Far, far right
There’s not much left to figure out, at least, about the Modi government’s anti-Muslim bias in general, and anti-Pakistan obsession in particular. For too long India has projected the image – rightly or wrongly – of a diverse society and polity; one where one particular current finds it difficult to find too many adherents through the length and breadth of the realm. But the sudden Hindutva outreach under Modi has stood this traditional understanding on its head. It seems, contrary to popular opinion, as if a large dormant extremist lobby was just waiting for the right administration in office to provide the right environment to break free.
Understandably, Shiv Sena and extremists of the like do not represent the more progressive pockets in India – and there are many. But the government’s delayed reaction to some recent extremist atrocities – particularly the mob lynching of a man accused wrongly of eating beef – ought to send alarm bells ringing in the international community. Silence is rightly taken as complicity in politics, especially concerning such incidents. And the situation is made worse by the credentials of India’s present prime minister, and the people he has chosen to surround himself with.
Fortunately, though, a stiff reaction from within India is finally forthcoming. Much of the English press has expressed regret, even embarrassment, at Shiv Sena’s recent rampage. And about 40 writers and poets have returned prestigious awards from the National Academy of Letters in a combined protest against what some have called “thuggish violence” that has become a recurring feature under the present right-leaning Modi government. Islamabad, too, has realised – though Nawaz took his time understanding – that Modi’s promises of trade and economics were misleading. New Delhi, for the moment, clearly puts advancing Hindu nationalist tendencies much higher on its priority list. That means Pakistan will no longer take the initiative in pursuing peace or commerce. And since India seems in no mood either, relations are likely to freeze for the foreseeable future. That, if anything, can be calculated definitively from India’s posturing.