The “Mitron” Series

You can trust fascism to corrupt everything in society, from institutions to language itself. This is what happened to the word “democracy” in India, with a government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that entertains no criticism, no opposition, and no dialogue. Yet, Modi likes to tout India not just as the largest democracy in the world, but also as the mother of democracies. This, when he hasn’t given a single press conference in 9 years. Instead, every month, he speaks over government owned media, radio as well as television, in a program called “Mann Ki Baat”, which would literally mean “Mind Speak”, thus implying that the PM is speaking to the people directly from his mind. You could portray it as a self-styled patriarch or guru advising his household on moral and social issues, inspiring them towards the common good. But for those who know Modi’s politics, this is one arm of his thriving propaganda machine, that sustains the personality cult of Modi. There is no dialogue. There is no room for listening. As the PM prepares for his 100th Mann Ki Baat, to be live telecast from the UN headquarters, the nation’s top wrestlers are protesting in the capital against the chief of the Wrestling Federation, alleging harassment from him, and they ask an unresponsive PM, “Can’t you listen to our Mann Ki Baat too?’

A democracy where people have no channels to speak to the Prime Minister? This is what I mean about the corrupting influence of fascism. India as the mother of democracies!

There is a slow, but sure acknowledgement of this corruption outside of India. This corruption is pernicious. It finds its way into other aspects of the society, even into nooks and crannies of our personal spaces. It corrupts everyday life.

Modi likes to address his listeners as “mitron” or “friends” in his speeches. It begs the question- does friendship tolerate such a wide disparity in power as between a cult leader and his followers, or between a despot and his subjects? Doesn’t his appropriation of the word in the end also corrupt what the word stands for? Has the essential idea of friendship survived unscathed after it has been used for such immoral purposes?

This is what I want to explore through anecdotes from my life. I will try to write as honestly as possible on the intersection of my highly politicized Muslim identity, and my Indian self that feels distraught, unanchored and a bit lost. Friendships have fared badly in this intersection, and it will not be easy to talk about it openly. But I think I should try. It will be worth it, I believe. One of the ways fascism thrives is in silence. And it is such a silence that is imposed on Indian social life under the guise of holding peace. I believe that silence has taken its toll. Its time for an open, public, earnest, reflective conversation.

But Roshi, wont this become your “Mann Ki Baat”? Is there a room for dialogue?

First and foremost, I am no despot. Secondly, this blog has a comment box. My friends, who feel they are being talked about, know that it is no coincidence. I can be reached. I am available. We can talk.

Lastly, this blog has been primarily for myself. To unburden the clutter that my mind collects. To sort things out. Clean up. Throw away. And keep the most valuable, to make meaning, to pass on.

If God so wills.