a sense of insecurity and hegemony. A mural erected inside the premises of a new Parliament Building in New Delhi depicting ancient India exhibits contempt, as it is in contravention of the de jure geographical reality of the country that is protected by the Indian constitution in the very same building. At the same time, such a propagation is detrimental to interstate relations and becomes a source of further disgust.
This Akhand perception, these days, is an outcome of a rigid and divisive political ideology called Hindutva. While Indians at large, by law and societal conventions, confess and believe in secularism, the dispensation at the helm believes otherwise. The ruling BJP is a cardinal supporter of RSS teachings, and has let down India by promoting a sense of otherness. Thus, the map of greater India that paints regions now constituting Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and other territories as part of subcontinental India is nothing but an extension of chauvinism. Perhaps, the BJP caters to the Nazism theory of Lebensraum, and it itself is a threat to others.
India must come out of this paranoid-ism and realise its responsibilities. Its population has surpassed that of China and its economy is 10th in world ranking. This elicits a wiser approach to realpolitik and bilateralism. No point in purporting extra-territorial sentiments for the sake of petty politics. Time to get real and do away with revisionist and expansionist policies. In no way can India control the minds of regional entities by subjugating them, as it is proven that a similar policy has failed in occupied Kashmir and against other religious minorities. Rather than alienating its Westphalian neighbourhood, India can do a better job by striking cordiality and resolving irritants in a peaceful manner.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2023.
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