How the governments of India and Pakistan exploit cricket fans' sentiments to divert attention from real political issues

[tiger_khan]

Both the governments are unpopular.

Both countries have de facto dictators. One wears a uniform and the other doesn't.

There are more critics than supporters of both the current regimes in their pertinent countries..


Both have exploited the sentiments of their country's cricket fans by demonstrating childish political behavior around the sport.
Both successfully have put pressure on their political opponents who were left with no choice but to support their cricket teams otherwise they would have appeared to be supporting the enemy country.

The tyrant governments hijacked the real political discourse by controlling the behavior of athletes on a cricket field.

It should be noted that some of the politicians on both the sides of the border had a very cordial relationship few years ago.
I wouldn't be surprised if they colluded to foster this controversy to divert the attention from the real domestic political issues. Three weeks is a lifetime in politics. The rulers of both the countries were able to control their critics' behavior and exploit the sentiments of the nation in the name of patriotism.

Both the governments played the cricket fans like a fiddle...

 

[sweep_shot]

India have turned cricket into a stupid cow dung sport.

I miss English governance of cricket. Things were very classy back then.

I am glad I got to witness late-90's cricket when things were under England's control.

 

[Champ_Pal]

I stopped reading after the first sentence.

BJP is unpopular?

 

[tiger_khan]

I stopped reading after the first sentence.

BJP is unpopular?

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/world/asia/india-election-arrests-modi.html

 

[Champ_Pal]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/world/asia/india-election-arrests-modi.html

Not going to read the article by signing up for that Newspaper.

Allegations of election rigging and Electronic voting machines hacking are making rounds thanks to Pappu's party who are hoping for a Nepal, Lanka and Bangladesh type upraisal from the Indian public. This NY times are running with that material.

If elections are done today, BJP will win again. Con

 

[tiger_khan]

Not going to read the article by signing up for that Newspaper.

Allegations of election rigging and Electronic voting machines hacking are making rounds thanks to Pappu's party who are hoping for a Nepal, Lanka and Bangladesh type upraisal from the Indian public. This NY times are running with that material.

If elections are done today, BJP will win again. Con

Some Indian sources. You won't have to sign anything for these sources:-



https://thewire.in/politics/rahul-gandhi-rigging-article-maharashtra-assembly-polls

 

[tiger_khan]

one more, "SKY agar tumhari koi auqaat hai....."

AAP politician taking SKY to cleaners for political shenanigans

 

[Champ_Pal]

Some Indian sources. You won't have to sign anything for these sources:-



https://thewire.in/politics/rahul-gandhi-rigging-article-maharashtra-assembly-polls

 

[Champ_Pal]

Some Indian sources. You won't have to sign anything for these sources:-



https://thewire.in/politics/rahul-gandhi-rigging-article-maharashtra-assembly-polls

So you give YouTube links of Congress and leftist cuckoos like Ravish Kumar as proof that BJP is unpopular in India?

Next you will post the video links of Ravish Kumar’s chela Dhruv Rathi crying about election rigging.

 

[tiger_khan]

So you give YouTube links of Congress and leftist cuckoos like Ravish Kumar as proof that BJP is unpopular in India?

Next you will post the video links of Ravish Kumar’s chela Dhruv Rathi crying about election rigging.

My apologies

I forgot only the election stealing Hindu Right - RSS Bhakts are Indians. Everyone else is not an Indian

How much of the popular vote did BJP get? even after rigging the elections the Bhakts couldn't form a majority govt.

272 is needed for majority, you couldn't get it

got only 36% of the popular vote, which means that 64% voted against it. Yet the Bhakts think that the BJP's government is popular

 

[Champ_Pal]

My apologies

I forgot only the election stealing Hindu Right - RSS Bhakts are Indians. Everyone else is not an Indian

How much of the popular vote did BJP get? even after rigging the elections the Bhakts couldn't form a majority govt.

272 is needed for majority, you couldn't get it

got only 36% of the popular vote, which means that 64% voted against it. Yet the Bhakts think that the BJP's government is popular

India is not US or UK. India has hundreds of political outfits and each party splits the voting pie thin. Its ok. I don't have to explain Indian electoral system to you.

Congress was happy that they won 99 seats and were celebrating like they got majority in Loksabha. They were happy with their party's performance after the elections. An year later all of a sudden, Rahul baba decides that elections are rigged. All the opposition saw what was happening in the neighboring basket case nations and were hoping something similar would happen in India. They are so out of touch with reality. Indian public may be anything. But going against the state and its authority is not something they will ever do. You and Rahulbaba can dream on.

Its funny. If Congress wins, it is fair elections. If BJP wins, it is rigged.

Look how happy Rahul was after winning 99 seats. Even he could not believe that public voted for him and his party

 

[sweep_shot]

Many people in subcontinent are very gullible. They easily fall for government propagandas.

 

[Devadwal]

Both the governments are unpopular.

Both countries have de facto dictators. One wears a uniform and the other doesn't.

There are more critics than supporters of both the current regimes in their pertinent countries..


Both have exploited the sentiments of their country's cricket fans by demonstrating childish political behavior around the sport.
Both successfully have put pressure on their political opponents who were left with no choice but to support their cricket teams otherwise they would have appeared to be supporting the enemy country.

The tyrant governments hijacked the real political discourse by controlling the behavior of athletes on a cricket field.

It should be noted that some of the politicians on both the sides of the border had a very cordial relationship few years ago.
I wouldn't be surprised if they colluded to foster this controversy to divert the attention from the real domestic political issues. Three weeks is a lifetime in politics. The rulers of both the countries were able to control their critics' behavior and exploit the sentiments of the nation in the name of patriotism.

Both the governments played the cricket fans like a fiddle...

First statement is factually incorrect. MODI is very popular in india and i don't care about what Pakistani think about him .

2nd highlight part is also wrong , every indian ( Expect few Abdul's) like The Indian team so they will always support team india whenever they play.

Pakistani army control the entire Pakistan including cricket team , Media's etc , while Indian Army's don't interfere.

 

[tiger_khan]

First statement is factually incorrect. MODI is very popular in india and i don't care about what Pakistani think about him .

2nd highlight part is also wrong , every indian ( Expect few Abdul's) like The Indian team so they will always support team india whenever they play.

Pakistani army control the entire Pakistan including cricket team , Media's etc , while Indian Army's don't interfere.

only among the RSS Bhakts. Couldn't even form a majority government...was 32 seats short.

 

[tiger_khan]

India is not US or UK. India has hundreds of political outfits and each party splits the voting pie thin. Its ok. I don't have to explain Indian electoral system to you.

Congress was happy that they won 99 seats and were celebrating like they got majority in Loksabha. They were happy with their party's performance after the elections. An year later all of a sudden, Rahul baba decides that elections are rigged. All the opposition saw what was happening in the neighboring basket case nations and were hoping something similar would happen in India. They are so out of touch with reality. Indian public may be anything. But going against the state and its authority is not something they will ever do. You and Rahulbaba can dream on.

Its funny. If Congress wins, it is fair elections. If BJP wins, it is rigged.

Look how happy Rahul was after winning 99 seats. Even he could not believe that public voted for him and his party

The quoted post is factually inaccurate rahul gandhi was not surprised by Congress wins. He actually expected more seats. that's why he and other political parties are challenging the election commission

 

[Red-Indian]

Both the governments are unpopular.

Both countries have de facto dictators. One wears a uniform and the other doesn't.

There are more critics than supporters of both the current regimes in their pertinent countries..


Both have exploited the sentiments of their country's cricket fans by demonstrating childish political behavior around the sport.
Both successfully have put pressure on their political opponents who were left with no choice but to support their cricket teams otherwise they would have appeared to be supporting the enemy country.

The tyrant governments hijacked the real political discourse by controlling the behavior of athletes on a cricket field.

It should be noted that some of the politicians on both the sides of the border had a very cordial relationship few years ago.
I wouldn't be surprised if they colluded to foster this controversy to divert the attention from the real domestic political issues. Three weeks is a lifetime in politics. The rulers of both the countries were able to control their critics' behavior and exploit the sentiments of the nation in the name of patriotism.

Both the governments played the cricket fans like a fiddle...

I won't comment about Pakistan since it's a military dictatorship and I'm not sure the government really cares about public opinion. Also I believe they didn't initiate the current kerfuffle but rather were caught unawares by it and reacted in their own incompetent way. I honestly don't see any signs of collusion.

As far as India's concerned, there's some truth to what you say but also a deep lack of understanding of the Indian political system.

First of course, like others have said, the Modi government is not really unpopular. It's not wildly popular either but it's not like this minor silliness with the cricket team is going to win it any votes in the upcoming Bihar elections. The urban youth and some uncles who're posting passionately about this are pretty irrelevant in terms of these kind of elections. They barely vote and when they do are already in the bag for BJP.

From what I can see, in India at least, this entire controversy is pretty much posturing. Modi and his government backed themselves into a corner with their strongman positioning and need to show something for the Twitter and WhatsApp crowd. This fits - a lot of noise without any real significance.

 

[Hikaru]

Pakistanis need to realise that it's not Modi Ji or Amit Shah calling the shots here, it's 1.4 billion Bhartiyas. It's the public sentiment that's anti-Pakistan.

I don't even tell my friends that I use this website or I could be subjected to a boycott from half of them. Things are this bad even at people level.

 

[Varun]

Pakistanis need to realise that it's not Modi Ji or Amit Shah calling the shots here, it's 1.4 billion Bhartiyas. It's the public sentiment that's anti-Pakistan.

I don't even tell my friends that I use this website or I could be subjected to a boycott from half of them. Things are this bad even at people level.

You need to find better friends.

 

[tiger_khan]

Pakistanis need to realise that it's not Modi Ji or Amit Shah calling the shots here, it's 1.4 billion Bhartiyas. It's the public sentiment that's anti-Pakistan.

I don't even tell my friends that I use this website or I could be subjected to a boycott from half of them. Things are this bad even at people level.

Yes we are aware. Hence the thread.

Both the countries' Metropolitan cities become rainforests after rain storms. The public money is looted by the politicians, bureaucrats and contractors on a daily basis. They keep on feeding the appetite of hate to divert the nation. Both countries need a boogeyman to for diversion.

Pakistanis used to be more content within. We had enough of our own problems. However, since the internet and SM is so readily available now, the hate from India (particularly Godi Media) has spilled into Pakistan. It started from 2008.

 

[tiger_khan]

I won't comment about Pakistan since it's a military dictatorship and I'm not sure the government really cares about public opinion. Also I believe they didn't initiate the current kerfuffle but rather were caught unawares by it and reacted in their own incompetent way. I honestly don't see any signs of collusion.

As far as India's concerned, there's some truth to what you say but also a deep lack of understanding of the Indian political system.

First of course, like others have said, the Modi government is not really unpopular. It's not wildly popular either but it's not like this minor silliness with the cricket team is going to win it any votes in the upcoming Bihar elections. The urban youth and some uncles who're posting passionately about this are pretty irrelevant in terms of these kind of elections. They barely vote and when they do are already in the bag for BJP.

From what I can see, in India at least, this entire controversy is pretty much posturing. Modi and his government backed themselves into a corner with their strongman positioning and need to show something for the Twitter and WhatsApp crowd. This fits - a lot of noise without any real significance.

I appreciate your honest attempt to clarify a few things

However, I am introducing a nuance to the debate

Both Pakistan and India are not homogenous countries. Pakistan is multiethnic and India along with with its multiple ethnicities also has multiple religions and casts.

The kind of western democracy (parliamentary) we are trying to emulate is not working for us because we are not as homogenous as the Western countries. Even the Western countries, which have an influx of immigrants have started to experience the same. That is, they have started to experience fascism like our countries. That's why even in the West, the Right Wing parties are gaining the momentum.

When a country is ethnically, culturally, religiously and socially homogenous the political differences are not based on hatred. Instead they are based on difference of opinion on how to run a country. So when in an homogenous country a political party gets 36 out of 100 voters, it can still run a country without hurting its political opponents. The opponents look like the winner of elections, they wear similar clothes, they have the same diet, they speak the same language, etc. Their political opponents can't be visually distinguished. And most importantly a homogenous society does not use hatred as a fuel for its politics and does not pursue the zero-sum game. It can't because most of the people can relate to each other because of their common attributes.

Meanwhile the identity politics is a fuel of sub-continental politics. There are unsettled political scores and emotional conflicts from the past. The Fascist politicians in our countries take advantage of it to divert our attention from the real issues so they can steal the resources. Due to the lack of respect for each other and abuse of identity politics...when someone in India wins 36% of the popular vote, he/she would be very popular among his/her own political followers/voters but won't be popular among the 64% of the people who voted against him. The reason being the identity/hate politics.

Lastly, Fascists come in many shapes and forms. Some of them wear military uniforms and some walk around in civilian clothes. Both the countries are currently being exploited and abuse by their pertinent Fascists.

PS: None of the governments in two countries will ever invest heavily in public school system. They will always try to control the curriculum/syllabus too. God forbid if every young citizen can learn to think critically in government schools. That will be the end of the identity politics.

 

[Markhor]

Indian posters are far more familiar with their internal dynamics than me and won't dispute their lived experiences. However I'm still entitled to some observations.

Firstly when criticism of India is broached by a Pakistani, there's the instant retort of Pakistan being a beggar state owned by its military etc. I wholly accept Pakistan is a failed state so let's move on.

1) Many Pakistanis once had grudging respect for India's relatively pluralistic democracy and stable institutions. Now India has adopted the worst elements of Zia's regime - namely toxic nationalism, right-wing authoritarianism and cult of personality, religious intolerance and polarisation, and historical revisionism.

2) Multiple international bodies have spoken about India's democratic erosion from press freedom, rule of law, initiating internet blackouts more frequently than any other country and undermining of so-called "referee institutions" that serve as democratic guardrails.

The usual response is typical of authoritarian regimes and their supporters - these international bodies are biased or predecessor governments behaved similarly.

Whatever your stance, note Pakistan has yet to undo the damage from Zia's policies nearly 40 years on. Forget Pakistan - do some introspection for your own sakes and ask whether this is a healthy society you want future generations to grow up in ?

 

[HalBass9]

Indian posters are far more familiar with their internal dynamics than me and won't dispute their lived experiences. However I'm still entitled to some observations.

Firstly when criticism of India is broached by a Pakistani, there's the instant retort of Pakistan being a beggar state owned by its military etc. I wholly accept Pakistan is a failed state so let's move on.

1) Many Pakistanis once had grudging respect for India's relatively pluralistic democracy and stable institutions. Now India has adopted the worst elements of Zia's regime - namely toxic nationalism, right-wing authoritarianism and cult of personality, religious intolerance and polarisation, and historical revisionism.

2) Multiple international bodies have spoken about India's democratic erosion from press freedom, rule of law, initiating internet blackouts more frequently than any other country and undermining of so-called "referee institutions" that serve as democratic guardrails.

The usual response is typical of authoritarian regimes and their supporters - these international bodies are biased or predecessor governments behaved similarly.

Whatever your stance, note Pakistan has yet to undo the damage from Zia's policies nearly 40 years on. Forget Pakistan - do some introspection for your own sakes and ask whether this is a healthy society you want future generations to grow up in ?

Far too late for it.

 

[Stewie]

I won't comment about Pakistan since it's a military dictatorship and I'm not sure the government really cares about public opinion. Also I believe they didn't initiate the current kerfuffle but rather were caught unawares by it and reacted in their own incompetent way. I honestly don't see any signs of collusion.

As far as India's concerned, there's some truth to what you say but also a deep lack of understanding of the Indian political system.

First of course, like others have said, the Modi government is not really unpopular. It's not wildly popular either but it's not like this minor silliness with the cricket team is going to win it any votes in the upcoming Bihar elections. The urban youth and some uncles who're posting passionately about this are pretty irrelevant in terms of these kind of elections. They barely vote and when they do are already in the bag for BJP.

From what I can see, in India at least, this entire controversy is pretty much posturing. Modi and his government backed themselves into a corner with their strongman positioning and need to show something for the Twitter and WhatsApp crowd. This fits - a lot of noise without any real significance.

... they care about shaping the public opinion and they do SO immensely.

The reason this form of dictatorship or institutional autocracy has lasted so long is because there are quite a few establihsment sympathizers in the public masses. There are some who are simply part of the system, some who are beneficiaries and some how just truly believe the system is the best option. If you dont have these people on your side, Pakistan will see the same thing that happened in BD and other places.

The whole moronic Pycroft apology video recording was due to their efforts to keep the masses on their side. If they didnt fear disapproval, they would have not have gone so far.

 

[tiger_khan]

Indian posters are far more familiar with their internal dynamics than me and won't dispute their lived experiences. However I'm still entitled to some observations.

Firstly when criticism of India is broached by a Pakistani, there's the instant retort of Pakistan being a beggar state owned by its military etc. I wholly accept Pakistan is a failed state so let's move on.

1) Many Pakistanis once had grudging respect for India's relatively pluralistic democracy and stable institutions. Now India has adopted the worst elements of Zia's regime - namely toxic nationalism, right-wing authoritarianism and cult of personality, religious intolerance and polarisation, and historical revisionism.

2) Multiple international bodies have spoken about India's democratic erosion from press freedom, rule of law, initiating internet blackouts more frequently than any other country and undermining of so-called "referee institutions" that serve as democratic guardrails.

The usual response is typical of authoritarian regimes and their supporters - these international bodies are biased or predecessor governments behaved similarly.

Whatever your stance, note Pakistan has yet to undo the damage from Zia's policies nearly 40 years on. Forget Pakistan - do some introspection for your own sakes and ask whether this is a healthy society you want future generations to grow up in ?

Yes, we Pakistanis are very critical of our regimes and abuse of power along with economic failures

However, Indians are so gullible that with their less than $US3K per capita GDP they think they are an economic success and already a world leader (Vishvaguru). Of course there is an immense potential there to become one but they are currently far from it. Yet they are celebrating prematurely.

I have relatives in India. It's not that the wealth gap is not visible. You experience and see abject poverty every day. 800M Indians can't afford food. Nevertheless, Bhakts think they are economic giants already.

I suppose this type of mentality is a product of Zero-Sum thinking. If they have to succeed, their compatriots must fail. They have zero sympathy for their poor and almost deny their existence.

It's very similar to when Donald Trump paid a visit to India. Modi didn't have any significant Indian success to show to the world and Trump, instead he hid Indian poverty by literally covering streets with sheets and posters.

 

[straighttalk]

Things are different...both govts try to hoodwink people. But people in India vote based on economic situation and can vote out modi despite him trying to divide people base on religion if there is someone competent on other side...modi isn't winning due to his anti Muslim propaganda..he is winning as the opposition is useless but for Paksitan...they don't have a choice...they are in a defactor junta dictatorship..where the army controlled media has to sell a fantasy of enemy India and fake semblance of victory ..to ensure they can loot the country forever.

 

[tiger_khan]

Things are different...both govts try to hoodwink people. But people in India vote based on economic situation and can vote out modi despite him trying to divide people base on religion if there is someone competent on other side...modi isn't winning due to his anti Muslim propaganda..he is winning as the opposition is useless but for Paksitan...they don't have a choice...they are in a defactor junta dictatorship..where the army controlled media has to sell a fantasy of enemy India and fake semblance of victory ..to ensure they can loot the country forever.

You are so close to the problem that you can't see it clearly

What ever is happening in Pakistan and done by the military, exactly the same thing is being done by the BJP in India without uniforms

- the media is indirectly controlled (Godi Media)
- critical journalists losing their jobs
- the leader doesn't do press conferences
- Pre election rigging - Electoral Bonds
- Institutions are now polluted: Election Commission taking BJP stance openly. In courts judges towing BJP line. Both the lower and apex courts
- Election rigging in general
- intellectuals dying in prisons after being alleged as antinational and conspiring to assassinate Government officials
- Using patriotism as a tool to divert attention from the real issues and charging the political opponents as traitors
- bulldozing citizens' houses without a due process

You are almost there, where Pakistan is politically. If you think that you can remove Modi through elections or because he is 75 now...a very good luck to you.

Your opinion is relying on what used to happen in the past in India, couple of decades ago. Not relying on what's happening now.

 

[straighttalk]

You are so close to the problem that you can't see it clearly

What ever is happening in Pakistan and done by the military, exactly the same thing is being done by the BJP in India without uniforms

- the media is indirectly controlled (Godi Media)
- critical journalists losing their jobs
- the leader doesn't do press conferences
- Pre election rigging - Electoral Bonds
- Institutions are now polluted: Election Commission taking BJP stance openly. In courts judges towing BJP line. Both the lower and apex courts
- Election rigging in general
- intellectuals dying in prisons after being alleged as antinational and conspiring to assassinate Government officials
- Using patriotism as a tool to divert attention from the real issues and charging the political opponents as traitors
- bulldozing citizens' houses without a due process

You are almost there, where Pakistan is politically. If you think that you can remove Modi through elections or because he is 75 now...a very good luck to you.

Your opinion is relying on what used to happen in the past in India, couple of decades ago. Not relying on what's happening now.

While some of your points are fair..India is still a democracy..modi has and will lose elections...everywhere in the world...legacy media is losing power....India is very complex and diverse...Hindu Hindi works in the gawaar belt ..not everywhere...if all that you said was absolute...modi wouldn't have fall flat in the 24 elections ...yes he has advantages and has weaponized stuff but just like USA ...it's far from a dictatorship...the same cannot be said about Pakistan.

 

[Red-Indian]

I appreciate your honest attempt to clarify a few things

However, I am introducing a nuance to the debate

Both Pakistan and India are not homogenous countries. Pakistan is multiethnic and India along with with its multiple ethnicities also has multiple religions and casts.

The kind of western democracy (parliamentary) we are trying to emulate is not working for us because we are not as homogenous as the Western countries. Even the Western countries, which have an influx of immigrants have started to experience the same. That is, they have started to experience fascism like our countries. That's why even in the West, the Right Wing parties are gaining the momentum.

When a country is ethnically, culturally, religiously and socially homogenous the political differences are not based on hatred. Instead they are based on difference of opinion on how to run a country. So when in an homogenous country a political party gets 36 out of 100 voters, it can still run a country without hurting its political opponents. The opponents look like the winner of elections, they wear similar clothes, they have the same diet, they speak the same language, etc. Their political opponents can't be visually distinguished. And most importantly a homogenous society does not use hatred as a fuel for its politics and does not pursue the zero-sum game. It can't because most of the people can relate to each other because of their common attributes.

Meanwhile the identity politics is a fuel of sub-continental politics. There are unsettled political scores and emotional conflicts from the past. The Fascist politicians in our countries take advantage of it to divert our attention from the real issues so they can steal the resources. Due to the lack of respect for each other and abuse of identity politics...when someone in India wins 36% of the popular vote, he/she would be very popular among his/her own political followers/voters but won't be popular among the 64% of the people who voted against him. The reason being the identity/hate politics.

Lastly, Fascists come in many shapes and forms. Some of them wear military uniforms and some walk around in civilian clothes. Both the countries are currently being exploited and abuse by their pertinent Fascists.

PS: None of the governments in two countries will ever invest heavily in public school system. They will always try to control the curriculum/syllabus too. God forbid if every young citizen can learn to think critically in government schools. That will be the end of the identity politics.

You are so close to the problem that you can't see it clearly

What ever is happening in Pakistan and done by the military, exactly the same thing is being done by the BJP in India without uniforms

- the media is indirectly controlled (Godi Media)
- critical journalists losing their jobs
- the leader doesn't do press conferences
- Pre election rigging - Electoral Bonds
- Institutions are now polluted: Election Commission taking BJP stance openly. In courts judges towing BJP line. Both the lower and apex courts
- Election rigging in general
- intellectuals dying in prisons after being alleged as antinational and conspiring to assassinate Government officials
- Using patriotism as a tool to divert attention from the real issues and charging the political opponents as traitors
- bulldozing citizens' houses without a due process

You are almost there, where Pakistan is politically. If you think that you can remove Modi through elections or because he is 75 now...a very good luck to you.

Your opinion is relying on what used to happen in the past in India, couple of decades ago. Not relying on what's happening now.

This will probably require an essay to respond to but let me try to keep it as brief as possible.

Almost all of the things you say are true in some sense and of course worrisome. To clarify though, the things you've listed are about half as impactful as you think they are based on the newsfeed your algorithms send your way and worry us 'liberals' in India about ten times as you think they do.

India is not a healthy democracy today but to be fair it's never been in the pink of health. However the very fact that it's been a functioning democracy for 80 years stumbling from one crisis to the other gives it some inbuilt resiliency and immunity and I personally have a lot of faith in it.

What basis do I have for my faith? Well, Modi and his bunch of wannabe fascist rulers have been muzzling the media, minorly rigging the elections, dominating political fund raising etc. for over a decade now. But that didn't protect them from losing massive chunk of seats forcing a coalition in the last general election. They don't control a single state government south of the Vindhyas - essentially the most prosperous part of the country.

Indian voters are not some gloriously enlightened bunch. Of course they are impacted in some sense by all the absurd propaganda the Modi media factory puts out. But they know which side their bread is buttered. When they vote, they dominantly vote on their regional, local, personal and unfortunately yes their casteist, sectarian issues as well.

The very weakness you describe - India's chaotic heterogeneity and diversity is also it's biggest strength preventing a single strong man however charismatic and influential from gaining total power. In fact, this current crisis in Indian democracy is not even the worst one it's faced. That was the emergency. And look how that turned out!

 

[Red-Indian]

... they care about shaping the public opinion and they do SO immensely.

The reason this form of dictatorship or institutional autocracy has lasted so long is because there are quite a few establihsment sympathizers in the public masses. There are some who are simply part of the system, some who are beneficiaries and some how just truly believe the system is the best option. If you dont have these people on your side, Pakistan will see the same thing that happened in BD and other places.

The whole moronic Pycroft apology video recording was due to their efforts to keep the masses on their side. If they didnt fear disapproval, they would have not have gone so far.

Yeah of course you guys would know better. I'm sure even dictatorships need to manage public opinion. You're right that small, unexpected things can drive a revolution. I remember a lawyer uprising almost unseated Musharraf.

In this case though i.e. Pycroft video, keeping the trophy, I'm not sure how much was managing personal opinion and how much Naqvi's personal ego.

In India, I'm pretty sure all the handshake drama was about keeping the keyboard and WhatsApp warriors happy with some symbolism.

 

[Suleiman]

Pakistanis need to realise that it's not Modi Ji or Amit Shah calling the shots here, it's 1.4 billion Bhartiyas. It's the public sentiment that's anti-Pakistan.

I don't even tell my friends that I use this website or I could be subjected to a boycott from half of them. Things are this bad even at people level.

Very pleased with the amount of love you have for Pakistan to put your life on the line like that. Respect

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I don't think we can honestly "both sides" the recent politicization of cricket between the two countries.

There is only one country responsible and it's because after trying to pull every possible lever and failing, the only lever they are able to pull is in cricket.

 

[Stewie]

Yeah of course you guys would know better. I'm sure even dictatorships need to manage public opinion. You're right that small, unexpected things can drive a revolution. I remember a lawyer uprising almost unseated Musharraf.

In this case though i.e. Pycroft video, keeping the trophy, I'm not sure how much was managing personal opinion and how much Naqvi's personal ego.

In India, I'm pretty sure all the handshake drama was about keeping the keyboard and WhatsApp warriors happy with some symbolism.

There is a lot of pressure on the selected government to prove their salt. I suspect it had little to do with ego but more to do with "hum ne moon tor jawab dia hai" just like for the modi govt its all about "hum ne ghar mein ghuss ke mara hai" .. in both cases its nothing but fake and jaali bravado and nothing to do with reality.

when you have government put in place on fake forms and jaali mandate, you expect them to do such stuff to prove they are worthy of their posts. because after the current COAS leaves, they want to be in the good books of the new one. But in any case, in india its to keep the whatsapp warriors happy to keep the democratic vote in their favor while in pakistan, its about "ensuring" the true democratic spirit does not break through.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

When there is not much to brag about on the political spectrum, then I guess it makes sense to distract the population by talking cricket. Understandable since there is no genuine govt in Pakistan, and BJP politics revolves around ethnic strife, and Pakistan makes a good bogey man.

 

[bk19xsa]

Pakistanis need to realise that it's not Modi Ji or Amit Shah calling the shots here, it's 1.4 billion Bhartiyas. It's the public sentiment that's anti-Pakistan.

I don't even tell my friends that I use this website or I could be subjected to a boycott from half of them. Things are this bad even at people level.

Its only the the ones that are manipulated by propaganda doing it.

Otherwise, Indian folks in and outside India are still watching Pakistani online content, visiting Pakistani Reddit and forums, watching Pakistani matches and outside of India are intermingling with Pakistanis and eating Pakistani food.

Most Indians, especially Hindutva folks, who drank the propaganda kool aid prior to the recent conflict experienced a real shock during the conflict and post ceasefire on how things turned out.

Pakistan apparently occupies their minds even more now.

 

[KB]

2) Multiple international bodies have spoken about India's democratic erosion from press freedom, rule of law, initiating internet blackouts more frequently than any other country and undermining of so-called "referee institutions" that serve as democratic guardrails.

The usual response is typical of authoritarian regimes and their supporters - these international bodies are biased or predecessor governments behaved similarly.

Whatever your stance, note Pakistan has yet to undo the damage from Zia's policies nearly 40 years on. Forget Pakistan - do some introspection for your own sakes and ask whether this is a healthy society you want future generations to grow up in ?

The point is well made. I would however add that there are also lines of continuity that stretch back well before Modi appeared and which we should not overlook.

The most eloquent voice here is that of historian, Tripurdaman Singh. He has argued that unlike the U.S. constitution, India’s constitution "is not animated by the impulse to limit political power and secure public freedom.” The passing of the First Amendment to the Indian constitution limited freedom of speech and right to property. Reading the debate on the First Amendment between Nehru and S.P. Mookerjee it is fascinating to see that the arguments in favour of liberalism were being articulated by the man on the Hindu right and not by Nehru. Nor was draconian legislation unheard of during this period as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act indicates.

Fast forward to the period 1989 to 2014, and while the nature of coalition rule imposed greater limitations on the exercise of executive power at the centre, in the states the culture of authoritarianism continued unabated: “chief ministers—especially those from regional parties who also doubled as party bosses—quickly transformed themselves into ‘supreme leaders’ and pioneered a ‘Chief Minister model of governance’. Personalization of authority, capture of state institutions, symbiotic relationships with the bureaucracy, political violence, intimidation of opponents and dissenters, the malicious use of First Information Reports…and false cases, and widespread surveillance were key parts of this model, which was replicated across multiple states.”

On Hindu nationalism, a similar argument can be made. There was always a gap between lofty secular rhetoric and the real stuff of politics at the local level. We are indebted here to the work of historian William Gould, who has powerfully demonstrated the association of Congress with Hindu nationalism in the province of UP in the years between 1930 and 1947. Gould showed, firstly, how Hindu holy men associated with the Congress intermeshed the language of nationalism with that of religion. He showed, secondly, that festivals and temples, laced with religious meaning, were often the arenas where nationalism was espoused. Thirdly, he pointed to the pervasive use of religious symbols, and indeed religious figures, in mobilising the masses. Fourthly, he looked at how Hindu ideas of sin and pollution were used in ways, which marginalised Muslims. He concluded, “The continued significance of a religious idiom in politics from the 1920s to the millennium across institutions, from the BJP to the Congress’ states provides us with a fundamental, if subtle, clue to the persistence of Hindu nationalism in the politics of India.”

Another historian, Benjamin Zachariah, sees one of Nehru’s “major achievement” to be that he was able to“disarm” the view of Indian culture as Hindu, but “it could, of course, be argued that this was a matter of naming: a Hindu majoritarian ethic could hide behind the secular view of an overarching Indian culture, in which 'Hindu' culture, no longer so called, was given a large space, with any attempt to assert the particularism of a Muslim or any other minority culture being regarded as 'communal'. This allowed Hindu sectarianism to survive behind a veneer of political correctness, even within the Congress.”

This is not to deny change altogether. The systematic weakening of institutions and the ‘harder’ edge to Hindu nationalism, represent something qualitatively different. It is only to say that Modi does not represent a revolution but a deepening of certain threads that were already there.