Is JNU a Reagan or Indira Moment for Narendra Modi?

 

American campuses across the country have seen intense protests by students during the past several months. In some cases, the protests ended up paralyzing the university. These protests, however, were about grievances of a section of students about their treatment, their sensitivities and about their rights. None of these protests, not even protests by Muslim-American students, ever featured support for terrorists or enemies of America. None of these protests, to our knowledge, ever held up photos of Osama Bin Laden, of the San Bernadino killers or of others accused of terrorism against America.

That is the big difference between the protests that erupted on American campuses and what happened at JNU, a large University in North India. A section of students, led by a president of one student union, staged demonstrations in praise of a terrorist named Mohammad Afzal Guru. Afzal had played a central role in the terrorist attack on India’s Parliament in 2001, an attack that almost led to a war between India & NonPakistan. Afzal was caught, tried, convicted and given the death penalty. The students led by this JNU student leader not only raised photos & banners for Afzal but also vowed to carry out Afzal’s war until “India is broken into pieces“.

This seems surreal and would seem so in any independent country. But then India is not independent, not mentally independent that is. India achieved physical independence in 1947 but virtually all power & influence remained in the hands of the same people, the British-obedient Indians (BrIndians for short), who had run India under the British. These BrIndians have jealously & deliberately ruled over all forms of intellectual debate by controlling English language newspapers & TV networks that are followed by  English-proficient administrators, judges and even political leaders. In this pursuit, the BrIndians have made common cause with Communists & Marxists in India.

These BrIndians have been enthusiastically supported, nurtured and even infiltrated by a US-European phalanx of Journalists, Universities, NGOs, Think Tanks. For relatively small amounts of money, they can buy Indians and turn them to fight for causes dear to their causes and against the interests of independent India. These were the BrIndians and their US-European backers who supported the 10-year rule of Italian-born White Christian Sonia. Her rule, carried out by her loyal Indian servants, was destructive to India and bred deep seated corruption that will take decades to root out. Yet, the New York Times, the Washington Post, BBC, Guardian & their cohort treated & continue to treat Sonia with open reverence and support.

Sonia’s rule ended in June 2014 with the massive election victory of Narendra Modi. They knew it was the beginning of the end of BrIndian control over India. But they weren’t going to give up. Since his election victory, the US-European phalanx and BrIndians have gone to war against mentally independent India by taking any excuse they can find to attack the Modi administration.

That they have done in the JNU case as well. This entire cohort has come out in open support of those who raised banners for terrorist Afzal and of their open declarations to fight until “India is broken into pieces”. That includes the New York Times, Washington Post and the worst of this cohort, Huffington Post & Quartz. The BrIndian TV networks & media run by graduates of US schools like Columbia School of Journalism have come out in virulent support of those who praised terrorist Afzal and who publicly vowed to destroy India.

The big difference this time is the reaction of the Indian people. The videos of these terrorism supporters & their slogans have infuriated common Indians and galvanized them into action. Such rage is rare in placid, complacent India and shows the level of anger against these terrorism-supporting student unionists. The consensus is reflected in the quote below:

• “There can be no second opinion or view over what constitutes an anti-national act, if people support hanged terrorist Afzal Guru and openly shout that they will not rest till India is destroyed. It is the most heinous act on the part of a citizen to denounce his own country and back terrorists. The same thing has happened at the JNU campus in Delhi.”
• “But, these ‘protestors’ with a vested interest and a hidden anti-India agenda were not exercising their democratic right in a non-violent and Constitutional manner. They were actually calling for a bloodshed, worse toppling our cherished democratic institutions including the government. If it is not sedition, then nothing else is.”

1.A Bigger Fight? 

The more important point was made in another article in India:

• “The purpose of the gathering at JNU was to provoke a reaction from the government. If the mob had truly wished to honour an executed terrorist, there were plenty of ways to do so quietly — a vigil, a few speeches in an auditorium, perhaps even a film showing the excesses of the big bad Indian state. That was not what the provocateurs did for that was not their intent. They wanted to anger and in that, they succeeded brilliantly.”

The JNU episode is but the latest shot in a deliberate campaign to destabilize India and to create an insurgency against the Indian Government. The BrIndians, the Communists and their US-European backers began this fight with a campaign to criticize Core India for its intolerance. BrIndian TV networks launched their campaigns against “intolerance”; articles appeared in the Huffington Post, Quartz, NYT, Washington Post, BBC & Guardian. This was followed by agitations at some Indian campuses over issues of Jaat or ethnic clans. These were relatively smart attacks all designed to launch a struggle against the Indian Government. They worked but on a limited scale. Then came JNU with its explosive pro-terrorist mission and the pledge to break India into pieces.

That was a mistake because they galvanized the entire nation against them. As an article put it:

• “Just a couple of months ago, the media’s ersatz intellectuals wondered if India was growing more intolerant. The fact is, however, that the country has been too tolerant of intolerance for too long.”

The Indian Government will win this particular battle but the question is whether the Modi administration can seize this moment the way President Reagan did in 1981 and the way Indira Gandhi did in 1974.  

2. Ronald Reagan Moment in 1981

Many have compared PM Modi to President Reagan in his opportunity & fight to change the direction of India. President Reagan is now termed a transformational president. But that was not the prevailing opinion in 1981. Into the first 8 months of his administration, Reagan was vilified by the American “intellectual” class and by Europeans. American industry was dominated by labor unions and the labor movement was seen by both Republicans & Democrats as a central force in American government.  

On August 3, 1981, nearly 13,000 aircraft controllers of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) went on strike. As a result, some 7,000 flights across the country were canceled on that day at the peak of the summer travel season. This wasn’t any ordinary strike. It was a fight for power within the American Government.

President Reagan branded the strike as illegal and threatened to fire the workers if they didn’t return to work in 48 hours. When they did not, he fired them. Not only did he fire them, he permanently replaced them. And he imposed a life time ban on rehiring the strikers. Two months later in October 1981, the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO. As Professor Joseph McCartin of Georgetown University put it:

• “The PATCO strike happened at this important turning point in American history, and it left a very profound legacy, … with that action, he sent a powerful message that many employers even in the private sector acted upon after that, and it was a period of getting tough with the union movement that really marked a profoundly important turning point.”

3. Indira Gandhi Moment in 1974

Indira Gandhi is known as the toughest Prime Minister India has produced. She is still revered for delivering independence to Bangla Desh from the racist tyrannical regime of Islamabad. She literally stood up to the entire world and especially to President Nixon who sent the US Sixth Fleet against India. But Indira didn’t flinch and allowed the Indian army to carry out its war until NonPakistan surrendered in 1971. She was and is still hailed as a true Indian hero.

Three years after that war, the picture became different. The 1973 oil embargo hit the Indian economy very hard. Labor unions lost fear of her government. They issued a huge challenge to her. The All India Railwaymen’s Federation led by the fiery George Fernandes went on strike. This strike by 1.7 million workers is still regarded as the largest strike in history. India was paralyzed. Labor unions all over India supported the railway union & joined the strike.

Indira Gandhi understood this challenge for what it was. And she crushed it. The word “crushed” is totally appropriate to describe Indira’s response. Thousands were sent to jail and lost their jobs. Railway colonies were put under virtual siege. The brutal methods used have been fairly documented and don’t need repeating. The main point is that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi rose to the moment and won the challenge. The entire country supported her and the Railway strike was called off in three weeks.

4. Does JNU Provide Modi a Reagan-Indira moment?

Narendra Modi was known for his toughness in his state of Gujarat. He was expected to bring his toughness to Delhi. His massive election mandate gave him the opportunity to put down any challenges the BrIndians or their foreign backers would pose. That realization and that fear made them quiet. But Modi’s relative inaction and his refusal to respond to their initial small challenges has slowly emboldened them. 

The “intolerance” campaign was launched both in India and in US-Europe in time for the Bihar election campaign. After that election loss, the challenges to Modi have grown in number & vehemence. Yet Modi personally stayed away from the challenge and his cabinet remained timid & incompetent. Every success emboldened the BrIndian-Communist combine to become more aggressive. Then came JNU.

Thanks to JNU, the country is now committed to strong action against the treasonous segment within India. The question is does Prime Minister Modi take this opportunity to clean out the corrupt academic-political combine that runs most large Indian Universities? Does Prime Minister Modi take this JNU opportunity to cleanse India of the BrIndian-Communist-Foreign nexus that pervades English language media in India?

No democracy can succeed or even survive without a strong dedicated pro-nation ecosystem of Media, Academics, Think Tanks & Public Thinkers. Such an ecosystem protects the democracy of a nation, the ethos of society and guards against mental & intellectual control of foreign entities. Despite the strongest protection for freedom of expression and despite intense intra-segment conflicts, the American intellectual ecosystem manages to protect American society. That is why Al Jazeera simply could not survive as an American channel and shut down recently.

The question is whether Narendra Modi seizes this JNU provided moment to build a truly Indian ecosystem of intellectuals who fight for Indian success. But before he can do that, he may have to rid India of BrIndian & Communist networks & of US-European NGOs who collude to weaken India and his government.

Thanks to JNU, the Indian majority is with him and the time is right.

 

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