Aggressive election

As India’s 900 million eligible voters prepared to begin a seven-phase polling process (which starts today), Prime Minister Narendra Modi dramatically upped the level of aggression. In a fiery speech in New Delhi two days back, as the campaign wound to a close, he said that a BJP government if re-elected would revoke Article 370 of the Indian constitution which grants special status to Indian-held Kashmir. A re-election seems to be a likely eventuality with most polls putting the BJP-led coalition in the lead, although the expectation is that its share of seats in the 542-member Lok Sabha may decrease.Indian-held Kashmir is the only Muslim majority territory controlled by India, and since Partition has been granted a unique status within India. This status grants it a degree of autonomy beyond that of other Indian states and bars people who are not Kashmiri from buying properties in Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri leaders have immediately spoken out against Modi’s proposal and said it would result in protests from Kashmiris. The region has already been caught up in growing unrest since the start of this year with Indian security forces staging a crackdown on those they term militants. Kashmir certainly does not need more uncertainty and we can only hope that Indian opposition parties and social activists will speak up against the threats made by Modi. In an unusual comment ahead of the Indian election, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that a BJP government and Modi may be best able to reach a resolution to the Kashmir problem. While this can be debated and we hope some move towards peace will come in the very near future, the PM’s statement could have been best left unsaid at a time when India is all set to go for an election. Usually, such foreign policy ideas are best left either unsaid or used tactfully.The incumbent Indian prime minister has also recently brought up the controversial matter of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The suggestion that Modi is willing to stir up more communal violence in a country that has seen it accelerate violently during his five years in office is alarming. Lowering employment rates and poor farm prices have damaged the status of the Modi government, with analysts from around the world suggesting that the BJP leader is using nationalism and communalism ahead of polls to ensure victory. The issue of Kashmir is now further away from being settled through negotiations than at any time since the 1947 Partition. Unfortunately, the Indian election will be battled out on the basis of issues which can only harm all the people of the region. The Indian media has largely fallen in line with Modi in its projection of these issues – notably since the aerial skirmishes with Pakistan in February. These skirmishes had resulted in an upturn in Modi’s popularity. We hope that the people of India will exercise good judgment when the time comes to cast their ballots and that more voices for reason will be raised in a country that has long prided itself on its democracy and secularism. Certainly, the people of Kashmir have not benefitted from democracy or been granted it. For now, it does not seem this election will lead them any closer to this goal.

from The News International - Editorial http://bit.ly/2Iej0t1