EDITORIAL: INSAF TURNS 200
Vinod Mubayi and Raza Mir
The results of the 5 state elections in India declared yesterday brought to mind a line from Faiz: “Roshan kahin bahar ke imkaan hue to hain” (Some possibilities of spring have emerged). Only possibilities, mind you. Bigger, sterner tests lie ahead.
But the scale of the defeat of BJP in the Hindu-Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, has put a spoke in the wheels of the Modi rath (chariot) whose triumphal progress over the last four and a half years appears to have stalled, at least for now.
In the meantime, a toast to the sagacity of the average Indian voters is in order. They demonstrated in 1977 that it was possible to overturn the dictatorial Emergency and in 2004 to rubbish the tall claims of the India Shining crowd. One hopes they will do the same to the putrid Modi-Shah Hindutva crowd in May 2019 and put an end to the nightmare of a fascistic Hindu Rashtra.
Over the next few days, South Asian eyes will be riveted toward Bangladesh, which will report the results of the December 30 general elections early in 2019. One wishes for a peaceful polls where over 100 million people are expected to exercise their franchise.
On behalf of the INSAF collective, we wish our readers a very happy new year. To quote Ghalib:
Dekhiye paate haiN ushshaaq butoN se kya faiz
Ek barahman ne kaha hai ke ye saal achcha hai
What victories lie in store for beleaguered lovers?
Let us see, a holy man has predicted a good year
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