Probably what liberals in India (and possibly in US) are missing….

Cable networks in India run a dedicated channel to broadcast Narendra Modi’s interviews and his campaign run up to the Loksabha Elections, supreme court does not find his mention of Armed forces in political canvassing inappropriate, all his promises from past election like job creation, reduction in black money and growth have receded among the infernal din of his national security rhetoric, political jibes and another set of lofty promises. His party has declined to make the list of its source of funds public – despite strong push on transparency and accountability.

And yet he continues to enjoy soaring popularity among Indian voters - at least for now. This popularity of a hard-liner candidate is not a stand-alone case in democracies around the world today. Flag-bearer of democracy, United States too, has its own Narendra Modi in form of its current president Donald Trump! Israel recently re-elected a leader with similar traits and Brazil too elected a strongman in Jair Bolsonaro.

There are Indians who find Modi annoying, obnoxious and even fascist. They portray him as a threat to India’s democracy and constitution. They shout at the top of their voices against him, try to engage in debate, debunk the lies of the government, appeal to people’s reason and hope that they would be able to somehow change people’s mind about him. It is important to realize that people have chosen these leaders for a reason and first step in defeating or moderating the hardliner at the helm is to defeat the hardliner within us. We must remember that Modi or any hardliner leader is not a problem, he is a symptom of a problem that plagues majority of the people. Simply exposing the problems with his leadership is rather narrow a goal that reduces national issues and priorities and ultimately harms the nation.  

For example – we see widespread criticism of terrorism in Kashmir, but hardly see any effort on integrating Kashmiri youth with the rest of the India, we debate vigorously of widening wealth inequality but hardly focus on giving our children more equitable life experiences, we complaint of increasing intolerance but don’t branch far out and consciously make diverse connections. All these and many other participatory actions can be taken around the year – not just at the time of elections.

The process of globalization and economic growth has now become a fatal combination of rising expectations and reducing opportunities – therefore it is natural for anyone with or without resources to act conservatively about them. This situation leads to the popular political slogans of India (Any other country) first. The only way around this tightening noose of hardline leadership is to work towards increasing education, enriching diversity and expanding the understanding of economic growth.  Practicing and spreading simplicity can also go a long way, not just from economic but also from environmental perspective.  

This road is long – and it may take a long time before we may see any result – but it is worth walking on it.