The attack on a paramilitary convoy in Pulwama, Kashmir last week that led to the deaths of 40 jawans was a heinous crime. But it was also a tragic failure of both intelligence and operations. It reflects the broader challenges of the Indian state and the current government: it is unable to solve the Kashmir problem, unclear about its strategy towards Pakistan and underwhelming on the overall question of security.

It is, of course, possible to mourn the deaths of the Central Reserve Police Force jawans even while also holding the government to account for its failures. Yet, in the thinking of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its supporters, no questioning must be allowed. To scrutinise Modi’s record, as far as they are concerned, is to besmirch India.

Just as it was said of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, it is presumed these days that Modi is the nation. That makes criticising him an “anti-national” act that must be punished.

In West Bengal, for example, there have been at least four instances over the past few days of mobs abusing and assaulting men who they had declared to be “anti-national”. On the Clean the Nation group on Facebook, supporters of the government have systematically targeted anyone who deviates from the BJP’s line, writing to their employers to insist that they should be sacked and seeking to have police cases filed against them.

These efforts, reminiscent of the anti-communist McCarthyist campaign in the United States in the 1950s or Sanjay Gandhi’s actions during the Emergency, are merely the tip of the iceberg. With the Opposition largely refraining from any criticism of the ruling party to avoid accusations that it is being soft on terror, the people seeking to restrict criticism of the government appear to have been given a free hand. While some of their targets have undoubtedly have made inflammatory statements, in many cases it is evident that the mobs are out to quell all dissent against the BJP.

Their cues have come from the very top. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked whether “those who mock” the new Vande Bharat Express, should “be spared?” He added, “Should they not receive the right punishment at the right time?” The BJP-appointed Governor of Meghalaya, Tathagata Roy, endorsed a call to boycott all things Kashmiri, in an apparent (and possibly illegal) effort to punish the entire state. Another BJP appointee to the Finance Ministry, economist Sanjeev Sanyal, declared that India suffers because of an elite that undermines the country, adding that it should have been “purged” after Independence.

If the Opposition will not step in, it is incumbent upon civil society and the media to call out these deeply disturbing efforts, built on the premise that Modi himself is equivalent to the nation. Argument, disagreement and even dissent are at the very core of what the Indian Republic represents. The BJP and Modi cannot be allowed to use a tragedy, one that represents their failures, as an opportunity to clamp down further on the space for debate in India.

Also read:



Clean the Nation: Inside the Facebook group that plotted to get ‘anti-nationals’ sacked, prosecuted

How the BJP has captured the post-Pulwama political narrative

In charts: Data shows the failure of Modi government’s Kashmir and Pakistan policies

Pulwama aftermath: A string of mob attacks across West Bengal on people branded ‘anti-national’

Pulwama attack: Why the Opposition is refusing to ask Centre hard questions about security lapses