Ideology vs. debate

Sadanand Dhume complains in a recent article on WSJ.com that “[o]paque family rule is no way to run a political party, let alone a major economy and aspiring great power.”  In response, I posted the following comment:

Mr. Dhume describes the Congress party as “utterly amorphous” and as a “motley crew.”  The same adjectives can describe India and that too in a positive vein.  It is only appropriate that India’s largest political party shares the country’s characteristics of diverging views and vigorous debate.  In bemoaning the lack of “adherence to a coherent ideology” Mr. Dhume is implying a preference for the regimented and ideological RSS/BJP combine, which was thoroughly routed in the past election.  It is interesting that India’s articulate “chatterati” is complaining of the Gandhis’ inaccessibility in a Western newspaper.  That India does not care is also reflected in the verdict of the last election, when the Gandhis’ were as visible and accessible to the electorate as any other political party.

India on hold as Super Saturday rolls in

Super Saturday is probably a 20-20 cricket term but rings well with the Super Tuesday sentiment in the U.S.  The tension is palpable as we are barely 30 minutes away from counting.  In six hours or less, India will have the results of its just-concluded general election.

Politicians are offering prayers in temples.  Political party spokespersons are trying out their best outfits.  Crowd managers are lining up supporters.  Television reporters are warming up their anchors and viewers with useless banter.  Studios are checking their graphics.  (Prannoy Roy looked disappointed when his John King-style graphic wall crashed during a pre-counting test this morning.)

Fabricating history BJP-style

Of the BJP-led NDA government’s many sins, one of the most profane was appointing Murli Manohar Joshi to the cabinet with responsibility for human resources, education, science, and technology.  Notable fiascos from his tenure include revising history in CBSE textbooks, fees at IIMs, introducing an astrology degree, and rampant politicization of scientific and educational organizations.  His was stupidity driven by the illusion of intellectual supremacy, an incurable malaise in comparison to stupidity derived from ignorance. 

Even if Allahabad University has never apologized for granting Joshi a doctoral degree and a faculty position, the city rejected his politics by voting against him in the 2004 elections.  Joshi has shifted to Varanasi this year but, hopefully, the reports of it being a difficult fight will prove right and the constituency will see him for the demagogue he is.

This editorial was sparked by an interesting rebuttal of the introduction in the BJP’s election manifesto, which was authored by a team led by Joshi.  Kudos to the Hindu!  As an aside, for those who think the Hindu is biased, the same issue carries an assertive piece on the existence of the Indus script.

Advani is just another politician

India Today is the doyen of news magazines in India that informed and educated a generation of citizens.  My political interests evolved and strengthened because of the magazine, which until the mid-1990s was arguably the sole arbiter of public conversation.

In the past decade, however, India Today buffeted by severe competition from Outlook has degenerated to reflect its predominantly urban, middle-class readership’s pro-BJP views.  This blog’s author, for one, cannot complain against partisan reporting but to have the nation’s first news magazine be reduced to a pamphlet is a different matter.

Another equally troubling, albeit subtler, problem is the magazine’s pretense that flowery but abstruse writing ignoring the facts of a case can alter reality or public perception.  This is evident in the magazine’s recent cover story on L. K. Advani, which may be found here.

Even the reporter S. Prasannarajan’s language — written to impress rather than express — cannot hide the fact that Advani is a tired and irrelevant politician notwithstanding his last-minute, desperate push for power this election. It is unfortunate that Advani was never able to translate his stature within the BJP to develop a consistent and unifying agenda that captured the national imagination as opposed to succumbing to near-term electoral compulsions. As a result, history will remember Advani as just another politician whose body of work was a series of non-issues, in particular the opportunistic use of Hindutva and its divisiveness.

Media as it should be

Media is a powerful influencer of electoral opinion.  It is no different in India where the 15th General Elections are underway.  With many Indian newspapers, magazines, and television channels explicitly reflecting their owners’ political leanings, honest reports and probing questions are difficult to find.  However, NDTV and the Hindu stand out as exemplary media outlets.  It was delightful to see BJP President, Rajnath Singh, squirm as NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan grilled him on the BJP’s refusal to drop Varun Gandhi following his hate speech and the resulting incarceration.  Razdan was relentless and challenged Singh on the BJP’s (lousy) track record at handling terrorism as well as the on-going dissidence within what aspired to be “a different party”.  More here.