Absolute power, as we have seen, corrupts absolutely. But what is also becoming clear now is that absolute impotence corrupts our thought processes as absolutely. If you have followed the controversy over the disruption of the AI Summit by the Indian Youth Congress, you will know what I am talking about.
The Youth Congress action occurred as the government was trying to figure out how to cope with several reverses. Nobody with any brains bought the official line that the India-US trade deal was a triumph of our negotiating skills—no matter how much the house-trained national media tried to spin it. Then the consequences of the global Epstein scandal unsettled the government.
Next, along came the AI Summit, which was meant to be a showpiece for the regime. So much went wrong at the Summit, from organisational screw-ups to the absurd security regulations that inconvenienced delegates and harassed the citizens of Delhi, to the Chinese dog displayed by one of the regime’s favourite ‘universities’. It was clear that far from being a showcase for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Summit had generated negative press around the world.
Not surprisingly, the government panicked. Calls went out to the media to stop focusing on the screw-ups and to emphasise that much of substance was achieved at the Summit. This may have been true, but it may also have been too late. Public perceptions were beginning to harden, and the desperate late attempt at spin was not working. The regime needed a miracle to salvage the Summit’s reputation and to dig itself out of the hole.
Guess who answered the government’s prayers?
The Youth Congress.
Yes, really.
As you probably already know, the Youth Congress volunteers tried to disrupt the Summit by shouting anti-Modi slogans and taking off their shirts to launch a protest predicated perhaps on their armpits.
One reaction to this spectacle (mine, certainly) was that the protest was foolish, ill-timed, and inappropriate. Disrupting an international summit and launching a banian blitz brings no credit to India or its parliamentary Opposition.
In tactical terms, it was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue. The government grabbed the uproar over the shirtless protests, jumped out of the hole it was in, and finally found a way to rise above its problems.
It pretended to be high-minded and contrasted what it claimed was its promise of a technology-driven 21st-century India with what it called the old-style political louts who were still stuck in the past.
The middle-class response
We can argue about the rights and wrongs of the protest, but in political terms, there can be no argument: this was a tactical disaster. Overnight, the Congress went from sneering at the government’s failures to having to defend the actions of its vested warriors.
It was the liberal response to the controversy that intrigued me. There were the predictable reactions from the usual two-rupee scum, consisting of whataboutery and abuse. And there was the clichéd lefty position that concerns about embarrassing India internationally or about the appropriateness of the protest were symptomatic of an anachronistic liberal middle-class mindset that was ill-suited to fighting this regime.
But what fascinated me the most were the responses of otherwise reasonable, moderate, and thoughtful people who found ways to justify the protests. Their position was: How else can anyone protest in these times?
Parliament is no longer a forum for debate, let alone protest. The electronic media are the governmental equivalent of the Galgotias dog: robots of dubious origin who only follow instructions from their masters. Other media are careful to self-censor anything that might give offence to the powerful. Activists who oppose the government and its friends find no support from the judiciary. Judges can be openly partisan and will happily keep the regime’s critics locked up, even when they have not been convicted of any crimes.
So, in this environment, how exactly are people supposed to protest? The banian blitz may have seemed inappropriate 15 years ago but now, it’s inevitable because other avenues of protest have been shut down.
I don’t necessarily agree with everything that forms part of this position. But any honest person will recognise that it has its strengths and validity. It is also more nuanced than the black-and-white world of the Right wing, where you either worship the government or are anti-national.
The more I travel around the country and meet middle-class people who live outside the echo chambers of politicians and journalists, variations of this argument keep cropping up. These are not people who will protest or broadcast their views. But their disquiet is evident.
Also read: AI Summit is a snapshot of today’s India—intelligence, competence in short supply
Govt’s credibility problem
So far, at least the government and its supporters have taken the line that there is no middle-class concern or disillusionment. The only people who are upset, they say, are ‘commies’, ‘seculars’, and ‘Muslims’—all three terms are used as sneers, if not abuses. The middle class loves this government, we are told.
Well, yes, but only up to a point.
The prime minister’s charisma may well see the BJP through at the next general election. But at least some of this is because of the stupidity of the national Opposition (the Youth Congress does not operate in a vacuum) and its inability to convince people that it offers a stable alternative. Nonetheless, the middle-class disillusionment is real, and it’s getting worse.
You can say, as many BJP leaders do, that the middle class does not matter and welfare schemes will see the government through. But remember, this is exactly what Congress leaders said when middle-class anger with UPA 2 was at its height. We all know what happened next.
Perhaps it’s time for the government to recognise that the foolishness of the Youth Congress (born out of frustration at its repeated failures) offers only a temporary respite. The middle-class concerns will not go away. Already, nobody believes the praise that TV channels direct at the government. The regime’s claims are treated with scepticism. The credibility problem is growing.
Is it time to dial back the intolerance of any dissent and let the institutions of Indian democracy function as they were meant to? If not as an act of faith in democracy, then purely out of political expediency? It might be worth thinking about.
Vir Sanghvi is a print and television journalist and talk show host. He tweets @virsanghvi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)