Modi’s war

Narendra Modi’s record as prime minister points to an ardent desire to assume the role of a 21st century warrior destined to firmly establish Hindutva domination over India as well as the entire South Asian subcontinent.

Ruling out any effort of settling the Kashmir dispute by peaceful means, he has pursued a policy of brutal repression to bring the Kashmiris to their knees. But to the horror of so many, Modi has dramatically upped the ante by conjuring a war with Pakistan to win the upcoming general election in the month of May. The immediate result was a short air war but its effects and implications are profound.

Pakistan is still heading Modi’s list of enemies. However, there are significant additions like the opposition parties led by the Congress. Criticising the handling of the air strike by the opposition was tantamount to aiding the enemy, Modi fumed. “Their statements are helping Pakistan and harming India…I want to ask them: do you support our armed forces or suspect them”. These and similar acerbic remarks are of course delivered at election rallies, substantiating the opposition’s claim that the war was motivated by one simple motive: to win the upcoming war of the 2019 election.

The misadventure against Pakistan has drawn the world’s attention to the war Modi has been waging against the Kashmiri people, which has succeeded only in hardening their resolve to fight a brutal occupation that unleashes state terror against them day and night. As the elections drew nearer, Modi resorted to reckless and dangerous adventurism which has backfired as his motives are being widely questioned across India.

Serious allegations have been made by opposition leaders including the chief minister of West Bengal and members of the Indian civil society about Modi being responsible for the Pulwama attack by not trying to prevent the incident, despite knowing that a militant attack was about to take place. Mamata Banerjee said Modi had planned to take advantage of the attack by playing a game of war before the election.

Modi has also received a setback in the propaganda war he launched against Pakistan after the Pulwama attack. The international community that rushed to defuse the situation between the two feuding nuclear powers has taken note of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s emphasis on peace and dialogue in an explosive situation. These words are conspicuously missing from Modi’s narrative as he pushes the war rhetoric.

Interestingly, Indian diplomats led by Sushma Swaraj have shown sensitivity to the world reaction by hinting at de-escalation – something Modi has studiously avoided to support. He wants to contest the polls all guns blazing to ensure that the hatred against Pakistan is fully exploited to defeat the opposition whom he accuses of indirectly helping Pakistan by criticising his warrior tactics.

The BJP government’s false claims about the large number of casualties from the IAF’s strike have been ridiculed by Indian opposition, which has been asking for evidence. That has led to the ruling party’s spokespersons to refuse sharing of any operational details. Modi’s war is an extraordinary phenomenon where he and his acolytes want the Indian people and the world to accept their alternate facts.

Will Modi succeed in exploiting hyper-nationalism to prolong his erratic and pernicious rule over India? That is a question which can find a definitive answer only via the ballot box. Some hawks on this side contend that Modi’s rule is the best thing to happen for Pakistan because by pursuing divisive policies, he is most likely to wreck India’s national unity and singlehandedly harm India like no other politician. His declared animosity towards Pakistan and an avowed desire to break it up would enable the army here to complete plans for greater preparedness in the face of India’s aggressive designs.

An immediate consequence of the hostilities is the emergence of the Kashmiri struggle on the international agenda, leading to serious questions over India’s efforts to portray the situation in Kashmir as a problem of terrorism. In a forthright opinion piece, Arundhati Roy, one of India’s leading public intellectuals, has stated that by carrying out a reckless air strike on Balakot, and goading Pakistan into a counter-strike, Modi “has internationalized the Kashmir dispute” contrary to the Indian claim of Jammu & Kashmir being an internal matter. In Roy’s view, “the real war is in Kashmir which has been turned into a theatre of unspeakable violence and moral corrosion that can spin us into a nuclear war at any moment...to prevent that from happening, the conflict in Kashmir has to be addressed and resolved.

Modi’s coldblooded manipulation of the situation to demonise the opposition may have the opposite effect of mobilising the opposition’s voters and bringing an end to the most parochial, sectarian and racist regime in modern-day India. The BJP’s defeat would bring relief to all peace-loving Indians, the country’s minorities, neighbouring countries and the world at large that is shocked at his love for war as a hallmark of statecraft.

Modi’s rivals, such as Sushma Swaraj who only bowed to him after the BJP’s resounding victory in 2014, may rise in revolt. Sushma has announced her retirement from electoral politics unless the leadership wants her to contest in the coming election. There is speculation that if the BJP under Modi “slumps to under 180 Lok Sabha seats” in the next election, Sushma could be a potential prime ministerial candidate despite her not being a favourite of the RSS. Modi’s obsession with war before the election may have moved these prospects nearer to realisation.

Email: saeed.saeedk@gmail.com