In 2014, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power in India, at the heels of its agenda of ‘Vikas’ and demolition of nepotism in politics. The central idea to the leadership of this alliance was that the supreme leader (to be) did not have any familial allegiances and hence was capable of putting the nation first – a fresh change, which the citizens were seeking from dynasty politics that had sucked a lot of their wealth through corruption scandals.

In 2016, Donald Trump became the US President, defeating Hillary Clinton in what became a total mockery of the opinion polls. Election forecasters had put Clinton’s chance of winning at anywhere from 70% to as high as 99% (reference 1). However, if we see those results as a background to the current political climate in the United State, we will realize that the deep-seated misogyny, an (intended) irreversible attack on refugee rights, the rise of white supremacy, and the perils of the Second Amendment had only been laying silent in the fringes until then. They have now become mainstream. It was one of the very ill-predicted and un-nuanced analysis of what has perhaps become a nightmare for immigrants and other marginalized communities trying to break through the heavyweight of white supremacy.

In 2017, Poland celebrated the National Independence Day with participants carrying banners that said, “Europe will be white or uninhabited.” Last year (2018), the celebration saw an (apparent) shift, with President Andrzej Duda making a move towards a more inclusive Poland, as he addressed that rally saying that, “there is space for everyone under our flags.” However, the government officials were separated from the crowd by police, while tens of thousands of people marched with banners carrying slogans like “White Europe” and “Clean Blood.”

In 2018, Jair Bolsonaro was elected as President of Brazil, leading the country into a fog of right-wing nationalism best described through Bolsonaro’s misogynist remarks and unwavering support of militarisation and torture. Bolsonaro offered hope for his voters, who claimed that he will change Brazil’s destiny, as congratulations came pouring in from Trump and Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, in his tweet (reference 2) that said, “Even in #Brazil the citizens have sent the left packing!”

In 2019, Narendra Modi got re-elected as the Prime Minister of India, when the NDA won 303 seats in Lok Sabha, trumping its own victory of 2014 – Modi’s only competition was indeed, Modi. Since then, the Lok Sabha has passed 36 bills in its first session after the 17th Lok Sabha elections – a record high since 1952. Amongst these, some of the key pieces of legislation were that of:

• The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill to criminalise the practice of triple talaq
• The Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 for the abrogation of Article 370
• The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which essentially transferred the power of appointment of Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners into the hands of the central government, which will now notify the term and salaries for these officials
• The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019, which empowered the government to designate individuals as terrorists on grounds stated in the Bill.

These legislations were both welcomed and criticised. Revoking the special status of Kashmir has been the most debated amongst these. While the Government promises a leap towards a 5-Trillion economy, this comes amidst tensions of the Unnao-rape case and the verdict in the case of Pehlu Khan. However, what could one make of the Parliament as its passing bills in the interest of national security and women empowerment, while its citizens have been clenched in the fists of misogyny, abuse of political power, and an upheld ecosystem of a hate crime?

The global far-right has assumed power with the promises of nation-building, uprooting corruption, solving the problem of the economy, and providing an answer to crime.

However, outside these patterns that all right-wing parties in power share, there also comes an underlying current of hate, abuse, and suppression of dissent in order to achieve an end – the means are being justified in the eyes of those who voted them to power, does anyone else’s opinion matter?

This is a question which many are asking, but no one is willing to answer. The global far-right also rejoices in its suppression of the Left, which it sees as a threat to its ever empowered system of capitalism. Beyond this emerges the universally binding unit of this power lust – appeal to a religion and its conservative stance on society and nation-building. Bolsonaro opposes homosexuality, as does the far-right Christian. NDA is building a Hindu identity for India, and despite what your fellow liberals or conservatives have to say about diversity and inclusion, their reactions to the Kashmir issue have laid it all bare. Moreover, the stripping away of reservation in spirit by the introduction of economic reservation, which goes against the Constitution, has proved to a pivotal trump card for the Modi-led government – a major foot forward for the anti-reservation lobby, also known as the upper-caste Hindus. The irony; however, lies in the fact that it is not the Constitution the far-right parties and followers wish to uphold to build the idea of one nation, but the colouring of that Constitution in their agenda and their perspective of nation-building – the very Constitution, which was put in place to give credibility to the Republic of India.

It is not the mind the global right-wing supporters and preachers need to open, but the heart. For wallowing (read, tears of joy) into the pages of an article that reads Removal of Article 370 will pave way for stability in Kashmir, and as such, while debunking all media reports except the one that suits the propaganda is not a matter of the mind. For choosing to ignore the fine print of the Triple Talaq Bill that indeed screams in your face, clamouring against its classification as a criminal offence, is not a matter of the mind. For refusing to see the wounded caste system holding its head high in the case of Dr Payal Tadvi’s suicide (read, murder) is not a matter of the mind. What started as an answer to corruption was never the solution corruption needed. It has always been a manifestation of the ideology that has been upheld in a casteist and fundamentalist society but too afraid to come out. Now, the leadership is fanning it. It is the purity that the caste system intends to achieve, hence the pressure on keeping each varna in its place by subjugating its people to a certain standard of living and a certain kind of occupation. It is this very purity that the right-wing also aims to achieve – of the religion and of the one nation, which is; however, laid on the foundation of suppressed voices of dissent and upheld idiosyncrasies of an angry mob.

Religion across the globe has been both under attack and upheld as the result of right-wing politics. When neoliberalism failed to offer the answer to the global economic crisis, right-wing stepped in as the solution (reference 3). For everyday voters frustrated with the scams of their ruling governments, leaders of the global far-right bought a ray of hope. That said, who cared about religion when all they wanted was a job? But now the tables have (been) turned such that those who were once pining for economic advancement choose to ignore the very policies making matters worse – demonetization was perhaps one of the biggest failures of the 2014-19 NDA government. There have been other failures as well, but the reason that this policy was predicted to be the one that could have brought the downfall of the NDA was that others were structural, and this was economic – a factual error that could be proved with evidence that would go unchallenged. However, all is lost on ears in which rings the music of propaganda.

Such was the silence that India witnessed on the eve of its 73rd Independence Day when the Sessions Court in Alwar declared that no one killed Pehlu Khan, despite the (now) acquitted having displayed their act online in a video recording. This video recording was circulated by them as a show of what they thought was nation-building and protection of their motherland – or what they call these days, cow vigilantism.

They say the end justifies the means. This end is perhaps a utopian state with its citizens being ensured human rights, economic stability, and appropriate safety nets necessary for their survival and to prevent a downward spiral into poverty. However, end for whom (?), is the question we need to ask. In this journey towards a 5-Trillion economy, will we lose the very diversity our school textbooks and tourism brochures speak of with pride? Will the few for whom this end has been curated achieve it and rejoice, stained in the blood of their neighbours? Or will this manufactured daily soap opera that Indian politics has become see the light of the day, and move towards an era of inclusive policy-making and freedom of speech? Will the world in general, and India in particular, have answers for the betrayal it has so willfully and skillfully subjected (some of) its citizens to? To those who do not know the answer, look around yourself. But before that, maybe, look into yourself.

References:

1. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/why-2016-election-polls-missed-their-mark/
2. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/28/jair-bolsonaro-wins-brazil-presidential-election
3. https://www.newsclick.in/Global-Shift-Right-Wing-Narendra-Modi-Netanyahu-Erdogan-Bolsonaro-Prabhat-Patnaik

Author – Ragni Nathani