Abstract
Narendra Modi is sui generis. Not just a political statesman, he is the face of today’s India, in all its tinted glory and global aspirations. But in politics, uniqueness neither purchases lasting credibility nor sustained reassurance for the electorate of a billion-plus country with myriad conflicting dynamics and incongruences. The title of Christophe Jaffrelot’s book, Modi’s India plays on this contradiction surrounding the man and his reign; and the by-line captures the essence of the author’s critique. In his opinion, the last 10 years of Modi’s rule have contributed to the creation of an India faltering on its own post-colonial promises of secularism, democracy, multi-culturalism and most importantly, tolerance. Although his initial popularity was intense, the Prime Minister has articulated a progressively personalistic, hegemonistic rule and even grossly manipulated the political system to retain the electoral mandate. As an astute and seasoned commentator on Indian politics, Jaffrelot launches a scathing critique of Narendra Modi—the present Prime Minister of India, the person, the politician and the active member and believer of the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh (RSS). He makes incisive documentation of each and every aspect of Modi’s regime and brings forth dark facts urging readers to look beyond the glitz and glamour of the capitalist-backed Modi government and the ‘Bollywoodization of the public scene’ under him (p. 312).
The author adopts a retrospective lens and qualitative, historical analysis as he undertakes critical audits of the last 10 years, drawing evenly from primary and secondary sources. The three broad parts of the book chronicle the history of the ideology of Hindutva, the invention of India’s variant of ethnic democracy and Modi’s version of authoritarianism. In the first part titled ‘The Hindu Nationalist Power Quest’, Jaffrelot makes two significant observations; India’s secularism is rooted in the universalist notion of the nation; but the presence of the Hindu majority and the ideology of organisations such as the RSS pave the way for the creation of ethnic nationalism, which ipso facto erodes the basis of secularism. Jaffrelot imbues Modi’s personality with machinations to show he invented national populism by obfuscating caste identity to coalesce religious majoritarian identity among the Hindus and garner their votes and patronage. With the help of ‘foot soldiers’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi was able to articulate the ‘plebianization of Hindu nationalism and the personalization of power’ through ‘direct relation with the people’ (pp. 81–83). Critiquing his shallow populism, Jaffrelot is quick to point out that Modi’s entire veneer of religious intolerance is hinged on the empirics of electoral currency and not any firm ideological bias against minorities. He has done very little for the poor because he has cut back on state spending and allowed inequalities to grow. So, like a populist leader by definition, he has only been a champion of the poor in the name (p. 153).
In Part Two, ‘The World’s Largest De Facto Ethnic Democracy’, Jaffrelot establishes the ethnicisation of India’s democracy under Modi. As Modi’s clamour for popularity yielded electoral numbers, he garnered the mandate and turned it around to downgrade India’s hard-earned pluralist democracy. Exploring the theoretical dynamics of vigilantism and majoritarianism, Jaffrelot explains how evidentially, the Bajrang Dal and more recently, the Gau Rakshak Dal and the Yuva Hindu Vahini enjoy special protection from the state and exist as a para-statal architecture; the unofficial, dark side of the Janus-faced government (p. 216). They replace law by social norms, which in turn establishes the orthopraxy of the upper caste (Hindus) (p. 234). Thus, the world’s largest democracy has become a de facto ethnic democracy with the seeds of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ sown deep within, with no space for minorities, dissent or any other form of tolerance. Here again, the author does not acknowledge the resistance and criticism which these operations are met with, in a still responsive civil society. Rather, Jaffrelot chooses to impress upon us the current cataclysmic crisis of democratisation, which is de-democratisation and does not engage in weighing the chances of its eventual success.
In Part Three, ‘The Indian Version of Competitive Authoritarianism’, Jaffrelot argues that systemic and systematic authoritarianism has caused rampant malfunctioning of key institutions which were once the vanguards of freedom and impartiality. Vigilante groups have been given overwhelming powers to harass minorities, secularists, intellectuals, universities and NGOs. Minority vulnerability is exploited rather than addressed and intolerance is encouraged. Thus, ethnic democracy becomes the modus operandi for national populists who exclude minorities and reduce them to second-class citizens, setting anti-democratic elements in motion (pp. 253–254). Jaffrelot places the institutions which have been downgraded or de-institutionalised under his critical radar. Here, he may have included the academic community also to reveal two distinct orientations to Modi; the followers and the detractors. The politics of funding academic institutions through crony capitalists and their incremental privatisation could have made an interesting case study. Jaffrelot discusses the muzzling of the fourth estate in detail by throwing light on self-censorship, raids, intimidation and capitalist-backed, pro-government channels taking over the media (p. 299). The irony of Modi’s weariness now, given his exploitation of the same during years of political ascendance could also have been mentioned.
The concluding three chapters are dedicated to a discussion of Modi’s victory in the general elections of 2019 and gross electoral manipulations. Evidence of high-handed politics in the second term includes the abrogation of Article 370, the introduction of the CAA which Jaffrelot aptly terms as an ethnoreligious basis of citizenship, and the marginalisation of Muslims in terms of their representation in public offices. Jaffrelot concludes that Modi has invented a unique brand of authoritarianism which mixes competitive authoritarianism with populism, elitism and ‘sultanism’ (pp. 457–459). These moves are not resisted vigorously because the regime has been built around the cult of a strong personality (p. 461).
Despite the detailed narrative and rich documentation, the book remains a critical commentary and not really a treatise on Indian politics in the last decade. It is unapologetically anti-Modi. Yet, the states which have administratively and electorally resisted the BJP’s ‘Hindu’ invasion despite Modi’s bullying incursions (such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Punjab) do not find any mention. The literature which credits Modi with diplomatic acumen and the epitome of national solidarity is entirely ignored instead of being countered. Jaffrelot rides the wave of sentiments of a certain section which seems to be getting disillusioned with Modi’s high-handedness without any soft, democratic cushioning. But this remains a minority, contrarian perspective on an immensely ‘popular’ leader whose aura has not dimmed and brand value is high. The author does not dwell on Modi’s international power projections at all although this has arguably contributed immensely to his domestic as well as global credentials, especially during the COVID and post-COVID scenarios. Finally, although Jaffrelot alludes that to maintain his skilfully orchestrated national populism, Modi and his brigade would continually induce structural changes in the democratic functioning to mar the authentic mandate of the people, there is no predictive value in the text. While the overwhelming caution on the possibility of a lop-sided Hindu Rashtra is noteworthy, the book could have directly interrogated the links between the myth of Modi’s strong political leadership and good governance in the Indian context.