India has been in the headlines, again.
Once because of Trump. The other because she is burning.
The sounds of conches, a clarion call reserved for gods and goddesses in Hindu temples, greeted the 7th President of USA to set foot on Indian soil in late February. A riot of colours and an explosion of sounds filled the air for Donald Trump akin to the pomp, circumstance and lust that Canada reserves for The Queen.
Millions of dollars spent on a three-hour visit to Ahmedabad, a city whose name Trump royally butchered to a thunderous applause in the world’s largest cricket stadium packed with over 100,000 people chanting glory to Trump and Modi.
The Trump-Modi bromance isn’t one that should be surprising. Both lean severely towards polarizing, authoritarian styles of governance and both have been vocal about their stance on Islam.
Islamophobia and Irony
Despite his Islamophobic policies and in general, open hatred towards Muslims, Trump had no qualms announcing, to a cheering crown, that he is visiting the Taj Mahal. The irony of an Islamophobic head of state visiting a Muslim mausoleum (after which he had named one of his businesses) is so apparent, that all one can do is wonder if Trump even knows who built The Taj Mahal. (Perhaps, not).
To add to this ordeal, he was gifted a picture of the iconic UNESCO heritage site by the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, a nationalist politician, who much like Trump has never shied away from wearing his Islamophobia on his sleeve.
The visit, which was as quick as butter melting in a hot pan and that worked on achieving good optics and praising Modi, struck no major trade deal apart from selling India attack helicopters and other US military equipment worth $3 billion USD.
On the contrary what the visit appears to have triggered is bitter communal riots in the capital city, Delhi. Engulfed in fear, India burns, its polarization seeping into every walk of life.
Yeh Dilli Hai Mere Yaar (This is Delhi, my friend!)
For the general public in and outside India, irrespective of economic strata, politics has generally worked as a common denominator, bringing people together for fervent discussions of the endless pit of corruption and the insufficiencies in the governance. However, today, the scenario is drastically different. Speak a word against the ruling regime and it is promptly met with the unwillingness to listen to a varied rhetoric.
Today, as Delhi turns into a chilling reminder of the 2002 Gujarat riots, with public proclamations of pride being made about swords being coloured red with blood, what remains certain is that the social fabric of India has come undone.
The cost of progress: Being stifled and stunted?
The problem ahead for India is a grave one. The key to the answer lies in the opposition. Dynastic politics, much like in Newfoundland and Labrador, are common in India. They run deep and have the ability to stifle an important voice in the machinery of democracy.
In India, the opposition’s leading party, The Indian National Congress, continues to play favourites to a family that has governed a significant portion of independent India. If dynastic politics do not give way to new and fresh voices, then what lays ahead is a stunted and ineffective opposition, with few viable choices for governance, ultimately leading to a shift in the social, political, economic and cultural fabric of a place.
Yes, India is one of the top five economies in the world. Yes, India has and is working hard to empower women and eradicate poverty. Yes, it has touched the moon – literally!
But what is the point of any of these amazing accomplishments if citizens are silenced, hurt and killed in the name of communal politics, nationalist tendencies and the populist vote?
What has been shocking is that there is disbelief and dismay over the events unfolding in India.
Wasn’t it known that this was bound to happen, considering what the past has depicted?
Prajwala Dixit is an Indian-Canadian engineer, journalist and writer in St. John’s, NL who writes a column for the SaltWire Network. When she isn't engineering ways to save the world, she can be found running behind her toddler, writing and volunteering. Follow her and reach her at @DixitPrajwala
