Daily Times

India’s general election is scheduled to take place over the course of the next two months. The country is fully in election mood: political parties in the country, particularly the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), appear ready to go to any lengths to overwhelm the opposition on the election day.

The recent India-Pakistan clash is one case which has vibrated heavily in India’s political landscape. From blaming Pakistan for an attack which took place in militarised Indian-controlled Kashmir to launching airstrikes in Pakistan, India’s elected government has had clear electoral aims. Moreover, the entire media machinery of the country was channelled to make absurd and outlandish claims supposedly made by the Indian military. From hypothetically killing more than 300 insurgents to allegedly teaching Pakistan a lesson, Indian media did everything during the past two weeks except honest journalism. Unsurprisingly, all claims made by the Indian military as well as the media which is being pushed to endorse the state’s position were exposed not only by India’s own military and civilian voices but also globally.

If Modi wins the next general election in India, there is a very good chance that he would want to sit down with Pakistan one more time to settle core disputes

The return of the Indian pilot was twisted by the elected government to offer a sense of victory to its right-wing hyper-nationalist electorate domain. To this day, questionable claims related to downing one of Pakistan’s jets are being made and ads showing Modi’s boldness and macho-man style leadership concerning his military action against Pakistan are constantly sold to the electorate. A recent ad which was run by India Today shows Modi caricature turning into an ogre that warns Pakistan of serious military consequences: “Ghar main ghuss kay marain gay,” it says. The content is one of the examples of how the Modi government is using confrontation with Pakistan to make electoral gains in India. The discussion related to a military confrontation with Pakistan has gone to a point that it appears to have become one of the key electoral agenda for the ruling party. Every other poster and every other rally mentions the role of India’s armed forces in the context of the recent military clash between the two countries. The debate concerning Pakistan’s role in Indian domestic politics has become visible in all and every segment of society: a recent cricket match between India and Australia was arguably politicised when the Indian cricket team brought military caps to the ground.

Such questionable gestures on the part of the Indian government for electoral purposes have already had implications. People of the Kashmiri region have been beaten on roads with impunity and students from the valley have been humiliated across the country. This is an attitude which is only going to proliferate radical attitudes among the Kashmiri people.

Now the question is, what does this election debate do after the election in India is over? Is Modi’s government aiming to win an election on the back of popularising an anti-Pakistan and anti-Kashmir narrative? If that’s the case, then it’s going to be very difficult when it comes to winding down extremist attitudes and norms which are getting legitimacy because of such politics. Personally, I believe that if Modi wins the next general election in India, there is a very good chance that he would want to sit down with Pakistan one more time to settle core disputes. If one is to follow Pakistan’s policy of engaging India to settle a number of issues, then it only makes sense that Islamabad engages India after the election cycle is over in the country.

However, what is worrying is that New Dehli is indulging deeply in Hindutva politics and it is unclear whether any plan towards peace and normalcy will take shape. The way the politics of revenge and characterisation of a country as an adversary in every form is taking shape in India, one can only see the constituency for conflict growing in the country. It has already been reported widely that no one has seen or measured the way politics is happening in India: it’s all hate and the promotion of majoritarian ideas against domestic minority populations as well as a neighbouring country. We have already seen people being killed over the issue of cow slaughter and refusal to conform to extremist Hindutva ideas. We have also seen Hindutva gangs killing minorities with impunity and the current government policy of encouraging such actions by staying quiet. With the election cycle underway, this has all been transformed into a big direction which the country has taken. Previously, India managed to keep its image as a secular country with the tag of the largest democracy in the world. The tale, however, has fallen flat with internal politics of hatred, revenge, and exclusion overwhelming the cosmetically placed image of a secular India.

The writer is a freelance journalist and a correspondent for The Diplomat, based in Lahore