From: Deccan Chronicle
Mistaken identity
September 17, 2011
By Antara Dev Sen
Life is hectic. Too many things to do. Nothing works. Corruption has got you in its python grip. Rising prices have yanked everyday needs out of reach. Terror attacks lurk in harmless garb, waiting to blow you away. And justice is peacefully ensconced in a torture chamber that you dread to approach. You want to fumigate the entire system. Bring in the pest control, burn the rubbish, clean out your life.
But wait. While burning rubbish, could you be burning down your home? In this quick-fix age of immediate gratification we seem to be doing just that. One big casualty is our fundamental belief in freedom and democratic rights. We seem to be veering towards a fascist, illiberal society that tramples on truth, human rights and basic freedoms.
Take Narendra Modi’s five-star fast that is being flagged off right now, as you read this and sip your morning cuppa. It is part of his “sadbhavana mission” to bring “peace, unity and harmony” to Gujarat. While cynics snigger that next year’s state elections might have something to do with the iron-fisted chief minister’s sudden resort to Gandhiji’s noble methods, others believe it’s his attempt to clean up his image as a Hindutva fanatic and be more acceptable as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. The very fact that Mr Modi can be discussed as a possible candidate for the top job, without the nation erupting in hiccups or swooning in fear, shows how far we have strayed from our original idea of democracy and equality. And how liberal discourse, freedom and human rights can be swept away to usher in a strong, corporate-friendly ruler.
Mr Modi is a visionary. He can see victory where there is none. And make others believe it. Like in the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Zakia Jafri’s case, instructing the SIT and the trial court to take up the matter of the Gulberg massacre of 2002. “God is great!” he tweeted happily. Then declared in an open letter to citizens: “The unhealthy environment created by the unfounded and false allegations made against me and Government of Gujarat, after 2002 riots, has come to an end.” This was far from true, but when has truth stood in the way of politics?
Mr Modi has always had this magical touch. He is saluted for his governance. For not being corrupt. For being among the best performing chief ministers in India. For his contribution to development. For Gujarat’s amazing economic growth. Even those who disagree with Mr Modi’s violent Hindutva praise his performance in these respects. This image of Mr Modi as a super-efficient chief minister has travelled beyond borders and even popped up in the US Congressional Research Service report released this month. “Perhaps India’s best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat,” it declares, “where controversial chief minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth.”
I hate to spoil the party, but I am a bit curious about the definition of “effective governance”. Doesn’t it include safeguarding the citizen’s right to life? When the state government fails to protect minorities, when about 2,000 people are killed in sectarian violence at one stretch, when trials are so badly biased that cases are moved out of the state, can we really praise Mr Modi’s governance skills? And when we say he is “clean” and has “curtailed corruption” do we mean that fake “encounter” killings (like Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s or Ishrat Jahan’s) are justified? Or the systematic denial of minority rights, or clapping Muslims in jail for crimes they didn’t commit (like Mr Modi’s rival Haren Pandya’s murder), or persecuting policemen who speak up against Mr Modi (like top cops R.B. Sreekumar, Rahul Sharma and Sanjiv Bhatt)? Are these elements of a clean administration?
Finally, when we talk of “economic growth” can we really ignore the way that growth has been achieved? Land has often been forcibly acquired to woo big business that props up that economic growth. Corporates get the land at negligible rates, often at `1 per square metre. Several land scams have not been probed and critical public accounts reports not tabled. The economic growth and development is certainly not as clean as advertised.
But then, everyone likes the rich and powerful. In fact, we have been hankering after the strong and ruthless everywhere. We are tired of sloth. We are tired of democratic freedoms and liberal means that trammel efficiency. We don’t want to pay the price for democracy if we can’t enjoy the results soon. We would much rather have a dictator. A lauha purush or iron man. We would rather have quick encounter killings and draconian security laws and salwa judum. It makes us feel safe. Never mind that it does nothing to make us safe. So even our new non-violent messiahs come in the form of benevolent dictators.
Like Anna Hazare. Who has brilliantly energised the country against corruption but by a completely non-liberal approach. Democratic dialogue and dissent have no place in his scheme of things — it’s his way or the highway. The Constitution is disregarded, Parliament is sidelined, democracy is undermined. And like Mr Modi, he has the propagandist’s tool — he powerfully presents a simplistic picture in black and white, where he is white and all others are black. We are either with him or against him. The God-fearing choose to be with him.
We are seeing a new acceptability of fascist means justified by useful ends. It’s not about party politics. It’s about us — the impatience and exasperation of Indian citizens. This does not sit well with our democratic rights or freedoms. For starters, we should recognise it as a dangerous trend. Unless we want to discard our democracy altogether.
Antara Dev Sen is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com
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