“One night I dreamt of a 20th century India led by C. Rajagopalachari, and I could not sleep again. Oh, the lost opportunity!”
As India stands on the crossroads yet again with the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in both the houses of the parliament, and the wide protests thereafter, one of the major feeling that overcomes me is loss. India currently is going to waste a good crisis to reshape its polity and present different options to the people.
I am confused and strikingly impressed by the execution and passing of the Modi-Shah government while passing these bills and at the same time I am more surprised and impressed by the amount and unity of protest that has flared up. This indicates a common message by the people of India that they broadly reject the CAA and the ensuing NRC.
Here, I feel there is no point in debating whether the ruling BJP is interested in a nationwide NRC or not. They are. That is the end of that debate. What I am more confused by the random and sudden use of the term fascism. I am no fan of the Modi government but the use of such terms loosely does make me wonder if the main faces of the anti-CAA protests are bestowing too much self importance. The passing of the CAB is NOT fascist. It was an election manifesto promise, passed in both the houses constitutionally. But the government has disgraced itself by the way police has been handling protests in various parts of the country. The liberal use of Sec 144, internet shutdowns and the brute force violence used by police forces is condemnable and shameful. But I still feel the equivalency with fascism and Hitler are not suitable.
TM Krishna, the renowned Carnatic singer and a cultural commentator I respect a lot, recently said that “the biggest problem of liberals in the country is creating a dominant narrative condescending of faith, religions and rituals.” Some protests also brought out slurs against “Hindutva” and how it will be ended soon. How can a protest oppose bigotry and be a living example of it is beyond me. T.M.Krishna appropriately talking at the third U.R. Ananthamurthy Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru he underlined the need for the overhaul of the liberal idea and the need to find root in Indian culture. I could not agree more.
My feelings for a cultural reset for the liberal side of politics are borne not out of the love for Modi-ism but rather the opposite. I am of the strong opinion that the left, liberal-left of this county is simply not Indian enough. The Hitler-Nazi-Mussolini connection and logic of the protest messaging strategically are only reaching the Instagram-Twitter savvy youth of the country.
What more, I heard some students sing Hindi translations of “Bella ciao”- Italian protest folk song that originated in the hardships of the mondina women, the paddy field workers in the late 19th century. My instant reaction was - “give me a f**king break”. How will this even resonate. Where is the good old, - “सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है, देखना है जोर कितना बाजु-कातिल में है?”
Do you want to find an opposition to Modi or not? 2024 has to be an election where the opposition finds an alternative and presents it to the same people who voted Modi to power. This kind of protest strategy borrowed from the histories of the west is simply does not seem an effective strategy to me. Where are the “Modi as Ravana”, “Modi as Kansa” narratives? Where are songs Hindi and Tamil songs describing the cruelty they feel. Where is the Indian-ness to which a common can subscribe to and feel they need to replace this government. The present strategy followed by the anti-BJP camps are simply of a side either not capable of understanding India well enough or simply refusing to seek acceptance of an India that overwhelmingly voted for Modi in 2014 and 2019.
The main strategy should be to win over Indians. A new liberal politics should subscribe to and hold dear values that large portions of Indians believe in: culture. I hope a new liberal polity made up of free market, free thought, small state, non interventionism, individualism arises out of India that is rooted in Indian culture. There are enough classical liberal heroes in Indian history and we are ripe for a modern, scientific, cultural, liberal, individualism loving India. Think Basavanna, think Kabir, think C. Rajagopalachari, think Minoo Masani, think Tagore, think Raja Ram Mohan Roy, think Gokhale, Sri Aurobindo, think U.R. Ananthamurthy, think Pratap Bhanu Mehta and many more.