BJP in rough waters

The massacre and vandalism in Manipur will soon be echoing in the Indian parliament. The opposition Congress party, in a tactful move, turned the tables as it submitted a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, knowing very well that it would not sail ahead. The smart decision was to corner the BJP — which has a thumping majority of 302 in a house of 542 — to at least give in for a debate on the excesses committed in the tiny northeastern state where women were paraded naked and then raped, apart from bringing large-scale destruction to the tribal Kuki people. Abreast of democratic credentials as the opposition can hold the quorum on the floor, the Hindutva-led junta is in a fix as to how to convince the nation over criminal silence it had observed for weeks before merely coming out to condemn the violence.

The BJP, likewise, is in the eye of the storm as the Supreme Court had rubbished an affidavit filed by the central government, saying that the abrogation of Article 370 in Occupied Kashmir had led to ‘unprecedented developments’. Chief Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud categorically emphasised that the government’s contention is meatless and has “no bearing” on the “constitutional issues which are raised in the petitions. The day-to-day hearing is set to begin on August 2. Thus, Modi’s brinkmanship of setting aside the territory’s special status enjoyed in the constitution is up for a judicial review, with the BJP having no choice but to keep its fingers crossed.

Both these somersaults, as well as challenges, for the BJP on the legislative and legal horizons simply point out that all is not well in the republic. The BJP’s highhandedness to cover up on its excesses, and a deafening silence against human rights excesses from Manipur to Kashmir, is enough to discredit it as it eyes a third-term for PM Modi in polls next year. This is where India’s system of institutional independence is up for a litmus check, as calling a spade a spade is very much due. Let BJP’s power arrogance get an axe by its own state organs.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2023.

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