Trump, defeated only in America

With the assault on Capitol building in the US, Donald's Trump's last tactic also crashed. The denunciation of the incident by the advocates of democray not only in America but around the world turned out to be a good sign. Trump who lost the election took out all the weapons in his armament to subvert the popular verdict, and what his followers did in the Capitol Hill was a desperate last ditch effort.

The joint session of the Congress was assembled to give the final official stamp of approval for the victory of Joe Biden over Trump. The thousands-strong Republican mob's storming into this august assembly became a disgrace as much for American democracy as for the intelligence and security apparatus of the country. Five people including a police officer were killed during the incident.

Trump could not reconcile himself to handing over power and had alleged election fraud early on. When postal ballots turned out to be in favour of Joe, he challenged that. He also called the election officials, all loyal to him, to manipulate extra votes which would help him. When none of this seemed to work, he behaved like an unruly child. Finally, when the Congress was set to meet and declare Biden as the president, he incited the followers saying that he would not allow a smooth transition and arguing that the election result was not in order.

When the Congress met, it was the so infuriated and armed mob who broke police barricades and jumped over the Capitol's compound wall and brought terror. The police evacuated several of the Congress members in the interest of security, and hid the remaining in invisible spots including behind the seats. And only after all assailants were driven away could the last steps for Biden's accession be completed. At the end of it, Trump who lost in every sense, had to concede defeat. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram permanently suspended his account, citing reasons of hate propaganda and incitement of violence.

The occasion provides an opportunity for the world to realise that the strongest ruler of the world's most powerful nation is only the leader of a raucous, rowdy mob. No wonder leaders of many countries condemned the way adopted by Trump for the simple reason that they could not brook this mayhem.

At the same time, among some of these leaders of the very same countries are versions of Trump. In greater or lesser measure they also commit the same iniquities that Trump did. Many of them perpetrate stark injustices under the label of democrary. Until Trump stooped to such lows as could not any more be left unberated, they have also been abetting all wrongdoing, and they still harbour even today the same brand of divisiveness and racial hatred of the same intensity.

Many of those, both in the US and elsewhere, who rejoice at the 'victory of democracy' in America had colluded with the 'Trumps' there when democracy was sabotaged in those countries. That speaks for the form of their sheer hypocrisy. Recall this: Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi the army chief in Egypt made a military coup and through a most flagrant violation of fair play overthrew Mohamed Morsi, who had become president in Egypt's uniquely fair election.  Many of the leaders who were not prepared to make even the faintest condemnation of that unlawful act, are now seen celebrating America's 'democratic transition of power'.

The ruling party of India is now vocal, at least for its optics, about the triumph of democracy, citing the defeat of mob fascism in the US. But it cannot be forgotten that this is the same camp that enforces mobocratic fascism – constituting denial of democracy - in a more effective manner than Trump did. Even earlier, the Trumps of India had acquired the capability to let loose mobs to violate the constitution too.

Ours is a country where governments who had given assurance before a court and then quite contrary to that facilitated a mob to demolish a mosque. And this is a country where the police became an instrument for mob justice and finally that 'justice' came to be part of law. When compared to this, the merit America can claim is what Arundhati Roy said: There, only some including the President have rotten; democratic system is safe there. Here, the ruling dispensation, legislatures, the judiciary and the media have all become tainted. At the most crucial moment in the US, the ones who stood firm in buttressing democracy were Republicans even more than Democrats. In India, when the government got passed Citizenship Amendment Act and farm laws, all against the essence of the Constitution, without due debate and making a mockery of parliament, not even a single member of the ruling party took a position that the Constitution is above party politics.

Even in the statement the prime minister Modi issued about the Capitol incidents, the focus was on the protests being 'unlawful'. Calling the anti-citizenship law and farmers' protests 'unlawful' is a way of Trump, not that of democracy. Even if Trump goes, Trumpism continues in many places.