"Tumko Mila kya" :::: Modi has timed the “Pakistan-plus-Muslim card” pretty well :::::: Even Cricket is no longer a gentleman's game .... Jingoism has replaced Nationalism .... :::: Rediscover the joys of living without sheer hatred :: But Pakistan is Different

(It's undeniable that 'repeated' reference to Muslims and the "Pakistan angle" is always a successful attempt to polarize the Indian elections -- but this may also cause  further religious divides among the electorate.)

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With this "Operation Sindoor vis-a-vis India-Pakistan cricket stadium" logic, the BJP could be hoping to deal another blow to their political detractors' 'Secular' brand of politics.

Sonia Gandhi and frame of Rajiv 

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I started these blogs way back in 2010 August. During its launch --- with the smugness of a shy operator -  I had an underlining theme -- 

"A little bit more than patriotism. A little bit lower than jingoism."  As a matter of fact this word was suggested by a Ahmedabad-based friend and a Sickular product -- I would tease him. 

In gratitude and in a typical 'Mallu (Keralite) anguish' - he had easily dubbed me as a 'blind Modi Bhakt'. Many years later when I reached the 'joblessness' stage amid personal agony and my mother's death -- he asked me acidly : 

"Tum ko salah mila kya ?".  

He knew by then (as my mom expired in Nov 2019) colleagues in news agency UNI headquarters started behaving peculiar and cheap. 

The fact of the matter is our journalism world in Delhi is 'cheap' in more ways than one.  My experience with two other news agencies were no better. Of course classic was Press Trust of India's ever "love-able" salutation:

"Udhar riot chal raha hae, tum khana kha rahe ho".  

Sincerely yours !

Nevertheless, my personal tragedy and comedy combo is not the big picture issue. 

The much important and bigger issue is 'we have started justifying jingoism' as my or Cricket team's love for the country. I am not entirely opposed to the idea of Indian squad declining to take a trophy from a Pakistani neta who also is PCB chief. Mohsin Naqvi social media post earlier was highly provocative. 

But we must note the bigger subject matter of debate is -- the fact that the "bitterness" over Pakistan exists in India even in normal times.

The next important issue is -- how often this is tapped so well during elections and otherwise by the BJP leadership. The Lotus party's poll managers - and especially Namo himself and Home Minister Amit Shah know it well how to garner votes.

This is where Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' allegations etc etc simply fail. 

 

Of course replacing Jingoism for Nationalism has helped the BJP in the past. The Modi regime has also known it pretty well on how to make a political capital of subjects like Military Memorial and National War Memorial. In the process, Patriotism has been suitably used to create a powerful campaign against Caste, Creed, Language and State (or Religion). 

We do not suggest that Moditva's definition of Nationalism has able to take the 'larger national interests' above all narrow domestic walls. 

But it has been successful to a great extent when it comes to Indian diaspora and the manner they have been rescued in different countries during different challenging circumstances and brought back home.  As a party which has lost three consecutive polls, the Congress party has committed one big mistake by not being gracious. 

A loser in a democratic election and that for a party which has ruled for maximum number of decades; the Congress should not have been so bitter. A party that lost election should not be having the grudges on the new 'role' that has been conferred to it by the people of India. 

Equally of course, the winner must never get arrogant. Winning or losing election is part of the game. Late Rajiv Gandhi himself summed it up better when after the 1989 defeat he had said -- "Elections are won, elections are lost....". 

As a result, a new diction has been created. And it has its merrits.

There is a growing sentiment within the BJP and more importantly among a substantial support base among Hindus is that the “secularism,” as practiced earlier under Congress -- has been essentially “anti-Hindu". 

This is the catch.

Hence showing Pakistanis in poor light at the world's sporting stage is also to appeal to that core voters in India - who grudges Muslims and who still grudges the Partition of India. 

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not being novice when he tweeted that India's three-zero win in the just concluded Asia Cup cricket extravaganza was like Operation Sindoor.

"Operation Sindoor on the games field. The outcome is the same - India wins! Congrats to our cricketers," Modi said in a post on X.  

The reference to Operation Sindoor and connecting it with Pakistan's loss to India in the Asia Cup title alluded to a fact - sports or military, India humbled Pakistan rather convincingly. 

India's devastating airstrikes at Pakistan's terror infrastructure and military installations in May had left that country's airspace defenceless. The bombing by using Russia-made missiles and other indigenous tools eventually led Pak DGMO dial his Indian counterpart and request for a ceasefire. 

Even Pak airports were severely damaged and several terror camps were vanquished and terrorists and relatives were killed.   

Big jets made by China and the US were brought down.

The BJP and Modi have always banked heavily on the spirit of Hindutva (literally “Hindu-ness”). This was missing in the politics pushed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Hindutva political ideology - as also cherished by the influential RSS - advocates for Hindu supremacy and seeks to transform India possibly into an ethno-religious nation.

When Indian government green signaled India's participation at the tournament-  actually a trap was created for Pakistanis and they kept walking deep step by step during the tournament. 

Indian skipper Sunil Kumar Yadav even refused to handshake with the rival captain.

This was not even heard in cricket during the era of bodyline bowling between Australia and England.

The BJP is always seen 'comfortable' increasingly relying on the party’s familiar tactic of seeking votes by evoking inherent religious divisions in the country of 1.4 billion people.

It's true Communalism is a strict anti-thesis to both democracy and religion.  But at the same time Prime Minister Modi loves to call India/Bharat the 'mother of democracy'.

But the main opposition Congress and other parties also go soft on Hindutva issues these days because they all want to be "politically correct".

In 2024, there was a can of worms opened by the BJP when Modi himself dubbed the Congress party’s election manifesto as “a footprint of the Muslim League”.

After all, this party is held responsible for the partition of the Indian subcontinent and for creation of Pakistan in 1947. Even Pakistan split later in 1971 with the creation of another country called Bangladesh.

Rahul loses polls and then the 'plots' too ::  

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In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, trying to present himself as a primary challenger to the PM, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had stressed on the fair distribution of wealth as the biggest challenge of capitalism. But this is hardly spoken these days. 

** Take another case when Pakistani minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, applauded Rahul Gandhi last year and said the Congress leader had a socialist in him, the BJP quickly joined the issue.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, “There must be a reason behind this deep love [for Rahul Gandhi] from a country that has been trying to destabilize India. It is a matter of grave concern, and India wants to know the reason for this love.” 

These certainly end up influencing the minds of at least a few hundred voters. 

  

ends