Liberally mistaken

In the last few weeks, the liberals in the media had loved and loathed Narendra Modi in the schizophrenic mode. They hated, and rightly so, his demonic politics. But they were also overawed by his oratorical skills and his ability to work on the crowds.

They saw charisma in him. They were liberals, and they could see virtue even in an ideological enemy. So, they grudgingly admired the man they admittedly hated.

But the liberals seemed to have been carried away by their own righteous indignation. They could not understand as to why people are not able to see the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the wake of Godhra train carnage for what it is: a pogrom directed by fascist forces with the acquiescence of a right-wing party.

On Sunday morning, some of the bleeding-heart anchors of an English language channel were repeatedly asking the BJP leaders who came on the show whether Modi would express regret and remorse in his moment of victory for the 2002 riots. No clear answer came from the other side.

The fact is that the people of Gujarat, including those affected by Godhra and post-Godhra events, have moved on. They turned their backs on the nightmare because it was too painful.

Their life-instincts were powerful. This could also be interpreted as the pragmatism of the Gujaratis. The liberals wanted to keep it simmering because they knew that it was one issue on which Modi could be put in the dock and convicted. The people of Gujarat thought otherwise.

The other weakness in the liberals’crusade against Modi was that they saw his market-friendly, reformist economic agenda as anti-poor and anti-minority.

They did not reckon with the fact that the poor and the minorities, who wear no ideological blinkers, are willing to embrace the market to improve their lives. The poor are not natural socialists, a mistaken notion in the minds of radical bourgeoisie. This has been a major lacuna in the liberal worldview in their fight against right-wing politics.  

At the same time, it would be wrong to rationalise the victory of Modi and the BJP in Gujarat. There is a need to constantly oppose right-wing authoritarianism as represented by Modi and his party.

But it has to be an intelligent and nuanced opposition. It will be foolish to bandy words like secularism and socialism to fight the strident, intolerant, and ultimately destructive nationalism as represented by the right-wingers.

Modi is an unabashed right-winger though he may not recognise the word. He may be genuinely puzzled as to why the word is hurled against him because it is not a pejorative word in his dictionary. 

Like the Congress, the liberals too believe that secularism is speaking up for the Muslims and other minorities. Of course, the anti-minority bias of the right-wingers is quite clear.

But it cannot be countered by pro-minority sentiment, which is insincere in many cases. But the liberals and the Congress use the same false rhetoric. So, when Congress is beaten, the liberals fall, despite fact that most liberals are unsparing in their criticism of the Congress.

There is space and need in this country for unsullied liberal politics. Unfortunately, most liberals are lefties in disguise especially after communist regimes crumbled in 1989.

The self-professed liberals do not really believe in individual rights except when it comes to issues like, maybe, the permissible age for drinking liquor.

Most of the time they are championing the cause of groups like the Scheduled Castes and Sheduled Tribes and other backward classes (OBCs). So, they end up supporting authoritarian and populist figures like BSP’s Mayawati and SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav or RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav.

They do not recognize the individual faces and voices of aspirations of Dalits, Yadavs and Muslims. Thus they lack the legitimacy to oppose an authoritarian figure like Modi or an authoritarian party like the BJP.

The only way to oppose authoritarian politics, of the right as well as of the left, is on the basis of individual rights.

The liberals may have to abandon their unconscious socialism and pathetic secularism, and to stand up for the rights of individuals to believe and not believe in religion, to believe and not believe in nationalism. Believers in religion, nationalism and market economics are not to be shunned as reactionaries.

The liberals need to look at this large middle constituency.

Email: r_parsa@dnaindia.net