India 2014 - Results

[ag]

Despite all the talk about removing the criminal element from politics, 186 members of the new Lok Shabha or 34% are facing criminal charges versus 158 in the previous dissolved legislature.  About 21% of the new members are facing serious charges like murder, robbery, kidnapping and inciting communal disharmony.  This is not a surprise as I am pretty sure the entire SS delgation must be facing charges on inciting communal disharmony.  9 are charged with murder and 17 are charged with attempted murder with a majority of them from the BJP, despite Modi's promises to cleanup politics.

Somehow I'm not surprised that the number has gone up.

Especially, considering that, as far as the new PM is concerned, murder is not a serious crime at all. I mean, if these people were charged with corruption - that would be another matter. But they were only killing, weren't they?

[ag]

Despite all the talk about removing the criminal element from politics, 186 members of the new Lok Shabha or 34% are facing criminal charges versus 158 in the previous dissolved legislature.  About 21% of the new members are facing serious charges like murder, robbery, kidnapping and inciting communal disharmony.  This is not a surprise as I am pretty sure the entire SS delgation must be facing charges on inciting communal disharmony.  9 are charged with murder and 17 are charged with attempted murder with a majority of them from the BJP, despite Modi's promises to cleanup politics.

Somehow I'm not surprised that the number has gone up.

Especially, considering that, as far as the new PM is concerned, murder is not a serious crime at all. I mean, if these people were charged with corruption - that would be another matter. But they were only killing, weren't they?

Will you be disappointed if the massacres you seem to hope for do not come to pass?

I would be most delighted to be wrong here. Unfortunately, I will probably be right.

The expectations of economic progress that Modi election has caused are so outsized, that they will, certainly, be disappointed. At some point that disappointment will be reflected the popularity of the government - and, yes, the government has to face reelection. Communal tension is the strongest motivation of Indian politics - let us face it, we all know it. Who is going to start killing whom and when - that I do not know. But when the government is headed by somebody who believes murder to be a useful political tool, there is no doubt murder will be used as a tool.  And, BTW, it is far from clear that it will be the Muslim pogroms only - there are a lot more Hindus in India, and they represent an amply killable material.

[ag]

I don't know anything about Indian politics, but I'm curious whether the BJP is any more radical now than they were when they were in power from 1998 to 2004. Because reading through their wikipedia page, I've become worried they might start a nuclear war with Pakistan....

BJP is a large and complex organization. It is hard to say whether the party is in any sense more "radical" these days. But, most certainly, Modi is no Vajpayee.

[ag]

Well, on one thing I would agree with Sbane: at least for the moment, the new government is a lot more dangerous for Indian Hindus than for Pakistani Muslims. Modi is not an idiot. So, he is a lot more likely to murder unarmed civilians than to start a war.

[ag]

Well, on one thing I would agree with Sbane: at least for the moment, the new government is a lot more dangerous for Indian Hindus than for Pakistani Muslims. Modi is not an idiot. So, he is a lot more likely to murder unarmed civilians than to start a war.

I find your theory about Indian Hindus being at risk interesting. Could you elaborate on that?

Well, first of all, they are Indians If Modi decides that playing up communal violence is useful for his purposes, as at some point I think he will, he is not going to simply send the goons to attack Muslims or whomever. There would have to be a cause. The majority would have to feel aggrieved and endangered. Hence the violence would have to be mutual. There is nothing that provokes mass murder like fear: he will happily generate that.

I have long been trying to explain to you that I do not believe Modi to be a genocidal Muslim hater. He, probably, sincerely dislikes Muslims - but that is not the main problem. The main problem is that he has shown that in his opinion human life is worth literally nothing - at least, in comparison with him achieving his political goals.