India was already in politically disturbed condition after Prime Minister Modi came to power in 2014 due to his anti-Muslim bias [reflected in his approach towards Babri-Masjid matters, elimination of special status of J&K and converting the State of J&K into two Union Territories despite provision of plebiscite in the ‘Instrument of Accession’ (IoA) of J&K to India, ‘Citizen Amendment Act’ (CAA) / threatened ‘National Register for Citizens’, the over-looking of criminal activities of Hindutva forces which they were indulging in the name of cow-vigilante, against ‘love-Jihad’, successfully giving impression that BJP can win elections without ~ 200 million Muslims etc]. But now after farmer’s agitation India is in a political turmoil. This combined effect has certainly brought India to a point where India will not be the same again, after this agriculture crisis is over.
The farmers crisis is more fundamental to said political turmoil of India for the simple reason that the people who are fully or partly dependent on income from agriculture are two thirds of India (farm laborers + 146 million land holding farmers hence about equal numbers of households) and 99.6 % are with marginal & small (up to 2 Hectares) and medium land holdings (up to 4 Hectares) hence not only they are economically humble but hundreds of thousands of farmers have committed suicide during last few decades due to nonremunerative prices of agriculture produce (hence demand by farmers for legally enforceable ‘Minimum Support Price’, the MSP).
The opposition parties of India are salivating on the prospect of dislodging Modi’s BJP from power at Centre and in many States on the basis of simple calculation that this overwhelming majority of India from agriculture sector (which they think is against Modi-government hence are agitating) and Muslims will easily get electoral success to them and that is the reason they are depending on electoral approach to humble the Modi’s BJP, even about farmer’s agitation.
But it is precisely here that the Indian opposition is making a fundamental mistake. Modi has come to power on two major issues (i)- anti-Muslim Hindu Rashtra which he didn’t need to wear on his sleeve during 2014 Loksabha elections because he already had this certificate the way he (as Chief Minister) handled communal flare-up by Hindus in 2002 at Gujarat where thousands of innocents Muslims were massacred by Hindutva forces (ii)- exclusive private capitalism which he capsuled as ‘Gujrat model’ of economic development for eliminating unemployment and for bringing unprecedented economic progress to India.
The third factor was not openly highlighted but these two strengths of Modi are supported by the USA. The USA gives only lip service to rule-of-law (whether domestic or international). The USA is a Christian (majority) country but its character is different from Christian Europe. The USA loves violence and gets away with it in the name of human-rights. This showed it during civil war in 1861 when hundreds of thousands were killed in the name of eliminating slavery though at that time also Americans knew that the Europe and even Caribbean countries had successfully eliminated slavery without shedding blood.
Moreover after eliminating slavery the remaining West does not show so much prejudices against Blacks as is there in the USA. Even when in 2020 a black George Floyd was killed in Minnesota by a white cop by strangling him in a legally objectionable manner, then merely this killing by a single cop does not prove White prejudice against Blacks in the USA but the fact that three other White cops were watching this White cop murdering this black victim (passively which is their complicity in crime, because it was the legal responsibility of these 3 White cops to stop the killer White cop and to save the Black victim).
The animosity of Christian West against Muslims (after crusades) is present in some form in Europe too but it gets whetted in the USA because of the said character of the Americans (especially white Americans). In a nutshell the USA will overlook what Modi’s India does to Indian Muslims (including Muslim Kashmiris). The USA has no problem with anti-Muslim Hindu Rashtra of Modi’s BJP, because this is what the USA is already doing to Muslim Palestinians through Israel.
As far as exclusive private capitalism, it is a matter of common knowledge that along with private-capital the use of State-capital is necessary otherwise the modern human rights friendly ‘Welfare -State’ is impossible. But the way various US-administrations have publicly supported & propagated exclusive private capitalism (including at UNGA) it is nothing short of scandal in the USA in view of (i)- What happened during Corona-pandemic to economically humble Americans who mainly suffered due to lack of medical facilities to them as mentioned at https://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/opinion-details/3698 (ii)- Tens of millions of illegal immigrants are moving freely (snatching jobs from legal residents of the USA) and making mockery of rule-of-law in the USA but the US-administration is helpless under the pressure of private business, which needs these illegal immigrants as cheap labor (iii)- The USA claims to practice exclusive private capitalism but does not mind raising public debt of tens of trillions of dollars and then practically squanders it, also to discredit the State-capital.
Therefore without successfully facing Modi’s 3 strengths (anti-Muslim Hindu Rashtra, exclusive private capitalism, USA) the opposition can’t succeed & help India. Hence the opposition should do the following:-
(1)- The opposition should not overestimate the secular credentials of majority of Hindu India because they have no problem with anti-Muslim Hindu Rashtra of Modi’s BJP. Whatever bonhomie the Hindu farmers are showing towards Muslim farmers is confined to this agitation only and is merely skin deep and anti-Muslim bias will reappear in the majority of Hindu India (the farmers) once this farmer’s agitation is over.
(2)- The communal poison will vanish from India only when mini-SAARC is realized (of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) which is the political need of this region. It will constrain Hindus to live peacefully with Muslims (because then only the Muslims would come in mini-SAARC). Moreover the increased proportion of Muslims to Hindus (compared to what it is in India) would also ensure a better co-existential approach of Hindus towards Muslims of mini-SAARC.
(3)- For realizing this mini-SAARC first of all secularism will have to established in India by filing following writ petitions in the SCI:- (i)- Legally expected restoration of status-quo-ante of Babri Mosque which was demolished in presence of the observer of the SCI in 1992. (ii)- Plebiscite in united J&K as mandated by IoA by getting entire territory (including and especially with Pakistan) free from out-siders (along with working for plebiscite in Balochistan who’s IoA, unlike IoA of J&K, was obtained by Pakistan under military pressure and against resolution of its Parliament / Jirga) (iii)- For repealing CAA and for dual citizenship for about 160 million Hindus & Muslims of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who were violently displaced due to illegal population transfer and which has communalized the entire Indian subcontinent (iv)- In order to facilitate said mini-SAARC for getting border dispute with China settled through ‘UN Judicial Commission’ because dispute with China (unlike dispute with Pakistan, which is political) is legal and which China can’t refuse being a permanent member of the UN (v)- Getting all reservation laws quashed under article 13 & 14 of the Constitution which are discriminatory against Muslims (vi)- Getting anti-conversion laws (which are against the fundamental right to freedom of religion) quashed because these prevent conversion by absurdly saying that it is done through coercion, allurement, love-Jihad etc. (vii)- Getting anti- cow-slaughter laws quashed under article 13 & 14 of the Constitution as these are discriminatory because it protects religious sentiments of only Hindus
(4)- For resolving the problems of the farmers, the opposition should understand that the ‘legally enforceable MSP’ will also not solve the problems of the farmers because they don’t have bargaining power (being poor) and their condition will be like of poor laborers who despite ‘Minimum Wages Act’ do not get minimum wages and their contractors give less wages but get their signatures on minimum wages. Hence the real solution is a ‘Comprehensive Public Distribution System’ (CPDS) in which the GoI will have one outlet for every 1,000 people. This will require about 14 Lakh (hundred Thousand) shops / outlets (owned by the GoI) all over India which will require a commensurate network of godowns, cold storages, purchasing centers, transport facilities etc. This will need a huge State-capital which can easily be provided by the government as given below.
(5)- By filing writ petition in the SCI for quashing unconstitutional FRBM ACT and forfeiting all the public debts of Union & States governments which are above their consolidated funds in violation of Article 292 & 293 of the Constitution. Moreover recovering about Rs 1,000 Trillion income tax from about 1 million fake farmers as mentioned at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Prominent-people-hiding-taxable-income-Jaitley/articleshow/51408323.cms
(6)- But the opposition will carry credibility with the people only when they would show that they are determined to deploy the State-capital profitably and to run the ‘Public Sector Undertakings’ (PSUs) efficiently. For this first of all the opposition should demand that no PSU should be sold to the private sector rather all the PSUs should be run profitably & efficiently because if Ministers can’t run business / industry properly (which even so-called ‘Banias’ of Hindu order can run) then how will they run the country.
Therefore the opposition parties of India should realize that without facing Modi’s 3 strengths (anti-Muslim Hindu Rashtra, exclusive private capitalism, USA) opposition can’t succeed and for this success (A)- Materialization of mini-SAARC (B)- The use of huge State-capital (newly recovered + existing) profitably and efficiently in CPDS and other PSUs and (C)- Resisting the US-pressure rather mustering the US-support on both these counts — are absolutely necessary
Regards
Hem Raj Jain
(Author of ‘Betrayal of Americanism’)
Shakopee, MN, USA\
