SIMRAN JEET SINGH: The Farmers' Protests Are a Turning Point for India's Democracy

By Dilip - Saturday, February 13, 2021

NB: This article is presumably meant to explain the ongoing Indian farmers' movement to Western audiences. If it was intended to help the farmers' struggle, it will do just the opposite. The author highlights the Sikh and Punjabi element in the protests, when in fact it has been a non-denominational movement from the start. He refers to the unrest in Punjab in the 1980's as a 'self-determination' movement, when it was unpopular with a large section of Punjab's population, including Sikhs, who were in fact the worst victims of Khalistani terrorism. He glosses over the violent and communal activities of J. S. Bhindranwale. He refers to 'right-wing extremists' as if they are (and were) purely of the Hindutva variety, when in fact such extremism may be found across the spectrum of religious identities. In the same paragraph, he mixes up and conflates religious identities with caste and regional ones. He refers to Chinese imperialism and Islamic terrorism as 'bogeymen' - when in fact these are very real things and a threat to the security of millions of people.

The author is correct on the undemocratic objectives and majoritarian politics of India's ruling establishment, but he has no coherent analysis of Indian communalism, which cannot be reduced to an arithmetical total of denominational categories. In brief, this kind of misrepresentation will be seized upon by the establishment to retail yet more propaganda about the so-called 'anti-national' character of the Indian farmer's movement. For those who would like to read more about the movement, please see the links provided beneath this post. For those who wish to understand the complex nature of Indian communalism, please read this article which was written in 2014 to mark the 30th anniversary of the anti-Sikh carnage of 1984. DS

For decades, the world has turned a blind eye to India’s abysmal human rights record. This approach draws from a broad perception of India as a strategic ally. For one, the United States, like much of the global community, sees India as an important counterweight to China. They are the two most populous nations and the fastest growing trillion-dollar economies in the world. Global powers tend to prefer India because of its standing as the world’s largest democracy. At the same time, India’s adversarial relationship with neighboring Pakistan, as well as its increasingly anti-Muslim policies, position it as a bulwark against “Islamic terrorism.”

These two bogeymen - Chinese imperialism and Islamic terrorism - are the specters that have given India a free pass. Over the past few years, however, the rise of right-wing authoritarianism has brought India’s democratic standing into question. India has plummeted in democracy metrics across the board, including the Press Freedom Index, where it now ranks 142 of 180 countries, four spots behind South Sudan and three behind Myanmar. The Human Freedom Index ranks India at 111 of 162 countries, just four ahead of Russia. This past September human rights group Amnesty International ceased operations in India following sustained assaults from the Indian government….

https://time.com/5938041/india-farmer-protests-democracy/

Express Editorial: Weaponising an advocacy document to arrest an activist signals paranoia, not democratic power.

Avay Shukla - ARE THE FARMERS MAKING DELHI IRRELEVANT ?

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