Akbar Jan Marwat
AFTER a roaring election victory in 2019, the Modi-led BJP government seems to be following policies which are likely to produce disastrous consequences for India too. Soon after coming to power for the second time, Modi’s government took the step of revoking the special status of the Muslim majority region of Kashmir in August last year. This move was followed by the amendment to the citizenship act, which has been protested by hundreds of thousands of citizens by coming out in the streets. Such moves spearheaded by Modi threaten to undermine the very foundation of secularism, which has been enshrined in Indian Constitution, and has till date served as the glue which has kept a multi-ethnic, multi-religions and multi-cultural country like India together.
Let’s examine in some detail the various policies of Modi-led BJP, which may actually be dragging India into chaos from its position of stability. From anti-Muslim rhetoric to the muzzling of the free press and utter incompetence displayed in dealing with the tanking economy, Mr. Modi and his team seems to be leading India towards a precipice. This communal approach followed by PM Modi and his cohorts are alienating not only Muslims but all other smaller nationalities and lower caste Hindus as well. On the eve of the last elections, Modi and his party had promised 20 million new jobs along with major development in the infrastructure of India. Both these promises seem to have fallen on the wayside. Official Indian surveys may look impressive, but ethentic impartial surveys show that the unemployment rate stands at more than 6.1 which is the highest in the last 45 years. During the botched demonetization policy of the government, more than 3.5 million people lost their jobs.
Nature has also not been kind to PM Modi in his second tenure. In spite of imposing a draconian lockdown for over five months, COVID cases have not come under control. As a matter of fact, these cases have sky-rocketed. Only yesterday India had more than 90,000 new COVID cases; while the figure of fatalities rose over 1000 per day. India is second only to the US in the number of Corona cases. According to epidemiologists India could soon overtake the US if the current rate of spread of new cases continues. The Indian government is criticized severely, for mishandling the Corona pandemic and for not announcing any substantial relief package for the vulnerable segments during the outbreak. The current economic outlook is quite gloomy also. The GDP growth has been cut by 23.9% for the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Although Modi supporters blame the outbreak of COVID for the financial crises, neutral experts believe that the economy was faltering before the outbreak of the pandemic. The growth rate fell from 8% in 2018 to mere 4.5% before the outbreak of the virus.
As mentioned earlier in the article, the biggest disservice that Modi and co are doing to India is by damaging its secular credentials. Secularism has historically acted like the social fabric which has kept a huge and diverse country like India together. The ruling elite is trying its best to demonize the minorities, by completely falsifying its history, and portraying that the minorities have done nothing for the progress of India. Besides minorities, secular and rational minded individuals are also being sidelined. Many rational and secular professionals and academics are being replaced by inferior communal minded individuals. Such individuals are responsible for creating communal frenzy that has led to the lynching of many Muslims, and individual of other communities and religions.
Some senior BJP leaders like Chief Minister of Uthar Pardesh Yogi Adityanath has publicly promised to’’ wage a religious war against Muslims.’’ The Modi led regime is also heavily involved in brow-beating and muzzling free media. RSS thugs unabashedly intimidate journalists and critics with an alternative narrative. Due to such high handedness, the World press Freedom Index ranks India 142 among 180 countries on press freedom. It is alleged that government advertisements are stopped to media houses who support Muslims. After the revocation of the special status to India-occupied Kashmir, the Citizenship Amendment Act is greatly threatening to damage the social harmony between various religious groups in India. Experts believe that strong public sentiments against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the organized oppression of minorities, will give a fillip to secessionist movements like the United Liberation Front of Assam and the Khalistan Movement.
In foreign policy domain also, Modi’s hegemonic policies have completely strained India’s relations with Pakistan and China, two of its bigger neighbours. Violation of Pakistan’s air space last year resulted in Pakistan’s shooting down of two Indian jets and the capture of one Indian pilot. Similarly a tiff with China occurred, when Indians decided to unilaterally make some infrastructure and roads in a disputed territory of Laddakh. The resultant Chinese retaliation led to a considerable loss of territory to the Chinese. In a similar confrontation with the Chinese, about 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in fist fights with the ‘non-weapons combat trained Chinese’. Overbearing foreign policy under Modi has also alienated traditional allies like Bangladesh and Nepal. Modi in his desire to be the regional hegemony has shed the traditional Indian policy of non-alignment which has served India in very good stead and has decided to be the main proxy of America in the region. This policy may not be free from some very dangerous pitfalls for India and the region.
—The writer, based in Islamabad, is a former Health Minister of KP.
