If mass media counts as a barometer of public interest, we are sensationalists. We need to be entertained, and in this age, sensational or "breaking" news panders to that need. For this reason, the international media looks at India through a monochromatic kaleidoscope sprinkled with Hindu-Muslim conflicts. Enough violence to squeeze into your daily plate of world news. Sadly, no topic has received more glib coverage than communal conflict in India.
Perhaps the international media treats India so harshly because no one knows what to expect of this country. When former Indian President K.R. Narayanan visited France, the front page of the Le Figaro read, "An Untouchable in the Elysee." Narayanan hails from the Dalit community, a historically oppressed segment of Indian society that has rejected its "untouchability" and related labels. Informative headline, you could say, but then misinformed wit never enlightens anyone. How can such superficial articles capture the complexity that is India, let alone communal politics?
In February 2002, we watched Gujarat explode on to the international scene after communal violence left hundreds of people dead in the north Indian state. Following the murder of Hindu activists in the town of Godhra, armed mobs took to the streets and indulged in murder, rape and vandalism. Several Gujarat politicians publicly attempted to justify the mob violence based on the Godhra incident. After the violence died down, the ruling party pressed for an immediate round of assembly elections. Nine months later, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, headed by Narendra Modi was reelected into state office for a second term. Allies and critics alike conceded that the politicians' carefully orchestrated campaign as defender of Hinduism and Hindu rights secured them a political victory from an impassioned electorate. The verdict on the communal vote was out and its future looked bright.
Today, the Indian polity risks being sundered by two complementing forces: communalism and crime. Politicians are increasingly fanning flames of suspicion between different communities. Organized crime is becoming a subtle, but powerful tool to confirm these suspicions. Both trends are severing inveterate social, religious and commercial ties between India's disparate communities. To what end? Votes.
In this 50-year-old democracy, votes count more than anything. This is both India's blessing and curse. For many years after Independence in 1947, political parties have been elected to the Central government in New Delhi on socialist, secular agendas. In 1999, India elected the BJP into power, revealing the alternative vote: the communal vote. Today every political party or politician perceives a tradeoff: promote a pseudo-secular, non-existent agenda that appeals to different communities. Or blame a community's failings and problems on another community to attract the passionate vote.
Fortunately for India, the dismal picture that I have drawn lacks a frame. Inherently, the communal agenda is evasive and masks the more important issues of food, water and social welfare for ordinary Indians. Almost a year after the Gujarat riots, elections were held in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. The BJP, banking on a sympathy wave after the "Gujarat experiment," was disappointed by the results, which swept the Indian National Congress, or INC, into office. A post-election survey sponsored by "Frontline," an independent Indian magazine, suggests that 74 percent of the voters claimed that government performance and development issues shaped their vote. The "Hindu" issue influenced a mere two percent. The bottom line is bold and bright -- economics rules the heart of the average voter.
Which begs the question: why were the Gujarat riots followed by such contrasting results? In a misinformed environment, people do not vote in their own interest and are driven by fear. In the short term, there is a prejudiced government in Gujarat, which reflects a prejudiced electorate. Eventually, as rhetoric dies and order is restored, communal issues languish at the bottom of a pile of economic and social problems. Should we take comfort from this odd logic?
What Gujarat has exposed is the absolutely necessity for reform in Indian society and government. India cannot afford cops who claim to be "Hindus first, then policemen." These mismatched priorities need to be tackled by pouring resources into a professional riot response force. We still need a preventative method. Here I see the opportunity for harnessing India's IT revolution in every election booth in India. Imagine quantifying the economic and social performance of every political party and broadcasting that data to election booths to inform voters. Of course, such an idealistic program requires tact and pragmatism borne from an appreciation of the limitations of using numbers to describe life in a democracy. No, this may not dissuade the voter who is ruled less by logic and more by emotions. But, it may make him hesitate for a moment -- and a lot can change in a moment. At the very least, mass media could inform, rather than entertain us.
