Communal politics, not butter chicken, is threatening India’s democracy

Representative Image REUTERS/Danish Ismail

India is experiencing a democratic deconsolidation. It is happening at two levels; an imperceptible gradualism whereby institutions of governance are being systematically, but covertly emaciated (the recent ordinance to increase the tenure of directors of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) being a case in point).

On the other hand, there are sudden sharp spikes that are intentionally naked in intent; they are deliberately pronounced such. You are supposed to sit up and take notice, be startled and stupefied. Like the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) notice to the several journalists and activists for their social media posts on the violent protests in Tripura.

It was quite preposterous prima facie, but although the bizarre over-reaction will in all probability be dumped by the higher courts, there was a deeper, visceral political messaging: Stay silent; if nothing else, we will make you do the rounds of the courts which we all know is a frustrating experience. In short, get prepared for mental harassment.

That’s how illiberal democracies asphyxiate a contrarian viewpoint. That’s how the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) reportedly passed strictures that prevents with immediate effect the hawkers and vendors selling street food. Correction, selling non-vegetarian grub. The discrimination is not blurred.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ascended the power-thrones after two majestic triumphs in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, it has adopted a translucent playbook: We will be a Nanny State. Learn to live with it. An RSS affiliated organisation allegedly once requested that India’s storied IIT’s serve only vegetarian food.

A term that I had never heard before became the highest circulating currency after the 2016 demonetisation: food vigilantism. Naturally, given the circuitous character of Indian politics, cow slaughter was on the political table for the saffron party. Beef ban politics has been the party’s undisguised tactic for religious polarisation. In Gujarat, cities banning sale of non-vegetarian meals, the word meat itself has been proscribed. Beef was always not on the menu list, now it includes chicken, fish, and mutton too.

We must never forget that political power is like an intoxicating drug (this is a subtle hint to the Narcotics Control Bureau as to whom they should probably surreptitiously snoop on). If you give politicians an inch, they will take a yard. Those who are insouciantly dismissing the Gujarat orders as a municipal corporation’s hygiene obsession maybe committing a grave mistake. They will soon prohibit fish and meat shops in your respective city. In your locality. In your state. A successful template is usually quickly replicated. Remember, the ‘Gujarat model’?

Let’s face it; the attempt to ban the sale of non-vegetarian food is dictated by unadulterated (pun unintended) communal politics. Gujarat, the home turf of the BJP’s two most powerful brands, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, goes to polls at the end of next year. In the 2017 elections, the Congress nearly upset the BJP’s strong applecart since 1995. Although since the Congress has self-destructed in the state, in politics, one never takes chances.

Sectarianism and communal polarisation is to the BJP what serve and volley and single-handed backhand is to Roger Federer. They consistently deliver.

Why else would not just Ahmedabad, but even other BJP-controlled corporations pass similar restrictive orders, such as Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagadh? Suddenly, almost miraculously overnight, after decades of being there, the food is “offensive” and obstructs proper hygiene. Really? It also appears that fish fry can negatively impact minds of young children. Has anyone heard of omega oil in Gujarat?

These apparatchiks are not sure if the stall owners are to be additionally removed because of ‘road encroachment’. I see no co-relation between butter chicken and traffic jams. Pertinently, the official fiat says that these hawkers should not peddle their protein-heavy delicacies within a radius of 100 metres from schools, colleges and religious places. Do you get the drift? Is oily Gujarati deep-fried snacks or vegetable biryani healthy and hygienic, or even one of my favourites undhiyu when it is submerged in a sea of cholesterol?

It is flabbergasting that the BJP should try and destroy livelihoods of those living on daily wages after demonetisation that pulverised the informal sector, and more recently the COVID-19 related lockdowns and slowdown in the economy. The Gujarat ban orders is like adding insult to injury. It is a crude and cruel violation of an individual’s fundamental rights.

I have no idea if India will make a V-shaped economic recovery after the worst economic slump, but for sure we appear to be in an irreversible democratic recession. India needs some chicken soup for the soul.