Chaos season

August 29, 2023

While the Indians are jubilant on their moon landing, they may
be ignorant of the chaotic season coming up for them.

Next year, in April or May 2024, Indians will be going for Lok
Sabha elections. Indian Prime Minister Modi’s BJP is one of the
main contenders, hopeful of securing the highest mantle for the
third time. It has many contenders, notably the Indian National
Congress which in alliance with others can put up a tough
challenge for the Modi Sarkar.

Despite being upbeat about electoral success in the

forthcoming elections, the BJP has some seemingly
insurmountable anxiety. Its recent humiliating electoral defeat in
Karnataka has brought about a realization that the upcoming
state elections – especially in Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh
and Telangana – are likely to prove tough.

The reason campaigning for the upcoming elections may be so

chaotic lies in the roots of the torn social fabric India is currently
holding on to. India, since its independence, has always raised
the slogan of secularism with a fictitious aura that claimed the
country was home to diversity and multiplicity.

It has been fiercely advocated that the country is home to

people from all religions, caste and culture who live peacefully
under the same rule. However, the situation on the ground is
quite different. Especially during the last 10 years of BJP rule,
the country has been moving towards the emergence of an
ethnicity-centred landmass where minorities have no right to
live peacefully.
The atrocities perpetrated under BJP patronage against all
types of minorities have led to criticism from around the world.
Be it Muslims – especially Kashmiris – Dalits, Sikhs, Christians,
Buddhists or scheduled caste Hindus, none have been spared.
With the rise of social media, nothing can remain hidden now, at
least for a long time. Take the recent example of Manipur. It is
not merely the liberty of committing such abuse that the
perpetrators have been enjoying but the patronage that they
have had from the Modi government. It has been shameful for
Indians to witness the brutality inflicted upon two lower-caste
women who were paraded naked, publicly groped and then
gang-raped.

This terrible situation renewed and strengthened a longstanding

demand by the Kukis (a minority in the Indian state of Manipur):
a separate state. More upsetting is the response from the
central BJP government which was notably muted. PM Modi
maintained a more than two-month long public silence on the
conflict. He only condemned the episode of the two women, yet
did not address the broader conflict. The Kukis’ demands have
been akin to other minorities in India that have been fighting for
their rights and getting killed for a just cause.

Despite the apparent good graph of governance under the BJP,

there are many snags it is most likely to face in the state
elections. Indian society today is severely fragmented on the
issue of secularism. It is not only that minority communities are
deprived of their rights but that their very existence is at stake.
One can see this manifested in various episodes in the country
every now and then.

Muslims being lynched for ‘desecrating’ a cow has become a

normal feature in the country. Just a week or back, a viral video
showed a Muslim student being assaulted while in class at the
behest of a teacher. The incident has received widespread
condemnation from around the world. Now the minority
populace is terrified to even send their children to schools
where state-sponsored torture against their off-springs is in
place. This is simply depriving them of their right to education.

The BJP believes in Pakistan bashing; under the BJP,

victimization of Muslims in India has become a norm. Terror,
torture and fear are commonplace in today’s India. The societal
norms of the country today are marred with dismay and
distress. An air of mistrust has engulfed Indian society where
enmity and hatred are the new normal and polarization is at its
peak.

In such a situation, there is great likelihood that the upcoming

Indian general elections are going to be chaotic where people
will come out on the streets to fight each other instead of just
resorting to the ballot box. The Indian population is thus not
heading towards elections but also towards a dilemma of
survival.

The writer is a communication strategist at the Institute of

Regional Studies, Islamabad. She can be reached at:
reema.asim81@gmail.com