The aptly named “world’s largest democracy,” India, is on the campaign trail for elections that end in June. Perhaps a pagan opinion, but the false face of Grandpa Cake that they have as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, I take for the seed of a despot.
I know, I’m not telling you anything, I’m taking it easy here…
Unsurprisingly, the almost 1.5 billion inhabitants of this country respond to me: “Hamen paravaah nahin hai!” » Translation: “We don’t care about your opinion, my big love platform manager”, as Sam Breton would say.
India is Modi, and that’s how we are!
May the great Krishnamurti hear you, children.
India is almost 40 times the population of Canada, but 3 times smaller! When I think of the little bourgeois people back home who are finagling and trying to make us feel guilty with uncontrolled densification… A little pedal boat ride on the Ganges wouldn’t do them any harm.
Morbid detail, we live there on average 15 years less than in Canada. Bad argument for Mr. Dubé on the effectiveness of our health system!
A coalition of around forty opposition parties has just been born there to face the current prime minister: a bouillabaisse that ranges from the far right to religious factions including communists. I’ll let you imagine the mess.
All this to dislodge Modi, who has been in office for 10 years, and who wants a third term. According to the latest polls, his party, BJP, in French the “Indian People’s Party”, would be credited with two thirds of the 453 seats at stake. Very strong, but lucky, Mr. Modi, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon was not included in the survey…
Modi is not doing a bad job at home, quite the contrary, he has embraced economic liberalism to the fullest and it works incredibly, and no one disputes his imprint on the results. This country could become the third largest economy in the world in 2030: that’s tomorrow.
But, surprisingly, it seems that the rich are getting richer, and that the poor are experiencing great stability, that is to say, they remain poor. Modi is said to hate social democracy. Everything is in everything…
Nonetheless, 80% of the population has a favorable opinion of the Indian Maharaja, according to the latest news. To make Justin and Mr. Legault cry with envy.
The problem is just that we feel Modi is limiting, that the Indian system of governance seems to irritate him, and that he has approximate democracy.
Of course, we should not always rely on the tiring curses of Amnesty International, who talk about the repression of human rights towards national organizations which do not always agree with him. But suddenly they would be right, in Amnesty, once again.
And I will spare you the cursed trouble that this Prime Minister is inflicting on his political opponents.
But the leaders of the democratic world turn a blind eye to its autocratic failings and kiss its big toe, for economic reasons, like so many international horse-dealers.
They especially don’t want to be told again that India ranks 161e out of 180 countries in the world press freedom ranking.
Although polite to these republican gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, in the French sense of the term, one has the impression that Narendra could have a big fun black to organize a vacation with Erdogan of Turkey and Orbán of Hungary.
And even by reserving a short weekend in Sochi, with this happy-go-lucky guy that Putin seems to be, and hunting with a paunch, as Vladimir likes to do so much.
Or with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, who could receive him in his modest home in Beijing, in the corner of Tiananmen Square. I see them from here taking a health walk after supper, with friend Jinping detailing the centuries-old effectiveness of the Chinese method of cleaning public places.
That said, the party could be more difficult to warm up, because relations with China would currently be complicated. The complete opposite of Russia, which Modi has never quarreled with since the invasion of Ukraine, and from whom he still buys oil and weapons.
India’s strategic geopolitical position could be useful to many Western political leaders who want to see India counterbalance Xi’s ogreesque aims in the world order, and possibly serve as an intermediary with Russia, because it will be necessary although we’ll start talking again one day…
Diplomacy is foresighted, and has no feelings.
Furthermore, it is always about making oneself chummy chummy with a country that has a big firecracker like nuclear weapons.
Modi would not be a great admirer of Gandhi, to whom he would blame the historic error in the creation of Pakistan. His hatred of Muslims is timeless, and his militant agitation in this regard is legendary.
While leading the regional government of Gujarat state at home, he reportedly turned a blind eye to an anti-Muslim pogrom at home that left around 2,000 people dead.
Doesn’t that remind you of something very current?
The manipulators are among us…
We ultimately say that the political system inherited from the British, which does not put limits on the number of mandates of a prime minister in India, is a very good thing.
Otherwise, Narendra would surely have bought a drink to Vladimir and Jinping, to learn their tricks in order to “evolve” the constitutions of their countries, and perpetuate their mandates.
Between us
Following on from my column last week, “Auschwitz and the Butterfly Effect”, thank you to the readers who introduced me to the term “uchrony”. Just for that, it was worth getting up that morning. And also to many who recommended the novel by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt to me The other’s part. My independent bookseller is on the case.
What do you think ? Participate in the dialogue
reference: www.lapresse.ca