Capitalism, Carnage, Celebrity, and Contraction
So Modi and the BJP win again. Kill 2,000 Muslims and become Chief Minister. Hardly new. Kill 3,000 Sikhs and become Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs.
Reasons for Modi’s victory will soon flow: his cult of personality, the use of xenophobic propaganda against “jihadis” (Read: Muslims), the reaction against the anti-Modi media, slogans of development success and Gujarat’s economic boom in the last few years. While the majority in Gujarat will celebrate their victory, I am left wondering.
Does development trump human rights?
Modi is no longer a Gujarati politician. He is an international Indian star. Nowhere is his popularity as strong as that which he receives from the Patels and NRIs in America. While some assumed the Congress victory in 2004 was a turning point in the electorate, the sheer popularity of Modi’s brand of Hindutva has made him a national level politician. That Sonia Gandhi had to directly intervene to challenge Modi and then to fail will catapult Modi’s stock. He is Hindutva’s celebrity.
The Congress Party’s history and rhetoric offers few opportunities for ambitious political elites. In the new India it is Hindutva that represents the greatest possibility for change. Modi is this change. He is India.
Gurharpal Singh in his Ethnic Conflict in India: A Case-Study of Punjab made this same prediction eight years ago. He saw two possibilities of the Hindutva end game,
either towards a continental assertion of Hindutva or its contraction to the core.
Either the Hindutva agenda will reign supreme or the periphery regions (Kashmir, Punjab, Nagaland, Assam, etc.) that are not Hindu and can mobilize on non-Hindu icons and culture will look for another alternative.
10 Responses to “Capitalism, Carnage, Celebrity, and Contraction”
I completely agree with you that it is a shame that Modi was elected. He should be in jail. But there is another reason why many Gujaratis will never vote for Congress–because of how they were betrayed by Congress.
I find the acidity of your post troubling though. The 'Patels in America'? Nice (and I'm not even Gujarati). I also find it ridiculous that you're calling for further state separatism just because one state recently elected a BJP leader- I doubt this happened because voters were thinking 'Gee I love Modi for killing so many Muslims,' it probably did happen because of economic reforms (again, something that Congress failed at). Andhra Pradesh has a Christian Chief Minister, I don't hear anyone calling for religious-based state separatism there.
India is far from becoming a Hindu nation, especially with the advent of globalization and urbanization. The most that Hindutvadis can hope for is overturning the Constitution's 'secular' hypocrisy.
I completely agree with you that it is a shame that Modi was elected. He should be in jail. But there is another reason why many Gujaratis will never vote for Congress–because of how they were betrayed by Congress.
I find the acidity of your post troubling though. The ‘Patels in America’? Nice (and I’m not even Gujarati). I also find it ridiculous that you’re calling for further state separatism just because one state recently elected a BJP leader- I doubt this happened because voters were thinking ‘Gee I love Modi for killing so many Muslims,’ it probably did happen because of economic reforms (again, something that Congress failed at). Andhra Pradesh has a Christian Chief Minister, I don’t hear anyone calling for religious-based state separatism there.
India is far from becoming a Hindu nation, especially with the advent of globalization and urbanization. The most that Hindutvadis can hope for is overturning the Constitution’s ‘secular’ hypocrisy.
Sriverb,
I don't really see where Jodha was "calling for further state separatism" in his post. "Another alternative" is a broad assertion…it could easily include alternatives such as forming a coalition amongst these periphery regions where their interests overlap to gain greater bargaining power against the majority interests.
Sriverb,
I don’t really see where Jodha was “calling for further state separatism” in his post. “Another alternative” is a broad assertion…it could easily include alternatives such as forming a coalition amongst these periphery regions where their interests overlap to gain greater bargaining power against the majority interests.
Sriverb,
All political parties in India are corrupt. Congress, you are right has the longest history of corruption. But everyone knew about the charges against Modi and he won anyways. So either they said 'gee i love Modi for killing so many Muslims' or it just didn't matter.
Sriverb,
All political parties in India are corrupt. Congress, you are right has the longest history of corruption. But everyone knew about the charges against Modi and he won anyways. So either they said ‘gee i love Modi for killing so many Muslims’ or it just didn’t matter.
I would say it probably just didn't matter to them, at least not compared to how much worse Congress would be in terms of corruption and economic policies.
I would say it probably just didn’t matter to them, at least not compared to how much worse Congress would be in terms of corruption and economic policies.
I can't speak at all to what people were thinking in Gujarat, but it doesn't seem like there's much choice for voters. If voters in Gujarat feel any way like my grandparents do, then "the difference between voting Congress or BJP is the difference between being hung or being shot." To a certain extent, it almost seems like there is a necessary disconnect. There's actually a really interesting job market paper out right now on a similar topic: Economic Reform, Voting, and Local Political Intervention.
I do think, however, there's a really interesting conversation around how identity and disadvantage is leveraged in different Indian states. I could be mistaken, but it seems that in each state where there is true diversity (i.e. a large minority population, or several minority populations), there has also been conflict over resources, job/educational access, and/or communal violence. I often wonder to what extent these are identity concerns or how much of it is the parasitic opportunism of criminals like Modi who reframe conflict in terms of identity.
I can’t speak at all to what people were thinking in Gujarat, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much choice for voters. If voters in Gujarat feel any way like my grandparents do, then “the difference between voting Congress or BJP is the difference between being hung or being shot.” To a certain extent, it almost seems like there is a necessary disconnect. There’s actually a really interesting job market paper out right now on a similar topic: Economic Reform, Voting, and Local Political Intervention.
I do think, however, there’s a really interesting conversation around how identity and disadvantage is leveraged in different Indian states. I could be mistaken, but it seems that in each state where there is true diversity (i.e. a large minority population, or several minority populations), there has also been conflict over resources, job/educational access, and/or communal violence. I often wonder to what extent these are identity concerns or how much of it is the parasitic opportunism of criminals like Modi who reframe conflict in terms of identity.