As India goes to vote in the last phase of general election, many believe constitutional democratic pillars like the Election Commission (EC) and media have failed the nation miserably.
By failing to uphold the sanctity of these hallowed institutions, those at the helm have clearly demonstrated that there are too many lacunae in the system that can be exploited by maverick leaders adept at pulverizing the constitutional structure. Two recent incidents clearly exemplify how the pillars of democracy were undermined systematically.
First, the opposition prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi getting away unscathed after violating poll code and ethics on Election Day clearly shows how benign the constitutional body overseeing election in India has become. Also, the EC allowed publication of Modi’s inflammatory advertisement vis-à-vis “infiltrators” in spite of mindless massacre of legal Assamese Muslim settlers in the midst of election. Rightly or wrongly a perception has permeated to the grassroots that the poll panel has been reduced to a mere spectator because of the rampant use of money power.
By giving Modi too long a rope, the EC has unfortunately helped consolidate such apprehensions. Moreover, the blatant poll code violation has exposed Modi’s habit of giving two hoots to the law of the land — the reason why he is being used as a façade by too many people seeking to sub-serve their own agenda in these uncertain times. While a section of the vested interests utilizes Modi for settling old scores with the Gandhi family, others root for him to establish crony capitalism in India that will inevitably arouse social unrest.
Second, a reputed Indian newspaper deleting a factual anti-Modi column from its website allegedly at the behest of Modi’s well-wishers once again exposes the helplessness of the fourth estate. Even senior journalists would privately admit that the reputation of the media has indeed taken a beating given the inability of the management to stand up to the political pulls and pressures in election season. Some of them unfortunately chose to crawl when they were simply asked to bend. Now that the media has started prostrating willingly, India seems to be heading toward a phase where silencing contrarian views will be an accepted norm.
In any case, Modi is already encouraging elements from his rogue “social media army” to browbeat those who dare to write a word or two against their beloved leader. Anybody spending some time on trolling social media accounts of Modi supporters will be confronted with this common yet alarming trend that flies in the face of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) professed ideals. Use of nasty language and below-the-belt swipe are the favorite tools of Modi apologists. But what is most disturbing is the proliferation of hatemongering in the hitherto untouched defense fraternity.
This author was taken aback by a personal note of dissent — though not that decent content wise — from an ex-army man wherein he had questioned the loyalty and patriotism of fellow Muslim personnel working in the Indian armed forces. The poor soldier, having been completely blinded by Modi’s divisive ideology, went on to allege that his Muslim colleagues’ hearts bleeds for Pakistan. And when the routine diatribe of some retired generals against Modi critics goes on in electronic media night after night, will it not come to ones’ mind that indeed the most sacrosanct and secular institution in India has also been polarized to the hilt?
Fortunately, the resilience of the common people and the defense family militates against such polarizing ideology trying to destroy the core values that has defined Indian nationhood since ages.
The onus of clarification, in fact, rests with the BJP leadership. They must explain the reason why they offered to this diverse nation a prime ministerial face whose strength lies in his autocratic attribute, scant respect for constitutional norms and consensual approach and above all his palpable disdain toward the minority community. In fact, the racial killings that took place in Assam days after Modi spewed venom against Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers in a poll rally speaks volume of the man’s true nature. Besides, BJP has been harping on corruption to coronate an extremely divisive character and facilitate the ouster of sober, secular politics from India. But, has the BJP leadership forgotten its own track record during A.B. Vajpayee’s tenure? They talk about Robert Vadra but conveniently evade questions on scandals that engulfed Vajpayee’s office. Is it not true that Vajpayee’s economic adviser Mohan Guruswamy uncovered the clandestine deals struck by an individual of the Vajpayee household with multi-national corporations?
Has this gentleman not been caught on tape bragging about his extra-jurisdictional deal-making capability and was he not that crucial link exploited by many to get sanctions for multi-billion dollars projects? Modi went around the town expressing his superficial anguish at poor Vadra’s profiteering due to political patronage without ever mentioning that turning a billionaire in short time-span or getting elevated to an aircraft-fleet owner from a scooter-rider with political blessings is not a unique phenomenon in India.
Does Modi, the self-proclaimed corruption crusader, not know that a 2002 directive of the Vajpayee government, which prevented income-tax sleuths from investigating the residential status of those investing in the tax haven of Mauritius, facilitated black money flow? The BJP needs to be reminded that high level of corruption and criminality encroaching Gujarat politics under Modi’s watch proves that he can be no role model for India.
- Seema Sengupta is a Kolkata-based journalist and columnist.
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