On Modi Time: Merits and Flaws of Hindu Activism in its Day of Incumbency

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This collection of articles concerning Hindu politics starts one year before Narendra Modi's election campaign gained momentum, ultimately bringing him to power on 16 May 2014; and ends nearly a year after this impressive victory, when the new incumbent's performance already allowed for a first assessment. They all relate to the perception of the Hindu Nationalist movement, either by insiders or by the outside world.

The expression “on Modi time” has come to stand for efficiency and the power to perform. Among his supporters, NaMo stands for the ability to break through hurdles, those of poverty and economic paralysis ("the Nehruvian rate of growth") as well as those of anti-Hindu disinformation and hate. This picture is partly correct but two developments have come to darken it.

After the Modi wave helped to win several State elections, the stunning defeat in Delhi broke his image of invincibility. NaMo's party, the BJP, was forced to come back to earth and realize its own mortal existence, bound to be fleeting. What will be its legacy? In what ways will it have changed India?

The secularists and their dupes, the world media and India-watchers, have learned to co-exist with Modi, but they have not disarmed and still jubilate at every misfortune befalling him Modi has not won yet, and in spite of some early successes, it remains to be seen whether his government will deliver.

More uncanny is the second development Narendra Modi is known the world over as a Hindu fanatic, yet his policies have so far not borne out this reputation. What factors inside and outside the party determine the Hindu dimension of the Government of India's policies? Hindus are entitled to wonder what item on the Hindu agenda this government will realize.

Koenraad Elst, Ph.D. in Asian Studies has worked as a journalist and scholar, writing more than twenty books, dozens of papers and hundreds of articles. Topics include controversies in history, South-Asian thought systems, and Hindu activism. In particular, he has questioned the twin assumptions that “secularism” is secular and the supposed Hindu party is pro- Hindu.

This collection of articles concerning Hindu politics starts one year before Narendra Modi's election campaign gained momentum, ultimately bringing him to power on 16 May 2014.But they all relate to the perception of the Hindu nationalist movement, either by insiders or by the outside world. The expression "on Modi time" is borrowed from its first use by a friend, RamRani Rosser. She was dissatisfied with a worker's slacking performance and encouraged him to make a spirited effort, to be proud of a job well done: "Get on Modi time."

Among his supporters, NaMo stands for the ability to break though hurdles, those of poverty and economic paralysis ("the Nehruvian rate of growth") as well as those of anti-Hindu disinformation and hate. This picture is partly correct, but at the time of this writing, two developments have come to darken it. After the Modi wave helped to win several State elections, the stunning defeat in Delhi broke his image of invincibility. Normally the world press doesn't report on India's state politics, but this spectacular win for the combined anti-Modi forces was an exception, because having learned to live with Modi, they have not disarmed yet and still jubilate at every misfortune befalling him. After all, his opponent Arvind Kejriwal is the exponent par excellence of the anti-India agenda they have always supported, and of the international alliance out to (what Rajiv Malhotra has called:) break India. Modi has not won yet, and at this time it remains to be seen whether his government will deliver.