Mob Justice is discrediting democracy
The alarming connection between India’s Red Fort, US Capitol Hill and Arc de Triomphe
Democracy is one the greatest achievements of the last century. The post-war world order saw the emergence of many nation states in Asia and Africa struggling to settle their social disorder and heal the deep wounds of colonial subjugation. The global migration flows and expansion of economic globalisation ushered a universal pursuit of achieving socio-economic reforms. This was achieved by series of labour market, agriculture and trade reforms that happened alongside liberalising of marriage laws and setting up pro-environment standards.
Hardly any of these reforms were achieved by consensus.
Despite the different scales of social resistance, democratically elected governments have continued their pursuit of reforms. This was made possible in the context where democracy allowed for dialogue with the opposing camps that at times positively contributed to the debates improving the reform process. The ability of democracies to pass laws as a tool to move the wheels of progress even in the face of social protests envies authoritarian leaders and totalitarian orders. Many leaders paid the price for pushing these wheels like François Hollande or were forced out of power by their own party as in the case of Margaret Thatcher.
This scheme of things has weakened in the last two decades. Social movements have turned violent with an increased role for ethnic and religious extremism.
A tale of two democracies
The mouvement des gilets jaunes (Yellow vests) in France started against the carbon tax in October 2018. France has a long history of protests going back to the French Revolution of 1789. The movement drew over a million online signatures and a growing public support thanks to a general discontent against the government policies. But it didn’t take much time before the weekly protests began to turn increasingly violent. Two months later, Arc de Triomphe, an emblematic symbol of France was vandalised. Around one dozen fatalities have been linked to the protests linked violence besides scores of injured. The movement finally lost its steam (and public support) after President Macron condemned the violence. The movement stirred a debate in France on the growing trend to use protests as a cover for violence and vandalism. In 2012, tens of thousands of people led by Catholic and traditional family rights outfits had protested in France against plans to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption. Yet the law granting same-sex couples the right to marry and jointly adopt children won the parliamentary approval in 2013. Since then, the public opinion reported in favour of same-sex marriages increased from 53% to over 80% in 2019.
Nothing more irks the religious and ethnic extremists more than the power of democracy to use the law for moving the wheels of social change. That explains why the use of violence is seen as a ploy to discredit or delay the much-needed reforms. The storming of the United States Capitol building in the Washington DC wasn’t no aberration. It was to serve as a stepping stone to use the political defeat of outgoing US President Trump for discrediting the US democracy and garner suspicion on the US election process.
India: Democracy under siege
But nowhere is democracy more threatened today than in India — the world’s largest democracy. As a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multilingual nation state the came in to existence in 1947 after a religiously motivated bloody partition, Indian democracy remains a model for post-colonial national building. Peaceful transfer of power has been the hallmark of Indian democracy surrounded by theocratic states like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka that have struggled to maintain their democracy.
One of the great assaults on Indian democracy came in the form of Sikh separatism that emerged in the early 1980s to carve out an independent, theocratic Sikh state known as Khalistan (Land of the Pure) in Punjab and other parts of Northern India. The Pakistan backed religious movement that argued for Sikh Supremacy began targeting Hindu minorities in Punjab resulting in over 20,000 deaths. The movement didn’t end even after Sikh Khalistani terrorists and its leadership occupying the Golden Temple in Amritsar were neutralised in June 1984. Few months later, India’s first female PM Indira Gandhi was brutally murdered by her two Sikh security guards. Amid this shocking news, there were largescale celebration in Punjab justifying her killing as a consequence of her decision to launch the Golden Temple Operation. A year later, Canada based Khalistani terrorists bombed an Air India flight killing all 329 people on board, including 82 minors under the age of 13.
The Indian democracy used its power of dialogue to put the tragedy behind as it had successfully achieved in the face of other secessionists movements. It was even successful for a while. But soon the extremists changed the strategy. The time-tested tools of propaganda were sharpened in the age of social media. The now dead terror outfits like ‘Babbar Khalsa’ were replaced by outfits like “Sikhs for Justice” “Khalsa Aid” among others that took upon a liberal mask to cover their sinister and divisive agenda. These outfits began to abuse their global reach to colour political issues and petty social disagreements as an assault on the “Sikh Nation”. The ascent of Prime Minister Modi to power strengthened their attempts to galvanise the revival of Khalistani separatism. As the cause of farmers emerged as a major policy priority for India’s Modi government, it became a natural target.
Of swords, turbans and protests
India’s much needed (and delayed) Agriculture reforms were no good news for its “farmhouse farmers” who enjoy agricultural income’s exemption from taxation and gain from large-scale state subsides led by Minimum Support Prices for their produce. The per capita income tax collected from the agriculture states like Punjab is among the lowest in India.
This happens at the cost of the majority small farmers and farm labourers lacking the economic freedom and access to credit facilities. The agriculture reforms are expected to fix this but they would end the unfair privileges enjoyed by the farmhouse farmers based in northern agrarian states like Punjab and Haryana. Majority of these farmers are Sikhs and have immensely gained from the religious angle in the agriculture sale networking that keeps out minority Hindus and low caste Sikhs. Even to this day, Punjab has a de-facto ban on any non-Sikh to be appointed as the Chief Minister (India’s last Prime Minister was a Sikh). Their protest was only natural.
The Sikh separatism agenda that aimed to create a “global referendum” on secession of India’s Punjab province didn’t waste any time and joined these protesting farmers. Sikh places of worship known as Gurudwara played a seminal role here. Many of these Gurudwara proudly hand portraits of Khalistani terrorist alongside the Sikh Grus. The large-scale global fund collection helped to create one of the most ultramodern protest movement. The Indian law allows Sikhs to carry arms who also enjoy an oversized representation in the armed forces. But the public opinion still remained against the protesting farmers as economist favoured the need of agriculture reforms. The onslaught of Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on mass gathering almost dampened any attempt to launch violent protests.
Meanwhile, the Indian government reiterated its past policy of relying on dialogue with the farmer organisations in order solve the crisis. The highest court interfered and set a committee to get a clearer picture. But Sikh Khalistani Separatists who had joined the farmer protest to highlight their demand for Punjab’ secession has no appetite to see the democracy in action. Backed by the support of Punjab’s government (led by the main opposition party), they correctly picked India’s Republic Day celebrations as the day to target the democracy.
Surviving democracy?
The hijacked farmer protest on 26th century, Indian Republic Day, soon turned in to a rioting mob with flags of a separate Sikh nation. They replicated the actions of extremist elements in France and the USA who had targeted Arc de Triomphe and Capitol Hill by vandalising India’s national heritage of Red Fort. The symbolism is revealing. Much like its (not so lucky) French and American counterparts, Red Fort is the symbol of Indian democracy from where Prime Minister makes his annual address.
The usurping of social protests by violent extremists has emerged as global challenge to the democracy. Be it white settler nationalism in the North America, radical extremists in Europe or Khalistani Sikh separatists in India — the fundamental factor is their resolve to discredit the democracy by painting it as a brutal oppressive regime.
So far, most democracies including the three names here have done well to resist these sinister designs. But could it be sustained amid rising police violence since the militarisation of police in the wake of terror attacks and dysfunction of democracies? The civil society too needs to do more by rooting out ethnic/religious radicalism in its fold. We are already seeing how anti-lockdown protests are increasingly gaining support from a coalition of global warming deniers and anti-LGBTQ outfits.
It is up to democracies to find a way that keeps them as a credible (and popular) alternative to Chinese model of suppressing protests and free speech while also punishing violence and terror sympathisers.
