To the naked eye the difference between the world’s two major democracies and China is like that between chalk and cheese. And it is natural to think so, given that China has been at loggerheads with the US and India for quite some time. If it was not Korea, then it was Tibet, Aksai Chin and Doklam. However, over the year the weapons have evolved from the gun to economics. Battlefields range from the UN, WTO and NSG. The use of armed forces is more to acquire outposts in the high seas and Africa to put dibs on natural resources and trade routes.
However, for all the sabre-rattling and ideological differences, India and the US are slowly emulating the Chinese model of administration. Take the media for example. President Xi Jinping, at a 2016 meeting of three State-run media outlets, described the media as ‘the propaganda fronts and must have the party as their family name’. It comes as no surprise that Chinese journalists must now pass a test on their knowledge and understanding of Xi Jinping Thought, the political theory propounded by President Xi Jinping. For such regimes, the media is an essential tool for moulding public thought, it becomes an administrative tool.
In a democracy, the media serves as a watchdog and information disseminator. It can therefore be a thorn in the side of the ruling establishment. President Donald Trump of America and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India have tried to muzzle the press. Donald Trump has labelled all media, barring Fox, as “Corrupt Press” and “Fake News”. The Modi government has halted official advertising in, and even unleashed law agencies on, media outlets critical of the government. This has resulted in most media kowtowing the official line, even becoming unofficial surrogates for the government. However, American media have been able to thwart these Trumpian designs, much to the frustration of the 45th President. It is not surprising then to see that in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index, India has dropped down two positions – to 140 – while the US dropped three notches to 48.
An instance where the similarities between the three countries are far more striking is in the way minorities and dissenters are treated. In the most recent example from China, the Uighurs have not only been hauled into ‘built-for-purpose camps’ for re-education but many mosques and other structures have been razed to the ground and built over. In the case of dissenters, China has a well-oiled apparatus to disappear such nationals. Being democracies, the current leaders of India and the US do not have such luxuries. Instead they have weaponised their supporters to go after dissenters. In India, those criticising the government are trolled by supporters and harassed with legal cases. In the US, the extreme right has been emboldened with the Trump’s rhetoric.
With Modi and Trump, India and the US are split in the middle. The socio-political upheaval occurring in these two countries has a parallel to what occurred in China between 1966 and 1976. The Cultural Revolution, instigated by Chinese leaders, pitted Chinese citizens against each other, many were labelled anti-party and anti-national, and publicly humiliated, harassed and jailed. Dissenters in India are called anti-national, while Trump has called Democrats ‘Un-American’ and the current whistle-blower a spy.
Interestingly, though the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the largest number of sitting parliamentarians with criminal cases, the BJP government has been targeting opposition leaders in what can be seen as an attempt to stomp political opposition. As per a news channel, 30 top leaders of different opposition parties are facing criminal charges currently as compared to only four from the ruling party.
Both Trump and Modi have installed people in the executive branch who are more than happy to do the bidding or support their actions, no matter how unjustified. Thus, institutions are being moulded and programmed to further personal agendas or bigoted philosophies, much like authoritarian regimes with made to order functionaries.
One can’t but not recognise the fledgling and ham-handed attempts of Trump and Modi to influence and cement their position on the national populace. Trump began his presidency with the assertion on record breaking crowd numbers attending his inauguration. He has now progressed to crowning himself the best President ever. Modi, on the other hand, hugs global leaders, holds forth with Indians via ‘Mann Ki Baat’ a monthly radio programme and, stage manages interviews and photo ops. On his recent return to India from the Howdy Modi event in Houston and the 2019 UNGA Modi proclaimed that India has achieved a higher international stature since he came to office in 2014. Though ambitious, the endeavours of Modi and Trump look amateurish when compared to Xi, for example, who has added his understanding of socialism to the CPC doctrine, only the third leader- after Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping-to do so.
In many of his rallies Trump has broached the subject of increasing the current two-term limit for Presidents. Amit Shah, Prime Minister Modi’s right hand and the current Home Minister, has questioned the validity of a multi-party democracy. Though both have later backtracked from their statements are they actually testing the waters? One could argue that both Trump and Modi have been democratically elected and so have a mandate. But does it translate to an invitation to convert democracies into something else?
(Samir Nazareth is an
author and writes on socio-economic and
environmental issues)
