A theory of everything extreme
The 2010s witnessed the rise of ultra-right proto-fascist elements in Europe’s politics
The writer is an Islamabad-based TV journalist and tweets @FarrukhKPitafi
India is witnessing a fresh round of protests. Indian farmer unions are protesting to demand the repeal of three laws for the past two months. As expected, the BJP government has used the national mainstream media to malign protesters by calling them Khalistani separatists or stooges of Pakistan or China. When this was not enough, and media’s attempts to reduce the nationwide agitation to minority populated small pockets failed, guess who was seen coming to the rescue. Indian media that is under BJP’s total control suddenly started reporting that Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi and the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party, was under house arrest. Purpose? Make him a martyr and help him in hijacking and driving this independent movement into the ground. If you have not been paying attention, on various occasions Kejriwal served the BJP’s interests in plain sight. For instance, the 2011 Anna Hazare movement against alleged corruption which brought its surrogate Kejriwal to power in Delhi in 2013, and his constant advocacy against Congress and the left, paved the way for Modi’s success in 2014 by thoroughly dividing and confusing India’s secular voters. Whether Kejriwal will be allowed to damage this movement or not is still to be seen, but you can see how a vast range of contingency plans come into action whenever Modi is in hot waters. It’s as if a mega-mind is helping him plot against his rivals. More on this later.