"Holland’s politics has lost its innocence!" These are the words a television reporter chose while reporting the murder of the Dutch far-right leader, Pim Fortuyn. And, this happened just nine days before that country was to go to polls. The BBC had reported that the gay-rights activist could have bagged over one fifth of the votes.
In France, Le Pen, best known for his oft-repeated description of Nazi gas chambers as "a detail of history", lost the elections. People celebrated. But, his anti-immigrant campaigns had got him over 17 percent of the French votes.
Of course, these two were not expected to win the elelctions, but in many respects their battle is already won – they have put the far right at the heart of mainstream politics in their countries. One may say they were only rabble-rousers with odious views. But, they do represent a segment of public opionion.
Here’s an excerpt from Pim Fortuyn’s stated position.
"Large groups in the Muslim community are lagging behind in social and cultural terms. These groups often originate from countries that did not participate in the Judeo-Christian-humanist developments, which have been taking place in Europe for centuries. These shortfalls in development are highly regrettable, as they result in a divide in society and form a threat to the functioning of our large cities."
Maybe, it’s true. Then, why do the self-proclaimed propagators of democracy support autocratic governments in all of Arabia? And, they still make fun of them when they become their adversaries. Remember Donald Rumsfeld’s statement about those "still traveling on horse backs" or his President’s pledge to "smoke them out of their hideouts"!
But, what worries me more than jingoism and hatred spreading all around, from the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea to the Pacific and the Atlantic, is the feeling that Democracy has got its comeuppance.
The BJP in India, Ariel Sharon’s party in Israel, the Republicans in the US, none of them have actually won the elections. At least, not on their own agenda and platform. The BJP cooked up an alliance so very smartly, even before the national elections. Ariel Sharon was not that smart, but he still managed to come to power with the backing of a handful of parties. And, the reexamination of votes in Florida revelaed that George Bush had actually lost the elections. But, ‘Afghan War’ was at its zenith at that point. So, nobody cared much.
In my opinion, the loopholes of countries’ constitutions are now ruling the Democratic World.
Not long ago, the non-elected military ruler of Pakistan and the apple of the Democratic US’ eye, Pervez Musharaff, disowned his pet militants. And more recently, the Southeast Asian Muslim nations met to brew some method to defend themselves from the increasing fundamentalism – and maybe also to prevent the US intervention!
Suicide bombers continue to kill scores of Israelis everyday. The entire world condemns suicide bombing as a heinous act. But, by God, why are they doing it? Is it a machoist pleasure or is it just the weapon of the desperate?
And, men hack eachother to death in Gujarat. Minority Muslims are being butchered. Jayalalithas and Advanis of the world are more worried about the non-publicity when people belonging to the majority get killed.
The public domain is up for grabs once again!
