Category: Analysis

In a recent interview with Rubika Liyaquat, Narendra Modi made a striking statement: “I am convinced that I’m not biologically born but I was sent directly by God. I didn’t take birth biologically because God has sent me and I have appeared here. The energy I have cannot come from a biological body, only God can give this type of energy.” This implies that Modi sees himself as a divine figure.

Thinking oneself to be God can signal mental issues, but saying it publicly isn’t necessarily a sign of madness. The belief is one thing, the public declaration can be a tactic. Modi’s statement might be aimed at attracting voters. People who feel insecure might look for a god-like figure for psychological comfort. A politician who presents himself as divine offers wealth, fame, and security.

Religion’s concept of God commands wide respect. People may disagree on many things, but hesitate to deny God’s existence. By portraying himself as God, not just a follower, Modi taps into this respect. A follower can be criticized, but a god is seen as perfect and beyond human flaws. His divine claim is a way to ensure his followers see him as infallible and beyond criticism. Religion, as sociologist Emile Durkheim noted, is a powerful and lasting social force.

Religion, as sociologist Emile Durkheim noted, is a powerful and lasting social force.

Examples of this strategy include:

• In 2016, a viral Facebook post claimed people saw Modi in the sky. The supporters claimed to be blessed to see such an eminent personality in the form of God.
• In 2017, the “Modi Chalisa” became popular on social media.
• Modi is often depicted in meditative poses, wearing orange robes, surrounded by priests, and mythological symbols like the golden Shesh Nag.

Thinkers like Niccolò Machiavelli and Erving Goffman suggest that leaders need to manage their image. Modi’s religious imagery boosts his image. Recently, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra called Lord Jagannath a devotee of Modi. Modi’s supporters often refer to him as Vishnu’s Avatar or even God on earth.

Bjp saw the dictator narrative is slipping off, thus they are choosing to make Modi God now. For a dictator can still face resistance, but God cannot. This is what happens, when polity, morality and religion as institutions mix together. Many in India have recently seen justifying dictatorship but since India is still officially a democracy therefore, we need a God in democratic setup.

A dictator still has the possibility to face resistance, God doesn’t. Modi doesn’t want to be remembered as a dictator. But as God. Thus, even if he loses this election, it will be a win win scenario for him. If Modi loses, BJP will say “God got defeated. ” If Modi wins, BJP will say “God won”. They won’t explicitly state Modi as God. By mentioning God or avatar , people can have multiple interpretations. Some may view it as Rama who got defeated or won, and some as Modi. (If you cannot convince them, confuse them) Yogi Adityanath had even said earlier that this election is between shiv bhakt and ram bhakt. Other leaders have invoked the sentiment of this election being a pro-religion or anti – religion election.

During the Ram Mandir inauguration, Modi fasted to evoke Rama, and on the Ayodhya verdict day, he was shown holding Rama’s hand. BJP’s new slogan, “Jisne Ram Ko laya hum ussey Layenge,” reflects this religious-political message. Modi also claimed to be beyond Hindu or Muslim identities, suggesting only God can say that because God doesn’t discriminate. This philosophical approach makes him appear morally superior.

This religious politics is not just communalism; it’s an attempt to create a new religion centered on Modi himself, making him a figure of worship. Modi isn’t just using religion for political gain; he’s positioning himself as a new deity.

Ram temple was only an episode of the movie which modi claims to be a trailer. This is no longer about the monopoly of one religion in India now, this has evolved to the transition of a politician to God. There’s already a Modi temple in India, Modi books are also popular in some parts of the country. Kim Jong un of North korea has feared people, but modi has hypnotized people.

Religion binds communities. By positioning himself as a divine figure, Modi uses the power of religion to unite his supporters and elevate his status beyond a regular political leader.

This can be seen as a strategy to win the 2024 elections. Here’s how this strategy works:

1. Cultivating a Divine Image:

By claiming a divine status, Modi taps into deep-seated cultural and religious beliefs. People often revere and follow religious figures without question. By presenting himself as more than a mere mortal, he seeks to elevate himself beyond ordinary political criticism.

2. Strengthening Emotional Bonds:

Religious imagery and divine claims can create strong emotional bonds with voters. This can make his supporters more loyal and less likely to be swayed by his political opponents.

3. Creating a Protective Shield:

Psychologists see such behavior as narcissism and the need for validation. Leaders with narcissistic traits may present themselves as special to mask insecurities and gain support. By portraying himself as god-like, Modi seeks absolute loyalty and reverence, shielding him from criticism. Invoking religious imagery and divine status aligns him with the powerful institution of religion.

By positioning himself as a deity, Modi attempts to make himself immune to criticism. It’s easier to question a politician than a god-like figure. This reduces the impact of negative publicity or political attacks from the opposition.

4. Mobilizing Religious Sentiments:

India has a large and diverse religious population. By invoking religious imagery and narratives, Modi can appeal to a broad spectrum of voters who hold these beliefs dear.

5. Projecting Moral Superiority:

By claiming to be beyond Hindu or Muslim identities and adopting a divine persona, Modi aims to appear morally and intellectually superior. This can attract voters looking for a leader who transcends traditional political and religious divides.

6. Consolidating Power:

Political theorists like Andrew Heywood and Michel Foucault suggest that leaders seek validation and authority through such grandiose self-perceptions. By positioning himself as a divine figure, Modi consolidates his power and authority, making it difficult for opponents to challenge him effectively.

7. Historical Precedents:

There have been instances where leaders used religious and divine imagery to consolidate power. By aligning himself with this historical strategy, Modi seeks to secure his position and influence.

In our Indian mythology which modi has made history, we have heard stories of prominent devotees, out of greed wanting to take Indra’s seat and or heaven. Mythical figures have wanted to take the place of God. They went against their deities whom they once worshipped, wanting to take their place. The desire to be God is a subconscious desire present in many politicians in history.

Never in Indian history has a person attained sainthood while living. Mother Teresa was called a saint after death. People make stadiums on names of death people. Modi is alive yet he has a stadium in his name. Modi isn’t merely concerned about victory, he wants to experience what it feels like to be God and revered as a supernatural entity while living. For even if someone else wins, they have won after a struggle. No one in indian history has experienced this treatment especially a politician. This is what makes the situation win-win for Modi. Despite the contributions of Gandhi, Nehru and Indira Ji there are people who venomously hate them and people who love them enormously.

Future implications:

If Modi loses:

If Modi loses, that would lead to a change of government. However, modi supporters won’t perish. Modi supporters who will be there for decades they will claim modi to be the wronged God or misunderstood patriot. Supporters however less, even a decade after his political ending, will see him as God not as a political leader. They will evoke sympathy for him as a wronged God or inconvenient nationalist. People will fall for this underdog orientation. Those who have natural tendency to be sympathetic towards the weak, will be curious to know what modi did and why he was ousted. They will then be reading the books, watching the podcasts made during his reign and formulate a new thesis.

A century later if a government comes that proves disappointing , people will again fall for Modi, portraying him as less evil. On the other side, if not at a national level, at a regional level of a right wing government forms with good intentions, it will still be falliable. The idea that right is not good for democracy will be established. While seeing the debacle of Modi, any future government would be fearful to be authoritarian. Having said that, if India doesn’t comes up with a third front, we would then never have a proper opposition. An opposition with Modi’s fanboys would only be reflective of a egostic cold war. It’s unlikely, their ideas will come out of genuine concern for the people. The right wing ideology this way would always prove to be sceptical.

If Modi wins:

If Modi convinces the public of his divinity, his mission is accomplished. Modi aims to be seen not just as a devout leader but as a god. The intention is possibly this: His wish will become the law, people won’t worship Ram anymore, people will worship Modi. A modi supporter was recently heard saying, Modi is greater than his father. India cannot be ever healed properly if that happens.

With elections underway, I want to share a book I wrote on right-wing political psychology. It explores how Modi influences people and the psychological tactics he uses. Please read it for deeper insights on political hypnotism and illusion mechanism.

The Sangh Parivar Psyche: Understanding Indian Right-Wingers

https://amzn.in/d/7wAjfHF

Thank you for reading:-)

This blog delves into the intricate methods and strategies employed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of India’s prominent political parties, to sway voters. Through a critical lens, I examine the psychological mechanisms, messaging strategies, and campaign techniques utilized by the BJP to connect with voters, establish trust, and garner support.

1) Underdog orientation

This country has lost more conscience than anything. People are so busy with their lives as a consequence of financial disasters created by the BJP that nobody really cares what’s happening in the country. Everyday is frustrated, politically, socially and economically. The only thing they can get pleasure from is validation of winning arguments. I know people who don’t personally agree with the right wing ideology but have voted for the BJP. My hypothesis is the Bandwagon effect. To do something that everyone is doing to look cool and politically rational. Why rational? Because to be proven wrong on declaration of election results is an embarrassment.

There are people I know personally who have voted for the BJP in 2019 to avoid facing embarrassment in their circle. They cannot afford to see themselves in the position of a person who has voted for the wrong party if they say so. How do they define wrong? Wrong party is the party that loses and right is the party that wins. Over glorification of materialistic definitions of success versus cliched happiness theories have contributed to politics being reduced down to a morality cafe. To win here means you are right, losing means you are wrong for the majority cannot be wrong. Besides, waves decide elections. The wave here is often an appreciation of a political party’s marketing strategy and less of people’s genuine connection with its ideas. The more the marketing the greater the winning chance. Usage of problematic and ethical incorrect stances and violation of human rights is overlooked here for election has to be won by hook or by crook. Means are lesser important than the end for the end cannot be wrong when offered by right and right has historical roots with the state. The devil’s citation of scriptures is justified as long as it’s a scripture. To quote the scripture is of greater importance than the relation to it.

This comes from a deeper socio psychological anxiety of being left out. An artificial fear generated to create impulsive behaviorial patterns in the electorate where loss of a party is loss of identity. Never in Indian history have we witnessed such level of association of politics in our personal life. That’s the reason behind this fight being unique in all mannerism where both sides are equally convinced that they are the Pandavas. Who wishes to be kaurava anyway? Not that duryodhana lacks defense mechanism in contemporary times but the hero surely is in an identity crisis whether to associate himself as a yudhishthir or arjun or simply play safe calling oneself chanakya!

2) Victim Mindset

You may have often heard of the BJP ecosystem pushing forward a narrative that “Jab Sara vipaksh ek saath ho jaay, toh samaj Jana Raja sahi tha” (when the entire opposition unites understand that the king is true). This quote is often attributed to Chanakya to hype the Machiavellian politricks of Narendra Modi government as ethics and politics don’t match. The general psyche is standing with someone who is alone out of sympathy if not agreement. The voter may not ideologically agree but would be curious about why everyone is against this person.

This is how BJP generates potential leads to be converted to voters. Modi is portrayed as someone in the weaker side. The general psyche is to perceive that a person who is weak is weak because of some possible misfortune or is a victim of circumstances. These are self consolation remarks we give to ourselves when we are in bad position. Thus, people can connect with this scenario from a sympathetic standpoint. Modi is anyway famous to have called him “son of poor mother”, “obc” etc;

3) Pro- Rich vs Pro – Poor Politics

BJP voters have problems with congress for they are pro poor politics. No middle class wants to see someone financially weaker than them reach the top. So the least a political party can give to the middle class is a temple. Thus, they feel something better than nothing. By nature, the urban elite Indians are jealous of anyone reaching the top. They can’t see their wives succeed them how they will accept a dalit, a Muslim or an adivasi to do those. They feel threatened and resort to communalism to receive religious identity as self consolation.

This is a trend brought on by the social network. Peer pressure and social biases and unhealed trauma. Instead of trying to heal trauma, people try to give stories to themselves. Simply because they lack vision and clarity of purpose.

Typical Indian dinner table conversations are how Islamic fraternity is artificial, reservation is bad and women need not work. These are ideas that the BJP hasn’t officially advocated in its political constitution or manifesto but are illustrated in their politics. Almost every citizen doing such discussions turns out to be a BJP supporter. Thus, the unapologetic ability to put out these radical ideas give validation to the voters who subconsciously believe these but don’t express themselves outside of convention and fear of ostracisation.

The root cause is sadism and narcissism. Nobody gives anyone his share irrespective of how rich he is. He thinks he deserves a right to it. Thus, the poor are portrayed as non-hardworking citizens. The biggest inequalities in life occur at birth. Some are born abysmally poor, some rich beyond imagination. This has nothing to do with their hard work & has no moral justification. The rich feel threatened to lose their identity as it will hurt their ego to see a poor having the potential to become them. As a result the poor are made to feel they are uncivilized hooligans if not perfect sanatanis.

4) Cognitive bias

Individuals who say degrees don’t matter, to be a good human being, success can’t be about money cannot tolerate the existence of Rahul Gandhi. In mass media Rahul Gandhi is that person who appears to be a good human being but a failed politician. Naturally the idealism preachers should have been sympathetic towards Rahul Gandhi however, chose to be critical making the cognitive bias obvious. However, it’s ironic that the former idealistic cult despite such preaching is voting on the basis of winniability and not ideology. It’s weird that Rahul Gandhi is treated like a murderer while the real murderer roams around freely. If he is a political failure then treat him like that , but why like a scandalous criminal? It’s ironic that even mythological characters like raavan and duryodhana have sympathizers in this country. But Rahul Gandhi appears to be the child of none.

Then there are persons who say, “If Not Modi then who” suffers from a subconscious inferiority complex that they are unable to admit openly. Such persons possible are participants of scenario who have been through co-dependency scenarios. Thus, arises the desire to have someone superior and strong for stability if not anything. This is also from the belief that whatever means, the end should be stable. They feel an immoral leader is better than a weak leader. Over glorification of materialistic consumerism has led to development of this idea that at the end of the country should be in a very strong position. Though, the BJP is in coalition with NDA, but it’s basically a one party dictatorship.

Everyone knows if Congress comes to power then it would be a coalition. The possibility of a coalition party failing is what makes one insecure of losing their identity. The overhyped nationalism coupons by BJP has equated an individual’s identity as that of the nation. The obsession with defence has reduced the state to a secure state. The fear that India can be attacked anytime has made one succumb to an unexplainable but significant amount of fear within themselves. BJP has successfully confused everyone for their inability to convince the masses.

However, it was never a Gandhi vs Machiavelli contest nor a debate between idealism and realism. But about a man’s incredible courage to walk according to his conscience in an unequal race destined to fail.
Such people keep running around in circles trying to find the “perfect guy”. However, it benefits only that which we claim to be against.

5) Encounter strategy

Recently, Narendra Modi in an election rally said that Muslims produce more children, and if people vote for the opposition, only Muslims will benefit. He even claimed that mangalsutras would be attached and distributed among Muslims.

By stating this he followed the words of his master Joseph Goebbels – if you have to lie , then lie big. the audacity to say it publicly and that too unapologetically shows that he isn’t afraid of controversies anymore and is sure of his victory. All Modi wants is the oppressed to make an emotional choice impulsively. More than hurting the minority, he wants to rag them to do something, which gives him an opportunity to prove his point. So it’s a request to my muslim brothers and sisters to stay calm. I know it’s easy for me to say so but I am apologetic as a Hindu by the way you all are being treated but please understand whatever you say now or do will be used against your community. This is an encounter strategy. Like how the US made Palestine the bad guy for their retaliation towards Israel and people started supporting Israel. Ultimately, what happened Gaza got destroyed. Political correctness experts won the argument, but humankind was sacrificed. Similarly, Modi here wants to push Muslims to such an edge where they are emotionally tricked to do something violent or Hinduphobic as they call it like leaving country or riots then Modi will then take advantage of this scenario to prove his point and get Hindus by his side to remain in power.

It’s muslims today, tomorrow it will be the shudras. Idea is to create a rich Brahman rashtra not a hindu rashtra. They don’t want the Hindus. They want the rich Hindus. There’s hardly any Muslim billionaire in india. Thus, they have a problem with wealth redistribution. If Congress really appeased Muslims, their conditions would be better today. Today Muslims are largely poor, lliterate and demographically background. how many Muslims do you see in the posh urban elite cities? How many of you have muslim CEOS?

Sachar Committee report, 2005 revealed that muslims were economically disadvantaged. Ambani, Tata, Birla aren’t Muslims. Other success stories belonged to marvari & parsi. Thus there was hardly any visible appeasement.

Thank you for reading

India is today identified as the country that has a Hindu Nationalist regime. Secularism is a subject of trolling and anyone calling themselves secular is criticised for not being nationalistic enough.

Patriotism has been coloured with religion to uplift a sense of pride called ‘Indic Essence’.
To be an upper-caste Modi supporter is the only qualification required to be a Indian. The label of Sanatani is considered a badge of honour. In other words, to be born a Hindu is considered a relief. Spirituality is practiced out of gratitude towards ascribed status. The Paradox here is that the rise of Hindutva is essentially an anti-abrahamism movement under the label of an anti-atheist movement.

Generation Z is a generation that has grown up in a BJP regime. In 2024 a 18-year-old would be someone born in 2006. If I consider 13 as the age a person can begin to develop political consciousness, then he/she would age 13 in 2019. 2019 was the year Mr.Modi returned to power with a thumping majority. This was the best time for the bandwagon effect to work as a political influence factor.

Let us understand this more deeply. The human creature is a creature of emotions. The greatest satisfication it receives is from the sense of being great. Nothing can make a human being attain more pleasure than winning an argument, gaining a sense of superiority in the group and receiving self-validation.

The BJP has carefully placed the youth in an artificial bubble of righteousness. Morality is a social institution and man is a social animal. Man becomes man amongst men. Socialization cannot take place in isolation and social convention is the most important factor. Social conventions are anything that is accepted in human society. When we associate value to it it becomes morality. To fit into a mainstream morality conscious society is seen as a an achievement. Religion another dominant social institution has been historically perceived as a morla institution in India. From the perception that religion teaches value arises the thought that to be religious is to be moral.

The BJP has taken advantage of this reality by defining what is religious. Hindutva is a political ideology but no less than a religion. How Taliban is patriarchy itself, Hindutva is a religion in itself. For religion is a belief system that has an unanimous support, given set of rules and regulations and a tinge of magic or supernaturalism. In modern times an artificial enemy and a political party is another requirement. Hindutva is BJP’s religion. It’s followers are BJP supporters.

The support for a Hindutva can be both understood in two ways at a social-psychological level and at a political level. To begin with, its primarily a psychological illusion. The desire to be out-of-the-box is the root cause. There is a theory that suggests that in 21st century there is a rise of atheism. The perception therefore sets is that to be an atheist is what is popular. The desire to have an unpopular opinion is what makes one religious.

Enters morality, that now says “You must be different.” The human mind under the perception that everyone is an atheist desires to be out of the box. That is religious. The person now receives tremendous self-gratification by being out of the box. This gratification is now of two forms, internal and external. Moral gratification is what one receives internally. The idea is this: To be out-of-the-box you need courage. The person considers oneself courageous. Religion as a social institution is associated with morals.

The person thinks this way, “The world is largely immoral living in a Godless world, I am moral for I belief in God, I am different therefore, I am great.” External gratification comes from the society the person lives in that too applauds the person in the same manner.

Enters BJP as a political institution. The BJP now sets the narrative that Hinduism is under threat. The proud layman now tends on to belief it is because of Abrahamic religions. This arises from the belief that most atheist in India are Hindu atheists. There are hardly Christian or muslim atheists. The justification given is that Hinduism is an unorganized religion and Abrahamic faiths are organized thus to visit church, do 5 times namaaz is a common scene.

The desire to be out-of-box has led to youth forget that neither merely visting Churches can make you a Christian nor doing Hinduism podcasts qualify you as a Hindu. The reason for this ignorance, is that the root cause of worship came in from pride and revenge. It was nurtured on superiority complex. The person became a believer to cancel a non-believer not out of love for God. The propagation of Sanatan Dharma was done to look politically correct in society.
BJP fooled Hindus by making them believe they are doing a righteous deed by being hyper-nationalistic.

At a initial level it started with a disdain towards atheists, which evolved itself to disdain towards anyone non-sanatani. Hindus are made to belief that in modern times due to rise in secularism, a hindu is ashamed of his/her identity. This was shown as an output of a colonial mindset as secularism has its roots in the west. Therefore, we must respect our roots and settle for India a religious land and not subscribe to western idea of civilisation.

The cancel culture is now coloured with the colonial card. Indians being sentimental about their wretched colonial past developed fell for this narrative. Secularism is now seen as a cultural imposition. When asked about tolerance, Hindus have settled for Vasudaiva Kutumbukam – the world is a family. Interestingly, by cancelling atheists and Abrahamic religions. “Proud Hindu” therefore is more of a protest slogan to the cultural imposition.

If this scenario is observed from a sociological perspective then these actions have been taken by a mob out of impulse. As it is said if you have to lie, then lie big. In a room of 10, if 7 people suddenly say A has murdered B, then the room collectively will not believe that. However, a doubt would develop. If this pattern is repeated consecutively for months then they would avoid A out of the fear of being murdered.

In one chapter of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Gargi appears in the court of King Janaka, and challenges Yajnavalkya, the best of the best, in a debate. From Yajnvalkya’s response, we learn that she was not an ordinary lady or a housewife. That was our legacy which the Hindutva brigade has today reduced to roasting videos.

Generation Z is more upright generation. Righteousness comes along emotions of anger, anxiety and impulsive behaviour. Contradictory to popular belief human beings are more interested to convince themselves they are right than others. Sadism and voyeurism are real problems. Communalism sprinkles salt on these wounds, insecurities rise up this time like a burning fire with an extreme desire to prove oneself right. Most sadists do evil knowing its wrong. In this case however, religious sadism is justified for its post truth age and everyone is a Machiavelli. However, Machiavelli was not a religious fanatic.
The theory of rise in atheism is also vague. Exactly, how we come to the conclusion atheists have increased is unclear to me.

Everyone in Hindutva is referring is referring to an artificial everyone. If 40 people out of 50 say, “People are losing faith in religion.”, you do not consider the remaining 10 as majority. Everyone is referring to an invisible minority. Its possible there is rise in opening up as an atheist. Earlier people did not openly claim they were atheists out of fear of social ostracization. Besides what qualifies you as a believer, mere recitation of slokas and the habit of watching religious videos to cancel people?

Hinduism is a religion that talks about nirguna as the ideal state of being where man is above the state of satya, tama and raja guna. For God is above the purview of righteousness. To believe that possession of righteous deeds, thoughts and words are enough to attain God is false. As per Hindu theology one needs to rise above the idea of self that is ethically neutral to the material world. A state of being where in complete self-absorption with the divine the self is merely a witness to activities conducted by him. Neither happy nor sad. Neither proud nor confident but in a state of silent acceptance of the world.

For the BJP, God is a dictator, macho man without women who is always angry. Circulation of images of Krishna with a sudarshan chakra, angry hanuman, shiva with trishul have set this narrative. No female goddess is given attention by the BJP. But can Shiv exist without Shakti?
Impulse, anger and existence of any behaviour that is negative, drains human body and creates an uncomfortable scenario is condemned by Hinduism in its scriptures. Thus, the false sense of vanity is nothing more than an illusion.
Where is the shame to be a Hindu? Who is ashamed? Is unclear. The jingoistic pride has targeted opposition leaders at a political level.

This narrative has been set by normalisation of politics and religion. Indians love to live in the past. Mahabharata, Ramayana are seen as golden ages during those days, politics was undertaken by religious men. Shri Krishna who is God is also a politician in Mahabharata. These narratives have normalised the idea that anyone who is pro-bjp is pro-hindu and anyone anti-bjp is anti-hindu. The interlink of religion and morality in social sphere has evolved this to an anti-humanity narrative. With Hinduism being potrayed a human religion anyone anti-hindu is anti-humanity. Who is anti-hindu? Anti-bjp. This way, BJP has placed itself at the top of the humanity pedestal.

The human mind is whimsical, it chooses to make unnescary inter connections between different things. There may be or may not be a relation between two things, however, the human mind is going to make a connection. This is the reason for the emergence of pseudoscientific content in current times, it is primarily consumed by the youth. The desire to be out-of-box makes them fall for it. The common perception is anything that has to with religion and some ritual is discarded by calling it unscientific. The counter argument given to this is that not everything can be rationalized. It’s not about being right or wrong but to look popular in society.

Desire to be religious has emerged from opposition to atheism. More youngsters are religious to prove they are not atheists. It is anti-atheism that has generated religious consciousness.

Human beings have a spiritual longing for understanding and meaning, and given the mystery of existence, that spiritual quest can only be fulfilled through some kind of relationship with ultimacy, whether or not that takes the form as a “transcendent other”. Religion has power to meet this need for meaning and transcendent relationship
Most Indians are religious for the sake of being religious. In some cases, it is often without any islamophobic thought. However, in modern times, this theory has become an exception and not example. Due to prevalence of carefully designed tricks of brainwashing, rightwing inclination is no longer avoidable.

BJP’s rightwing ideology has a tinge of classism. Have you ever heard of a rich person losing house in a riot? Economically weaker sections of the society are targeted. Classism is a reality in Indian society irrespective of religion. Thus, a hindu/muslim businessman would not be here be effected. For that matter, BJP has been in good touch with top businessmen of the country. Businesses benefitted by BJP will not oppose BJP whether it is run by a Hindu or Muslim or Christian.

If the person switches to YouTube then BJP has an alternative theory to offer. That is BJP has done more for muslims than he has done for the Hindus but he doesn’t want the Hindus to know that. This claim is made by educated BJP supporters to look politically correct. When questioned about lynchings and other atrocities the response is that this is an opposition imposed narrative. In other words, it is the opposition that claims BJP is anti-muslim.

Another methodology to attract the youth in religious paradox is superstition. Superstition is a popular reality. The youth desires to have an upopular opinion, therefore, it settles for pseudoscience in the name of religious knowledge. The cliché that not everything can be rationalized is placed in a hyperbolic manner at the cost of losing ones individual intellect. The youth can be brainwashed easily by using psychological tricks. For example, when you read captions like, “Everyone says this is false, no one will tell you the truth.” or “real history” or “what they won’t tell you”, you are more likely to fall for it. The desire to know a new information, something others do not will make you fall for that content. These captions generate a feeling that something is being hidden from you. To know the truth, a person will dig deeper and by the time one reaches rock bottom, the tunnel is closed. Before you even realized you are already a victim of systematic manupliation.
How is this relevant to politics? There is an unfortunate similarity in the audience.

Modern day superstition is spread in the name of healing. There is a rise in clairvoyant and numerology practitioners. You may have come across videos that have captions, “You are not reading this by accident”, “Angel number 11.11 suggests etc;”. While its true that synchronoties do take place in life but glorification of it leads to a weak mindset. Rise in positive synchronties videos and healers is doing more harm than any good. This is a business. Visit any channel that uploads such videos in the name of manifestation tricks, carefully observe all videos read “Do not skip, God will be angry.” or “This message is for you”. If the message is indeed for a specific person then how can all videos have the same caption.

The problem with rise in motivational and astrological content is that there is no check in the intention of the viewer. Today a person with bad intentions can also watch the same video and feel he is in the right path and so can one with right intentions. A criminal can be equally motivated to be productive as much as a student can.

The intent behind the productive task needs to be checked. For example, there is a young adult who has been misguided by wrong information to support a political party. It is not that he/she doesn’t have a mind of his own but if evidence is manupilated then conclusion too will be distorted. The same person could be also consuming spiritual content where positive messages are given by angel numbers and synchronities. This reconvinces his/her idea that he is not in the wrong path. With an increase in conviction he desires to consume more of the political content.

Motivational videos that have inspired him to be productive leads him to now be a content creator. The consumer is now a creator. However, the loophole here is that a rightwing supporter and a non-rightwing supporter cannot be receiving the same message. For example, there are two friends. Both are educated and are spiritual. Both also believe in manifestation and astrology. A is a BJP supporter and B a non-BJP supporter. Both receiving the same message cannot be a synchronity. The universe cannot be double decking. God cannot be asking both a BJP and Non-BJP person to create political content with an epilogue that “You are in the correct path.” This is not my theory but a real claim made by multiple youtubers that they have been guided towards this path. YouTubers both rightwing and non-rightwing have made the same claim.

Religious fundamentalism in India is thus linked to science denial. Since science is nothing more than a method of determining truth using empirical measurement and hypothesis testing, denial of science equates to the denial of objective truth and tangible evidence. In other words, the denial of reality. Not only does fundamentalism promote delusional thinking, it also discourages followers from exposing themselves to any different ideas, which acts to protect the delusions that are essential to the ideology. This ultimately leads to the creation of a kakistocracy.

From the belief that ‘I cannot be wrong’ nor can the ‘synchronities I have received can be wrong’ man chooses to surrender his intellect to a higher power. This higher power is a politician. This politician is not an ordinary politician but someone who is a social psychology expert. This politician therefore is a messiah. A messiah is not a leader but a saviour. A saviour comes when there is a crisis. But what if there is no crisis? Then crisis has to be created. Fear here is the catalyst to create a sense of panic. Fear, disastification, anger and hatred are the necessary elements required here. Religion is the best tool to be used here as it can generate all the above emotions as well as the reverse of it. The complexity of the structure in the social institution of religion is an advantage. Presence of overlapping abundant theories makes it unambiguous.

Truth is there is no one way to attain God. No one uniform formula is recommended in Hinduism. It is its diversity, contradiction, imperfection that makes it a beautiful religion. For that matter, it is not a religion, but a way of living. Why so? It is because God has no religion. God lies in the silence of your thoughts. You need to be nothing to attain God as per Hinduism.

Hindutva is anti-thesis of Hinduism. Hindutva is not even remotely related to the values and shrines of Hinduism. The Sanatan Dharma that BJP talks of is an infinite concept. Sanatan means timeless infinity. One that has no beginning nor any ending. Sanatan Dharma is therefore resemblance of human beings as creations of God. One that is infinite cannot be under threat. You are unborn. All of the births and deaths occur within the consciousness impressed through identification with a body-mind form. The one to whom the ‘I AM’ appeared onto, had to be there prior to any manifestation. You Are That. Formless unmanifest Presence.

Its clear that those who support Hindutva neither know Hinduism nor themselves. Nobody is under threat, fear is only in the mind of the evil. That evil who is insecure and therefore, chooses to politicize religion. Its ironic that everyone talks about being religious but no one talks about being nothing. To be animalistic is to be religious. To be nothing is to realize oneself. Here’s a passage of nothingness.

“Once you know with absolute certainty that nothing can trouble you but your own imagination, you come to disregard your desires and fears, concepts and ideas, and live by truth alone. The greatest freedom is having nothing to prove. Realize once for all that neither your body nor your mind, nor even your consciousness is yourself and stand alone in your true nature beyond consciousness and unconsciousness. No effort can take you there, only the clarity of understanding.” Nisargadatta Maharaj

At the stroke of the midnight hour, Pandit Nehru delivered a speech upon receiving Independence that is famously remembered as “tryst with destiny”. His speech went on to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts in the Independence Movement and called upon his countrymen to work together to bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

Today, democracy has become a negotiable concept to the extent that mass suspension of members of parliament is not a hot topic. Never in Indian history have you heard of 150 opposition MPs being suspended consecutively. There is no civil society movement. The ruling party MP justifies it saying they were asking too many questions. Media glorifies this “Ek akela sab per bhari”. That is open support to dictatorship.

In contemporary times democracy has been a subject of righteousness. Democracy is been as a model of government that cannot provide political stability in the long run. Democracy as a form a government isn’t necessarily bad but desire of a strong government has changed the narrative of about democracy. The primary challenge of practicing democracy is that as a form of government it has become a victim of misuse by right governments that have populist tendencies.

There is a rise in far right populist governments across the world. Due to this tendency there is a rise in extreme opinions. Citizens are usually far right or far left, with cancel culture being normalised. Right always right, majority wins are no longer overhyped statements they have become a subconcious programming code. The institution of polity has been linked with the institution of morality. The desire to be righteous has led to flawed decision making.

The reduction of democracy to merely an electoral mechanism has led to normalisation of electoral malpractices. Horse trading is glorified as Operation Kamal by the fourth pillar of democracy.

Recently, a picture went viral of mass burial of death bodies of Manipur violence victims. Yet the Prime Minister chose not to visit Manipur. Why hasn’t he visited Manipur? Is it because it is North East? Or is it because death due to hate is normal in India now?

Narendra Modi was possibly silent because he knows this human catastrophe is one where he can’t talk himself out of. Silence is preferable because he has no answers or solutions.

I wish Indians and even in the international community could outrage the same way for Manipur the way they are doing for Israel-Palestine. The Israel-Palestine war revealed our hidden racism, ego as well as the subconscious fascist inside us. Sadism is at it’s peak. The country is infested with hatred.

In Uttar Pradesh we saw a teacher instructing children to slap their classmates for religious differences. The Uttar Pradesh incident is merely not a problem of communalism but a symptom of sadism that has inflicted India deeply. If you are not bitter, sad or angry about this country then you are part of the problem.

From banning meat to passing bills that can curb public dissent, India has reduced itself to a morality cafe. The last nail of the coffin has gone in wrong in hands. In a country, where there is more discussion on religion in an era of unemployment and falling economy, can’t be called a democracy. Calling it a democracy, itself is an insult to the concept of a democracy. This normalized version of sadomasochism is assail.
Nationalism is that menace which can be refurbished to its initial panorama only by dissent.

In Karnataka the BJP being in opposition has restarted discussion on Hijab. Iran and India are two states that are more concerned about a women’s dress than her education. The former is killed to pull it off, the latter is humiliated to wear it. So much for a piece of cloth! Truth is, it was never about women, education, Islam, or theocracy. It’s a systematic illusion to divert the attention of the masses into a labyrinth, or an uncalled rhetoric.

Interestingly, an average Indian day begins and ends discussing religion. Then they boost secularism. Contradictions of secularism’s significance can’t be endured as an element of democratic dissent in a republic or be valued in the garb of freedom of speech & liberty of thought.

The emperor walks naked, the pied piper blows the flute, yet the blind men of the nation bow down in front of the king, calling him the greatest ever one-eyed man. That’s how the story of India goes, for, your ignorance is as good as my knowledge. No wonder, democracy has evolved itself to kakistocracy.

India has been unapologetically renamed as Bharat, the Prime minister chose to rename dishes upon his name in G20, yet the media is openly and unapologetically defending dictatorship. That’s where the tryst breaks.

The populism latching on to the politics of winners and losers is to mobilize psychically potent resentments & anger against the “outsiders” responsible for the pain of the “people”. While, the true terrorists of democracy are the ones heading the country. The answer isn’t authoritarianism. The answer isn’t populism or Chanakya. Neither idealism nor realism. When you fall in the labyrinth of doing good, you destroy the natural homogeneity of India. India is a chaotic contradiction. There is no correct answer. That is our beauty. Politics about unmaking the chaos. Diversity should be appreciated and utilised.

A country is a conversation if that conversation perceives equity as idealism to be politically correct then that conversation will only lead to non-negotiable arguments. People are the core of democracy, if they lose faith in its practicality and ideals then how can it be practiced.

People vote out of FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. People are more interested in proving themselves right by voting a party that has winning possibility than mere ideological inclination.

Lastly, all I have to say is this, democracy is a non-negotiable concept. It’s no longer about the effectiveness of an opposition, it’s about bitter acceptance of a reality, that is we are a kakistocracy. Time we choose between perfect politics and the need to resuscitate our Constitution. 2024 is a litmus test.

Thank you for reading. For more such interesting write ups and political analysis, do follow me here or on Twitter. My social links are given below for more such freshly brewed content. 🙂

Disclaimer
Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at any time.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced that Rs 2,000 notes will only stay on as legal tender, and it would be discontinued from circulation. About 89% of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017 and are at the end of their estimated life-span of 4 to 5 years, the RBI said in a notification.

Here are my key takeaways on this decision:

1) Can it be a legal tender?

The decision to withdraw the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation was taken under the RBI’s ‘Clean Note Policy’. However, they will continue as legal tender. This is both confusing and impractical. How can a currency that is withdrawn still continue be a legal tender? People have been asked to exchange it by September 30th. If it were only reduced like it was in year 2019, it could not be called demonitisation as acceptance wasn’t illegal. However, if a currency isn’t existing then the question of it being legal or illegal doesn’t exist. It’s simply void. Thus, although the government or RBI hasn’t claimed it is demonitisation theoretically in the literal sense, it is practically demonitisation.

#DidYouknow – The #RBI had stopped the printing of ₹2,000 banknotes in 2018-2019https://t.co/t7GVpCAsK2

— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) May 20, 2023

2) Was it a falling currency?

Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes were not commonly used for transactions. The use of these notes declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore on March 31, 2018 (37.3% of Notes in Circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8% of notes in Circulation on March 31, 2023.

In a couple of years they would be down to less than 5%. There was really no need to do this unless the idea was to destabilise others politically.

3) Rs.2000 was not a popular medium of exchange

Notes of other denominations are adequate to meet the currency requirements of the public. In any case, Rs. 2000 failing as a currency isn’t something surprising.

What would do with Rs.2000 note in market, when you hardly get change for Rs.500? Especially in current times when liquid cash is failing. This led to adverse effects in consumption behaviour and consumption pattern. Not everyone has any business to do in a local grocery store with Rs. 2000 notes in his/her pocket. Firstly, shopkeeper won’t give exchange. Secondly, on an average day, an average middle class person will take Rs. 500 in a store. Unless one has too buy goods in stock, Rs. 2000 serves no use.

Majority of the people in the country would prefer weekly purchase over monthly. Geographical reasons, storage issues, fear of food spoilage are reasons. Things that are required more like rice or mustard oil or dal are items one purchases monthly. In this case, Rs. 2000 would be of use. Another section of the country that is the lower class comprising daily wage labourers or maids do daily purchase of vegetables and other essentials however little. In this case, Rs. 100 would be of use.

Let’s understand it by an example of a typical middle-middle class family. Let’s assume they do a mixture of monthly purchase and weekly purchase. Exclude rice, dal in weekly purchase, and keep it for monthly purchase. Consider fruits, butter, biscuit, flattened rice, snacks, diet chera as products of weekly purchase. Here, Rs. 500 notes would be used. Monthly purchase consisting of rice, dal, mustard oil, white oil, medicines, tea leaves would require Rs. 2000 notes.

4) Productivity loss

Rs 3,62 lakh crore of notes were still out there in the financial system as of March 2023. At one time notes worth Rs 20,000 can be exchanged. In order to exchange all the Rs 2,000 notes out there, 18.1 crore visits to the banks will have to be carried out. This is going to be a hard activity for everyone be it RBI officials or citizens themselves. It will effect the productivity of the country. Time wastage and frankly speaking wastage of efforts too.

Let’s understand this by a hypothetical calculation. Round off 18.1 crore to 18 crore. From today 22nd May, 2023 if we count, 131 days are there for exchange. That would account for 13 lakh citizens standing in queue everyday for an average of 3 hours (including transport time).

kids: exchange ₹2000 note at bank
adults: order cash on delivery and give ₹2000 note
legends: never had ₹2000 note

— zomato (@zomato) May 19, 2023

5) The issue of corruption and hoarding

2016 demonitisation was a failure. It’s a fact. Experts of different fields law, economics etc; have also acknowledged the same. The idea was to remove corruption. Corruption has increased with fleeing country being a new method. Have Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya come back? No. We have new names in list, Mehul Choksi , Lalit Modi. There’s any evidence suggesting black money hoarding has reduced or crony capitalism has been kept in check. Thus, repeating the same old idea by only making theoretical changes makes no sense.

The Rs 2000 notes were also used widely by the fake currency mafia. Most of the fake money seized in the last three years was in the Rs 2000 denominations, according to a report by Business Standard. In 2021, fake Rs 2000 notes whose value was Rs 4,84,78,000 crore were seized. Around 2,44,834 lakh fake notes of Rs 2,000 were seized in 2020 and 90,566,000 notes in 2019.

"Just because you have failed, your intention was also flawed." SC on #Demonitisation verdict
Are we serious? Who is going to compensate for the lives lost by heart attack waiting in queues, suic!de cases under pressure or due to plain poverty?
Such privilege talks, isn't? pic.twitter.com/d5cTnUVwFJ

— Radhika Barman 🇮🇳 (@RadhikaBarman5) January 2, 2023

6) The issue of counterfeiting

Since the printing of the notes stopped in 2019, they would have gone out of circulation. But it could be a way to expose those hoarding black money. They are bound to get exposed if they go to deposit large sums in the bank. The exchange for money in the first place or even deficit financing (printing of new money) has been proven to be economically inefficient multiple times.

Let’s understand the mathematical logic behind this. To replace the quantity of Rs.2000 notes with Rs.500 notes, RBI only needs to print 85,860 lakh pieces Rs.500 notes. In 2021-22, RBI printed 1,28,003 lakh pieces of Rs.500 currency. RBI has the capacity to print & supply around 2,22,500 lakh notes every year. How many counterfeit 2000 notes were detected by the RBI and banks since 2016? 79836 number of 2000 notes, ie, amounting to Rs. 15.97 crores.

Counterfiets of that Rs.1000 notes in 2017 were just 2.4 pieces/crore notes. So Rs.2000/- facilitated more counterfeits, almost 27 times of Rs.1000 notes. Same time, the number of Rs.500 counterfeits in 2022 was just 17.5 nos./crore in comparison with 64 nos./crore of Rs.2000 notes.

Data reveals that though the Rs.2000 notes are the highest, the counterfeit currency is a tiny fraction of Rs. 31,05,721 crores of CIC. Thus, RBI could have easily absorb the 2000 currency notes in circulation and replace it by 500 notes.

Besides, high value currency facilitates hoarding at ease than low value currency. A 100% counterfeit proof note cannot be made either. You don’t need to have an economics degree to understand that. It’s a fact.

Nothing can happen unless economic reforms take place to increase liquid cash in a middle class household. Besides better enforcement and replacement of currency without creating panic among people are sound practices adopted world over against the menace of corruption.

Thank you for reading For more such interesting write ups and political analysis, do follow me here or on Twitter. My social links are given below for more such freshly brewed content. 🙂

Disclaimer
Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. The views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. The blog owner is not responsible for the content in comments. This blog disclaimer is subject to change at any time.

Currently there isn’t any state in South India that has a BJP Chief Minister. Karnataka was the last state to have a BJP Chief Minister. That too is now gone. The BJP has been in power for almost a decade now in India, yet it hasn’t been able to grab neither Bengal nor South Indian states. What’s the reason? What’s keeping the BJP away from South India? Why is it every time Mr. Modi visits Chennai he is welcomed by ‘Go Back Modi’.

1) Communalism doesn’t work here
The BJP is a party that wins by portraying how bad your opponent is. The BJP doesn’t win by portraying how great they are. There is a deliberate portrayal that chooses between the better of the two evils. Whether there’s an evil present or not is a different thing. Indians by nature love to make difficult choices. A choice made in a dharm sankat let’s say is going to give more gratification to an individual than a choice made in otherwise normal circumstances.
For example, BJP has portrayed a narrative that congress is a party that does minority appeasement and has divided the country. On the contrary BJP has portrayed itself as an unapologetic hindu nationalist party which has dictatorship. People would happily choose BJP over Congress. Why? Partition is a reality, congress has accepted its responsibility on multiple occasions. It’s a different thing that it was a necessary evil. As I always say, no one is interested in details. It’s all headlines.
The picture below explains the point well.

South India being educated doesn’t fall for this. The Mughal empire was never part of South India. Thus, whether it was good or bad, they are least interested. Hinduism in South India is characterized by Dravidian customs and traditions, hence it is also called Dravidian Hinduism. The aryan superiority theory with pride over hindi and ancient mythology doesn’t work here. They live in the present, don’t wallow in the greatness of the past. Instead take responsibility for the actions of today. All the BJP has to offer is past. It knows congress history better than congress itself seems like. Not many would believe but congress was once considered a Hindu party.

Another explanation that can be given here is class. There are economic reasons behind communalism. Who goes to a riot? Children of the poor. Not children of the rich. Ever seen a capitalist taking sword training? Where do riots take place? In front of your house? No. Not in urban metropolitan cities. No not in cosmopolitan main cities but poor slums, villages or small towns. Not the lutyens zone in Delhi. Have you seen the politicians themselves with swords? Any muslim businessmen or hindu businessmen present? Who is present? Unemployed poor people who have nothing productive to do.

Herd mentality is present in all societies however differs in class.

Take the example of Russia. There was Tsar Nicholas II. When there was a monarchy in Russia, the economic condition of people was terrible. Frequent riots and communal violence could be seen in Russia. From 1881-1884 and 1903-1906 large scale anti-Jewish violence was prevalent. This violence was supported by the Tsar government. But after the Russian revolution when Bolsheviks came to power the situation stabilised. The economic conditions were better. People were employed, every person was considered human rather than Jewish, Christian or religious identity. Since people were aware, there were no religious identities.

A Hindu or Muslim kills each other in a mob for simply belonging to a different religion. It is not an impulsive action. The mob isn’t concerned with anything. A person belongs to a different community that the killer isn’t part of is enough a valid reason. You don’t call it impulsive action. It is a subconscious belief. No education can rectify it. Education doesn’t change human beliefs, whatever we say. A person has preconceived notions on the basis of his or her surroundings. Social conditioning is the toolkit. If a person doesn’t find a legitimate reason as a result of an unexpected incident or epiphany one’s subjective reality won’t change even in the presence of different realities.

2) Hindi imposition and linguistic barriers

If you have observed the BJP carefully, most speeches are given by the Prime Minister directly. Yogi Adityanath, Amit Shah and recently JP Nadda is in the news. Sambit Patra is only seen in television debates not public rallies. Amit Shah is however not as great as an orator as compared to Mr. Modi. Modi is proficient in Hindi. Shah is proficient primarily in Gujarati. There is no well known english speaker other than Mr. Jaishankar as the foreign minister in BJP but again not someone who addresses rallies.
The most common language in South India is Telugu and Tamil. Local leadership of BJP is anyway weak there. Thus, a large section of masses cannot make a connection. English too isn’t the most spoken language. Like how North Indians take pride over hindi being their mother tongue. South Indians take pride over Tamil and Telugu being their mother tongue.

To top it all, the repeated efforts of BJP’s hindi imposition has done blunder. Besides there isn’t a popular well known national media channel that mainly speaks in Dravidian languages. Nor any social media platform is primarily dominated by Dravidian languages. Thus, brainwash by communal polarization, fake news or any logical fallacy isn’t effective. People cannot sense the BJP narrative as effectively as a North Indian. Psychological tricks too don’t work because of linguistic reasons.

There are multiple Podcasts, YouTube channels that show Bjp content or promote ideas indirectly, however it’s all in Hindi. Hardly there is any strong BJP presence in Dravidian language in social media that too by any South Indian person.

3) No Big Leader
Except Tejasvi Surya there is no other known face from the BJP belonging to South India. Therefore, there is overemphasis on Mr. Modi as the campaigning. But Mr. Modi cannot be Chief Minister. No CM face. No common person masses can connect with.

4) No Celebrity Power
Akshay Kumar, Amitabh Bacchan are big names which come to mind when we think of BJP supporters. Celebrity influence is epochal and significant. If they can sell paan, they can sell votes too. In West Bengal for example, every Tollywood celebrity openly supports a political party and hardly is there anyone not part of it officially. The maximum number of members in TMC top leadership as MLA or top designation is a film actress. People vote more as a fan of an xyz actress for the party she belongs to than a supporter of that party. Celebrities here are in fact very bold, there is hardly any actress whose political affiliations one is unaware of as a viewer.

However, in South no big celebrity shows open support to BJP. Prakash Raj, Siddharth come in mainstream but as anti-modi persons. Rajinikanth and Ajith too don’t show open support as fanboys. Others are silent.

5) Land of Periyaar
WhatsApp Historians in BJP have made Vinayak Damodar Savarkar , Sardar Vallabhai Patel etc as their heros. This is at the cost of ignoring Periyar, Babasaheb Ambedkar and other figures. Seldom do they speak of Periyaar or Basavanna. People who follow Periyar won’t be influenced by Savarkar’s achievements.

Thank you for reading this article. Stay tuned for more such freshly brewed content. For more such interesting articles and writings don’t forget to follow me on Twitter – @RadhikaBarman5 You may as well read my book, “God, Religion and Indians” by Radhika Barman available on Amazon and Flipkart India.

Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections were held on 10 May 2023 to elect all 224 members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 13 May 2023. The Indian National Congress won the election securing a 136 seats majority. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has declared Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister for the state who will be sworn on Thursday.

The Karnataka elections has brought in minds of the voters various questions. Here are some of my key takeaways on Karnataka elections.

1) Could there be an Operation Lotus?

The most important question which is being asked now is if there’s a possibility of an operation lotus happening. Will history repeat itself?

In July 2019, the coalition government collapsed due to resignations by several members of Congress and JD(S) in the assembly. Subsequently, Bharatiya Janata Party formed the state government, with B. S. Yediyurappa becoming Chief Minister.

On 26 July 2021, Yediyurappa resigned from Chief Minister’s post and Basavaraj Bommai was sworn in as the new Chief Minister on 28 July 2021.

On 19 February 2023, BJP leader H.D. Thammaiah joined Congress along with his supporters. On 9 March 2023, BJP MLC Puttanna joined the Congress. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar quit BJP on 16 April 2023 and joined Congress the next day. Other leaders that left BJP before the polls include Laxman Savadi, S Angara, M P Kumaraswamy and R. Shankar.

R.Ashoka of BJP said before result announcement that if Plan A fails then there is Plan B to grab power. One must notice that this statement can be openly stated and glorified by the media as Operation Kamal. Democratically elected government is now regarded a cliched concept that is no longer in fashion. Very soon India might as well witness the Gerrymandering system like the United States system of checks and balances. Is this surprising? No? What is then surprising? That BJP can afford to say so.

Here’s the explanation. Congress won 135 seats. BJP won 66. JDS won 19. Other independent candidates won 4 seats.  A 113 seats majority is required to form government. BJP is a party that describes itself as a party of Hindutva Nationalism and Social Conservatism. JDS on the other hand is a centre left party that describes itself a secular party. It’s unlikely that two opposing ideologies will collaborate together to form a joint alliance for Operation Kamal. However, even if so happens it will come to 85 seats. Even if the independent candidates join BJP is still short of 24-28 seats to form government.

The BJP would then require to poach a minimum of 26 candidates from Congress. Given that it is no longer a coalition government as it was in 2019, it’s highly unlikely defections would happen. More importantly, even if people are ready to sell their soul at an individual level for 100 crore each, it is highly unlikely there will be stability of the future government. This is because the previous operation lotus government now has the reputation of being corrupt amongst the public and the fact that it too can fail is proven. Nobody would like to be part of a government having sold itself that isn’t stable. A operation lotus 0.2 would indicate political instability with a possibility of president rule in future. A election which the RSS too knew in advance wouldn’t be a bjp victory is for sure not a government that can fall now. Even if defections from Congress take place, exactly 26 is difficult to achieve when multiple leaders from BJP have joined it.

Perhaps, to poach exactly 19 members of JD(S) could be difficult. For a party that has now lost even it’s strong footholds will be extra cautious to such risky decisions. Fear of losing government again like it happened last time will make them fear selling their souls. 2023 election proved that even those seats that were historically strong holds of the JD(S) can be lost proved that it never was a regional party game thus, they wouldn’t be given importance even if they join BJP. Thus, mathematically and politically Operation Lotus is impossible.

2) Is the BJP out from South India?

There is neither a BJP government nor an NDA alliance government existing in south India now.

Historian Ramachandra Guha in conversation with journalist Karan Thapar, Guha sought to advance the narrative of a “BJP-free South India” while dismissing that the party’s vote share remained more or less intact. It’s strong performance in and around Bengaluru slightly underscores this argument. By uncritically upholding this template as an exemplary system of governance, political commentators are unwittingly committing the same mistakes as those who stereotype all South Indians as ‘Madraasi’.

Mr.Modi even in his Mann Ki Baat has highlighted the south Indian states, from Subrahmanya Bharathi’s poetry on Irish teacher Sister Nivedita, a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, to the Kashi Tamil Sangamam in 2022, one gets a sense of how artificial and contrived the divisive rhetoric of South Indian exceptionalism really is.

What is important for us to highlight here is BJP’s objective. The BJP’s objective was never about winning elections as in making chief ministers in South. BJP knows well it can never form a government in south India nor does it have a strong local face there. The BJP gives importance to state elections aggressively, in Bengal too it did a magnificent campaign but lost. South India too is about opening pockets and experimentation. Experimentation of how successful a communal agenda is amongst the educated class. Opening pockets as in motivating people to vote for them in general elections.

A general election algorithm is different from a state election algorithm. There are people who said in 2013, “Kejriwal for CM, Modi for PM.” Then there are people who said in 2021, “TMC for West Bengal, Congress for India”. This proves that people who may have voted for a party in state is not a party they necessarily support in the centre. I even know Communists in Bengal who voted for the left in state and BJP in the centre. To equate South India as a left heartland like in Bengal is BJP’s strategy. Everything else is stunt. There are many communists in Bengal who voted for the BJP in the centre, left in Bengal, but seeing TMC win elections they left CPM and joined the BJP. The left knows it cannot win in India, it has not the charm, thus its alliance with the Congress as a national party has never worked. For example, Kerala has a communist government, this explains why BJP has eyes at it.

Congress alliance with JD(S) and its collapse in state too proved that a national party can never be in alliance with a state party for regional elections in particular. The Karnataka elections was not about BJP winning, as it was clear by surveys it won’t. It was about seats disparity. 130 or 140 fight for the Congress. Whether the BJP will get 60 or 90 seats. If it had got 90 seats, the government could fail through operation lotus, the back up plan argument is designed on that basis. Anyway, JDS future is now uncertain, they can be anything but not a kingmaker in near future. Out of the bandwagon effect given to ideological considerations it may however want a coalition in future with the Congress in general elections.

3) How will this affect the 2024 elections?

Karnataka elections prove that BJP may win the Hindi heartland but not South India. It will never form the government there how hard it may try. As with regards to opening pockets that point has been explained above. The BJP agenda is limited to that alone. Congress victory has been credited to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. Statistically it makes logical sense. This will place Rahul Gandhi as a mass leader capable of winning elections in the Indian diaspora.

Emphasis on local leadership amorted rumours of internal conflicts in Congress. Multiple faces other than the Gandhi’s under Kharge leadership ceases off nepotism monopoly argument. Mallikarjun Kharge once called Gandhi puppet too shares credit for party victory. This sends a message to the common masses, that there are leaders in Congress who can make strategic plans and need not rely on ‘nods’ by the Gandhi Scion. Such a shift in general perception will be favourable for the Congress in 2024 elections. As reasons not to vote for Congress as given earlier are now losing ground. The BJP’s inability to offer any alternative made it even more clear.

During 2019 the BJP offered radical decisions like article 370 removal, ram mandir which it eventually even did. However, the Congress was accused of not offering an alternative. The state election perception is reverse now. Rahul Gandhi’s perception of post BJY is changed, thus 2024 perception backed by anti+incumbency arguments may just be like Karnataka.

4) Communal Agenda – Does it work?

Karnataka since last few months has been the hub of communalism. According to political analysts Phani Rajanna and Sandeep Shastri, with Karnataka polls nearing, the BJP is raking up more and more communal issues to divide people and polarise the votes. This has been shown by communal tensions started by right-wing Hindutva groups on hijab, halal, azan, boycott of Muslim-run shops, and moral policing of Muslims and Christians, which have been linked to the Bommai government.

The Bommai government courted controversy with its orders to take away 4% OBC quota from Muslims and redistributing them to Lingayats and Vokkaligas. In addition the government has expressed support for internal reservation for Scheduled Castes into SC right, SC left and SC ‘touchable’ and SC others. Communities such as the Banjara have protested this move as depriving them of a share drawing stark criticism from the opposition Congress, which accused it of neglecting governance issues.

The large share in Muslim votes proved that this happened due to bjp’s deliberate ragging of the minorities and that communal politics as a traditional approach is no longer contributing to electoral victory at least in states. People in India vote primarily for two reasons, how it will be benefited and out of bandwagon effect that is people vote for a party that can win elections as people don’t want to waste their votes. The former being relevant in state elections and latter in general for proportional and other demographic reasons. The BJP’s agenda hurt Kannadigas at an individual level. The Congress campaign with 5 guarantees sent a hope of being bennefited at a individual level. As it was a rainbow coalition with lingayat, SC, ST, Muslims, youth, women and all other sections showing Congress in the forefront. The Congress too in its manifesto gave promises for all which were well endorsed.

5) The Modi factor

The over emphasis on national leaders including the Prime Minister himself in election campaigns suggested that there is no local leader for the BJP in Karnataka. The Modi magic is no longer working in the sense that people in state elections want a proper CM face which the Congress was able to offer as Siddaramaiah or DK Shivkumar. During 2019 elections it was raised that INC didn’t have a proper declared PM face thus it lost support. Same logic applies to this election as well. Another thing important to note here is that even in the BJP there is no other PM face other than Mr.Modi with Amit Shah being infamous for frequent disappearances and Yogi Adityanath being CM. This has led to anti-incumbency factor portraying him his politics as old, irksome and non-dynamic.

6) The Karnataka Model as Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The battle also significantly shifted American opinion. During the battle, many Americans accepted the view promoted by Joseph Kennedy, the American ambassador in London, who believed that the United Kingdom could not survive.

Like Battle of Britain proved Nazi force can be defeated and victory for the allied forces is not inevitable, Congress too proved the same thing. That BJP can be defeated if a proper and effective campaign is done. EVM manipulation is a reality but not a fairy tale. Absolute contradiction cannot happen to general mass perception. Historically, there is no election which had an absolute 50-50 winning possibility be it state or national elections.

I wish my best wishes to the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka. May they work for people and opposition unity increases during this tough time for democracy.

The recent Hijab controversy has brought India into extremes. One side talks of secularism while swearing over religion and another side talks of identity preservance as a basic fundamental right.

The BJP and its New India is however, playing a game of definitions. Definition of “what is religion” while the liberal class is playing safe with wrongly comprehended idea of intersectionalism.
The good example of this is the classification of Indians as majority & minorty.

Substituting “Muslims” for “Minorities” contributes nil in the fascist battle.
It highlights the inherent division of majority & minority, by offering privileged sympathy to the cause.
Perhaps, creates the ground for identity politics, as “they” (the oppressed) should have been humble.

The idea is to add a concious “they” prefix to the oppressed.
The BJP is actually playing a game of definitions and not perceptions. It is about systematically & consciously othering people by religious identification.
The majority wants to establish prejudice as a matter of righteousness.

Minorities include parsi, Christians and other Abrahamic religions including Islam. However, religiously they can’t be placed under one umbrella. For they have various differences. This is primarily because though Abrahamic religion is primarily monotheist its justification and practice differs not only religions respectively, but also individually.

The BJP wants to hide the plural dimensions of Abrahamic religions by highlighting the singularity of Abrahamic religions. This further assisted by neoliberals who project minorities to be under attack by the majority, which is essentially the Hindus.

The majority that in any case has newly learnt to differentiate between Hindutva & Hinduism, has no longer any interest to know about Abrahamic religion plurality. In other words, Islam, an Abrahamic religion has been generalised to be an oppressive, bad one for singularity is harmful. The harmful side of singularity also happens to be an idea endorsed by liberal sections of Indian society.

The alternative BJP has offered to this is Hinduism. A religion carefully depicted to be plural, for it’s polytheistic nature. A average laymen here sees too labels “poly” and “single”. The idea of ” theism ” is vanished for it a theist is only understood to be an atheist by the middle class.

Perhaps, the BJP’s advantage is the majority belongs to Hinduism. Hinduism happens to be a henotheist religion. Henotheism is monotheism in principle and polytheism in practice. Thus, whenever needed vedic glory can be embraced in context of plurality. So who is been essentially projected “good” at the end of the day? A Hindu, perhaps a well read one (scripture wise). This happens to be a Brahmin, thus establishing Brahminical supremacy over vedant and knowledge.

This is perhaps in denial of the casteist nature of Hinduism. The primary reason for Hindutva, is the system of caste.
The system of othering is inherent in the religion that ironically also speaks of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam (the world is a family).
India with it’s distorted secularism has fueled the casteist fire even more.

Nonetheless, the belief of Hinduism to be different than Hindutva is from the idea that Hinduism once upon a time was good and has now been corrupted. However, instead of asking for religious reformation the demand is to revive back the previous glory.
But the past cannot be revived. There is no agreed picture of the past. What shall we revive?
Shall we revive the old habits of our people when the most scared of our castes indulged in all the abominations, as we now understand them, of animal food and intoxicating drink? Shall we revive the twelve forms of sons, or eight forms of marriage, which included capture, and recognised mixed and illegitimate intercourse? Shall we revive the hacatombs of animals sacrificed from year’s end to year’s end, in which even human beings were not spared as propitiatory offering to God? Shall we revive the Sati and infanticide customs.

What the BJP desires to do, is to convert prejudice to the question of righteousness.
This is by establishing numerous narratives in public to be picked and chosen. Then fight on, while they screw the economy.
Perhaps, the repeated emphasis on the term “Hindutva” at least in a differentiating manner has only helped the BJP than doing any harm.

The solution to communalism is rising above religion. But having made this distinguish, you no longer need to for it is supposed to be perfect. 

This is the root of the problem- the idea that your religion is absolute perfect. How can “my religion” be wrong isn’t? No no…I am mad to think so. Also immature to understand that being religious is different from being spiritual.

For it is already good, you no longer need to change it, what you need to is to outrage as to why your religion is being demeaned this way, by the “other” – the Hindutva. Well, that is precisely what BJP anyway wants you to do, think, and practice. The idea is to trap Indians by labels of morality. That is in denial that morality is subjective.

Hindutva claims their actions to be acts of “Dharmic” preservance. Dharm here is the Hindu religion. It wants to paint Hinduism with one colour that happens to be Saffron. Here, the liberal class raises objection, calling Hinduism to be multicoloured. However, what strikes not to the common man, that both mutually have an perception about Hinduism. Here is the problem, the existence of perceptions over definitions that have not been decided.

For the counter idea is no religion is oppressive. Oppression is the conviction of patriarchy. Patriarchy arises from majority insecurities, by men who have read no scripture. While this isn’t untrue, but here again patriarchy happens to have a scriptural thus religious association.

The idea that Hinduism is different from Hindutva rises from the belief that everything that’s let’s say “bad” in society, is due to some “misinterpretation” or later assertion to the holy books. However, this is not adding any brownie points to the neoliberal pandora box. Maybe, it was meant that way, or maybe it wasn’t? Who knows? You and I didn’t live then. This infallibility of the vedas, testament, and other such scriptures is the reason for our fallibility as sapiens.

The critical question then arises, who should be given the position to define Hinduism and why? How do we and why should we be deciding who is a “proper Hindu” and by what parameter? Who will decide the parameter? Will it be subjective or objective?

The answer lies in atheism, a perception that is not comfortable either by the majority and minorty.
The innate tendency to live in the past paints religion white (The majority again won).
Thus, we witness to types of politics in India, communal politics versus Identity politics. Intersectional is the answer, but those who demand it, do so from an anti-identity politics angle. This reduces down the idea of intersectionalism for it is anti-perception without acknowledging the perception. That is oppression. Lest, you cannot question the rage of the minority when they are been screwed from all sides.

After all, you are speaking for Muslims because they are the minorities. So you too are consciously identifying them (humans) with religion, defending it with religion (vedic hinduism). That only illustrates man’s inescapable nature to look over religion.

Ever read a headline saying “human dead” when a Muslim man was killed, without a “minorities are been attacked headline”. That is essentially because we love the word Muslim only in times of politics. This perhaps is because Hindians conciously deem Islam to be oppressive. Had we not, many lynchings could have been prevented in India, including the the present Karnataka ruckuss. This is happening because this is normal. This is normal because this accepted. It is not religion, it is majority preference.

We forget that all of us are conscious sinners, establishing a concrete idea “this is religion” adds more fuel to the burning fire. For that is what the BJP wants this battle to be fused with ideas of right and wrong, often that are multiple to create confusion and an eventual “dharm sankat” where both sides would be illustrated to be right.
This perhaps, explains why the issue of Hijab came in amidst the election season.

Indians go gaga over women who abstain from western clothing, wear ghunghat. But Hijab is objected on secularism grounds. The former isn’t religious but always associated with religion.
Hijab is not culture upliftment because for the majority culture means consciously Hinduism.
The comparison with ghunghat was both necessary and unnecessary; necessary for explanatory purpose and unnecessary because it is whataboutery.
This is what the BJP wants.

The BJP doesn’t desire to be anti-Muslim, it wants you to be so. The BJP is not against Hijab, neither does it want you to be. The BJP only wants you to be confused. You to be confused in the privileged quest, “Then, what is right?”

The reality stands, that BJP is not anti-Muslim, it is anti-human. Anti-democracy & anti-intellectual.
It desires is to make India a game of definitions than perceptions. To classify Indians in two extremes, by illustrating “what is religion”.
You are thinking the way they want you to.

Recently, Mamta Banerji has been in news for having requested for SP alliance for the upcoming state elections (Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, etc). As funny as it may sound it indicates the nervousness the Bengal ruler is currently undergoing. But why so? What happened to the talks of grand propaganda that the TMC so boosted off, months back? Mahua Moitra, the popular TMC cadre has been repeatedly contradictory to her previous statements, is she under pressure, why so?

Mahua Moitra recently commented, that, “INC should alliance with us, to defeat the BJP.” She is trying to accentuate the same old argument, of how Congress is the reason for all problems, thereby saying, if BJP wins, TMC won’t be held accountable, for INC wasn’t willing to alliance for its ego. After all, TMC is a regional party, what much can it do?
That’s a narrative, the neoliberal would fall to, for Congress has been shaped to suit best as a punching bag. Lest, we forget that the same party that has a regional leader aspiring to be PM, can willfully choose to provoke defection in light of the national crisis, can of course not be power-hungry.

For that matter, the media chose to portray TMC, the representative of the third front, as a favor that has been forced to rise to populism, for of course the congress’s failure of opposition. The supposed evidence that has been attached here, is the recent defections from Congress namely Saket Gokhale and other liberals, hence, suggesting that a regional party is in a far better condition than the national opposition.But it’s not a favor, and ideally, this shouldn’t be deemed as competition either. When glasses will break, all persons under the roof would be affected.

What the TMC is thus wanting is to create a dual narrative to scapegoat the congress. For instance, if it wins, the congress would be rebuked on two grounds, that being failure to be a proper alternative to the BJP, sugar-coated with a regional party’s strength to defeat an old national party, and second, being equal to BJP. The former narrative is already in process of being normalized by the media, however, the second is the new one that has risen, that comes from the belief that the congress is naive but not fool to lose everything in a do-or-die situation, it must be planned for multiple defections have taken place (again reshaping the internal conflict stigma).

The attempt to impose such a narrative is even more evident, from General Secretary Abhishek Banerji’s statement, “Every vote to BJP is a vote to INC.” 
The switch to “scapegoat Congress” noesis from “blame Rahul” theory, comes with a conscious denial of Congress’s furthermore better position as an opposition, and saturated ignorance. It is that conscious decision that willfully chooses to overlook its privilege, and tactfully endorse a wrong idea, that being HATE here, in its metamorphic sense. It is that upper-middle class attitude that reaches the zenith of order not via prejudice but privilege.

Besides, the TMC inclination here serves as a favorable substitute to the Indian Neutraphobia, for it neither declares itself to be pro-left or pro-right, and we Indians out of our conscious privilege overlook the center-right agenda.
Rahul here stands as the middle line, which is both inevitable and It is this congenial politics that hurt the liberal conscience.

Tmc-ism goes down to our conscious ignorance in daily lives, in complete denial of pathos. The attitude of silent tolerance of injustice, and glorification of neutrality, has helped shape majoritarianism.Lest the dream of perfect politics took the form of sinister governance.
In a world of clashing interests – war against peace, nationalism against internationalism, equality against greed, and democracy against elitism – an oracular God-like Mahua Moitra was able to project a convincing utopia.
None of us want to acknowledge and take the responsibility of having this murderer in power. Blaming the opposition is not an output of any political observation;For that matter, it is a form of self-gratification, in denial of our elitist prejudice & apoliticism.

In a recent amendment, the marriage age for both sexes was increased to 21. Now I found that a perfectly fine decision, but then my social media was full of long thesis’s on why it’s a ridiculous idea, changes nothing, child marriage is good, this is a human right violation and blah blah; Was surprised for a while, but then recalled we live in India.

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This is an unpopular opinion, but I think there’s no real legitimate reason as to why the marriage age increment is a bad idea. Why should a woman be married off, before she is emotionally & financially stable (if not independent)? Is 18 an age for this?
You know where do these sentiments come from, the old school believes that being an adult means it’s time for the woman to settle down, and of course, marriage is the only way and motherhood completes a woman. Yeah, marriage is sacred, so is exploitation.

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I understand the issue of state intervention &the stigma of pre-marital sex too. But aren’t bad laws the founding ground of social evils too. We can’t cease it off, in the name of ‘private life. Dude, then marital rape also falls under “private affair”. But needs to be criminalized. Also, marriage isn’t & shouldn’t be deemed as a license for sex.

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Sure this government can’t be expected of having any “good intentions” as such, but coming up with rather a hyperbole conspiracy theories is no solution.
Marriage is a ridiculous yet the toughest decision of a woman’s life. Giving idealistic lectures on pathos, love, etc; is easy for you because you are privileged.

But maybe you should have a look at responsibilities associated with it than just the knotting of a union, perhaps the invitation of forced motherhood in most cases. Then there’s society. Do you really think a couple can rear a child at 18, in case, the woman ends up being pregnant? Are we naïve enough to not know of in-law pressures that start coming up after the completion of a year of marriage, particularly in joint families? Child pressure, possible domestic violence, education balance, new phase, new partner, new responsibilities, is that the environment you would want your daughter to be at such a vulnerable age? She isn’t your neoliberal TV serial heroine dude, who manages all whole day, yet, never looks tired.

Isn’t it too much for a young lad who could be having a well off stable career, to handle, and come on, no matter how supportive your in-law family is, you can’t be getting that level of comfort as you otherwise would as a single woman. But then who cares, her biological clock is ticking isn’t it?

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Then being in awe of the beautiful union that’s happening, let us not forget about the ever-increasing rate of “unreported” domestic violence, that has happened in nuclear households itself, right after marriage. I mean don’t get me wrong, am not against relationships, love is the most beautiful thing that can ever happen in a person’s life, it’s rather tragic that as a society we shame love & sex. But can we deny the fact, that in a marriage, the man is in an overpowering position to abuse as compared to that of a non-married relationship? And unfortunately, you cannot even come out of it, because who would want to be labeled as a “house breaker”, and young girls, being vulnerable for their age, aren’t supposedly “adjustable” enough isn’t it?
We live in a country where even Ph.D. holders take years to get a job. And if it happens to be a female candidate, you can expect to be discriminated against. Even 21 is not enough for a woman to get herself emotionally prepared, if not financially.

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Because of the flawed parenting system, adulting is difficult and takes time to adjust to the world and society that in most cases, turns out to be unexpected.
I have seen many women regretting their early choice of love marriage too, even inter-faith instances.
Yeah, it’s three more years of harassment in that case, but also gives you more time, to know the man u plan to sleep permanently with tomorrow better. Why hurry? It’s rather foolish to marry off without being financially secured in an independent sense. What if the marriage breaks?
When it comes to betrayal or any other marital issues, men being trash, oversee religion. Dude, it’s of course not necessary for you to be a working woman, but advisable considering present times. At least have a MA degree & some years of professional experience.
if your husband leaves you tomorrow, by abandoning you of everything, how will you feed your stomach? Men are unpredictable, rather everyone is, that too in such a short time. Relationships that have lasted 12-13 years have also had short marital time. Nobody can assume a married life.
If the marriage breaks, you will still be having a secure and proper degree & expertise, to start something afresh. Given the toxic patriarchy & unemployability crisis, it’s not easy but not impossible either.

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Rather let’s normalize living relationships, pre-marital sex & adoption. We cannot get away ceasing responsibility on the pretext of “taboo”. Like it is us who have created the taboo, haven’t we?

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To be true, 25 is the appropriate age, generally, youngsters have secured some degree and expertise by then. I mean yes there is surely the aspect of free choice of a legal adult, but as a woman, I wouldn’t want a young girl to be married off early to a man she knows not much, only to be mocked off for her ‘Less education’, in her in-laws’ house, I mean come on, it’s a harsh reality but it’s a fact, we Indians haven’t got over our quest for an educated slave yet. Also, have we fixed our dowry problem?

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Thus, the decision if analyzed from the angle of “More can be done and needs to be done” then the logic stands valid. Therefore, if you ask me if it’s a good or bad decision, then it’s a good decision, for it’s fundamentally against the concept of child marriages. Since the age limit is raised now hopefully parents would commence marriage only at that age limit. It’s only a stepping stone to achieve the much-needed inclusivity that we need in India today. We need another law too that says that all marriages that have happened before 18 are illegal, because the existing law that is there, maintains that child marriages are voidable but not completely void.

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We need to work on the structure of the hierarchy. It’s an overly layered issue not to be solved by one plain law for sure but should be, however, deemed as a good start. Am no expert, but as someone who has observed many failed marriages in a social circle, this is just my opinion.
Then endorsing a ridiculous idea like marriage which is practically speaking nothing more or less than a legalized & socially acceptable form of procreation, we should work in correcting our narrow-minded approaches towards consensual living & adoption.

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Next, same-sex couple recognition. Only if so much outrage & discussion would have been to legalize their marital union. Ever thought, how they feel, when they receive a marriage invitation?
Perhaps, even the inclusion of non-savarna women priests in that “sacred” ritual called marriage is necessary. But then we are a doomed country perhaps, a kakistocracy.
Criminalize marital rape, we can discuss your utopian marriage idea later.
Electing the government & beginning an untrained & tough journey like marriage can’t be compared. Dear men, please refrain from your unrealistic analogies. You are not forced to make the uterus a built-in stove.

Time for us to decide if we would want our daughters to return home in coffins, or stop endorsing the so-called “sacred” institution of marriage. But then, why does she need to study so much? Well, to be privileged enough to divorce.

I recently came across this debate in YouTube, on the topic whether, secularism is essential to democracy or not, where the opposition justified it’s stance on the grounds, that historically theocratic states have been the most successful and the proposition ‘defended’ it saying, that while it is understandable that the concept of secularism does make life more complicated, but considering we are not a monarchy, it is rather unfortunate that we cannot be a theocracy anymore.

I mean, I do not know whether I should laugh or maintain a rather condemnable silence hearing this argument. And this was aired in NDTV. No, am not surprised, you too please don’t be for this is where we have reduced ourselves to, both as a country and a civilization.

You see secularism in the Indian context is denounced on three grounds, firstly, on the foreign origin of the word, secondly, the applicapability of the term and thirdly, the way secularism has paved it’s way through the dubious journey of politics.

Now the common argument given against the necessity of secularism, is that the term ‘secularism’ is not responsible for our growth as a plural nation. This addition of the term secularism with it’s laiden western input is deemed unessential, as India is at the end of the day, a ‘Dharmic’ nation, and the term Dharm isn’t synonymous to bigotry.
Now while that isn’t untrue, but it is, however, the idealistic interpretation of “Dharm”, ignoring the disadvantages of a theocratic state and it’s possible falliability as a form of government.  Reason being so, is firstly, if India were a theocracy today, it would be the Hindu religion considered as the state religion. But is India a hindu country? Is it only Hinduism, that has had a long journey of it’s own through various reformation, culture exchange in the land? Have the other religions, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism not have had a journey? When you talk of the Kedarnath, Kashi, how can you forget Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Hazhartal Shrine?

Most importantly who is to define Dharm? What is Dharm? We require to understand Justice and Morality are relative terms, and cannot be absolute in its sense.

Hinduism indeed has dominated a larger portion of Indian mythology, but that same mythology has also the mention of the entitlement of Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ coming to India, Waheguru, preaching humble doctrines of Sikhism, and even the discovery of a new sect called Sufism during the Bhakti period. We cannot justify the need of religious domination, out of our ignorance. Did children of Jesus and Allah also not receive innumerable mercy and miracles in India?

This brings us to the question – which religion is appropriate to be put in the pedestal? Is there an answer to this? Why should members belonging to other religions (whom we deem as minority) be treated as second class citizens?
During the independence struggle people across religions were part of it.

Kazi Nazrul Islam, an atheist, wrote innumerable albums of Shyama Sangeet. When these Indians at a time, when the world was not living in a much socially progressive condition, could choose to consciously overlook religion, why can we not today?

The very scriptures that we today boost about, without having actually read them, speaks of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” meaning the world is a family. Thereby, promoting the concept of inter-nationalism it makes it clear, that the dream of Akhand Bharat (Ram Rajya) is not only falliable but a dishonour to the very essence of Hinduism that is, universal tolerance regardless of geography and religious faith.

Hinduism is often said to be not a religion but ‘a culture’, with the name of the initial Aryan religion being referred as Sanatan Dharm. So what does this word Sanatan mean, it means infinite, something that neither has a beginning nor an ending, thus, Hinduism can anyway not be having any existential threat at all, at first place. If something is indeed under “khatra” (danger) then that is our own moral conscious.

In the 21st century with countries across the world discussing globalization, we as the largest democracy cannot be debating on which religion has the larger share of contribution in history.

See there are two versions of secularism. With one being an Indian version of secularism, as India as a great civilization which goes back to the dawn of time, and the other being the modern version of secularism with western connotation added to it.
The framers of the Indian constitution, had a lot of conflicts amongst themselves regarding this, reason being the rigid separation of the church and the state was not applicable in the Indian context, for the functioning of a democracy, which is multi-cultural , multi-religious and plural. Therefore, the default definition of secularism, stood as “respect for all faiths”. Now you may give it a label- secularism , or anything else you wish to, but we certainly cannot and must not cease away the idea behind it.

However, we forget and/or fail to realize, that by limiting the definition of secularism to simply “respect for all faiths”, we are not defining anything different than a common principle of a particular religion. This is something we have heard in every scripture be it of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam etc:. What we as citizens of modern democracy (being the majority) need to realize that as a country we are not doing any favour upon any community, by letting them ‘exist’ in harmony.
It is the primary and fundamental responsibility of the government to see it’s citizens as citizens and not as an Indian Muslim, or Indian Hindu. As humans, it should be part of our subconscious nature to respect all faiths, (even if it has not a religious connotation).
Have we degraded so much as a civilization that we have forgotten to differentiate between what is normal and what is not, or at least should be!?

Years back, when Mrs.Indira Gandhi had visited the Indian parliament for the 46th amendment, L.M. Singoi, a noted jurist and parliamentarian went to her and said that in the Indian context, you cannot use the word “Dharm Neerpeksh” because you cannot do without religion; so it has to be ‘Panch Neerpeksh” in other words you are not favouring any one religion, but you must respect all religions.

So there is a constitutional obligation, there is an Indian context, there is a civilizational history and above all a moral obligation. Thus, secularism in the Indian context agrees that respect for different faiths is inherent in the foundational aspects of religion, if not the vital separation of the state from religious affairs.

For example, in Hinduism there is
“ इंद्राम मित्रं वरुणमग्निमाहुरथो स दिव्यो सुपर्णो गरुत्मान्र ।
एकं सद्विप्र: बहुधा वदनित अग्निम यमाम मातरिश्वानमाहु: ।। “
(Truth is one, wise interpret it in many ways.) - Rigveda

The very concept of religion is absent in Vedic literature, so there is no mention of ‘religion‘ in any Vedic scripture, instead, the difference in various philosophies and thought processes is highlighted in them.
So for a faith, that doesn’t (in the textual sense) acknowledges the presence of a Hindu ethnicity and/or civilization, perhaps, the presence of the concept of religion, it is rather laughable as to how we have framed it, over the centuries of socio-religious strives.

Nevertheless, man is a spiritual being. He cannot live or possibly exist without any interaction or acquaintance with religion, in complete denial of a supernatural cosmic presence. This is the human nature, that has been nourished and shaped over millennia.
We can say “ohh you see, it doesn’t matter, religion doesn’t exist”, no it does, and refusing to acknowledge that, is like living in a paradoxical world of delusions. It does exist; it’s presence is not for us to control, but it’s prevalence is upto us.

The answer, lies in the conscious choice of humankind to wilfully rise above religion. Utopia connotation, is simply an excuse, often used, to ignore our roles and responsibilities, as sapiens of humankind, if not citizens of a state.

This comes from an innate tendency to dominate everyone possible, who is in some way inferior to us. All of us are in a search of an opportunity to oppress someone less privileged then us. For, social hierarchy is nothing but a food chain of predators.
This trait is coming from a deeper human anxiety of ‘who am I‘(from our individual personal insecurities) !? Fear is only a distraction, from the truth, and magic nothing less than a ploy.

Thus, in a time when insensate right wing populists are busy debating on religion, it lies on us, whether we choose to subscribe to hate or whether we decide to convert ourselves from sheeplians to civilians, for ours is not a democracy but a viscous circus.

With a powerful leader like Narendra Modi at the helm of Indian democracy, my last words belong to B.R. Ambedkar. Speaking at the concluding session of the constituent assembly on November 24, 1949, the lawmaker invoked John Stuart Mill to warn citizens against placing their liberties at the feet of a great leader. Indians, he said, were particularly susceptible to Bhakti (or devotion) This was fine in religion, but in politics it is “a sure road to degradation and eventual dictatorship”.

The latest clampdown in Kashmir by the Indian government that started on August 5, 2019, completes 500 days today, with life far from normal for 12.5 million Kashmiris.

The controversial move to withdraw Kashmir’s special legal status fulfilled a longstanding goal of Narendra Modi to yoke the disputed northern territory more closely to the rest of India.

How the BJP government has changed the status of Jammu and Kashmir by rendering Article 370 ineffective and bifurcating the state is revealing its true character. This is a state for whom the only currency that matters is raw power. This is a state whose psychological principle is fear. This is a state that will make ordinary citizens cannon fodder for its warped nationalist pretensions.

Nevertheless, life remains hard in occupied Kashmir, with hundreds of checkpoints still in place and internet coverage patchy and slow. Kashmir is being destroyed. There is severe destruction in Kashmir. Intolerance which is a parasite has been acting as a catapulting edifice.
Officially intended for the ‘protection’ of lives but designed to instill fear and submission, the siege has choked not just the freedom of expression, communication, and association but also the economy. No aspect of daily life remains unaffected.

Tourist arrivals in Kashmir fell after the Centre abolished its semi-autonomous status on August 5, 2019, and followed this with a communication clampdown in anticipation of unrest.

Prisoners in Kashmir have been subjected to abuse and torture, including “water-boarding, sleep deprivation, and sexualized torture”, according to a report by two rights bodies, till today.

Security operations against Kashmiri fighters have accelerated, putting 2020 on course to be one of the bloodiest years for some time. According to a rights group report in July, Kashmir had seen at least 229 killings during more than 100 military operations since January. It also saw the destruction of 48 structures, the report by the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society said.

Residents of remote villages in Jammu, populated mostly by Dalit families, alleging that their children are not receiving any mid-day meal since the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed.

A striking growth in anemia among small children has been reported in the NFHS data, from 53.8% (figures as per the last survey conducted by NFHS 4) to 72.7% in Jammu and Kashmir; and from 91.4% to 92.5% in Ladakh.

There is also an increase in underweight and wasting (low height for weight) among young children. Children under 5 years who are wasted has increased from 12.2 to 19% in Kashmir. Wasting in children is caused by acute food shortages. There has also been an increase in underweight children in both regions.

A week back, a Kashmiri man with $120,000 in debt advertised his kidney for sale, calling it an ordinary thing. “I would not have faced this load had Kashmir not been shut for a year. I would have done something.”, we’re his concluding comments.

With regards to health, hard data is difficult to come by, but local medical professionals say they are seeing a rise in suicides and an increase in already disturbingly high rates of domestic abuse.

According to medical professionals, the coronavirus lockdown has worsened the situation in Kashmir.
Police officers block roads with coils of glistening concertina wire. Any residents who step out of their homes, especially in Kashmir’s towns and cities, risk getting beaten up. Health experts say that the continued presence of extra troops on the streets of the world’s most militarized zone and mass arrests of civilians has led to an increase in trauma and anxiety, particularly among women and children.

Imagine the family of a person whose loved one has either been killed or detained or the families whose houses get damaged or entirely burnt down during the militant-military encounters.
Nearly 1.8 million Kashmiris, or nearly half of all adults, have some form of mental disorder, Doctors Without Borders estimated after surveying 5,600 households in 2015. Nine of 10 have experienced conflict-related traumas. The figures are much higher than in India, according to other surveys.

“In any conflict, women are more likely to suffer from mental health trauma,” said Dr. Arif Magribi Khan, a renowned physiatrist based in Srinagar whose women patients mostly suffer from PTSD. “It is always the women who are more likely to be on the receiving end.”

Security forces have also, cut off roads, shut down landlines, cellphone lines, and arrested thousands of Kashmiris, from students to top elected officials. Some have been released, but many remain in jail.

India shuts off the Internet more than any other democracy in the world, and the government has been turning to the tactic more regularly in recent years. It’s the longest internet blackout in history that has been shamelessly justified by the pretext of the court’s argument that Internet access is not a fundamental right.
many Kashmiris, who used social media to socialize because it was dangerous to hang out in the streets, now feel completely isolated. Children have remained out of school for months. Because of the military crackdown and then the coronavirus lockdown, students have been in school only a few weeks. Though some phone and internet services have been restored, they remain nothing close to pre-crackdown levels.

Doctors say the Internet restrictions are having a negative effect on public health, too, as they must rely on slow 2G connections to download the latest medical studies and advice. “Because of COVID-19, everything is about new research,” says one doctor in a district hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because doctors have been threatened with jail time for speaking to journalists.

Even a simple file like a 10-page PDF document can take hours to download, the doctor says. “It’s very difficult if you want to access new research.” Doctors say they now rely heavily on messages forwarded by colleagues through WhatsApp for information on the virus. There, misinformation is rife, making it hard for them to know which messages are reliable and which are not.

Doctors are also unable to join live webinars, which have become a helpful tool for research professors in labs to share the latest information on the virus with doctors working on the front lines. “You cannot join them because of the low Internet speed,” says Dr. Suhail Naik, President of the Doctors Association of Kashmir. “Right now our hospitals are functioning normally, but if the crisis deepens, we don’t know if we can handle it.”

Over a period of time, the Kashmiri resistance movement has seemingly undergone a substantial transformation. The Kashmiri youth is the pivot of this movement. Holding street protests is a common activity, and social media is their most powerful weapon. Therefore, in addition to clamping a curfew, media blackout and suspension of mobile and internet services for varying periods are essentially part of the Indian strategy to impose a lockdown in Kashmir.
Kashmir’s new generation, long accustomed to violence and bloodshed, is the hardest hit.

At times, the authorities also resorted to intimidation. Reporters were detained without reason with a deliberate attempt to suppress the press.

The world will not care about what India does in Kashmir. That seemed to be the key assumption of the Narendra Modi government (and its supporters) when it set out to change Kashmir’s special status and impose a communications blockade on the Valley. The belief was that India’s stature as a big market for weapons, goods, and services would elicit no more than murmurs abroad – contracts always trounce ethics in a Realist universe, we are often told.

The hyperbole elites who supported the government’s move in the year 2019 in the name of national interest must realize now that India is beyond demographics, it’s an ideology, but it has been pillaged.

Azad Kashmir is a paradise of utopian dreams. This is not just a statement but a stiff truth. Our ignorance of hiding from this truth for the sake of pseudo-nationalism is the fundamental root cause of totalitarian destruction.

The populism latching on to the politics of winners and losers is to mobilize psychically potent resentments & anger against the “outsiders” responsible for the pain of the “people”.While the true terrorists of democracy are the ones heading the country. People believe this was revenge for what happened with the Kashmiri pandits, but no, this was just state-sponsored persecution of the idea of India, just to establish the intensity of the authority the government of India holds.

With minorities been attacked, communalism increased, lynchings genocides normalized India is paying the price of hatred.