Liberal Influence Beyond Elections - My perspective

In recent years, political landscapes worldwide have witnessed a striking trend of the consistent rise of conservative or right-wing forces. From developed democracies to emerging nations, liberal political parties rooted in secularism and inclusion face a series of electoral defeats. For many who champion liberal ideals, this trend can be disheartening, evoking a sense of disillusionment and hopelessness. I feel this phenomenon warrants deeper analysis, not just as a commentary on electoral outcomes but as a reflection of the evolving interplay between societies and various ideologies. Contrary to the current perception, liberalism even in the shadow of electoral losses continues to shape society, often in subtle but profound ways.

At first glance, the conservative victory march might seem to reflect the triumph of their ideology. However, much of their electoral success stems from the loyalty of a steadfast voter base and some electoral blunders by liberals. Conservative supporters often vote with unwavering commitment, regardless of a candidate's flaws or controversies. Whether the candidate is perceived as corrupt, controversial, or extreme, their core vote bank remains intact. Liberals, on the other hand, lack this kind of dedicated and unconditional support. Their voter base is diverse and fluid, comprising groups drawn to specific policies or values. For example: immigrants may support liberal policies during their initial years of integration into society; workers might align with liberal agendas during periods of economic struggle; and minorities may rally behind liberals for protection against majoritarianism. However, as these groups stabilize or achieve their goals, their loyalty often wanes based on their social and economic interests. This dynamic reflects a paradox for liberals: their success in empowering and integrating marginalized groups inadvertently diminishes their long-term voter base. Furthermore, the educated, economically secure demographic often seen as the core liberal constituency does not vote with the same urgency as conservative voters. With little at stake personally in elections, their participation hinges more on the nature of the candidate and ideological alignment than existential concerns. This may explain some shift in voting patterns by the groups who were mistakenly considered liberal voters.

Despite losing elections, liberal ideals continue to exert significant influence. This happens at least in two ways. First, due to the need for conservative moderation. When conservatives win elections, their victory often extends beyond their traditional voter base. To maintain this broader coalition, they are compelled to moderate their extreme rhetoric. Even when they rely on divisive propaganda to galvanize their core supporters, implementing such rhetoric becomes politically unfeasible in governance. As a result, many conservative governments tone down their hardline positions to accommodate the diverse expectations of their electorate. This moderation, ironically, is not organic but is driven by the liberal values embedded in modern democratic systems. Liberals may lose the electoral battle, but their principles indirectly shape the policy and governance of conservative government. For example, many social welfare schemes enacted by liberal governments are continued by subsequent conservative governments, often, unwillingly. Second, the liberal watchdog effect forces conservatives to abandon their toxic propaganda when they are in power. Conservatives often target liberals as their primary opposition, even when liberals lack significant electoral power. This consistent focus highlights the role of liberalism as a counterweight to extremism. By existing as a credible alternative, liberals ensure that democratic norms and values remain intact. Therefore, the liberal influence extends beyond ballots to shaping societal discourse, safeguarding inclusion, and preventing the erosion of democratic institutions.

While the current trend may seem bleak for liberals, it is essential to recognize the broader picture. Electoral defeats, though painful, do not signal the demise of liberal ideals. Instead, these ideals continue to exert a quiet but powerful influence on governance, policy, and society. So, for those disheartened by the rise of conservative forces, take solace in this: the essence of liberalism lies not just in winning elections but in shaping the world in ways that ensure inclusivity, equality, equity, and progress, sometimes through direct action and sometimes by compelling others to act. In the grand scheme of democracy, the show goes on, and liberals remain an indispensable part of the story, no matter which government is in power.

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

*Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com 

Elections and democracy

Are elections enough to demonstrate that the country is a liberal democratic country? 

Many may answer in the affirmative and they won't be entirely wrong. But are only elections enough? Not really. There are many countries where elections are held, and governments claim to represent their people, but they can't be called democracies, for example, Russia and China. India claims to be the largest democracy. If we go just by claims, China should be considered the largest democracy, India may overtake them soon, but currently, China is the most populist country and claims to be democratic. However, many don't accept China to be a Western-style liberal democratic country, and hence India is considered the largest democracy in the world. I have participated as a voter and witnessed Indian elections since my childhood until I left for the US. It is true that elections are held regularly in India at various levels, starting from the local city or village level elections to national elections. Voter bribing, voter intimidation, or voter fraud allegations are leveled after every election. At some point booth capturing and violence during campaigning and voting used to be common. Even today after shifting to so-called more secure voting machines, voting fraud is regularly alleged, and some constituencies need to go for repoll due to voting-related issues. Even after all this, the election is not an issue, what happens during and in between elections is a better indicator of the health of any democracy. Whether personal rights are protected and respected across society, how vocal is the opposition and how much coverage it gets in the media, and whether there is any opposition intimidation (like in China and Russia) are some of the parameters that can be used to check the health of democracy at any given time. India does not perform well on many of these parameters consistently. These things happened in the 70s during the regime of Indira Gandhi, there was an official emergency declared curbing many personal rights and opposition intimidation. Not surprisingly, these things still happen after more than four decades. When the voters don't question the party they vote for, they defend each and every action of their party, and then there is no incentive to do the right things. When there is no accountability and repercussions, why any government or party will change? In a democracy, the majority gets the right to govern and implement its election manifesto, however, it does not get any rights to suppress or intimidate the minority. When personal rights are subjective and depend on who you support and who is in power, and the judiciary fails to step in and check this abrogation of personal rights, then society lives in fear and intimidation. The illusion of democracy is not a democracy. 

Therefore, conducting elections is not enough for democracy, many times, what happens in between the elections is more important than the elections. 

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com 

Living in unauthorized colonies - my own experience

While watching this report on prime time by Ravish on NDTV I went back in my memory lane when we used to live in a similar colony. Our colony was also unauthorized, which means it was constructed without proper permission and paperwork from the municipal authority which is necessary to have an authorized construction to pay a property tax. Authorized construction is also registered under the owner's name in government records and one can sell it legally and government can't demolish it just like that. As ours was an unauthorized colony government didn't provide necessary infrastructure like water, sewage, proper roads, etc. Our only hope was our corporator Mr. Shashikant Sutar who used to help us get some of these things from the municipal corporation and he also used to take care of all the legal notices of demolition sent to all of us by the municipal corporation. During the initial days, water was supplied by water tankers. It used to be literally a war-like situation to get a bucket of water. People used to fight hard to reach the tanker tap first to make sure that they got enough water for them until the next visit of the tanker. Normally, women and kids of the family used to do this water fetching business as men used to be at work. My mom hated this ordeal because first of all, as she was a recent immigrant from another state she could not speak the local language (Marathi) very well, and by nature, she doesn't like to argue or confront anyone so she used to hate this, but there was no other way to get water. All homes in such colonies shared common walls on both sides, and only homes at the end of the lane had the luxury of having windows on side walls otherwise only option was to have windows on the front wall or on the back wall. Normally these colonies grow over time as people construct their own houses depending on their financial capacity so some homes can be two-storied and some can be just one storey and they both stand side by side. Local politicians play a key role in keeping things in order in such colonies as everyone goes to them to solve their disputes and for any legal trouble from the municipal corporations.

Life in these places is not that easy but it is not like that people living there don't enjoy or have fun. I had a pretty good time during my childhood. I agree that our parents were under constant threat of losing their home constructed with hard-earned money but we also had a very supportive politician to help us. In return for this protection, we elected him as our corporator and MLA until he retired from active politics. Our colony stood on private land, every family bought a piece of privately owned land and constructed their home. We just didn't have proper approvals to build homes on that land. This was due to a lack of knowledge, a lack of money to get this approval, and a very corrupt approval process where it was impossible to get approval without paying bribes. The colony was not on some government land, so, there was no issue of land encroachment and still, it took more than two decades to get it authorized. So whenever these political parties make promises like authorizing illegal colonies, they sound unreal and they do it only to fool those residents for their votes. Now, our colony is authorized with all the required paperwork and we all pay property tax on it but it took almost 20-30 years to get this done and still it is very unsafe with narrow lanes and no space for parking. So, making them authorized does solve a few problems, the threat of demolition is gone, and you get water and electricity, but issues about safety still remain. This is a very lucrative topic for vote bank politics as all voters living in these colonies entirely depend on political leaders to protect their homes from the clutches of law. The issue is very complicated and deeply political, many political parties want such issues to last forever so that they can reap benefit from these vote banks in every election. I guess the time has come for people living in such colonies to unite and then negotiate with the government some proper plan that can improve living conditions in such places. They deserve better treatment from the government. 

I have very fond memories from the time I spent living in an unauthorized colony, but I know that there was a lot of uncertainty and stress for my parents to protect their home. I really hope that this issue can be resolved and our political parties care for the well-being of people living in such colonies.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. प्राइम टाइम : अनियमित कॉलोनियों का ये है हाल

What is this Love Jihad?

When I heard the term "Love Jihad" for the first time a few weeks back, I thought it was from some movie based on terrorism or something like that. I didn't know that this was the term coined by some members of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. When I came to know that this is a political issue, then I got curious, and I read more about why they are using this term or what is the logic behind it. I also came to know that this was not the original creation of UP's BJP unit, but it was also used previously in other states like Kerala, Karnataka, and Gujarat. So, what does the term "love jihad" refer to? Currently, it is used to propagate that there is some group of Muslim young boys who get trained in some institutions especially to target young girls from other faiths (especially Hindu girls) and convert them to Islam by luring them into a love trap. This is the whole concept behind this love jihad political drama. Yes, it is a purely political drama, that is why it is specially used in states that are prone to communal polarization. 

Forceful conversions of people from one religion to another religion is a serious matter, and there is a law against such forceful conversions. So, forceful conversions are already illegal and there is a law to prosecute people who engage in such activities. I wonder what this love jihad stuff is going to achieve apart from religious polarization and harassing people doing inter-religious marriages. At the same time, we should also know that the Indian constitution gives every citizen the freedom to choose their own religion. Every conversion is not forceful but it is also true that forceful conversions do happen and this issue should not be taken lightly. It is really sad to see that this issue is getting heavily politicized. If any issue gets heavily politicized many other unrelated dimensions are added to it and then it becomes very difficult to find any solution to it as involved political parties don't want to settle the issue for their own political benefit.

The word 'Jihad' means struggle or resisting according to Wikipedia. It seems this word is mentioned many times in Quran but I wonder how people managed to link love with this word? No doubt that many times there is struggle or resistance involved in a process of winning someone's heart but this term is definitely not referring to that process. It seems the purpose behind the creation of this phrase was to attract media attention and target Muslim youth. Concealing one's social or religious identity to win someone's love is not a new phenomenon, there are many movies where central characters do these things and during my teenage and college years, even I have seen many people doing such things. The point I want to make is that this is not something new or something associated with only a particular religion or community. People do all kinds of silly things in love, it is even said that "everything is fair in love and war" but forcing anyone to change their religion is neither love nor jihad. 

Forceful religious conversions or cold-blooded murders of people because of inter-caste or religious marriage are very serious issues. Forcing anyone to change their religion against their will or killing anyone just because they married someone out of their community is a crime. These things should be dealt with under respective laws. Politicizing these issues to create communal tension is not going to help anyone but political parties. So let's look at the real problem and try to solve it rather than make it another unresolvable political dispute that only divides people based on religious lines.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

We have now new group of employees to work for us in the government

The results of the 2014 general elections in India are out. People have given a clear-cut mandate in favor of the BJP, this is the first time in many years that a single party has got a clear majority in parliament. This is a very good sign, one can agree or disagree with BJP's core policies or can question their communal history, those things are open for debate, but now they have a clear mandate to fulfill whatever they promised in their manifesto. The people of India have decided to give them a chance to implement their manifesto. Recently AAP has shown in Delhi that if there is political will and a strong desire to implement the manifesto it can be done, even though it was for a really short time but they displayed a proof of concept. Now this government has no excuse to offer for lack of performance. If they even try to blame the previous government it will be considered as an attempt to offer lame excuses to cover their inability to perform.  

Now we have a new set of employees in the office, let's see how they perform for us. All elected members of any public house or public service are employees of all citizens of India. Their salaries, perks, and benefits are paid from the taxpayer's money. So in every election, we elect employees to work for us for some specific tenure, they are supposed to fulfill all the promises that they made to us during their selection process (elections). For many decades these employees behaved as if they were owners of the office (our country) and we all citizens were their workers, and we voters (who are real owners of this enterprise) allowed them to do this. We allowed them to get away with this arrogance. These people cheated us again and again, misused our trust and made false promises on many occasions, offered lame excuses whenever we asked for any explanations, this whole drama was going on for many decades. All political parties (including the current one which is coming back in power after 10 years of gap) are guilty of this crime. But I think now hopefully people are tired of this game, people showed some of that attitude in asking questions to the AAP's government in Delhi, and I hope they will show a similar attitude towards each and every state and national government in India. We had enough of the blame game, BJP blaming Congress and Congress blaming BLP and in reality, none of them doing anything to fulfill their promises. This needs to stop, we need accountable and transparent government in every state and at the center. BJP with its clear mandate and majority of its own now has that chance, they also claim to have a leader with a proven track record and the ability to make tough decisions, so they should not have any difficulty in doing all the good work for all sections of society. These all claims and promises they made will be now put to the test. It is easy to talk, and easy to make tall claims and populist promises, but it's not easy to fulfill them all, their time and real test starts from the day their party assumes power.

They promised to bring back black money in a specified time (like AAP promised Lokpal), they promised to punish criminal politicians, they promised to bring a uniform civil code, squash Article 370, etc. One can read BJP's manifesto or hear speeches of BJP's prominent leaders to know what they promised. Some promises (like Article 370 and uniform civil code) they have been making for decades and offered an excuse of lack of clear majority for not fulfilling them, now they don't have that excuse. They now have to deliver these things, they can not hide behind the shield of coalition politics or coalition dharma, because now they have an absolute majority. AAP delivered in Delhi without having any majority and with very hostile opposition in the assembly. This government doesn't even have any strong opposition in parliament, and this can be a very dangerous situation for any democracy. A strong opposition is a very important part of any democracy but this can be a big plus for this government if they really want to do something good for this country. That is why I said in one way this is good that they have an absolute majority, there will be no place to hide for them even if they fail on any single major promise.

I am looking forward to their work, and I will evaluate their performance after some time. One should give them some time and then ask our questions. So, don't stop questioning them, don't forget any past issues, debate and discuss them as strongly as we did in the past. All parties who did not perform well in this election should not lose all hope, and their supporters should not get disheartened just because their party has lost the election or didn't win any seat, win or loss is part of any election, get back to the basics, work hard to strengthen your organization and keep your eyes and ears open to listen to people's problem and issues. Building a better and stronger India for everyone is important who is doing it is not that important, so let's work to build a strong, free, and vibrant country for everyone. Let's build India which we all dream of, a country which is not only great in slogans but in reality also. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Communal politics and hate speech

During the past month or so countless speeches have been delivered in India by various leaders from various political parties. 2014 general elections for Lok Sabha are still going on, and many political parties are engaged in a fierce political battle to win seats in the lower house of the Indian parliament. Mostly these political speeches are full of emotional calls, crude jokes, and personal remarks, rarely they contain anything substantial or useful. The main aim of these speeches is to highlight their party's agenda, engage the audience, and challenge them emotionally to vote for their party. Even though these speeches don't contain much authentic data and are normally full of impossible promises they influence voters. Many people get inspired after listening to them, and it can also mobilize the masses if required. That is why any hate speech or inflammatory speech is very dangerous, because like other inspirational speeches that can have a positive influence these speeches can have a negative impact on people. It doesn't matter who is delivering that speech and where it is delivered, such speeches can instigate feelings of hatred among people against certain castes, religions, genders, communities, or groups. This feeling of hatred then can manifest in some ugly forms like communal tension, social boycotts, or even communal riots killing innocent people.

I wrote a blog post somewhat related topic after that infamous hate speech by MIM (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) leader Akbaruddin Owaisi. BJP leader Amit Shah and SP leader Azam Khan have been already warned for the hateful remarks they made during election campaign speeches, note these are some of the top national leaders. Recently few more similar instances happened, surprisingly most people involved in these incidents were related to BJP or its allies. In one recent incident, Mr. Praveen Togadia from VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) talked with some groups about how to get rid of Muslim neighbors, the content of his speech was disgusting and full of hatred towards Muslims. This was not the first time he delivered such hateful speech, he is a serial offender in this area and so far no action has been taken against him in any case. Another instance was when Giriraj Singh, BJP's candidate from Bihar, told all Modi opponents to leave India and go to Pakistan. In another instance, Saharanpur Congress candidate Imran Masood threatened to kill the Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. The most recent one that I saw was the more serious incident where in the presence of Mr. Narendra Modi Shiv Sena leader Mr. Ramdas Kadam threatened revenge against Muslims and also said that Modi would destroy Pakistan within six months of assuming power. All these speeches have something in common, a feeling of hatred towards some community or person, such a deep hatred that people are willing to go to any extent to attack that person or group. This is not a democracy but fascism, in a democracy, people criticize each other, argue, and debate but don't threaten to kill each other just because of differences of opinion. Another common thing among all these incidents is that none of these people faced any action from their own party for making such statements. Rather, they became more popular and prominent faces in their respective parties. There is no strong deterrent that can stop them from making such statements or using such tactics. Freedom of expression should not be curbed under any situation, all these people have the right to express their opinions, and it's up to voters to respond to such statements. Obnoxious statements like these should be challenged as shutting these people up is not an option. Freedom of expression comes at a cost but communal violence is not that cost. People need to decide if they want such people to represent them in the assembly or parliament. As long as voters vote for such people even after delivering such speeches they will use such dirty tactics to achieve their goals.

Words like "secular" and "communal" are used very frequently and casually in Indian politics. Every party claims to be secular and accuses its opponent of being communal. BJP, Congress, or any other regional party (like BSP, SP) all play this game with each other. They all try to fool voters by playing this game. AAP is a new entrant in this field and it will be too soon to say anything about them in this area, so I will wait and watch before making any conclusions about them. According to me, there is no real secular political party in India, some are less communal than others, that's the difference, they all use equations of caste or religion at their own convenience. Some even don't hesitate to use means of communal violence to achieve their political goals which is more dangerous. In fact, I don't even expect any party to be completely secular. In a society like India where religion plays such an important role in people's lives, it is practically impossible to keep religion and politics completely separate. But to spread feelings of hate and animosity between different groups purposely, and create division among people for political benefit is a dangerous exercise. Communal tension, frequent riots, rampant gender discrimination, casteism, and regionalism, are the results of such divisive politics. Because of a lack of awareness about these things political parties make use of these ugly tricks to fool people. There can be several other reasons for this lack of awareness about this divide-and-rule policy, after all, the British used a similar policy to rule India for many years. Because of the proven track record of divide and rule policy in India, these political parties can't avoid the temptation of using it for their own political gains. It is for people to recognize this trap and avoid it.  Only voters can diffuse this deadly weapon, these parties are not going to stop on their own.

Hate speeches are as dangerous hateful acts, they deserve strong condemnation and people should demand answers from respective political parties for such statements. We cannot ignore these things anymore, these things have already done enough damage to our society, and now the time has come to put an end to such divisive politics. This type of politics already resulted in the division of our country in the past, if we can't stop it now then we don't know what problems it might create in the future. Politics should be based on issues and topics related to development and governance, it should not be based on hate and revenge. Religion should not be mixed with politics as much as possible, and hate speeches should not be encouraged at any cost. Communal politics and hate speeches are different sides of the same coin and they should not have any place in civilized political discourse. I hope all political parties and voters understand the danger that lies behind the use of such tactics and behave accordingly. The time has come to change the direction of political discourse in India and only we the people of this country can do it. Let's hope we recognize this and act responsibly before it's too late.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links: 

3. Saharanpur Congress candidate threatens to chop Narendra Modi into pieces

1. Hate politics..let's not encourage it anymore..

2. Praveen Togadia's recent hate speech

3. Shiv Sena leader Kadam shares stage with Modi, makes hate speech against Muslims

4. Hate speech: Election Commission censures Amit Shah, Azam Khan
5. Saharanpur Congress candidate threatens to chop Narendra Modi into pieces