Hoping for liberal and inclusive politics

Rajesh Ramachandran

FOR the mothers and children of Gaza, 2023 has been an annus horribilis. Even for those living in far corners of the world, the reverberations of Zionist hatred emanating from the genocide of Palestinians have been hard to cope with. The low-intensity blast outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi only underscores the spilling over of the animus triggered by the Israeli war on innocent Palestinians, particularly in India: Zionists hating Muslims and in return, Islamists detesting Jews. The world is celebrating hatred against strangers — an emotion that knows no geographical or political boundaries, but is linked only through religious affiliations.

Whether the BJP wins a seat in Kerala or not, Modi visiting the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Easter in April and inviting leaders of the Church home to celebrate Christmas is a new direction in representational politics.

In a way, it has to be acknowledged that this is a grand success of the British colonial identity project: dividing a mass of people into groups that hate each other over nothing but religious markers. Videos coming out of Israel are mind-numbing for the joy they exhibit in hating neighbours — that too during Christmas. After all, this is where Christ was born, where he preached infinite love for the neighbour. Revelling in loathing may sound like an oxymoron, but that is the essence of religious identity politics and nowhere is it displayed more in all its gory, devastating consequences than in Gaza, where hospitals and refugee camps are being bombed and civilians are being stripped — as if murder needs to be accentuated by humiliation.

The videos that are being shared by anti-war activists on social media show men, women and even children singing and dancing to foul lyrics of racial abuse and mimicking those who have been abducted, lying with their hands tied. This mimicry of misery is a grave lesson in human depravity, for this is not done by gun-toting extremists, but by fathers, mothers and their children, recording themselves on the TikTok app as their contribution to the Israeli national project of hatred.

And the US Commission for International Religious Freedom, which always lectures India, or Western parliamentarians who magnify religious riots into racial wars, do not seem to have taken note of a society going sick with hatred in Israel. Sure, it is this same sickness of Hamas that triggered the conflict on October 7. But according to contemporary Western enlightenment, one affliction legitimises another. With validation of national retribution from the President of the US and the Prime Minister of the UK, who flew in to egg on the Israeli government, bigoted citizens cannot be blamed for celebrating hate and rejoicing in their victims’ subhuman wretchedness.

If the colonial policy of building identity barriers between communities worked well in creating Pakistan, neo-colonial support for Zionism is legitimising Islamist anger and violence. The bomb blast outside the Israeli embassy might have been weak, but it is a reflection of the success of the consolidation of Islamist reaction to the destruction of Gaza. It has only helped in bolstering extreme Islamist positions, even forcing moderate Muslim politicians to take a pro-terror or pro-Hamas stand. In that sense, the West is succeeding in reinforcing identity markers across Asia. An example of the worsening situation is the recent exhortation by an Islamist theologian in Kerala against Muslims partaking of Christmas cakes.

The Hindu right wing’s support for Zionism will only work towards legitimising Islamist violence in India, prompting a proxy identity clash wherever the Muslims have a significant presence, as in J&K or Kerala. In fact, in Kerala, all parties seeking Muslim votes have organised pro-Palestine rallies, some of which degenerated into pro-Hamas shows of strength. Thus, the power of hatred for the other cannot be misjudged. Most of those who hate the Israeli or the Palestinian other cannot even put a finger on Palestine on the world map. But as a collective emotion, hatred has evolved into a mass psychosis. Reason cannot treat hysteria. The only antidote to this group psychosis is the delegitimisation of identity politics, which is a possibility in a society only if groups do not need to seek the protection of collective identities, where a group name tag is neither a necessity nor a liability.

When a society is being led by a Hindu-first party, such a transformative change can only be made by the government. A small first step in that direction was taken by Prime Minister Modi when he invited Church leaders to his residence on Christmas Day. For a party that turned December 25 into Good Governance Day, this is a big U-turn. Restoration of the sanctity of Christmas Day is a big step towards making the BJP and the NDA government inclusive and accepting of the contribution of Christians to the nation’s body politic.

The Opposition immediately jumped in, claiming that the PM did not discuss the Manipur riots. Well, the Manipur riots were a clash between Kukis and Meiteis over a high court order; Christians on both sides suffered, though there are more Hindus than Christians among Meiteis. And then, of course, this was undoubtedly an opportunistic move to woo the large Christian chunk of voters in Kerala, where the BJP is desperate to open its Lok Sabha account. Democracy wins when opportunism in electoral politics forces an organisation to smoothen the sharp edges of its religious antagonism. For a party that is perceived to have no space for minorities in its ideology to cross over the chasm of mistrust, extending a hand of friendship, is indeed welcome.

It is a sign of a party becoming successful, broad-based and truly representative when winning elections compels its leader to abandon the baggage of ideology. Whether the BJP wins a seat in Kerala or not, Modi visiting the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Easter in April and inviting leaders of the Church home to celebrate Christmas is a new direction in representational politics. In the new year, let there be a reprieve from the mass psychosis of hatred in Gaza and here, let electoral compulsions make our parties more liberal and inclusive. Happy New Year, dear reader.

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