Western intellectuals need to be informed about Modi's India
Narendra Modi
Narendra Modi - Photo
Starting with his Psychology, which is very relevant to his
case – Modi is dangerous and psychologically unstable personality. There are
several theories on Modi's psychology. I am not a qualified in the subject so
cannot give much of an expert opinion in this area (Indian Psychiatrists &
Psychologists need to shed light on this subject). There’s a theory that Modi
is a Narcissistic personality with strong overlapping with Psychopathy - A
malignant Narcissist. This theory of malignant narcissism does explain a lot
about his behavior and style of governance. A basic fact about Modi is that
this man is a lie, everything about him, his speeches, his promises, his
rhetoric, his statements, his crafted public image - it has no basis in
reality. As I mentioned earlier, do not apply the scale based on politician's
statements but look at his actions, policies and behavior. The lies and falsehoods
of Modi Govt are of astronomical proportion - it’s like creation of mind
bending alternate reality & alternate facts. This pattern
of falsehoods fit the pattern of Gaslighting. A technique used by pathologically
disordered persons against their victims to emotionally destroy and subdue them
by distorting their perception of reality, and expanding control over them.
Modi has a criminal mindset, a strong propensity to create
violence; he has no empathy, no remorse & no conscience. Long track record
of Modi from Gujarat (when he was chief minister) to New Delhi as Prime
minister has a trail of mountain of dead bodies. Various communal riots, mass murders of
minorities, extrajudicial killings of people including political opponents, and
jailing of political opposition, critics, activists etc is a sign of sadistic
propensity for violence and inflicting misery on people on large scale. A
climate of fear and terror has been created against Muslims, Christians,
backward caste minorities, women, liberals and civil society. The lynching of
Muslims, violence against Christians, their places of religious worships
(mosques & churches) and right wing hate speech festivals are organized
under the protection of Modi Govt. Sexual violence and abuse is used as a weapon
against women activists and protesters.
As with case of despotic populists, Modi is inclined towards
his ilk. Modi had special chemistry with Trump and built a good relationship
with him. Modi is the only PM in Indian history showing electoral support for Trump in 2019 at a rally in
America. The fact that US acted ignorant about the crimes against humanity in
India is because of Modi’s good standing with Trump regime. Steve Bannon has
admired Modi as being a “Trump before Trump” as Modi won 2014 elections in
India, two years before Trump came to power in US. In 2020, Modi invited Brazilian leader Jair Bolsanaro to
national republic day (foundation day of Indian constitution). Like other right
wing populists, Bolsanaro is brazenly misogynistic, Islamophobic, homophobic
and a reactionary demagogue. Similarly, Modi has approached far right parties in Europe to build
international support for his regressive and oppressive domestic policies. Modi
has also acquired cyber weapons from Netanyahu. These cyber weapons
are hacking and snooping technology that Israel proclaims to sell to foreign
states to counter terrorism. Modi has been using these cyber weapons against Indian
opposition politicians, journalists, activists, Govt critics and pretty much
everyone who he puts on his enemies lists. The hacking and snooping of phones
of Modi’s “enemies” has had a chilling effect on Indian Democracy.
Modi is a whimsical, impulsive, paranoid and highly reckless
person who threatens India's national interests due to his whims. His impulses
are symptoms of inadequately motivated antisocial behavior - doing senseless
& purposeless destructive things without caring about consequences. Modi is
also a paranoid person and views people in black and white. Either you are a
friend of Modi (like his family members, the sycophant coterie that surround
him) or you are his enemy (students, farmers, minorities, and opposition
politicians, journalists, and women activists - all on enemy list of Modi).
Modi's insecurity is visible in his vehement jealousy and
hostility for other politicians like Nehru – the first Prime minister of
independent India, journalists who criticize him, activists and even his own
party members & close aides. Blanket hacking and wiretapping of phones of
various journalists, politicians and people at random is an indication of
Modi's severe Paranoia. Launching witch hunts against film stars celebrities
and their family members - Is this an affect of extreme paranoia &
insecurity? Are film stars seen as imaginary threats by Modi? The Paranoid
nature of Modi may have more depth beyond just malignant narcissism. His
Paranoia may be based on Delusional thinking which he may have acquired through
his lifelong membership of RSS (India’s KKK & a kind of Neo-Nazi
organization) since his early age. RSS is a cultist religious militant
organization – members of this cult suffer from Delusional beliefs about Indian
history, Muslims, Minorities, Indian gods & demigods etc.
Modi Govt promotes anti-Science doctrine in India by
promoting dubious alternative Snake oil medicines. A special ministry of Ayush
has been created to promote alternatives to modern medical science. Modi Govt
also promotes superstition, prophecies and messianic beliefs about Lord Ram (a
Demigod) and prophecies of building a grand temple to absolve India of all
social evils and economic misery like Poverty and hunger. Similarly, cow
worship is promoted as holy duty and consumption of cow dung & urine is
promoted as cure for Covid-19, Cancer, hypertension etc. India is the among the
most polluted country in the world and it’s estimated that 1.7 million Indians
die every year because of illnesses caused by Air pollution (that is more than
Indians killed in Delta wave of pandemic). Modi Govt has often dismissed the alarming
healthcare crisis as Modi’s health minister once mockingly said – “No death
certificate shows cause of death as air pollution”.
Modi has no scientific & philosophical thinking, has no
strategic thinking, no imagination and no understanding of economy, history,
foreign policy, defense policy, national affairs, institutional structure of
country etc. There is no empirical basis of Modi's policies, his policies are
driven by whims, impulses, grandeur, paranoia and inadequately motivated
antisocial behavior derived from his personality. Extinguishing 86% of
currency overnight without thinking about the consequences on life of 1.3
Billion people, idea of forcing entire population to prove their citizenship,
orchestrating mass violence without any instrumental goals, throwing people
into prisons without any purpose even when they pose no threats - these are
extreme cases of inadequately motivated antisocial behavior, Paranoia and
foolhardy adventures of projecting grandiosity.
Modi's love for media attention, photo opportunities and
wanting his image on everything is well known - on banners, vaccine
certificates, Govt offices, buildings, street posters, newspapers, websites,
seminars etc. Modi likes to stay in spotlight brandishing his image. Wherever
Modi goes, the cameras tail him everywhere. Modi on many occasions has shown
contempt for education, science, factual reality & intellect - he likes to
project himself as wiser than economists, thinkers and intellectuals. On
certain occasions, he has inferred himself as someone with more wisdom that
Harvard intellectuals, military experts and big economists. Modi has projected
himself as the greatest national leader of India in last 70 years and claims to
have developed India in last 7 years more than other leaders did in last 70
years (is this just another of his false statement or is this a sign of his
Delusional thinking?) . All these are signs of his psychological insecurity and
him projecting grandiosity.
Modi is a religious populist - which is one of the worst types
of leader in a Democracy. His main strategy for winning elections is
factionalizing population and ethnicities on basis of religion & culture.
The goal is to capture Hindu majority votes by dehumanizing minorities like
Muslims and other minorities. This is classic divide and rule doctrine which
has created social disharmony and anxiety in many classes of Indian population
– the educated liberals, women, Muslims, Christians etc live under environment
of fear and political stress in India.
I find little need to review Modi's policies. Detailed reports
on his economic policies, foreign policy, political style of governance etc are
here (1, 2, 3). He destroyed economy; undermine India's national
security, destroyed India's social harmony and internal security purely for his
self serving pittance of political gains and to fulfill his grandiosity. Even
before the arrival of Pandemic, Indian economy was in decline since previous 6
quarters. Even with all the window dressing, fudging of statistics and burial
of data, the Govt is unable to conceal the economic breakdown going on in
economy. The massive unemployment is near all time high, private investment has
been declining, Govt has withdrawn from capital expenditure and much needed
investments – all this spell disaster for economy. This is on top of all the
longstanding structural problems and massive corruption in economy that has
been eating away all the potential of country.
Poverty, inequality and unemployment have greatly increased
under Modi’s rule. Standards of living, social mobility and income security has
collapsed. India’s labor force participation rate is all time low and is even
worse for women. There are no job prospects in Indian economy, small scale
industries have collapsed, core organized industrial and manufacturing sector
have also shrunk their investments in economy due to lack of demand and poor
future economic prospects. India is facing acceleration in brain drain as high skill professionals and entrepreneurs have fled India because it’s becoming
a failed state dictatorship. This phenomenon is similar to despotic states like
in post Soviet countries where collapsed economy and corruption forced
qualified and skillful people to migrate to Europe and America in search of
better life prospects.
As I mentioned in beginning, everything about Modi is a lie.
Doubt and question everything that has happened under Modi Govt. It’s plausible
and actually likely that Modi Govt itself orchestrates terror attacks in country (to blame on Muslims
& foreign states) and instigate tensions at western borders to consolidate
power domestically. A narrative of hyper-nationalism and externalization of
enemy has been created to continuously feed domestic population with hate,
anger and anxiety. A concept of ‘Akhand Bharat’ is promoted among hardliner
followers of Modi where India’s national borders are shown usurping parts of
South East Asia including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia
etc. Muslims, Christians, minorities and migrants (from Myanmar, Bangladesh
etc) are dehumanized and projected as cultural enemies of Indian majoritarian
society.
While Modi has been militaristic and hostile, his ambitions
are presently constricted because of presence of another despot in its
neighbor. Tyrant Xi Jinping (referred as ‘uncle Xi’ in China) wants to unleash
his own kind of evil also has imperial ambitions and aggressively pursues ideas
of expanding its territorial borders. Tyrant Xi is more malevolent than Modi
and has sensed the weaknesses of Modi Govt & Indian state. China’s
aggression against India is motivated by India’s internal weaknesses and
failure of Indian state (as explained in earlier section). Two largest nations
of the world by size of population are ruled by tyrants and both nations have
Nuclear weapons. With rising tensions in subcontinent where Pakistan &
China also have hundreds of Nuclear weapons, Modi regime has also flaunted the Nuclear weapons arsenal by hinting to abandon “No
first use” policy of nuclear deterrent which India had long held since
developing its Nuclear weapons. Any
future conflict in the region can escalate to nuclear threshold and spell
disaster and annihilation of the region.
India’s international image under Modi has been severally
dented among other modern Democracies and developed nations. In India, domestic
population is made to believe by the Govt that India has very good standing
with other countries of the world. But India’s fall in rankings in human
development index, food security, journalistic freedoms, human rights,
transparency, Democracy etc has pushed India away from developed nations &
has actually isolated India to some extent. Modi’s foreign policy doesn’t have
any coherence and direction. World leaders also see through the decline of
Indian state and thus India has lost respect in many foreign relations. Foreign
policy is made into a domestic spectacle to fool the population. A Pakistan
centric foreign policy of projecting it as arch-nemesis (to sell
hyper-nationalism for domestic political gains) shows immature and narrow
mindset of rulers who doesn’t have macro thinking of global geopolitics.
There's a myth about Modi that he's a strategic thinker, intelligent
and full of political acumen. This is a highly misplaced assertion because Modi
is not any of these things. For a leader to have strategic thinking, he must
have wisdom, temperament and vast knowledge - about economy, geopolitics,
history, science, philosophy etc. Modi (& his sidekick Amit Shah) doesn't
have any of it. He is actually the opposite - an ignorant, uninformed, paranoid
and impulsive leader without any specific goals. These kinds of people, by
psychological design, have no strategic thinking and driven mostly by impulses,
paranoia, imaginary fears, monomania and flawed belief system. They don't have
any long term goals (apart from pure self preservation of power).
A critical question arises. If Modi is such an unstable
character, how has he survived in politics for such a long time and progressed
from Gujarat to New Delhi? This question puzzled me until few years ago,
but now I have definitive answers to this (full elaboration in future
articles). I came across general opinion of experts that these kinds of
unstable political leaders can't survive in political high office for long
periods of time. They make grave errors & mistakes, they are reckless &
destructive, they lose popularity, get exposed and ultimately lead to their own
downfall. But this may not be necessarily true.
I believe unstable political leaders can survive a very long
time in politics in country which has no checks and balances, which has no
mechanism of govt accountability, a country where institutions of
accountability have collapsed and Democratic system has failed. The actions,
policies and behavior of unstable leader go unpunished and he gets more extreme
with time. When unstable leader captures all institutions in a Pathocracy,
nothing can hold him accountable for his criminal acts. When unstable leaders
destroys political opposition, his critics and create a single party political
system, then there is no alternative for people to vote against him despite his
failures. This is the real reason why Modi has survived and progressed for such
a long time and it’s not because of his political acumen.
Media and experts make him out to be a good communicator. He
is not, he doesn't have any communication skills and only comfortable in one
way dialogues, scripted interviews and media events. Modi is not a genuine mass
leader as experts paint him out to be. His tall image as a leader is created
solely by hard work of corrupted media and newspapers. A good communicator is
not psychologically insecure. Modi's personal life is also dysfunctional, a
person without a family or children. He's also likely to be emotionally insecure
and unstable, evidently from failure to cultivate relationships in his personal
life.
Modi doesn't see India as a nation state; he sees it as his
personal kingdom (often a case with many dictators) and citizens as his slaves
that he controls by Gaslighting. He's a purely selfish character who seeks to
rule his kingdom for his lifetime. Whether kingdom gets destroyed in long run,
he doesn't care or think about. Modi has an understanding of last few decades
of Indian history & politics but his knowledge is mostly of destructive and
perverse nature. He controls various religious militant organizations and
antisocial elements. He knows how to control institutions and people in
institutions through fear. He knows how to control investigating agencies, how
to snoop & blackmail people (especially opposition politicians), how to
subdue and destroy people who he thinks are not favorable to him.
Modi's ambition for power is full of treachery and deviance,
as he pushed away his old political aides, friends and allies in quest for
power. He is highly ambitions but for very wrong intentions and destructive
motivations. I would like to give him a zero in the category but it didn't feel
right because he does have political skills that carved out his road to PM.
He's highly manipulative and self serving, pushed aside other national leaders
including of his own his own former allies (Advani) to climb ladder of his
political career. Modi has good grasp on culture complex and narcissistic
wounds of Indian society and exploits these wounds very well. The regression of
social mobility at mass scale and partition of India are two wounds (there is
more which I will elaborate in future) that Modi knows how to capitalize upon. Modi
is an ethnic entrepreneur and knows how to trigger extinction anxiety in Hindu
culture complex. Narrative of “Hindu Khatre mein hai (Hindus are in danger)”
has been created by Modi & BJP to unlock the dark tendencies of
narcissistically wounded population and Muslims/Christians/emigrants are dehumanized
as the worst enemy upon which wrath has to be inflicted.
Modi’s impulsivity and recklessness is mistaken as boldness
and determination, his Narcissism is mistaken as confidence. It’s
understandable that much of Indian society which forms a cultural complex on
basis of religious populism is duped by Modi’s grandiosity and
hyper-nationalistic appeals. But its little surprising to see that Indian
military and other professional institutions have also fallen for Modi’s mass
appeal and his irrational agendas. This actually shows the extent of decadence
and hollowing out of Indian institutions.
Modi’s style of governance is through unilateral actions
without any consultation or contemplating consequences. Modi rules by fear and
thus only surrounded by people who either share common traits with him or are
forced to follow his orders out of fear. This is typical of Pathocracy which
gets more and more entrenched with time as the Pathocrats create a “family” –
people of their own type to run Govt while people with a degree of objectivity
and morality side step voluntarily or are forced to side step.
Modi doesn’t believe in any institutional governance, rule of
law, constitution or norms of governance. Modi is a monomaniac, surrounded by
Yes men advisers. The top echelons of Modi Govt are insulated from ground
reality on all critical national issues and have acute scarcity of policy ideas
to run the country. Institutional independence is eroded and investigating
agencies have been made into private armies to be unleashed onto political
opposition and critics of government. In terms of economic policy, apart from
making purposeless reckless uninformed decisions, other aspect of policy making
is giving special favors to Oligarchs and plutocrats that finance Modi govt through
electoral Bonds or through indirect support like lending their media empires to
carry waters of Modi Govt. Indian state assets are privatized at bargain
basement prices to these oligarchs for rent gouging, national banks give
evergreening loans to oligarchs and regulations are tailor-made to suit
favorite oligarchs.
Modi doesn’t have any personal life or family connections (at
least what we know publicly). Commentators have described him as a person who
abandoned his personal life to serve the country (ultra right commentators
describe him as father of nation). Much of the past of Modi’s personal life
remains elusive and mythical stories are promoted about him being a tea seller
and a hermit. Like his personal life, Modi’s educational career and its history are also shrouded in
mystery. There is little public information about Modi before him becoming
chief minister of Gujarat though only thing that is certain is that he was a
member of RSS since his youth. RSS is a militant organization, carries out
subversive anti-state activities and was banned three times in India’s post
independent history. It’s possible that Modi participated in RSS operations in
past. Like other BJP politicians, much of Modi’s thinking is shaped by RSS.
Its ironical that while Modi talks about protecting India and
taking it to new heights (Making India great again), our adversaries wouldn’t
have wished for a better person to be India’s national leader. He’s someone who
will destroy India from within which our adversaries cannot do from outside.
Scale looks like this
A (Leader should be a philosopher, a thinker and a
scientifically driven person) = 0/3
B (Leader's vision of India as a nation) = 0/3
C (A leader with thorough knowledge and understanding of
Economy) = 0/6
D (Leader with current knowledge and historical perspective
of the world) = 0/3
E (Leader with understanding and knowledge of India, and with
a historical perspective of India) = 1/3
F (Psychology of our leader) = 0/3
G (A good communicator) = 1/3
H (Ambition for Political power with positive intentions
and healthy motivations) = 2/3
I (Defending political power and doing it smartly
& strategically) = 3/3
J (Style of Governance) = 0/3
K (Personal life of leader) = 0/3
Total score = 7/36
Categorized as Highly Destructive National Leader
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