Whitherwards Indian politics ?

Dr. Abdul Ruff 

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Indian polity could be surmised as a game of money and muscle with big business and media lords aided by the establishment playing the central role.

An exceptionally corrupt and incrementally fanatic nation like India is being controlled by multinational corporators and other national corporate  lords. 2G spectrum  etc  are just outward projections of deep rooted Indian crisis but there could be more serious  crimes hidden from  public eyes.  

Last few decades have seen the deadly nurturing of rampant  corrupt practices across this India terrocracy and occasionally randomly picking up  an isolated case to show that India is against corruption. 

The state protects all nefarious deeds by closing its eye on them just as it doe son crimes committed  against Muslims especially in occupied Jammu Kashmir.  In fact the state itself ignites crimes on Muslims.   

The regime and the corporate clusters use the media to promote their interests by keeping issues like terrorism, Pakistan, fundamentalism.  Hindutva forces swimming in politics have always aided an essentially anti-Muslim state very perfectly. 

The common people have no voice of their own. People just vote standing in long queues and then disappear from the scene totally for a full term as the vested interests, both national and regional. India, which permits unwittingly the rulers or "big masters" even to buy the representatives of State Legislative Assemblies and Parliament, is best example of how worst a democracy could be in modern world. The rich rule the country with help of self-interested politicians and bureaucrats and use the media to cover up the inadequacies and black spots. 

Basing on anti-Muslim propaganda for the destruction of the historic Babri Mosque and colonisation of Jammu and Kashmir, India, since 1497, created a strong 'Hindutva' lobby. It also created a domestic vote-bank political mode and a pro-Indian lobby across the globe. India never hesitates to utilise "right persons" in key positions in the country and, in assignments abroad, India has pursued its domestic as well as foreign goals. Indian politicians used Muslims as vote-bank material and the 'Hindutva' forces depicted Muslims as a threat to Hindu interests and terrorised them to be panicky about supporting Congress and the other "secular" parties. Indian big business, the media and the political class promote Hindu national interests while, at the same time, talking about democracy and secularism. 

Everything only fits into the Indian 'national interests' excluding Muslim interest. Indian leaders have remained insensitive to genuine concerns of Muslims who have become a mere vote bank material. 

One can interpret democracy any way one likes. In the recent trust vote in parliament, the ruling UPA combine "managed" to win after losing the support of the Left Front without gaining anything in real terms in return. The grand Indian strategy matches the US tactics of aggression and bullying nations that do not listen. Indians want Hindunisation and militarisation to muzzle weaker sections. By using "terrorism", India seems too eager to use the US to advance its "national interests". 

Since the end of cold war which gave rise to new equations, India has been trying hard to enter into partnership with the US and its ally in the Mideast, Israel. In the era of "terrorism", India has skillfully crafted the art of vote-bank politics to pursue its narrow interests at home and abroad. The Indian political parties have painted the Muslims as terrorism material to keep them under their thumps. The US offered India a free hand to crush Muslims in India in general and in Kashmir in particular. India has cleverly escaped the punishment for all its brutality and harassment of Muslims because the US, the global super power, lent its tacit support in tracking the "fundamentalists and terrorists" in and around India. India is in "strategic partnership" with the USA.

Hoping to garner some share in Gulf energy resources, when the USA manages to control them, as Moscow did last decade and failed, New Delhi has offered Washington its "help" in Afghanistan. By being in Afghanistan with the US India hopes to showcase its importance in the worst circumstances to undermine the interest of its neighbours. The media toeing the ruling dispensation, never hesitate to over-project the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

The secular parties who do not hesitate to woo the minorities for votes, ignores them after winning polls. Keeping them under severe pressure and strains has become the hallmark of Indian polity. Indian politicians have all the support of the state machinery to play vote-bank politics. Everything is calculated keeping the elections and vote-bank in the view. Ceaseless efforts are on to control everything in and around the country. India never backs victories in international forums. 

Cheap propaganda against Muslims is ceaseless all over India, including Jammu and Kashmir, whoever rules. When police arrests criminals in Hyderabad with significant Muslim populations, the arrested are produced before the courts, if at all, as "terrorists". These persons might not have anything to do with "terrorism" or even "fundamentalism". But then if all the members of a particular gang are Muslims, it is sufficient enough to cause ground to show them as "terrorists" for the arrests. Police colour them as a gang of Islamic terrorist gang to launch propaganda by the media that the gang targets are only Hindus. Media publishes awkward-looking photographs of the members of the gang. 

Later, investigation occasionally proves that the gang had nothing to do with "fundamentalist terrorism" and was only a group of professional criminals. But such propaganda creates bad reputation for the Muslims. Prison population of India includes a large number of people belonging to the religious minorities as well as the so-called Hindu low castes. 

The bulk of global media talk ill of those who do care to expose nefarious designs of countries like the US, Israel and India. Whatever these countries do is in the interest of "democracy"

Since terrorism and fundamentalism are invariably linked and related with only Islam and Muslims, branding them as Muslim-majority countries are always blamed for terrorism. cross-border-terrorist nations. As if, all the followers of other religions are innocent non-terrorists. For whatever happens anywhere in India, the neighbours are blamed.

Pakistan, a virulent anti-Communist cold war ally of Anglo-American imperialism in Afghanistan following its invasion by Soviet Union, often becomes a target.

One fails to understand why the Indian media so religiously and vehemently harps on anti-Islamism to the detriment of the Indian Muslims. India enjoys being the bully and the victim at the same time for which the establishment does not hesitate to invent stories to blame others for its domestic ills.

Rivalry and murder keep Indian politics going, fed by subconscious class antagonism, the worst of all antagonisms. The Congress and similar parties, representing the ruling class, prefer to talk about religious antagonism to divert public attention from issues of class antagonism and other causes of social tension. 

To divert the attention of the suffering Indian masses, the ruling class parties make propaganda to highlight and exploit communal issues reflecting crude anti-progressivism. For this, such parties, opposed to each other, do not hesitate to connive.

Cross-religious-murders are not uncommon in India. Not only revengeful murders occur between rival political parties, but they are common between parties having cooperation. In Bihar, Muslim landlords said that they are ready to support Ranveer Sena gang, organised by upper caste Hindu landlords and supported by Hindu fundamentalist BJP. Who kills whom? 

At times, these anti-progressive politicians, enjoying media support, do things out of an understanding that it is not possible to satisfy the people with secular politics. As they cannot divert the attention of the peasantry from farmers' suicides in Vidherba, Punjab and other regions in the name of secularism or religion. They talk about actual priority issues to keep their vote bank in tact. 

Era of terrorism and tracking the Islamic terrorists for securing the world has created insecurity for Muslims across the world, only in the USA, the UK or India. But in these countries, the situation has assumed a serious dimension. Kashmiris keep dying each day and no Kashmiri is sure, if he or she would survive the continuous security operations there.

When fence eats away the crop what security can one expect. No wonder common people become victims of terrorism, arson, looting, rapes and vandalism.

The Kashmiri women are being raped by the Indian terrorist military forces there with state protection and guidance, yet the India media just keep mum. Fascist security forces even rape Hindu tribal women in North Eastern states and they blame Pakistan for what they do here. Antagonism between Christian Empire America and Islamic Al-Qaeda is enough an example to prove that Christian fundamentalists are not in position to make alliance with Islamic fundamentalists against other religions. Though there are some Christian militant groups in north east India , there is no evidence to prove that Christian fundamentalist groups allied with Islamic fundamentalists. 

While Indian state bureaucrats are making propaganda against Islam, other religious minorities, or specific religions, how can the state defend secularism? Fundamentalists are seen in all religions. Along with religious antagonism, racial and class antagonisms are also seen. 

The Indian media project India as the only great nation surrounded by bad ones. The Hindu revivalist media in India is, intolerant of any criticism of Indian atrocities on Muslims in India and Kashmir. Indian media think democracy does not permit any criticism of India by Indians, especially by Muslims in the country where they are allowed only to suffer. Every thing is being monopolised in the country. 

The Indians are not at all bothered to ask the government to stop atrocities on and ill-treatments of Muslims. But when someone points out the wrongs, many get unnecessarily perturbed. 

Without themselves being secular, many Hindus want Muslims and other minorities to be secular. "Why you live in Hindustan, why don't you become Hindus or behave like Hindus by giving up Islamic way of life and thinking", they argue. And most of political Muslims oblige as far as possible. 

Many politicians and bureaucrats are also not secular or democratic. Self-proclaimed secular parties like Congress and SP are also not really secular parties.

Their political appendages Muslim League in Kerala and MIM in Hyderabad behave in strange manners, always supporting the Congress bandwagon and forgetting about Babri Mosque reconstruction issue to share power. Mosques are demolished. The Hindus also rejoice by hoisting flags on top of Mosques as it happened recently in Jammu aided by the security forces. 

Many in India feel proud that they could now successfully brand the defenseless Muslims as "terrorists". There is no denying the fact that Hindu fanaticism become stronger. Muslims are denied their due in jobs and higher education. Only time will show where exactly India will land with such strategy and tactics. 

The writer, a research scholar, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, can be reached at E-mail: