Whatever problems someone has with their country’s socio-political affairs should be resolved peacefully through the mechanisms that are already in place, including those for reforming those structures that the person believes are responsible for whatever the aforesaid problems may be. That’s acceptable, patriotic, and responsible, but what’s unacceptable, arguably treasonous, and highly irresponsible is calling on a foreign country to meddle in the affairs of one’s own homeland.
Bloomberg columnist Pankaj Mishra called for the US to meddle in his Indian homeland’s internal affairs in his latest column for that prominent Mainstream Media (MSM) outlet. In his piece titled “Don’t Abandon Democracy Elsewhere To Save It In Ukraine”, he pushes back against the European Council on Foreign Relations’ recent report urging the West to pursue pragmatic partnerships with rising Global South players like Brazil, India, and Turkiye without first imposing domestic political demands of them.
Mishra was mightily offended at the thought that India’s ties with the West could continue strengthening without it complying with the latter’s related demands and thus subjugating itself to becoming their largest-ever vassal state. He of course didn’t phrase his criticism of that recent report in this way, but that’s essentially what he was trying to convey in his latest column, especially when remarking that the US’ praise of India’s governing system didn’t get it to vote against Russia at the UN.
His conclusion sums up his thinking: “Instead of yet again expediently legitimizing authoritarian rulers and further damaging its credibility, the West would be better off maintaining its commitment to democracy — and not just rhetorically. It is too easy to throw around the word ‘democracy’ along with bombastic adjectives such as ‘largest’ and ‘vibrant.’ A harder, but essential, task is upholding the core democratic ideals of equality and justice — everywhere.”
Mishra’s last sentence is his most damning, in which he writes that “Certainly, those who claim to be fighting for freedom and dignity in Ukraine should not be willing to countenance their destruction in India, Turkey and other likely partners of the West.” By comparing Ukraine and India, he inadvertently did the largest disservice he possibly could to those same forces at home that his latest column was intended to support.
The incumbent Ukrainian authorities are fascists who violently came to power as a result of a Western-backed coup that followed months of urban terrorism in the capital. They’re also incorrigibly corrupt, hence why Transparency International ranked that country near the bottom two-thirds in its global index, thus proving that it isn’t so-called “Russian propaganda” to make the preceding claim. In the nine years since they seized power, these same authorities have greatly infringed on minorities’ rights too.
Once again, this too isn’t so-called “Russian propaganda” to claim but is regularly brought up by the Hungarian government, which is a dual member of the EU and NATO. In fact, it’s precisely on the basis that Kiev has continued violating the Hungarian minority’s rights that Budapest refuses to discuss Ukraine’s hoped-for membership in the EU until that changes. Another point to be made is that media and political plurality is non-existent in that former Soviet Republic nowadays too.
This observation isn’t “fake news” like some pro-Kiev folks might instinctively claim, but was reported upon by Newsweek and The Guardian respectively, among many other MSM outlets. Considering this objectively existing and easily verifiable state of deplorable affairs in Ukraine, Western and particularly US support for its incumbent authorities discredits this de facto New Cold War bloc’s “democratic” rhetoric by powerfully reinforcing that country’s indisputably non-democratic system.
Mishra isn’t aware of this “politically inconvenient” reality because he’s yet another of India’s liberal-globalist intellectuals who’ve fallen hook, line, and sinker for propaganda pushed by the US-led West’s Golden Billion. He doesn’t bring up Color Revolution mastermind George Soros’ de facto declaration of Hybrid War on India from the middle of last month, but there’s no doubt that he enthusiastically supports it since Soros’ call for US meddling is premised on the same cause Mishra supports.
Therein lies the danger of calling for a foreign country to meddle in another’s affairs, let alone one’s own homeland like Mishra just did, on the basis of “promoting/protecting democracy” since it serves as the pretext for dividing-and-ruling their population with a view towards subjugating their state as a vassal. That’s Soros’ modus operandi in a nutshell, and it’s the former’s de facto declaration of Hybrid War on India that this Bloomberg columnist is inadvertently or perhaps even deliberately advancing.
Whatever problems someone has with their country’s socio-political affairs should be resolved peacefully through the mechanisms that are already in place, including those for reforming those structures that the person believes are responsible for whatever the aforesaid problems may be. That’s acceptable, patriotic, and responsible, but what’s unacceptable, arguably treasonous, and highly irresponsible is calling on a foreign country to meddle in the affairs of one’s own homeland.
Even worse, Mishra is demanding that the US do this despite its terrible track record of destroying literally every country in which it’s intervened on that pretext, which was never truly to “promote/protect democracy” there but solely to advance its own interests. He himself wrote in his latest column that “Too many societies came to suffer from the Cold War’s ugly assumption that some people deserve freedom and dignity more than others”, yet it’s he who’s fallen under ugly assumptions.
As was earlier explained, this refers to his naïve belief that the Golden Billion does indeed truly care about “promoting/protecting democracy” nowadays, yet it never actually did: not during the Old Cold War, the New Cold War, nor even in the possible future event of a Hybrid World War. The Ukrainian Conflict in particular perfectly encapsulates this since the aid that NATO has given Kiev actually reinforces the recipient’s indisputably non-democratic system instead of helps improve it.
Mishra is misguided at best if he thinks that having the US meddle in India’s affairs will improve life for those in his country who he believes are being treated unfairly and manipulative at worst if he knows deep down inside that it won’t but still wants the US to wage Hybrid War on India anyhow. Nobody should ever call on a foreign country to meddle in any other, let alone their own, which is why it can confidently be said that Mishra just crossed the red line and thus lost any credibility he might have had.
India is buying oil and gass from Russia and sell it to US,then US is selling it to EU for profit.
The Indian people respect other people's self-determination. Do I have to continue?