When the U.S. President Joe Biden withdrew its Army from Afghanistan, people looked forward to a period of peace in the world. But today, clouds are gathering around another place -- Ukraine. The efforts of Emmanuel Macron of France and Olaf Scholz of Germany seem to be reaching nowhere. 

It is in this context that Xi Jinping’s recent statement about the negative fruits of ‘confrontation’ is worth studying. He surely was not referring to the Ukrainian situation. His reference was to his own anxiety before Western critics, when he said philosophically, “Our world today is far from being tranquil; rhetoric that stoke hatred and prejudice abound…History has proved time and again that confrontation does not solve problems; it only invites catastrophic consequences.” 

Meantime, Xi himself was forgetting the anxiety that his “audacious hegemonism” in Asia was creating for the Tibetans and the Uighurs, the inhabitants of Arunachal, Ladakh, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the nations touching South China Sea. He was forgetting the lessons that history has for him and for humanity.  In times of anxiety what leaders need most is ‘far-sightedness’, an awareness of the long-term consequence of what they do. 

Healing Negative Memories 

A healthy interpretation of history brings healing, a stimulating view stirs dynamism. On the contrary, one does not favour to one’s people keeping alive negative memories and promoting grudges. It is mere short-sightedness that prompts leaders and political movements to give a one-sided interpretation of history of their nation and build up prejudices against fellow citizens. A biased reading of history can lead to outright disasters. The Nazis did that favour to Germany; Islamic State (IS) is doing that to the Middle East; and Hindutva leaders to India. 

Instead, an “understanding view of history” invites a ready acceptance of realities. That is what the West did after the two World Wars. Former ‘enemies’ shook hands and ushered in an era of peace. A perceptive and sympathetic view of painful experiences in history brings about the healing of negative memories, and prompts remedies. That is what our Founding Fathers proposed for Hindu-Muslim relationships. An “intelligent” understanding of historic processes like Arnold Toynbee’s can give birth to far-sightedness that inspires collaborative ventures with earlier opponents and adversaries. That is what our leaders need today.

Keeping Alive Historic Injuries

Unfortunately, this is not what is happening in our days. Of late, the Taliban has raised a ‘Panipat’ military unit to keep alive the memory of Ahamad Shah Durrani who defeated the Marathas in 1761. While a sense of irresponsibility in Taliban will surprise no one, it would be shocking if the same could be said about the Home Minister of India. But the most convincing argument Amit Shah could think of to persuade Jats to vote for his party was to affirm that the BJP today was fighting the Mughals (and their ‘descendants’) as the Jats did earlier. 

Such negative urges seem to be deeply planted into the genes of all Hindutva advocates. Recently, the Gujarat government displayed the murder of 1,200 Bhils by the Britishers a hundred years ago for protesting against the occupation of their land. Why, then, not display their loss of land to Corporates under Narendra Modi or the erection of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s statue on their precious heritage?  

One would have imagined that the Prime Minister of the greatest democracy in the world would have refrained from such pettiness. However, speaking at Varanasi, the most eloquent argument that Modi had in his political reservoir for vote-catching was to remind the citizens how Aurangzeb had ordered the destruction of Vishwanath temple. Maligning of Mughals (and the Muslims) has become national sport during elections. For Adityanath Yogi it was a battle between 80% and 20%, the majority community against the minority!  

The Danger of Radicalization

Roshmi Goswami, writing in the ‘Assam Tribune’, urged, “It is every concerned citizen’s responsibility to thwart the advance of the hate juggernaut, the rapid radicalization and the emergence of violent extremism”. In the immediate context, she was referring to Bulli Bai.

But she reminded the readers what happened in Rwanda in 1994 when 500,000 to 800,000 Tutsis were killed. Once the anti-‘other’ anger is raised high enough, there is no saying how far human beings can go in inhumanity! Pol Pot eliminated one-fifth of Cambodia’s population. And what did Hitler, Stalin and Mao do? 

Those who argue that we live in a civilized country, the land of Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi, where such things can never take place, will only need to remember what happened during the Partition of India. Yes! The warnings of Gregory Stanton (‘Genocide Watch’) may sound exaggerated, but are not off the mark. As Stephen King tells us, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win”.

And this happens when mobs are “made to lose” their reasoning power. Freud is of the opinion that crowds are led more by emotion than reason. Emotions can be worked up by rabble-rousers. After the calls for death by sadhus at Haridwar and by Hindu Yuva Vahini in Delhi, Kapil Sibal warned: ‘Dharam Sansads have been planned in Una, Kurukshetra, Dasa, Aligarh and election-bound states. Please don’t change India’s motto into Shastrameva Jayate (weapons alone will win)’. 

A Reality-changing Mission

The Prime Minister has recently held out a “perception-building” proposal to every Indian abroad. He wants them to be ambassadors of India in projecting a good image of the country. In the immediate context, he was appealing to Brahma Kumaris. Xi-government has gone far ahead in such exercises, involving Chinese students studying in Australia, business men in the EU, employees in Confucian institutes worldwide. 

Kim Jong-un of North Korea is even more skilled at the game, posing as a self-proclaimed hero before the nation, and going into textbooks as a Superman who tests ballistic missiles against world opinion. “Politics of deception” holds such nations in a grip by means of the media.  And what is worse, the ‘self-perception’ of such leaders themselves is built by flatterers and colluders. They themselves are victims of the “perception-building” by interested parties. 

With such instances before us, can people take seriously periodic survey results that proclaim Modi as the most popular leader in the world, with a 71% rating? The challenge before the leader is to change reality, not change perceptions of reality, e.g. of official insensitivity to Stan Swami’s suffering, to the cries of the Kashmiris, to the victims of lynching by cow-protection forces, to the silence of bodies floating down the Ganga. When will our leaders move away from the perception-changing exercises to a reality-changing mission?

Bring Quality to Relationships

Modi had met Xi 18 times. Did any of these encounters change the painful reality on the borders? They merely aggravated the situation. That speaks for the quality of his relationships. There is too much of un-Indian styles of hugging and acting (which annoyed Antonio Guterres during the Covid period), but no encounter of persons. Too much of Howdy-Modi and Namaste-Trump exchanges, but no depth, no intelligent far-sighted sharing. 

There has not been a single phone call between Xi and Modi since the border incidents. What is called for is not a ‘perception-change’, but a ‘reality-change’, situation change. Modi’s helplessness before the Chinese might is not difficult to understand. His remaining an internal ‘hero’ is the major obstacle. It prevents objective self-evaluation. 

People Fleeing ‘Gujarat Model’

The Indian family of four that froze to death in Canada on the US border was fleeing Modi’s ‘Gujarat model’. They were from Dingucha village of 7,000 inhabitants near Gandhinagar, half of whom have moved away to the UK, the US, Canada, or Australia. They had put Rs. 100,000 into the venture. The average man there seems desperate to move away Modi’s ideal land, where billionaires alone can prosper. 

There are over 150,000 Patels in the US, Gujaratis galore. In their self-imposed exile they become nostalgic about the civilization they left behind, and donate generously towards its preservation. These are the funds that Hindutva promoters use for the preservation of what is most archaic and outdated in their culture, most superstitious and superficial in their faith, to the neglect of their core ethical values and deep philosophical contents. 

A High Caste Model

Swami Prasad Maurya did not reject his native land but rejected UP BJP when he saw its bosses behaving like Bharatiya Angrez, dividing communities and ruling irresponsibly to the gross neglect of the OBC. Modi claims that an overemphasis on ‘rights’ for 75 years kept India weak; he wants the next 25 years to be dedicated to ‘duties’. This is a hidden way of re-imposing the renunciation of rights and acceptance of duties (tapasya, nishkama karma) on the lower castes, and claiming ‘rights and privileges’ for the higher castes and the BJP elite. 

Today, the joke is that the BJP ranks are packed with criminals who have fled legal action. It has been found that more than 70% in prison belong to lower classes, castes and minority groups who could not claim such privileges and exemptions. Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong was not completely wrong when he lamented the decline of “political probity” in India from the time of Nehru, with half the MPs with criminal charges. 

Deng Xiaoping had given his compatriots this message, “Hide your strength and bide your time”. Build up your economy quietly, and  ignore outsiders’ comments. To some extent they remained true to it, and Xi has been the main beneficiary. Whether he himself has been too hasty in over-displaying strength in a confrontational style is for history to judge. 

But Modi seems to have adopted another strategy: “Display your strength before you have built it up, and betray your nation’s interests”. It is Manmohan Singh who interpreted recent history in this manner. He accused the Prime Minister of all round failure in the field of economy and loss of all traditional friends of the country, including her immediate neighbours. His words have weight. There was more tapasya in this national hero whom Modi called ‘Maun Mohan’ than the present ‘chaukidar’ who holds the same office. He was ‘hiding his strength and biding him time’ when those who did not believe in his philosophy betrayed him. 

There Is Hope Yet

There is ample room for the Right-Wing ideology if you do not abandon social responsibilities and inter-community harmony. There is hope for India yet.  Things are looking upwards after the Covid. Start-ups have raised $24.1 Billion in 2021. Exports have risen 25% to $34.5 billion in January: coffee, petroleum products, cotton yarn and handloom products. US sees India as a ‘like-minded’ nation. India-US trade has gone up 45% to $ 113 billion in 2021, still below India-China trade. Further expansion remains possible. Modi works, he listens, he thinks. However, he ignores opinions under pressure from forces behind him, as Rahul says. But perceptions can change, realities can be “made to change”. Far-sightedness can be cultivated.

According to Raghuram Rajan, in this digitalized world, there is unlimited scope in the global market for services of all kinds: legal consultations, financial advisory, medical and telemedicine sessions. He does not see scope for the Chinese style of enforced intense production in democratic India. 

Moreover, import restrictions have increased in developed countries. But indefinite expansion of economy is possible, if there is trust in society, social cohesion, Rule of Law, and freedom from government manipulation of data. These are all conditions within the reach of the Modi machinery. India is looking ahead to a $1 trillion merchandise exports and $1 trillion of services exports by 2030. The sky is the limit.

Way for Far-sightedness

Chinese civilization survived for millennia because it was built on moderation and balance. It believes, as Anne Frank wrote in her diary, “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit”. That is the core of Confucian culture. Neither Marxist nor Maoist violence was part of that tradition. It believes in the cultivation of ethical values and eagerness for knowledge. For centuries India shared its wisdom with the Chinese. They were open to each other.

Chinese society, though not its leaders, is capable of self-criticism. It is willing to admit its mistakes, at least to itself if not to others: e.g. that it was too hasty in rushing from Imperialism to Marxism and Maoism, then to Deng’s Capitalism and Xi’s Hegemonism. Indians are slow in making decisions and moving to action, and slower still in admitting mistakes. The last failure would be typical of the caste elite. But they too yield to truth when it becomes evident. As Buddha says, “Three things cannot be long hidden: sun, moon and the Truth”. Truth opens the path to mutual understanding and acceptance, fosters far-sightedness. 

The death of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen Master from Vietnam, who introduced the concept of ‘Mindfulness’ to the Western world has pained his admirers. He was 95 and had written over 100 books. Mindfulness meant openness to the reality of the present moment, which ushers in serenity, peace and bestows far-sightedness. 

In times of trouble, far-sightedness alone will ensure a sure future for society.