Articles
New Delhi – New York, Via Newcastle
Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai | 11-Nov-2024
What’s new? In recent times, a lot. Let me begin with the adage “Don’t carry coal to Newcastle”. This is because Newcastle, in north east England, was known for its industry and coal fields. Hence any attempt to send coal there would be superfluous.
Can New Delhi send something to New York or vice versa? Would it be like sending coal to Newcastle? Let’s find out. New Delhi is considered the seat of the world’s largest democracy, and Washington DC, near New York, is the capital of what is touted as the world’s oldest democracy. So what democratic coal could they ship to each other, if at all?
This comes in the form of a story. You’ve probably heard of Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim of Dera Sachcha Sauda. He has been convicted of murder, fraud, rape etc. Yet he gets regular parole, including just before the recently held Haryana Assembly elections. His ashram is based in Sirsa, Haryana, proof if indeed it was required, of his political clout.
A bee entered the baba’s bonnet. Why should others reap the fruit of his political clout? Why not enter politics directly and stand for elections? He had his cultic following that was blind to his crimes (felonies in the USA), so why not build on that base? He did, and got elected as the prime Minister of India. Does this shock you? It shouldn’t!
The new prime Minister chose as his Defence minister the leader of the tractor brigade that had laid siege to New Delhi on Republic Day a couple of years ago. That man had removed the national tricolour and replaced it with a religious emblem.
The next appointment was that of the Finance Minister. He chose the country’s richest industrialist, not the one who recently spent crores of rupees on his corpulent son’s opulent wedding.
For his Environment Minister, the PM chose the CEO of Vedanta Industries, earlier known as Sesa Goa and Sterlite, which have expansive interests in mining iron ore, zinc, nickel and crude oil.
All this should not shock you, because truth is stranger than fiction. This is just what happened in that so-called mother of democracy, the USA. Trump got elected as its president for a second term, despite being convicted, yes CONVICTED, on some 34 counts of sexual assault, business fraud, stealing classified files, and even an attempt to subvert an election result in 2020.
He goaded his minions to launch an all-out assault on Capitol Hill, the seat of government, in January 2021, fraudulently claiming that the election had been "stolen.”. He termed his convictions (indictments, not beliefs) a weaponization of the judicial system. The gun-toting, gum chewing, people of that “great democracy” chose to believe him, despite all the evidence to the contrary. They didn’t just give him parole; they steamrolled him back into the Whitehouse. So, the lines between New Delhi and New York are blurred.
Is this called bonhomie? Does it not remind one of the adage “As thick as thieves”, or its Hindi equivalent “Chor, chor musaira bhai” (Thieves are cousins or partners in crime)?
What of the religious symbols? Trump repeatedly appealed to religious sentiments, specifically Christianity, to woo voters. Fortunately, this is banned in secular India, though there are umpteen ways to circumvent the spirit of the law.
As for the Finance Ministry, Trump was backed by his country’s richest man, Elon Musk; to whom he promised a seat in his government. So watch this space.
Next comes the environment. We know that Trump remains in denial about global warming and climate change. He continues to back highly polluting fossil fuels like crude oil and coal. So do not be surprised if he chooses an oil baron (not his lanky son Barron) as a minister in his cabinet.
Trump is on record saying that he would bring changes in the judicial system. He has already attempted to grant immunity to presidential acts. This would place him above the law, something that could have far-reaching consequences. He could subvert democracy and convert it into a dictatorship. Like his comrade in arms (pun intended) Vladimir Putin.
Many of Trump’s former colleagues like Vice President Mike Pence, Chief of Staff John Kelly and top General Mark Milly, were severely critical of him. They had seen him from up close and knew his mercurial style of functioning. Yet the great people of the USA believed that the Haitians were eating their pet dogs and cats, and immigrants were the cause of increasing crime.
There have been growing cases of shootings in schools and public places. How many of these assailants were migrants? What about the young man who allegedly tried to assassinate him and the old man with a rifle near his private golf club? They were not from Haiti, Puerto Rico or Mexico. They were white Caucasians like Trump himself.
The hypocrisy of migrants in New York is like the denial of the aboriginal status of the Adivasis in New Delhi. The party in power prefers to call them Vanvasis (forest dwellers). Do they equate adivasis with wild animals? Perish the thought. Trump’s third wife, Melania, is a first-generation migrant. Should she be deported? How many generations ago did Trump’s ancestors come to the US? They are certainly not the original inhabitants of the land who are euphemistically referred to as Red Indians.
Many in India have gone ga-ga over Trump’s victory, pointing to his relationship with his good “friend” Modi. But the same guy is on record as saying that India is one of the biggest abusers of trade tariffs. One trade analyst has claimed that skilled Indian migrants risk losing several lakh jobs. So, what kind of friendship is this?
Who is carrying coal to Newcastle, New York, or New Delhi? There does not seem to be anything new in this realpolitik. It seems to be business as usual. Business—that is the keyword. Trump is not known to be a man of principle. His principal interest is as a businessman, both for himself and then for his democratic country.
As for the wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East, Europe is already feeling the tremors of Trump’s victory. They see him as someone who will allow Ukraine to be a sacrificial goat for Putin’s unbridled expansionism. Don’t expect peace in the Middle East either if it goes against the interests of the American arms lobby.
All said and done, as with global warming, be prepared for the heat to be turned on from New York to New Delhi, Newcastle notwithstanding.
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(The writer is the Convenor of the Indian Catholic Forum. Views expressed in this article are his personal.)
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