Since Narendra Modi has become the Prime Minister of India, he, his party and supporters have been beating the drum of nationalism for the political gain. He frequently said that he keeps the country above everything by thundering slogan ‘India First’. He is not only talking about nationalism even he is flexing muscles against Pakistan to show his muscular nationalism. The result of this muscular nationalism is the so-called surgical strike against Pakistan after the Uri attack and air raid into Pakistan’s territory after the attack on the Indian army in Pulwama, Kashmir.
The Modi government flexed its muscular nationalism not only in the foreign policies against Pakistan but also in the internal policies against its own citizens. The government acted against the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in 2016 when slogans against the country was heard in the university. The BJP leaders dubbed the prestigious university as hub of anti-national activists and maligned it so much that it left negative marks on the psyche of the common people about the university. Students were witch-hunted and the university was defamed. BJP leaders were involved in violence against the unarmed student Kanahaiya Kumar in the name of nationalism. Activists were silenced, students were targeted, opposition leaders were discredited and Muslims were assaulted by the supporters of the BJP in the name of nationalism. If one counts on how many times the BJP supporters and leaders were involved in violence in the name of nationalism, he will not able to gather the list of all incidents.
But now when Chinese troops People’s Liberation Army have occupied a great chunk of Indian territory after beating up Indian forces, this nationalist brigade, who were involved in violence against own citizens in the name of nationalism, has gone on silent mode.
According to The Wire report, Chinese force has occupied Galwan Valley River in mid of May and refused to withdraw its forces from there claiming that it is their own territory. The talk of Galwan Valley River occupation did not even feature in the talks held between the armed forces of both countries. Apart from the Galwan Valley, the areas which have been occupied by the Chinese troops are Patrolling Point 14 (PP14), PP15, PP17, the north bank of Pangong Tso Lake and Chushul at Lion of Control between China and India in Ladakh. These are the areas where the Chinese and Indian forces were patrolling before the Chinese troops occupied them in mid-May. This is big Chinese intrusion after the face-off between two countries in Doklam. Experts say that the Chinese intrusion in Doklam were not solved completely so far. Now, they are occupying the Indian land in Ladakh.
China has been encroaching Indian territory under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But he did not utter a single word on it. The entire BJP supporters are tight-lipped. The Godi media which went on war mode where there is an issue about Pakistan are not discussing the issue of Chinese intrusion. They are not giving proper information about the Chinese intrusion to the people.
The government was not even ready to own up the Chinese intrusion. It took weeks for Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to say that China has occupied Indian land. Even after the government owning up Chinese intrusion, the whole nationalist brigade did not make hue and cry as their blood boils on Pakistan issue. They are now saint.
This silence towards Chinese intrusion shows that the nationalism of the BJP is nothing to do with the love for the country. It has more to do with the hatred for Muslims and a weapon for grasping power. Their nationalism is guided by hatred and greed for power. They satisfy their hatred in the name of nationalism and use it for grabbing power.
