Weaker Political Constituency of India Offshoring Domestic Battles to Foreign Lands

On March 30, the German Foreign Ministry commented on the disqualification of parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi stating, “we have taken note of the verdict of first instance against the Indian opposition politician Rahul Gandhi as well as the suspension of his parliamentary mandate…. We expect that the standards of judicial independence and fundamental democratic principles will equally apply to the proceedings against Rahul Gandhi”¹. Taking to Twitter Congress leader Digvijay Singh wrote, “Thank you Germany Foreign Affairs Ministry and Richard Walker for taking note of how the Democracy is being compromised in India through the persecution of Rahul Gandhi”².

Earlier in the week, the US State Department deputy spokesperson in response to Rahul Gandhi’s issue said, “Respect for the rule of law and judicial independence is a cornerstone of any democracy. We are watching Mr. Gandhi’s case in Indian courts and we engage with the Government of India on our shared commitment to democratic values, including freedom of expression”.

Remarks of the German and the US establishments to a judicial ruling have raised many eyebrows coming in the wake of the desperate rants of Rahul Gandhi of “democracy in India is under brutal attack” and “surprising thing is that the so-called defenders of democracy, the US and Europe, seem to just be oblivious that a huge chunk of the democratic model has come undone” at Cambridge just a couple of weeks ago.

Indeed, this is not an isolated event of the Indian political constituency looking to the West. Not long ago in the recent past, Indian politicians and civil society amplified the tweets and comments of Canadian President Justin Trudeau and tweets of Rihanna, Mia Khalifa and Greta Thunberg (of course the toolkit as well) to build pressure on the Government of India on farm laws. While the tweets were later found to be part of motivated propaganda bordering on falsehoods and distortions, the endorsement received by the Indian ecosystem provided traction to this well-choreographed and funded perception and information warfare which is still etched in the memory of the Indian public. Sadly, this new trend of deriving political oxygen from these kinds of unverified and disproportionate propaganda has become more rampant since 2014.

The infiltration of the political ranks in India by external forces has been an unfortunate reality in the cold war era. India was deliberately played by the superpowers. But the current spectre of offshoring the narrative building by the Indian political constituency is truly mystifying and worrying. India which has been a major outsourcing and offshoring centre for foreign investors after the economic liberalisation seems to be offshoring its political battles to foreign lands.

Every major social, political, and religious divide manifested in India is now getting multiplied manifold by co-opting external sources. Seattle city council’s resolution against CAA, NRC and resolution in support of caste as a protected category in California is a testament to this new trend. The disruption of the Parliament over demand for a JPC into the Hindenburg research released by a short-seller by the political parties all these disparate events together indicate that India’s political power play is being planned and orchestrated by external players.

By shifting the theatre of domestic politics to foreign lands and giving them more control to manipulate the discourse, the Indian political constituency is playing a very dangerous game. The near absence of unequivocal condemnation of attacks on Indian Missions/Posts, paralysing the functioning of the Indian envoys stationed abroad by the entire political dispensation is truly disappointing. Lack of conciliation between the political parties even on the issues of national security, prestige and honour will bode ill for the country.

Support for anti-Indian activities from some political parties to pander to specific communities is going to be perilous. The silence of some political parties in condemning the targeted attacks on Hindus and Hindu temples in Leicester and the sceptical hesitancy even after an official investigation vindicating the Hindu stance has exposed the partisan political approach of Indian politicians. Extrapolating the domestic fissures to the foreign lands, the political parties in India are creating dissensions among the Indian Diaspora settled away from the motherland and in the process partly coopting the vested interests to fight the domestic battles away from India.

Incapable of taking on the ruling dispensation head-on Indian politicians appear to have embarked on the journey of deploying extraneous forces. In the process, they are not only tarnishing India’s image as a deeply divided political entity but inadvertently assisting the anti-Indian forces to widen existing chinks in the armour.

Seeking support and banking on the foreign country county resolutions to defend their stance essentially symbolises the political incapacity of winning the electoral mandate. Instead of establishing grassroots connections and fighting on issues of domestic relevance like poverty alleviation, infrastructure, smart cities, pollution, unemployment, skilling, women’s empowerment, inflation, etc., they are employing civil society groups, academia, and leftist lobbies to hamstring India’s rise.

Thanks to this malicious circuitous approach to take on the current ruling dispensation, Hindus who form the micro minority community in many countries are now at the receiving end. The benefit of the doubt usually proffered on the micro minorities otherwise is now denied to Hindus. The veritable bias which is the staple of the Indian political system is now extended to the Hindu community settled in distant lands. This political indifference and partisanship are emboldening the secessionist forces who are now harassing innocent Hindus settled outside India.  Ironically even as Islamophobia is duly acknowledged the relentless attacks on the indigenous religious communities of India or in short, Hinduphobia is outrightly rebuffed.

There can be no denying of this collusion. Else what explains the euphoria of the Congress leaders who welcomed the German government’s statement on India’s internal affairs? Would any self-respecting nation and the representatives of the people hail such remarks? In their pursuit to have an upper hand politically, so-called leaders are playing into the hands of breaking Indian forces already at work to topple the apple cart of rising India.

Rejected by the domestic masses, the perspective of the Indian opposition amplified by the international media alone has become a powerful weapon to be wielded against the Indian government by vested interests. While it is hard to believe, oftentimes, the language used by Indian adversaries is uncannily similar to the tone, tenor and verbatim used by some of our own Indian leaders. Political desperation and a series of electoral debacles have thrown established dynastic parties into irrelevance. Rather than endeavouring to resurrect their political mandate through intense public outreach, they are lazily resorting to these offhanded tactics and politicking.

In the process, they are casting aspersions on the democratic institutions in India and relentlessly peddling the myth of democracy in danger. Fed on this fodder of deliberate mispropaganda akin to vultures, Break India Forces are leaving no stone unturned to tar India’s global image. Living in an interconnected world, where fake news and disinformation spread a zillion times faster than truth, India is now facing an inimical threat from forces within and from outside.

Though colonial masters left the Indian shores over seven decades ago, their trusted lackeys are still hanging onto their coattails for approval. Offshoring suits the bloated egos of the colonists who want to still judge India by their own systems, which are inherently biased toward the indigenous civilisations. They still deem countries like India as colonies. The most galling consequence has been the adoption of a ‘light touch’ approach by the Western countries toward the anti-India, terrorist and secessionist forces operating in their territories.

Even as Khalistan supporters ran amok, vandalised, defaced and damaged the Indian consulates and destroyed symbols of Indian sovereignty all the countries party to the Vienna convention failed to provide any security. They chose to turn the other way even after India alerted them of the activities of the anti-Indian groups in their countries. By seeking validation from the Western countries and choosing to fight political battles away from Indian boundaries a section of the Indian polity is undermining Indian interests.

Given Washington’s concern towards Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, should India reciprocate in kind and ‘closely watch’ the legal proceedings against the 45^th President of the US?

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