As India approaches her 77th independence
My country is approaching her 77th Independence Day soon, and I felt like sharing a few thoughts on the India I dreamt of while growing up in the streets of Thoothukudi. ‘Pearl City’ is the pseudonym of my hometown as the region flourished in pearl fishing under Pandya’s rule. The big seaside communities have always been trading communities, and as we see with many trading cities and communities, the city flourished with a diverse population, and it still does.
Growing up in such a vibrant town gave me the color of a secular India that I was learning in my civics books. I had nonbu kanjis, a porridge, from my Muslim friends for Ramzan and cakes from my neighbours for Christmas. We all set fire to crackers in Diwali in unison. The whole town celebrated Matha kovil thiruvila, an annual Festival of ‘Lady of Snows Basilica’. Festivals were the source of holidays for us and not a source of communal hatred.
When there was an accident in our family, my father’s Muslim friends were the first ones to help in whichever way possible. I hate to even type this, as they were just my dad’s friends and not Muslim friends. Even through my college years, my best friends came from all faiths, and we used to openly debate about each other faiths and the pending reforms in our faiths. We were beginning to see the problems embedded in religion and dared to break the rules set by our own faiths and communities. Some rebelled in secret and others in public. But most of us did.
The Saffron cloud approaches
Before I go further, I have to say that, India is HUGE. India’s size is almost equal to that of Europe, excluding Russia. Like Europe the continent, India the country, is rich with diverse languages, cultures, faiths, and unique problems. So I can only talk about MY INDIA and not about THE INDIA. This might be a narrow version of the developments and problems in my country. But I realise lately, that the problems are universal, not local.
During my schooling days, I had zero political awareness about my state, as I was always told not to ask questions about politics in public. Grassroot Politicians were equated to Thugs in my head. Thugs who were like charged explosives waiting to be detonated by my dumb political queries/comments. And in some sense, it was true.
Despite the talk of religious harmony in my hometown, caste tensions were always running high. I still remember vividly being questioned about my community at the age of 12, as I entered a street to visit my friend. So, I never wanted anything to do with politics. Politics was a disgusting thing that one should not indulge in was the message I got.
I started my college life in 2013, which coincided with the general elections. As a hopeful India voted for Mr Modi to destroy corruption and foster development, the hopeful I was beginning my college career with a bright, exciting future in mind. Honestly, when asked about the election results, the reaction was ‘Seems like an honest hard working guy came to power.” It wasn’t what you hear today. Chants like “India for Hindus” and “Vishwaguru” were not thrown around.
The challengers of the throne didn’t want to be associated with just Hindu ideals. Development and elimination of corruption were the focus of their campaigns. The Anna Hazare Movement did prick us youth, that something needs to be done about corruption in my country. Honestly, the feeling was not much of a shock but of hope.
Read this before you proceed
Before someone critically points out a mistake, this article was not written by some expert. This article is meant as a sorry to my brothers and sisters who we all collectively let down. As I am writing this sitting on a comfortable chair in Europe, where I have been working for the last year, I do feel ashamed about not staying in my country but strangely safe about being able to speak my mind.
Lately, I also realise that people migrate not because they lack love for their country. But it also might be due to a lack of opportunities, a lack of good work culture, lack of equality and rights in the professional workforce. Economists call it the alignment of incentives, which definitely needs improvement in our public and private institutions. Of course, money was one of the deciding factors in my move to Europe. But if my PM can feel for a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and Turkey, do allow me to share my feelings on my own country even if you consider me a hypocrite who’s not living there at the moment.
Even back in 2019, my political awareness was close to zero. In fact, I have never voted in any elections so far which I regret. I have failed terribly as a good citizen of my country, but does that mean I lose my right as an Indian citizen to question the reality late in life? In contemporary India, when objections are raised, my credentials are debated and questioned first. The next question bombarded at me would be ‘Suggest an alternative to the mentioned issues ’. As I already confessed, I am not an expert. My job can be just pointing out the hypocrisies and the motivated spewing of communal hatred in the country. I leave it to my brilliant politicians and bureaucrats in the system to find a solution.
Please dont waste your time reading further , if you don’t like to hear a political opinion from a nobody.
Pandemic hits
I want to touch upon the pandemic which introduced me the deceitful and two faced nature of my rulers. There is a great disparity in the economy of Indian states. When there is disparity, there is mobility. The rich states in the country employs a significant number of migrant workers from the developing states. This informal labour force of India was drastically affected due to poorly executed nation wide lockdown which was announced on a 4 hour notice.
I would like to highlight the big news that came from the center at that time to counter the migrant crisis,
“Indian Railways has subsidised 85% of train ticket fare” in support of the migrant workers. I was so relieved as a fellow citizen that if a person had to pay 100 rupees for a train ticket , they could just travel with 15 rupees. Until I realised that was not the case.
Do read the full story here. But to sum it up shortly,
The central government was already subsidising 53 percent of the train fare pre-covid.
Due to covid rules, 100 person capacity train, can only carry 33 due to social distancing.
Since the running cost of the trains remained constant, the traveller actually had to pay more than the normal fare. 108 rupees precisely.
So why was the government making bold claims that were half true and misleading, when a poor daily wager wanted answers for simple questions. Image management is the answer. These misleading stats are not isolated mistakes but deliberate misinformation. This is the contemporary India we are dealing with at the moment.
Parallely, Rumors were being spread that COVID was a Muslim conspiracy. Videos were being circulated that don’t buy from Muslim meat shops or Muslim-run restaurants, alleging that food was contaminated with their spit. I was laughing at the news, thinking ‘Surely no one believes this’. My answers came when the innocent public happily accepted the invite from my PM to clap for the frontline workers without having a inch of worry about these incompetence and targeted hatred visible in reality. What I saw was not a show of solidarity but a show of entertainment by bored people. At the same time, a panipuri stall owner in Tamilnadu must have been wondering how to get back to their hometown located on the other side of the country.
Kristallnacht and Manipur
I was reading the accounts of multiple holocaust survivors describing the terrible events of Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass. Early reports confirmed 91 Jews had been murdered, and 267 synagogues were destroyed in Nazi Germany. But the final estimated death toll rose up to 638. Kristallnacht happened in 1938 and gave an early teaser for the upcoming havoc on Jewish people. This event sparked international outrage against the Nazis which also in turn became the seed for the upcoming war.
Early reports from Manipur suggest that 131 Kukis and 62 Meiteis have lost their lives. People would claim that the chaos in Manipur is because of an ethnic conflict, not a religious one. This is not the entire doing of the ruling regime as the conflicts are unique in Manipur, a hill state. But this government and the system never wants to suppress violence if it wipes out their enemies in the process. This carefree attitude is disgusting and shameful and it is done with the power given by innocent well meaning Indians. We are dealing with a PM who never gives a press conference, so he can conveniently remain silent on controversial topics. Maybe they did have ethnic conflicts and mutual destruction for years, but this intertwining of Hindutva elements might have finally tipped them over into a civil war-like situation.
As scholar Parakala Prabhakar says, the problems started when the party started deciding who was a true Hindu or a true Indian. These so-called decisions directly undermine the Constitution. First, they came into power with the promise of development and not Hindutva. Later, they appropriated all the Hindu chants and spiritual leaders as their own. They literally highjacked Jai shree ram, a war cry in Ramayana, now merely reduced to a gaslight trigger.
Now the Indian military, Indian scientific achievements and the whole idea of India are being highjacked as a party’s political will, which is shameful. I am not a big political commentator, but it would be heartwarming for me if my PM comes on television and say ‘If a finger is laid on a Muslim or a Christian or any other faith based on religious discrimination, it is a blatant threatening the idea of secular India and a violation of its constitution’.
On the flip side, to actually quote my leader, ‘Hinduism not a religion but a way of life’. But this was not always the case, as the prime ministerial candidate said, “Fight poverty , not each other” back in 2013. To summarise, the current rulers have smuggled themselves into power with false promises of development, whilst they were always only interested in making India a Hindu nation. I just wish they were honest about their agenda from the beginning.
Can religion unite people in India?
India has been a brutal country in the past. Some reasons could have been warring factions, border disputes, conflicting ideals and whatnot. But the prime reason might be casteism. What happens if you ignore or revolt against Caste in India? VIOLENCE. Violent demonstrations are constantly required to enforce this fake social contract called caste. Casteism is also the result of the Hindu hierarchical system with Lord Brahma sitting at the top. Again Hinduism might be a vast and profound philosophy that needs reforms and a better understanding. But leaders have partially interpreted this in sophisticated ways to use it as a propaganda tool.
But the biggest problem with the current regime is their conversion of Mythology into History and History into Mythology.
Leaders can get away with making historically false, communally gaslighting statements. Churches were burnt in manipur while mosques are being demolished in the country based on alleged claims of some hindu temple existing on the same spot centuries ago. There are dedicated Whatsapp universities to spread fake news to further their agenda. Whatsapp universities are not just limited to the current regime but also to several Caste organisations. Fake news also played a big part in the Manipur violence.
Hindu communities have always been vastly diverse people. Rural Hindus in Tamilnadu follow different rituals than the ones in West Bengal. One more unique problem of Hinduism might be that its followers sometimes don't agree with each other. Dominant castes can hate each other and also oppress Dalits(who sit at the bottom of the caste system chain), while all the mentioned groups still being under the Hindu umbrella. While in theory uniting the aforementioned communities should reduce violence, the reality is a stark contrast.
When the Hindu Rashtra empowers these Dominant castes with absolute power, we not only see a rise in the violence against Muslims but there is a terrible increase in violence against the Dalits. Again the PM or Home minister’s silence on these issues is heartbreaking. This religious appropriation of indigenous ritualistic customs by people sitting in Delhi who never made any effort to understand local culture and language, tells us what a narrow vision is put forth by the High command at Delhi.
Learning from the Brits
While my prime minister defends my country’s democratic values on the international stage, he cites Mahabharata to reiterate that democratic values always exist in the country. Maybe it is true. But what is evident is that the party definitely knows history better than us, since they have learned the power of divide and conquer which they can do better than their past colonial oppressors.
Backed with the best statisticians and shrewd economists, the equation becomes simple. You need the majority votes to stay in power. If not, you can always buy the leaders. Anyways to get to that mark, if you split the electorate on religious grounds, the Hindu majority in many areas always sums up to more than the rest of the electorate combined. So the trick is to unite the Hindu majority votes and divide the rest of the votes. This is blatant majority appeasement and not upholding dharmic values and whatnot. I would even say that if India was filled with Sikhs on a multiverse, BJP would have been singing the praises of the Sikhs and not Hindus.
My evidence for the last claim is from their conveniently changing goalposts on different parts of the country under the same supreme leader. Beef is banned on 9 days of Navaratri even in Muslim-dominant neighbourhoods of UP, while there is no problem with beef eating in Meghalaya. The Taj Mahal picture was used, as the government has no problem monetizing the tourism revenues from an Indian monument built by Shah Jahan.
Not just on the religious front but also with their sensible economic policies. During elections, petrol prices miraculously come down despite the increasing international oil price, while between the elections, the increasing fuel prices are not blamed on the lacklustre economy but on the inflated oil market. Indirect taxes, which every citizen has to pay, have risen from 41% in 2009 to 53% in 2023. On the other hand, corporate taxes have reduced from 50% in 1991 to 30%. Reduction in corporate taxes is seen across the world, but one needs to understand corporate support plus Hindutva is a deadly combination.
Maybe every ruling party does these stunts, but the difference in contemporary India is that any rules or laws apply only to the citizens and not the government. Questions go unanswered and the ones who dissent can be arrested. While the party is riding this wave on the majority appeasement however long that it is, History will treat them very harshly.
Development cannot come at the cost of exclusion and barbaric foundations
People casually ignore and forget the communal lynchings(the word was popularized by a party that wanted to target cattle rearers), as if it should be tolerated in the world’s most young and promising democracy. Should we accept development that is built on top of hatred, lies and deception? I see a huge number of people also commenting on the problems and impending reforms in Islam like rights to women and equality. My counterargument would be,
I know my door is broken. But when my house is burning, I cannot repair my broken door. Nevertheless, it is still my HOUSE
As I mentioned earlier, my well-meaning, good-intentioned friends, who were very candid to discuss reforms with me, are scared because of this US VS THEM narrative. Muslims, even non-believing forward-thinking ones, are forced to defend their faith and prove their patriotism. Because it’s Us vs. Them. They might strongly believe, this is the time to stand united against this bothering hindutva monster and not to discuss reforms. That I believe is the prime reason for the lack of trust in any bill put forth by the current regime in the parliament.
State of Democracy in India
India is known on the global stage as one of the largest, young and vibrant democracies. But I would like to clarify what sort of democracy we have become.
India is a democracy which can be bought with money
India is a democracy with the most of the internet bans
India is a democracy where journalists can be detained without trial
The skewed interpretation of democracy in contemporary India is that people elect politicians and it’s finally the people who are to blame for the wrongdoings. Well, it is not entirely true. Institutions, Opposition parties and responsible media outlets are the watchdogs of any democracy. If anyone is more curious, I urge them to read the book “How democracies die”. These democratic institutions which are put in place to keep the ruling powers in check are systematically captured or consciously eroded.
One of the prime reasons some Manipuris are opposing the president’s rule is because of the autocratic handling of conflicts in Kashmir. Native Kashmiris are portrayed as foreign agents and the rest of the country can never understand the situation better, as voices are suppressed, journalists are arrested, and the communication lines have been severed due to the frequent and extended periods of internet bans. Manipur experienced 73 days of Internet ban already while there is a dedicated Wikipedia page cataloguing the various kinds of censorship in Kashmir.
The so-far defiant South
The place Thoothukudi that I mentioned earlier is almost located in the southernmost tip of India. So let me give you a Southerner’s view. The five States in South India share many similarities with the rest of India: Culturally rich, pretty friendly people, Amazing wildlife, Tasty dosas and Biriyanis etc. But the major difference in the South vs North debate is the Language.
South Indian languages belong to a Dravidian branch of languages which are drastically different from the languages in the Hindi Belt. India was divided into states based on the languages. 14 states emerged post-independence, which meant at least 14 languages dominated in their own states. Presently India has 29 states, but central and north India is dominated majorly by Hindi.
Was the language extinction a natural end or was it a deliberate dismantling of cultural roots?
Northern languages were stemming from the same roots as Hindi, which meant people could natively understand Hindi a bit better than us Southerners. Thankfully our southern leaders, for whatever reasoning at the time, foresaw the Hindi language imposition from center (which still continues) as a grave danger to the native culture and revolted with fervour.
This revolting nature is still seen in the south, where Karnataka and Tamilnadu can disagree on sharing drinking water, and they almost always agree on keeping the native languages and culture safe. Center twists this strong native feeling to protect our language as ‘the want of the south to be a separatist state’. This strong revolting nature has kept some of us awake and not be mesmerized by the demagogue’s fancy speeches in Hindi, which we hardly understand anyways.
Final warning signs
I never imagined I would see “India is a Hindu country” proudly uttered by leaders on big stages in my country. I thought the system put people in jail for this. What it also shows is the slow capture and decay of democratic pillars like courts and Media. For all the Hindus who consider Muslims as the source of all problems, I have one thing to say. Imagine a multiverse, where there are no Muslims in India. I have to speculate here. The next question every Indian citizen might have to answer would be:
“Are you from X caste? No?”
“Do you speak Hindi ? No? Then I don’t have to listen to your arguments, since you are not a true Indian”
which can even evolve into
“Do you disagree with me ? Then you are not an Indian”.
Be aware of the emotions you have to go through if you are on the wrong side of their division. But remember this. Since they need 50%+1 vote share, there will be division in the future. Hence my final thoughts would be
Try best not to get caught behind enemy lines which might get drawn in your own doorstep.
