More than two millennia ago, Alexander, the new king of Macedonia embarked on a mission to conquer as much as he could of the known world. As he approached the borders of India, he encountered something unusual. Prince Ambhi Kumar of Takshashila, voluntarily submitted himself to Alexander despite having a formidable army. The reason, as Alexander would learn later on was the pre-existing and bitter territorial fight between Ambhi Kumar and Purushottam (“Porus” in greek chronicles). Ambhi Kumar decided to settle the scores with his neighbor by taking the help of Yavana (Ionian) king.          

This incident incensed Chanakya, a political science teacher at Takshashila University so much that he took a plunge into politics immediately and the moves and counter moves he eventually made, led to the creation of one of the largest empires in Indian history.

But the basic idea of using external allies to settle scores with regional opponents did not wither away so easily. It kept on recurring throughout Indian history with devastating and tragic consequences. Eventually it led to the entire nation getting colonized under the British. The hard work of colonization was actually done by their Indian collaborators for them.

At the heart of this problem is the way a culture/religion is designed. Cultures which encourage diverse thoughts, practices and ideas are always vulnerable to subversion from within compared to culture/religions that enforce a strict codified doctrine on its subjects. On the positive side, these “open architecture” cultures (coined by Rajiv Malhotra) are capable of producing a rich culture, great new ideas and eventually in moving humanity towards a better future.

The fight for independence from the British was done through both armed rebellion and peaceful means. World War II eventually destroyed the might of the Empire and the revolt by British Indian Armed forces made it clear that control over people of India was no longer tenable.

Subhash Chandra Bose, who could probably have challenged the congress vanished into thin air in 1945 and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 came as a huge blow to explicitly Hindu oriented parties. This confluence of events helped the Congress create a C-system and preside over the nation for a long time. It was not just about winning elections or ruling the nation. From academia to intelligentsia to control of Judiciary and inserting crony capitalism, everywhere this all-pervasive network of mutual interests ruled India for over half a century.

This is the reason why the Congress Party with 145 seats appears more powerful than the BJP with 282 seats today. Congress party is just one head of the multi headed hydra called the C-system. However, this network now seems on the verge of complete collapse. But this network is in no mood to hand over power and walk away into sunset.

To its credit, the network clearly saw the threat posed by Narendra Modi to their interests and did everything in their control to stop him from becoming Prime Minister. Relentless attacks were launched by C-System funded NGOs, mainstream media, academia, politicians of various flavors etc. No effort was spared to remove him from their path. But unfortunately for them, the people of India gave a thumping majority to Modi in the 2014 general elections. C-system took the blow but recovered and recently launched an all-out attack against Modi. Every single node of the network has been activated and brought into battlefield. The target is pretty simple. Make sure that BJP loses the 2019 elections.

Modi during the election campaign had promised “Pehle Shauchalay phir Devalay” emphasizing on economic development before cultural development. After coming to power, Team Modi has been following that mantra religiously. Entire efforts seem to be focused on improving the Indian economy. This has disappointed some of his “cultural-issues-first” supporters. India with the largest number of working age population, cannot afford to ignore jobs and development. One of the largest voting block for Narendra Modi was also this young and aspirational group.

And, the opposition parties are also aware of the fact that unless this group is weaned away from supporting Modi, they cannot hope to win 2019 elections. The disruption of Rajya Sabha and deliberate attempts to derail the development agenda of Modi should be seen in this light. It is unfortunate but they are still playing within the rules of the game.

When the opposition parties make laughable allegations that the BJP doesn’t allow women to wear jeans if they are elected, should only be confronted politically. If BJP is incapable of answering this allegation, it is their incompetence. Those who support BJP should not show much sympathy to it in such cases. I have to emphasize this point because we should not conflate these political moves which are still within the unwritten rules of conduct with other moves that I will mention below.

The Modi government is also accused of saffronization of history by the academic wing of C-system. That is perfectly ok but it is clearly a violation of unwritten rules when German ambassador crossed the line and tried to influence the domestic policies of India. Political, Media and academic wings of the C-system should have clearly opposed that interference but unfortunately they chose to use it to settle scores against a domestic opponent.

Indian NGO’s went to foreign lands to give testimony against India. In some cases they even begged Western nations to impose sanctions against India. Due to their efforts, India is included in the category of nations of particular concern regarding religious freedom by United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Every nation has its own problems. Can you imagine anyone from US visiting India to criticize race issues such as the Ferguson riots and asking India to get involved?

It never happens because they clearly know the unwritten rules of the game and anyone who violates those rules are made to pay the price. Some Western Establishments are very good at collecting “atrocity literature” from other countries and using it for their own benefits. It does not matter whether these NGOs are well intentioned or not. They are simply pawns in the game. This behavior is not confined to just NGO’s.

It is not unfair to expect better conduct from elected representatives. But unfortunately they also chose to travel this pernicious path. Sixty Five members of Indian Parliament wrote to the US in the past urging their President to refuse Visa for a democratically elected Chief Minister of India.

Can anyone imagine US Senators writing to China asking them to boycott President George Bush because of the war in Iraq? Or can anyone imagine Republican senators who fiercely criticize Obama to write similar letter to other nations? It will never happen because they all know the unwritten rules of the game. US leaders will never do it. Chinese leaders will never do it. Russian leaders will never do it. German or British leaders will never do it. In fact even a hint will finish their political careers.

It is shameful and disgraceful how Indian MPs chose to use this route to “fix” their political opponent. This is again the old habit of trying to bring external help to settle scores against domestic opponents. Another more recent example was the terror boat incident. India has been at the receiving end of a number of Pakistan sponsored terrorist attacks. From bomb blasts in cities to attacks on religious places and to more recently the attacks on Army installations. The memories of 26/11 attacks are still fresh in Indian minds. It should have been very obvious that India cannot afford to have another 26/11. Yet after the news of the Pakistani terror boat incident, the Mainstream Media went into an overdrive in order to try to pin the entire blame on India. This was done despite a clear statement from the Defense minister of India that it was a thwarted terror attempt. But the desire to score points against the government overruled their common sense.

The vector of attack against Modi government it seems has shifted. If we look back at the concerted propaganda before the general elections, it was predominantly focused on Muslims. The entire narrative was spun to whip up the hysteria that Modi as PM would launch a genocide of Indian Muslims. But over the past few months the vector of attack has shifted. Now we are subjected to a saturated coverage about anti-Christian attacks. It is painted as if the entire Christian community in India is under siege. Prominent Indians of Christian faith are roped in to attack the Government.

It is perfectly legitimate for Christians or for that matter any other community to express their grievances and seek assurances from the Government. The constitution of India gives this right to everyone and those who use it are playing by the rules.

But even before basic facts of any incident emerge, some elements in the mainstream media are playing the role of a judge, jury and the audience and already pronouncing BJP guilty. Law and order is a state subject in India. Even when an attack takes place in non-BJP ruled states, the hysteric media right away assigns the blame directly to BJP and personally to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This attempt at trying to score political points will end up damaging the inter community relationships in India. 

The comments made by President Obama while he was in India were neither casual nor innocent. Presidents choose their words quite carefully. They are clearly intended for Modi govt. It would not be surprising if Indians belonging to the C-system were primarily responsible for creating a negative impression which led to those comments.

In the post 9/11 world, the mood of the public in western nations is steadily becoming more and more anti-Islamic. So, garnering support in western nations by using Islamic victimhood card is not easy. Hence this shift in the attack against Modi. It is a serious challenge. If Modi were to fulfill his promises of faster economic growth, he would need some co-operation from western nations. By trying to use help from a few elements in the west, the C-System is once again crossing the line.

A Déjà vu again!  And time for the rise of Chanakya again!