Why desperate rivals label Kejriwal a Naxal in Delhi, a Khalistani in Punjab
Is there a collective monopoly of the old guard of Indian politics on the world's largest democracy? If not, why then its ageing diehards evoke fears of national disorder if a new competitor steps on to their domain?
When Arvind Kejriwal emerged as a formidable challenge to the BJP in Delhi, his opponents virtually compared him with the Naxals. Still, he swept the national-capital state.
Two years down the line, we see no Maoist activity, physical or ideological, in the city.
Punjab's deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and state Congress chief Amarinder Singh have adopted similar scaremongering tactics, but more dangerous and communal than the BJP resorted to in Delhi in 2015. This month, Badal Jr accused Kejriwal, a non-Punjabi Hindu himself, of links with radical Khalistanis.
Last year, Captain Singh alleged Kejriwal's AAP was funded by Sikh separatists abroad.
That makes me wonder whether India's orthodox politics has turned extremist itself in its resistance to new players. If it has, then a potential Kejriwal in Kashmir must think twice before challenging conservative parties in state elections, for he or she runs the risk of being branded a Pakistani agent.
In Uttar Pradesh, a Kejriwal is again at hazard if he or she sets out to woo minority Muslims. Chances are a Badal or a Captain or a BJP of UP politics may mischievously troll him or her as a suitor of "sleeper ISI cells".
In the restive northeast, no Kejriwal can attempt a political debut either, without being labelled an insurgent.
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| Badal Jr, whose opponents accuse him and his party of massive corruption in both religious and political realms, must realise he doesn't monopolise Punjab or the Sikh faith. |
India's anti-trust regulator, the competition commission, cracks down on abusive market behaviour by dominant companies. But political leaders get away easily with their wildly monopolistic propaganda.
They package their gross allegations against their newborn rivals in patriotism without accountability. In this nasty process though, they covertly discredit communities in national perception.
Badal Jr, whose opponents accuse him and his party of massive corruption in both religious and political realms, must realise he doesn't monopolise Punjab or the Sikh faith. In happy times, his Shiromani Akali Dal and Punjab's Congress would scramble to co-opt Sikh success stories from the developed world as their own.
In trouble, they would conveniently paint members of the same Sikh diaspora "Khalistanis" if the community overseas refuses to entertain them.
May I ask the SAD and the Punjab Congress whether it's possible for the Khalistani separatists to travel back home and participate in a democratic campaign? Is Khalistan an issue at all in the Punjab of the 21st century in the first place.
Do Khalistanis, reduced to fringe elements, believe in Indian Constitution? Will the fringe Khalistanis support a party headed by a non-Sikh to rule Punjab?
The answer to all the questions above is a big "no".
If no political group or candidate is allowed to use religion in campaign, none of them should be permitted either to profile rivals or communities supporting them, directly or indirectly.
Let's be sounded off on loose cannons.