The main argument of
Francis Fukuyama in his book “Trust” is that economy can thrive only in a
climate of trust. A community that fosters trust among its members progresses.
If Pataliputra prospered it was due to an atmosphere of trust among the diverse
communities that the Buddhist culture promoted in Greater Magadha. Medieval
city republics in Italy throve during the period that they were able to ensure
fair sharing and equality of opportunity among trading communes. In
multi-cultural societies, communities that fostered inner-community confidence
made headway leaving fissiparous groups far behind. Nations like Britain,
Holland or Japan took giant steps forward at those stages of their history when
they were able to build up an inner cohesion under effective leadership or a
motivating ideology.
This was what Modiji
proposed to do when he took over charge of the nation a second time. He said he
would try to work towards building “Vishwas”, seek to win the “Confidence” of
various communities and regions. He sounded very convincing. He would not
readily admit that he had failed to do so during the previous term, that is not
in Modiji’s style. Those infallible must always remain infallible. But he
seemed to imply that his supporters, acting in his name or on their own behalf,
had ruined this “Confidence” thoroughly. His tone was that he would work on a
course correction. Indian society was greatly relieved. Everyone admired his
attention to the feelings of weaker or more distant communities.
A Credibility Crisis
But this drama was in
preparation for the most ‘unkindest cut’ upon the sensitivity of a large
section of the Indian people through his unilateral intervention in Kashmir,
ignoring the Constitution. Vishwas which was beginning to bud, was totally
crushed. Credibility crumbled. This was just the first step. What was becoming
clear was that fidelity to his ideology and fulfilment of his promises to his
constituents were more important to Modiji than assurances to the nation. His
exceptional skill for smoothening the path towards an unpopular decision, (in
the view of many an ‘unfair’ decision), was put at the service of the Ayodhya
issue. He proved to his Hindutva
admirers that he was first a Pracharak, then the Prime Minister, especially
when he presided at the bhoomi pujan. While millions rejoiced, other millions
thought it best to bury their anger. But consequences remain. The CAA protests
were/are a response to many other such hurtful or humiliating decisions.
Once credibility is
damaged, one little realizes that one is getting approval merely from one’s self-interested
admirers, as Hitler or Mao did in their own times. Xi Jinping has an assured
cheering crowd in Beijing when he takes over Hong Kong and fulminates against
Taiwan. Communist Party members have no other alternative. In the name of
fighting corruption, Xi has eliminated all his opponents. The tragedy in India
today is that more and more of this drama is taking place when Coronavirus is
dragging India to the topmost position in the world. We would have liked to
believe our Prime Minister when he claimed that Covid-19 situation has been
managed well in India because he had made the “right decisions at the right
time”. But it is very hard to do so when the daily spike has reached up to over
80,000. And the author of this tragedy is least concerned, awarding prizes to
puppies that help our jawans.
Words Lose Their
Meaning
What does the word
“right” mean? In the present context it means just the opposite. The ministers who
eulogized Modi’s Covid-19 strategies spent longer time in the hospital than
other patients. Our former President Pranab Mukherjee has just passed away. The
head of the Ayodhya Temple Trust who was pulled into the August 5th
event, on an inauspicious day according to Orthodox calculation, has been
hospitalized. Meantime Modiji is busy in his Mann Ki Baat proposing that India
becomes the world leader in the export of toys and training of dogs for defence
purposes.
The tragedy is that
much of the media has been sold to the elite group in command of national
affairs presently. They dictate the themes, provide the facts and decide the conclusions
from above. Any alternative interpretation is either marginalized or totally
ignored. It has no way of reaching the general public. For a while we were
better informed how many pillars and domes the Ayodhya Temple would have than
how Coivid-19 was being treated and how our fighting men fared on the Ladakh frontier…which
according to our foreign minister S. Jaishankar is the “most serious” since
1962.
Boasts and Ground
Realities
Here again, what we
are told do not correspond to ground realities. While the Prime Minister and
the Defence Minister had assured the nation that not an “inch” of land has been
lost to the intruder, it is public knowledge that the Chinese are fully in
possession of several places beyond the LAC. And pitifully, when the Defence
minister went to inspect the newly arrived Rafale aircrafts, his chief concern
was about Hindutva devotions, not quality verifications. Meantime China launches an advanced warship
for Pakistan navy. There is trepidation in the hearts of sincere citizens lest
Aatma Nirbhar in arms production will not end up enriching some
BJP-billionaires and the army being equipped with toy guns and sham tanks for
the Chinese front!! Trivialization of matters in Mann Ki Baat can shift ground
from words to deeds, and to real situations…to the victimisation of our heroic
defenders…twenty of them just of late!
As Nehru had spent
the major portion of his life fighting colonialism, his sincere desire was to
build up Asian solidarity in such a way as to show to their erstwhile masters
that they were equals, and do so most respectfully. China on the other hand had not been
colonized, only harassed and exploited. Mao’s eagerness was to reaffirm China’s
ancient greatness with the same military might which was used against her. The
Gandhian idealism of Nehru and the Machiavellian militancy of Mao were at two
different levels for dialogue. As Nehru’s exaggerated idealism landed his
country in some trouble, Mao’s insensitive adventurism led his own country to
the loss of millions of lives in the Great Lead Forward and Cultural Revolution
campaigns. The lesson is clear: intense attention to diverse opinions is
absolutely necessary for the leaders of any nation to safely construct its
future.
Romanticizing the
Past is a Sure way to Self-Deception
Romanticizing India’s
past has been the chief hobby of RSS ideologues. One wonders whether it has a
blinding effect or serves as a motivating force. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is all
set on reconstructing for Turkey the ancient Ottoman glory, beginning with
dominating Eastern Mediterranean. Saddam Hussain destroyed himself in trying to
reassert Babylonia’s ancient greatness in the Middle East; Egypt weakened
itself turning aggressive with the idea of reviving Pharaoh’s glorious days.
Hitler and Mussolini had done something similar in their own times. It is not
very clear whether India under the present leadership is after a Maya of
imaginary past or aiming at clear-visioned realistic future. Mimicking
Mahabharata mythical greatness or Ramayana military strategies is not a good
preparation for facing Chinese frontlines. The Ladakh confronting forces are
guided by civil leaderships that are at two different levels of
self-perception. Our spokespersons seem to have chosen the path of
self-deception.
There can be disastrous
consequences if the Indian leadership chooses to make wrong decisions with
regard to its stronger neighbour. General Bipin Rawat was speaking of
“military” options, ‘counter incursions’. Our mighty neighbour is known for
readily accepting challenges…always in a cool and calculated way. Some cool people
who look far ahead exclaim, wait a while until the consequence of China’s
one-child policy catches up with her within a couple of decades. These are not genuine
‘Asian’ ways of thinking. A collaborative spirit is in our genes. Our destinies
are intertwined.
Certainly surprises
are ahead. Like the unexpected breakup of the Soviet Union, the sudden rise of
Middle East with oil prosperity, and the development of China beyond anyone’s
expectations, the rise of Africa is going to be the next great surprise ahead. If
the Asian giants choose to clash, the fast decline of an “aging Asia” may
hasten the rise of Africa with its burgeoning population. Nigeria alone will
outnumber the whole of Europe in a few decades. Asia is not far behind EU in
population trends. A major Asian clash will hasten the “African century”. Population
is destiny, neither GDP nor Aatma Nirbhar in arms production will help.
Education alone can give shape to that destiny, neither romanticization of the
past nor revival of obscurantism can ensure
a future.
The Very Display of
Strength Exposes One’s Weaknesses
Going back to our original
theme of trust, all hope for economic performance sinks if mutual “Trust”
fails, if “Vishwas” collapses among communities and groups in India. The Ruling
Party has been rejoicing at the absence of inner cohesion that is revealing
itself in the Congress. No one is denying those weaknesses. Congress men
themselves have been critical of their failures after the last elections. But the
BJP has outdone the Congress in 5 years in
what the Grand Old Party did not succeed to achieve in 7 decades: corruption on a grand scale, bribing the
entire electorate, buying MPs and ML
as
without the least sign of embarrassment, toppling of legitimately constituted
governments, silencing of criticism…all done is in the most benign, bewitching, Modi-an way as though nothing is
happening.
Moreover, internal
divisions are beginning to reveal themselves within the BJP household itself. It
is hard to see how the much-vaunted national unity of the Sangh Parivar combines
with ‘Bihar first’, ‘MP alone’ and ‘Haryana exclusively’ when it comes to job
distribution. More of local fads are bound to arise. Fanatic centralization has
just set in motion another wave of regional and local self-assertions that took
place a few decades ago. History repeats itself. Action invites reaction. Yes,
‘Local’ will become ‘Vocal’, and Modiji will find that his charm is as not as universal
as his admirers affirm. The Bengal BJP is already fumbling to choose their
Chief Ministerial candidate.
Fragmentation of
Society Itself
Let alone allies leaving
their BJP link one by one, (the last
being the Shiv Sena, Marathi Manoos saying good bye to the Gujarati duo), inter-caste
strife has started in the heartland of Hindutva, UP itself. The Brahmins are
planning to collaborate with SP and BSP to erect a 108 ft high statue of
Parashuram in protest against the Thakur domination under the Yogi regime. Parshuram
is supposed to have wiped out an entire race of arrogant kshatriyas, referring
in the present context to the abuse of
power by the UP Thakurs. Anger has risen
to great heights. They call Yogi’s police force the “Thakur Force” that
suppresses all dissent. Bhoomi Pujan has not helped.
Meantime Shiva Sena,
an erstwhile ally of BJP, finds to its utter dismay that Shivaji’s statues have
been taken down in Belgaum Dt in Karnataka and Chhindwara Dt in MP, evidently
under BJP supervision. Hindutva icons are discarded one by one by one ally or
the other all in due turn. Even Rama does not stir the hearts of
Ravana-worshippers. There is no constructive ideology that holds together all
who claim to be Hindutva adherents. Interests do for a while! Opportunism gets
the greatest number of devotees. Great religious authorities are quoted, not
accepted. Great ideas are proclaimed, not lived.
There ought be a
rethinking on statue-making itself with the one of John McDonald coming down in
Montreal as a racist, like the ones of Columbus or the Confederate Generals a
little earlier. It would seem that statue-erection for self-glorification,
personal or collective, has already served its purpose. Another political or
social order comes along and discards it with all that it stands for. Temples
erected to BJP glory too face a hazy future.
A Crisis of
Conscience
A retired army
officer considered it very wrong for leaders to make a ‘political use’ of our soldiers’
self-sacrifice. He was referring to the 20 fighting men who lost their lives on
the Ladakh front. He said that army men sincerely seek to serve the nation no
matter which party is in power. He was feeling great unease at today’s
leadership identifying the national cause with the Hindutva cause. There is a
crisis of conscience wondering in whose cause are our fighting men called to
die, for the Indian nation or for Hindutva promotion. Vishwas is shaken. In
civil service too, officers with idealism go through mental agonies questioning
themselves whom they are serving: the Indian people or a communal cause.
Conscientious
citizens too feel immensely embarrassed when they see the government machinery
waiting for a Hindutva nod before decisions are made, priorities are chosen,
candidates are selected, promotions are given, officers are transferred. Whose
agenda is being carried out when citizens’ money goes for Temple building,
poojas and yajnas, melas and yathras, at
the neglect of poor farmers, migrant workers, covid-19 patients, and unemployed
youth? Is the government serving the nation or the interests of an obscurantist
club? The answers are implanted into the very contradictions and incoherences
we see, and the collapse may be unexpectedly sudden.
(Published on 07th September 2020, Volume XXXII, Issue 37)
