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As the consensus crumbles, India’s government and its warring parties have enthusiastically embraced a conspiratorial political culture.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wipes his face as he addresses a public rally ahead of elections in West Bengal state in Kolkata, India, Sunday, March 7, 2021.
The political dispute that erupted in India over a supposedly “leaked” political document of the opposition Congress Party is emblematic of the situation in the country. That document — or “toolbox,” as the media calls it — gave the impression of including detailed orders for the party. members on how to corner the government in its mishandling of the pandemic. Screenshots of the document were widely shared on social media by senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who denounced a vast conspiracy involving domestic and foreign media, activists and the opposition, aimed at defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and undermining the government.
Congress rejected the accusation, calling the document a forgery and rudeness on the part of the government to divert attention from its failures. The controversy is now spilling over to Twitter, which added a “manipulated media” warning to a post by a BJP spokesperson sharing the document. The government responded temporarily by tweeting its own warning, in the form of an organization of officials from the Delhi Police Special Cell outside their offices.
As this series of political shenanigans spread across TV screens, India’s official COVID-19 death toll surpassed the 300,000 mark. This is widely believed to be a gross underestimate, with a recent New York Times style estimating that the most likely death toll would be around 1. 6 million.
Perhaps the most troubling component of this total “toolbox” episode is that we will probably never know the truth. The country’s institutions that have helped citizens achieved a moderate consensus on the facts of one factor: the media, the police, the judiciary) have been relentlessly eroded in recent years through the ruling component. Even if they acted imcomponently, many other people would simply refuse to accept their conclusions, especially in a politically sensitive case. There is a general break from accepting as true in the country, which characterizes any democratic relationship: between government and opposition, between central government and state governments, and between citizens and public establishments. Any general governance procedure has been overtaken by intense component disputes. The factor of vaccine procurement and distribution has for months remained a site of bitter clashes between states and the central government, with little credible data leaked to the public.
In the absence of this trust, India is a land of conspiracy theories, encouraged by a government that has blatantly followed a paranoid political style. A few months ago, amid farmers’ protests, the government launched a high-profile investigation accusing a 22-year-old climate activist of being at the center of a global conspiracy to smear India. This seditious network is said to have stretched from Greta Thunberg to the Khalistan separatists and, among other things, sought to defame Indian tea and yoga. , as Modi claimed.
During the pandemic, many members of the BJP’s cultural ecosystem (including the health minister on some occasions) have promoted alternative treatments for COVID-19, which can range from Ayurvedic medicines to cow dung. An important social and economic friend of the government, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, found himself in a media war with the country’s medical status quo after claiming that hundreds of thousands of people had died after taking Western medicines. allopathic. “
The conflicting government political parties are also far from immune to the new conspiracy culture. Opposition politicians nurture confidence that electronic voting machines (EVMs) are “hacked” in favor of the government. In January, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said he may simply not accept it as true with the “BJP vaccine. “Last month, a report on the farmers’ protest in Delhi’s suburbs found that many protesters believed the pandemic was “a conspiracy by the Modi government” to end their protests.
It is Pakistan, India’s neighbor, that has long been at the center of conspiracy theories. There is some consensus on the origins of Pakistan’s appetite for conspiracy: tightly controlled media and systematic disinformation campaigns through the state army apparatus that have left others cynical about official events. In such a context, conspiracies allowed other people to make sense of events, according to their own intuitions and prejudices. This is not far from where India is today. With a government that feels threatened by the potential fallout from the pandemic and an opposition that perceives a particularly difficult opportunity to discredit it, the country could well find itself in even more unlikely times.
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The political row that erupted in India over an allegedly “leaked” political document of the opposition Congress party has become emblematic of the state of affairs of the country. This document – or “toolkit,” as it is referred to in the media – appeared to contain detailed instructions to party members on how to corner the government over the mishandling of the pandemic. The screenshots of the document were widely shared on social media by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who denounced a wide-ranging conspiracy, involving domestic and international media, activists, and the opposition, to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi and undermine the government.
Congress rejected the accusation, calling the document a forgery and rudeness on the part of the government to divert attention from its failures. The controversy is now spilling over to Twitter, which added a “manipulated media” warning to a post by a BJP spokesperson sharing the document. The government responded temporarily by tweeting its own warning, in the form of an organization of officials from the Delhi Police Special Cell outside their offices.
As this series of political shenanigans spread across television screens, India’s official COVID-19 death toll crossed the 300,000 mark. This figure is widely believed to be a gross underestimate, and a recent New York Times style puts the most likely death toll at around 1. 6 million.
Perhaps the most troubling part of the whole “toolkit” episode is that we will likely never know the truth. The institutions of the country which helped the citizenry arrive at a reasonable consensus on the facts of an issue – media, police, judiciary – have been relentlessly corroded over the last many years by the ruling party. Even when they might act in an impartial manner, many people would simply refuse to believe their findings, especially in a politically sensitive case. There is a general breakdown of trust in the country, which characterizes every democratic relationship: between the government and the opposition, between the central government and the state governments, and between the citizen and the public institutions. Every normal process of governance has been overtaken by intense partisan squabbling. The subject of vaccine procurement and distribution has for months remained a site of bitter conflict between states and central government, with little credible information filtering down to the public.
In the absence of this trust, India is the country of conspiracy theories, encouraged by a government that has unapologetically followed a paranoid political style. A few months ago, amid farmer protests, the government launched a high-profile investigation accusing a 22-year-old climate activist of being in the middle of a global conspiracy to smear India. This seditious network stretches from Greta Thunberg to the Khalistan separatists and, among other things, aimed to defame Indian tea and yoga, as claimed by Modi.
During the pandemic, many members of the BJP’s cultural ecosystem (including the Health Minister on some occasions) have promoted alternative treatments for COVID-19, which can range from Ayurvedic medicines to cow dung. A key social and economic best friend of the government, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, has found himself in a media war with the country’s medical status quo after claiming that thousands of people had died after taking “allopathic” Western medicines.
The conflicting government political parties are also far from immune to the new conspiracy culture. Opposition politicians nurture confidence that electronic voting machines (EVMs) are “hacked” in favor of the government. In January, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said he may simply not accept it as true with the “BJP vaccine. “Last month, a report on the farmers’ protest in Delhi’s suburbs found that many protesters believed the pandemic was “a conspiracy by the Modi government” to end their protests.
It is Pakistan, India’s neighbor, that has long been at the center of conspiracy theories. There is some consensus on the source of Pakistan’s appetite for conspiracy: tightly controlled media and systematic disinformation campaigns through the state army apparatus that have left other people cynical about the official editing of events. In such a context, conspiracies allowed other people to make sense of events, according to their own intuitions and prejudices. This is not far from the current situation in India. With a government that feels threatened by the potential consequences of the pandemic and an opposition that perceives a particularly difficult opportunity to discredit it, the country would arguably be in an even more unlikely period.
The political dispute that erupted in India over a supposedly “leaked” political document of the opposition Congress Party is emblematic of the situation in the country. That document — or “toolbox,” as the media calls it — gave the impression of including detailed orders for the party. members on how to corner the government in its mishandling of the pandemic. Screenshots of the document were widely shared on social media by senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who denounced a vast conspiracy involving domestic and foreign media, activists and the opposition, aimed at defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and undermining the government.
Congress rejected the accusation, calling the document a forgery and a rude move by the government to divert attention from its failures. The controversy is now spreading to Twitter, which added a “manipulated media” warning to a post by a BJP spokesperson sharing the document. giving credence to the position of Congress. The government temporarily responded by tweeting its own warning, in the form of an organization of Delhi Police Special Cell officials outside their offices.
Asim Ali is a political researcher at the Centre for Policy Research and a political columnist based in Delhi.