The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) led to strong international reactions. The United States said that it was closely monitoring the recent arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, adding that it “encourages a fair legal process”. German spokesperson Sebastian Fischer had said Kejriwal “is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, this includes he can make use of all available legal avenues without restrictions”. India expectedly criticised these comments and termed them as “unacceptable intervention” and summoned senior the US diplomat to the foreign ministry.
The BJP government seems to have “weaponised” the central government agencies like the ED, CBI, Income Tax to stifle and erase the very existence of Opposition party members before the Lok Sabha elections.
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This is not surprising because the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been calling for “Congress mukt Bharat”, which has now become Opposition Mukt Bharat.
The Centre’s approach becomes questionable when the same agencies drop corruption charges against all those Opposition leaders who have joined the BJP or allied with it – NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel are some of the recent examples. The list is huge.
Since the BJP defeated the Congress party in 2014, it has clamped down on free expression across media, civil society and politics, and have stoked inter-religious tensions.
Freedom House, a US NGO, has downgraded the country from “free” in 2021 to “partly free” now, while the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute considers India an “electoral autocracy”, alongside the likes of Russia and Turkey.
Journalists deemed critical of the BJP, frequently face online harassment and sometimes legal repercussions. The government exerts enormous influence on media outlets through its ties with owners, and editors are pressured to toe the government line.
Foreign media is also not spared. Last year, tax inspectors raided the BBC, shortly after the broadcaster aired a documentary critical of PM Modi, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Academics, think-tanks and foreign non-profit groups are under pressure too.
With the crackdown on dissent, India is damaging its own prospects. The country needs robust and open public debate to help it address challenges that are holding it back from reaching its full potential. These include chronic unemployment, high illiteracy and crony capitalism.
A recent investigation by US short selling group Hindenburg Research into companies owned by Gautam Adani and tainted companies buying electoral bonds in crores of rupees and subsequently bagging high value prestigious government contracts, has raised the concerns over capitalists ruling the roost in India.
The West sees India as a democratic and economic counterweight to China. India has also loved to hardsell itself as the world’s largest and most vibrant democracy. But what is happening in the country right now isn’t democracy by any means.
India’s democracy has never been perfect, but it has achieved impressive results. It has supported the country’s rise to the fifth-largest economy in the world and cultivated a burgeoning middle class.
But this is not enough to be a thriving democracy. Democracy is a concept that instantiates a system of government that is “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, and this is not just limited to conducting elections. It is much more.
Freedom of speech and expression, protection of citizens’ rights and equality are some key facets of a healthy democracy, which are grossly missing in this country.
For India’s sake, if the BJP government fails to reverse course, its vision of India as a superpower will remain only an illusion.
Moreover, the voices of dissent from the world leaders and international media will get shriller. Western media especially is more outspoken than the Indian media in condemning the Indian government’s attacks on civil society and free speech.
With all the four pillars of democracy crumbling, the future of the nation is under threat. How ever much the Centre tries to silent the West, it’s impossible to do that in a unipolar and digitally connected world.
One must not forget that no one is indispensable and nothing is permanent, except for the legacy one leaves behind. It is now in the hands of the people who it elects in the ensuing Parliamentary elections. The choice we make now, will definitely decide the future course of our children.
If make the wrong choice now, we will have only ourselves to blame.
