Outrage exploded in certain quarters when the BJP issued the
Lootera poster featuring Manish Sisodia, the Deputy CM of Delhi. But the
outrage was not universal. In the past, tongues would have clucked, eyes rolled
and heads shaken in self-righteous disapproval of this new low in political
discourse. Trenchant editorials would have trashed such acts. But today, this
slur has been taken as a normal political tactic. Normalisation of slurs and
deployment of vituperation in politics has its roots in the absence of an
enlightened public opinion. Politicians have no respect for the law of the
land. They know they can get away with anything, thanks to the lumpen public
opinion and a subverted judiciary.
Let us not forget that it was during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s
Prime Ministership that Sonia Gandhi was first targeted for her Italian origin.
Sonia is vulnerable to this tirade – personally as well as politically –
because people in India are not educated enough to understand the agenda behind
this diabolic identity politics. They are not even aware of the fact that
Indians and part-Indians have held, and still holding, positions of power in
governments of different countries.
Rishi Sunak is not the first Indian origin Prime Minister of
a European country. That credit goes to Alfredo Nobre da Costa – of Goan origin
– who was Portugal’s Prime Minister in 1978. Not that there was no opposition
to their elections, but the voters preferred merit over mindless jingoism. Unlike
India, these countries do not lack in confidence and maturity.
Rajiv Gandhi’s widow has been maligned for her Italian
origin. The supposedly sanskari BJP politicians have unashamedly used epithets
like Jersey Cow, Hybrid Calf, etc. Such remorseless vituperation is not
reserved for the Nehru-Gandhi family alone. Anybody who differs with BJP,
especially Modi, gets the treatment. Even the suave Shashi Tharoor was not
spared. Modi described Tharoor’s fiancée, and later wife, as a 50 crore
girlfriend. He called Manmohan Singh a night watchman. However, Modi’s
government ensures the imprisonment of even his mildest critics. His vicious
antipathy to the Indian National Congress, especially Pandit Nehru and his
family, is quite apparent in his various utterances and actions.
The Congress has its share of bad mouthers, too. Manishankar
Aiyar described Modi as a chaiwala and followed up with the neech
comment. And let us not forget the maut ke saudagar and chowkidar
chor hai campaigns. Terms like feku are freely used in the social
media.
There is an entire community of politicians that revels in
using epithets like haramzade, prostitute, Pappu’s Pappi, naali ka keeda,
bird-shit, etc. against their opponents. And who can forget Amit Shah’s Chatur
Bania label for Gandhiji? In this vile jungle of acrimony and
hate-filled adjectives, the real purpose of politics is lost. We all know that
politics literally means the work and ideas connected with a country’s
governance. That is not happening.
The newly independent India had set high standards for
political conduct. Gandhiji wanted to deter triumphalism and entitlement claims
among the Congress Party members. He advised Pandit Nehru to include the right
winger Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, in his cabinet. Similarly, BR Ambedkar – a
known Gandhi-baiter – was entrusted with the drafting of India’s constitution.
Continuing in this idealistic vein, Nehru praised his critic, the then young
Atal Bihari Vajpayee and predicted that one day he would become India’s Prime
Minister.
Rajiv Gandhi took forward these traditions as Prime Minister.
In 1985, Vajpayee had lost one kidney. In 1988, the second kidney was affected.
In his book, “The Untold Vajpayee: Politician and Paradox,”
the author NP Ullekh quotes Vajpayee, ”When Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, he somehow found
out I had a kidney problem and needed treatment abroad. One day, he called me
to his office and said he was going to include me in India’s delegation to the
UN and hoped I would use the opportunity to get the treatment I needed. I went
to New York, and that is one reason I am alive today…”
Later on PM PV Narsimha Rao entrusted Vajpayee with
representing India’s case on Kashmir in the UNO.
Those were the days of dignified public behaviour and mutual
respect among political adversaries. Not that there was no acrimony during
debates, but it remained within the limits of decency.
There were rare occasions when jest and repartee regaled the
house. One such rare moment was the one between Digvijay Singh and Jyotiraditya.
We need to understand that vitriol in politics is not
limited to India or a few countries but, like corruption, it is a global
phenomenon.
The 2019 UK general election occurred against a background of rising
online hostility levels toward politicians, and concerns about the impact of
this on democracy, as a record number of politicians cited the abuse they had
been receiving as a reason for not standing for re-election. A study[i]
showed that certain factors attract more hostility, these are:
- Prominence: Attention
and therefore abuse focuses on a few individuals most in the public eye.
- Event surge: Events
like media appearances may cause a surge in hostility towards particular
individuals.
- Engagement: An opinionated tweet by a
politician provides a focus for any ill feeling towards their viewpoint or
them as individuals that may be present on the Twitter platform.
- Identity: Politics, gender, ethnicity and other
personal factors affect the opinions that individual may express without
incurring abuse (“norm violations” or political intimidation) as well
as the form that abuse is likely to take.
Those familiar with American politics point to the
“increasing nationalisation of politics” where local issues are sidelined by
national politics. This has added to polarisation, vituperation, and violence
among common people.
Coming back to India, it is essential to pull back
from the brink of a stinking abyss of hate and violence. India cannot afford
polarisation. Binaries are essential elements in any democracy, but there is no
place for creating unbridgeable faultlines. Those who are in politics should
never forget that their prime duty is towards the nation and the people.
It is time for real politics, where India comes first, not
as a vote-catching slogan but a genuine sentiment that galvanises the people towards
nation building.
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