EDITORIAL: Following the announcement of results of India’s parliamentary elections on June 4, many in Pakistan would be feeling both appreciative and envious of our neighbour’s ability to hold a massive electoral exercise without the kind of post-poll drama that Pakistanis witness after every trip to the ballot box.
Despite the flaws apparent in India’s democracy, the electoral process allowed for its citizens to make their preferences clear, as they dashed the dreams of the ruling BJP of winning more than 400 parliamentary seats – out of a total of 543 – it had been targeting.
The BJP’s fervent efforts over the last decade to transform the country into a Hindu rashtra, with significant help from a subservient law enforcement apparatus, a pliant judiciary and a beholden media, have been met by a considerable setback as the poll results showed that the opposition alliance led by the Congress party has performed more than creditably, securing a combined total of 232 seats.
While the BJP and its allies will still form the largest group in the Indian parliament, with a total of 292 seats, the majority they will enjoy is going to be a less than a commanding one. The opposition will now surely be in a much stronger position to push back against the BJP’s attempts to transform India into its desired mould, providing a glimmer of hope for India’s secular credentials.
One hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been suitably chastened by the results and will alter his divisive path towards a more unifying approach, something that was woefully missing during his election campaign as that was marked by bigoted rhetoric, anti-Muslim tirades and propagation of much fake news about minorities.
The only thing missing from his arsenal was a Pulwama-type incident that could be used to whip up even more hatred against Pakistan. Also missing was any substantial talk of the economy, governance issues and other areas of national importance.
The poll results have now shown that such tactics aren’t always universally successful, and that anti-incumbency sentiments aren’t so easy to counter after a decade in power. Despite the strides the Indian economy has made, there were still concerns regarding rising inflation, low wages, limited employment opportunities and fears among not just Muslims but also Dalits that the BJP will reconfigure the Indian Constitution to do away with affirmative action laws that benefit scheduled castes, which meant that the ruling party found itself on shaky ground come election time.
Coming to the foreign policy front, after 10 years of steady deterioration in India-Pakistan relations, one hopes that the BJP will now realise the futility of its aggressive posturing. It must understand that governments need to be more responsible, both in their actions and statements, than political parties, and that no country can change its geography.
One hopes that it will now initiate some sort of a dialogue process with Pakistan, including over Indian-Occupied Kashmir. For its part, Pakistan should reciprocate positively to any Indian overture, with both countries keeping in mind that any dialogue process must prioritise the interests of the people of the subcontinent.
Despite the chastening handed out to the BJP, the danger remains that the damage wrought by its conflict-ridden politics will take a long time to dissipate, if at all, as it has been able to tap into that part of India’s soul that thrives on the hatred of the ‘other’.
For now, however, India’s minorities and liberal voices can heave a sigh of relief. One hopes that going forward; its parliament, judiciary and the media fulfil their duties, and don’t play into the hands of divisive forces. That is in the best interests of the Indian people as well as the wider region.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024