Long Live India! Long Live Crown Prince Rahul!
By Partha Banerjee
22 May , 2009
Countercurrents.org
Brooklyn, New York: The election results are in. Congress triumphantly came back to power. BJP lost. Indian left -- the election kind -- unraveled.
To me, these results proved once again that in today's globalized world, media propaganda works, and issues don't -- our lives are now decided upon and done with by corporate media. We spoke about it before here on CounterCurrents. Even Wall Street Journal rather candidly admitted that for Indian media, it was a "non-issue" election; to onlookers like me, it was all propaganda for Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka. It worked!
Glories now galore on Manmohan Singh the "best prime minister" in post-Non-Alignment era for his "efficient handling" of Indian affairs. But Mr. Singh -- however erudite -- couldn't even be prime minister in 2004 had Sonia Gandhi, the Indian establishment's first choice, not been denied the top executive position because of legalities never fully disclosed. Singh was a compromise choice Congress style because Rahul was too young to be the PM. My belief is, Congress gradually will throw Singh away and crown the new prince, perpetuating the dynasty. We say, "Long Live India! Long Live Crown Prince Rahul!"
The new-generation, U.S.-modeled "journalism," its projection of Rahul as the next Indian leader (eerily reminding us of the rise of a totally apolitical Rajiv), and complete suppression of issues did it in for Congress. Commentators who have no grassroots experience with Indian politics cheer all across the globe. They now also have big media's blessings in the West.
But the fact of the matter is, India and her 80 percent unfortunate will remain poor; terrorism, pollution, overpopulation, health crises, environmental destruction and massive corruption will thrive, and the rich will be richer. Female infanticide and dowry deaths will go on. "Untouchables" and other minorities will be denied of basic human rights. Police and military brutality and silencing dissent will remain unchanged.
Of course, there will be more cricket matches, fashion catwalks and Bollywood bonanzas. Bless my motherland and her soul.
Additionally, we don't need BJP or the left anymore -- Congress will keep playing the roles fanatics and fundamentalists play: fake Hindutva in the Cow Belt and fake socialism in Bengal and Kerala (and fake isolationism in isolated places nobody cares about). Note that countless Congress candidates ceremonially went to Hindu temples to receive blessings to win their seats. Many received special sermons from astrologers and priests. With this, who needs the conservatives?
Was Congress ever a secular party when it comes to religion or caste? Do some research on how it used Muslim League in Kerala, Dalits in Karnataka, Orissa and Andhra, the so-called untouchables in Madhya Pradesh, U.P. and Bihar, and played the Christian card in Northeastern provinces, for decades, to sustain power (and to trash the allies later on). Congress party "leaders" first showed how to use black money in Indian politics, and how to buy dissidents from rival groups. Youth Congress came into being by its rampant hooliganism in the seventies, with blessings from Sanjay Gandhi. Has it really changed?.
The only thing that has changed in India is that with serious endorsement from a failed, global capitalist system that decimated the economy in the U.S. putting millions of working-class Americans in jeopardy, new-generation India is now avidly anti-poor, anti-social-spending, and rabidly pro-personal-wealth with an arrogant, individualistic lifestyle; the only difference between the U.S. and India now is that while the U.S. does have some safeguards against a totally unchecked moral disintegration of the powerful upper class, India does not. That's scary!
If this election were of substantive issues -- issues which big-name journalists deliberately suppressed -- we'd talk about the failure of the Manmohan Singh government to protect Indians from terrorism and war -- we'd expect at least that discussion held having the Kashmir and Mumbai memories been so fresh. But it didn't happen. Nobody talked about the thousands of farmers committed suicide in India in recent years; surely, Guiness Book would not include that as a world record!
I've lived and worked Indian politics for many years. I shouldn't be surprised at the turn of events. But I'm sad. Not because the Bengal left have lost: their long misrule and detachment with the poor were destined to doom.
The biggest democracy exercise in the world just took place. And nobody even asked hard questions.
Jay Ho Incredible India! Long Live Her New Kings and Queens!
Post-Script: In this new-era, modern Indian politics, nearly a hundred members of parliament have been elected this time (a 17 percent increase from 2004) -- half from Congress, the other half from BJP -- who have criminal cases filed against them. That's representation of a 100 million people in India! Talk about a new-generation, progressive politics!
Partha Banerjee is a labor, media and rights activist in New York. His book In the Belly of the Beast: Hindu Supremacist RSS and BJP of India is a chronicle of his years of involvement with Indian politics. Email: [email protected].
