Preparing for the worst

If India elects Modi, it would be what they deserve as in democracy; people get the government they deserve.

Recently, intellectuals penned an open letter to The Guardian, saying that a Modi victory would “bode ill for India’s future”. Later, on April 21, a similar letter signed by a swathe of Britain-based academics was published in The Independent, expressing that the spectre of Modi in power fills them with “dread”. If it were up to intellectuals to elect governments, these words might have carried greater weight. In India itself, there’s a different sentiment entirely. Ellen Barry, The New York Times correspondent for India, wrote how many businessmen are looking forward to Modi in power. “What India needs right now is an enlightened despot,” a woman told her.

The appeal of the strongman goes beyond India. Barry describes Russia’s relief when Putin took over the hapless Boris Yeltsin. We saw how happy many Egyptians were when the army deposed Mohammad Morsi’s unpopular government last year. Of course, who can forget our own politicians distributing sweets when Nawaz Sharif was overthrown in 1999. The promise of stability, efficiency and action in contrast to the corruption and bureaucratic inertia that sometimes accompanies democratic rule —especially in South Asia — is indeed appealing.

But these promises overshadow the freedoms that are given in exchange. From the noises being made by the right wing in India these days, it seems the freedom to acquire property (read Pravin Togadia’s statements), the freedom to express dissent (Giriraj Singh’s), the right to government protection of life and property — all of these have been sacrificed in various capacities by the citizens and particularly, the Muslim minority, of Gujarat under Modi’s tenure. The BJP has given little reason to suggest that under a Modi-led central government, these freedoms would not be taken away. If eventually there is a consensus among Indians that Modi is the best man to lead India, then political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville’s words come to mind: “In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2014.

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