Sounds familiar...
Posted on 05/17/2014 1:40:42 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The results of India's election, which are rapidly appearing today, seem to show a huge win for the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A victory had been expected, but this looks like a massive landslide. The next prime minister is almost certain to be Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat, a state in western India. He is known for his economic agenda, which is seen to be relatively business-friendly (expect stocks to react very positively to the news), and his controversial brand of Hinduism. Modi's ideology is certainly going to be important over the next several years, but his worrying personality might end up mattering more. It may be time to bring back an old slogan: over the next five years in India, the personal will be political, and probably not in a good way.
It's easy to describe Modi to people who have never heard him speak, or read about his past. He is a depressingly familiar type. He is secretive; he is vindictive; he has creepily authoritarian tendencies (a woman in Gujarat was placed under surveillance by Modi for months in a controversy that somehow didn't seem to register with voters); he ricochets between aggression and self-pity in a manner familiar to anyone who has heard nationalists of any stripe; and he is simply incapable of sounding broad-minded. During the 2002 Gujarat riots, hundreds of people (mostly Muslims) were killed in communal violence on Modi's watch. (This is why he has been denied a United States visa for many years.) The extent of Modi's role in spurring on the horrors has been extensively debated; suffice it to say that he once said his only regret about the mass murders was that he didn't handle the media well enough.
Modi is also known for his close ties to unsavory, right-wing Hindu fanatics, notably in the Rashtriya Swamyamsevak Sangh (RSS), which he joined when he was very young. Arguably Modi's closest confidante is Amit Shah, who has been accused of numerous crimes, including murder, and whose attitude to Muslims might be euphemistically described as unwelcoming. (He likes to talk about "appeasement" of Muslims and said this election was about "taking revenge" on them.)
For more on Modi's personality, I encourage everyone to read Vinod Jose's brilliant profile of him from 2010, which gets at the way he deals with dissent, and takes a disturbing trip through Modi's psyche. (The dizzying summary: this is how a fascist person thinks.) The biggest question thus may be the degree to which India's institutions and democratic checks and balances can contain Modi's worst tendencies. It's possible that Modi himself will moderate in office, but moderation usually refers to ideology; Modi may simply be incapable of keeping his worst instincts under control. Indian society has shown a disturbing willingness to disregard freedoms of speech and expression, and the country's institutions are often weak in defending these encroachments. (See here for a good example.) Modi has never shown any interest in civil liberties; nor has he made the slightest positive noises about the communal violence that still frequently afflicts the country.
On a policy level, Modi's has presided over strong economic growth in Gujarat, although his state has not done as well on various social development indicators. Still, the combination of corruption and inefficiency in the national government and within the Congress Party seems to have led many Indian voters to embrace the so-called "Gujarat Model." (Texas, with its economic growth and lagging welfare indicators, is a very rough but not entirely inapt comparison.)
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
The election results also display the depths to which the ruling Congress Party has fallen after being led for over a decade by a weak prime minister, Manmohan Singh. The central campaigning role of Rahul Gandhi, the heir to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty (whose mother still controls the Party, and limited Singh's maneuverabilty), didn't do much good either; Congress was soundly defeated and Rahul appears to many observers (and voters) as someone who combines inanition and intellectual lightness. If dynastic politics takes any sort of blow, the election will at least have accomplished something positive.
My wife can't send checks to her relatives in Mumbai anymore. Although the relatives were happy to move out of a slum and into an apartment building, the Hindus either intercept and tear up the checks or hold on to them for months and then pass them along with a nasty note. We now have to do bank transfers, and the Hindu tellers there are nasty also (with the exception of one friendly one -- thank God).
don’t sweat the small stuff. he is in In India not the USA
Do you think Goa will be relatively safe for some time to come? (I say relatively because there has already been at least one murdered priest there).
It is impossible to be “too” anti-Muslim.
Catholics are concerned the Hindu’s will start burning Churches again Following the Muslims Lead!
Hinduism and Moslem are both equally bad. One is pantheistic where the The Age of Enlightenment never reached the shores of India and where people purify themselves in the toxic human and animal excrement of the Ganges and the other is just as fake with a pedophile as a self-appointed prophet. They are a curse upon the subcontinent.
Sounds familiar...
When Bush the Younger stepped in and prevented an all out nuclear war between Pakistan and India — I thought he deserved A Nobel Peace Prize.
Now — It looks like he made a mistake.
The historic repudiation of the Congress Party may be analogous to the defeat (the first one) of the PRI in Mexico some years ago. Of course, that hasn’t meant a renaissance of Mexican polity or society, but I’m sure that’s our fault. ;’)
Bravo, India!
Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
This sounds like they were describing Ronald Reagan circa 1980.
The ignorance about the Hindu religion is astounding even on FR which is usually populated with sane people. Is there a history of Hindu’s killing non Hindus en masse other than in response to Muslim invasions ?
Is there a religious endorsement in any Hindu text to kill infidels ? Have Hindus killed innocent people globally ? And the comment about Hindu Sharia law is borderline offensive.
Yes there are small sects of Hindus who have a nationalist streak and have engaged in heinous acts even against Christians. However it is very isolated and has no religious endorsement and is in no way anywhere close to the scale of Muslim mass killing. Hinduism as a religion is perhaps the most tolerant of any and the vast majority of Hindus, me included view Christianity in a very positive light and see no reason at all to hate or harm them. They have done immense good in India and of course the greatest nation on earth...America is based on judeau christian values and I am glad it is.
The mindset of your average Hindu in India is nothing like your average Muslim. Muslims are raised to hate and kill infidels. Hindus are raised to do exactly the opposite and there is no evangelical strain in Hindusim of any sort and no concept of killing infidels.
Can’t make waves, can’t upset the Muzzies....
Bump.
You INVAR are an ignorant arrogant jerk.
Really..Hinduism and Islam are equally bad ?
Have Hindus killed over 300 million globally and counting ? When was the last senseless act of mass murder committed by a Hindu in the name of their religion ?
This happens daily with Muslims.
You want to compare how women are treated in any Muslim nation vs Hindu India ? No it is far from perfect but there is nothing remotely close to the horror called sharia law.
Amazing how ignorant you are or just plain bigoted.
So JimSEA would have preferred the corrupt marxist soft on Islam Congress party dynasty to remain in power ?
Is there ANy factor important to you besides how this govt may or may not treat christians in India. Of course it is abhorrent if ANY christian there is persecuted but there is more to evaluating the election result than that ONE factor. A prosperous and strong India that takes the fight to Pakistan regarding terrorism is an excellent development for us in America and global security.
What??
I would have to know what his main opponent was like to really weigh in. In many elections it is a choice between lesser of evils.
His main opponent was a puppet of a totally marxist appease Islam congress party. Modi was easily the best choice.
Are they sure it wasn't Obama that won the election?
Indian society has shown a disturbing willingness to disregard freedoms of speech and expression, and the country's institutions are often weak in defending these encroachments.
Sounds like our lovable Democrats.
Modi has never shown any interest in civil liberties; nor has he made the slightest positive noises about the communal violence that still frequently afflicts the country.
Yeah, the knockout game is a gas, isn't it, Lefties?
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