India Calling

India Calling

India like many countries is going through a nationalist populist phase. The long ruling dynastic Congress party has been dished and is in disarray and the proto Hindu BJP rules the roost. But this being India, that has certain consequences. Gangs of zealots roam the land beating up and even lynching those they feel are breaking the sacred cow laws. These of course are mainly Muslims  As are thr owners of the booze  shops which have been closed under the auspices of health and safety but everyone knows who the real target is. The BJP has run campaigns accusing its opponents “of insulting the sacred cow.”

When we were in India  before the Hindu parties wheeze was to burn Christian churches because so many low caste  Hindus realised that life was better with Jesus than Shiva.

In March a familiar twitter storm occurred when a group of African students were severely beaten by Indian youths. A media debate began to discuss whether this was  proof that Indians are racist. Up popped an MP who declared how could Indians be racist  as they lived with the Tamils who were almost black. Ouch. This really got tongues wagging especially in Tamil Nadu state where we were staying. Tamils have  also taken exception to the insistence that Hindi is taught in their schools. One of the reasons that English does well In India is that it is neutral among the 200 regional and 22 scheduled languages that exist in the sub continent.

Then there is always the  MP that exposes his real view of the plebs. In this case the Nationalist MP who when denied an upgrade on an economy only Air India flight beat the attendant repeatedly with his shoe. He was immediately banned from flying on any airline. He complained that it was a set up by the other parties. Fake news was invented in India. A week later the government owned Air India led the way and revoked the ban.