Shadab does this by asking for ‘Sharia’ in India for the "good of all Indians.” He calls it the “Nizam-e-Mustafa”. Hyderi adds to the cacophony by referring to the Taliban as ‘Aadarniye Taliban’; inserting the respectable address every time he’s called to give a “counter” to the BJP spokesperson. What shouldn’t surprise anybody is that the BJP panelist loves these exchanges. What should surprise, however, is that Shadab and Hyderi also enjoy the slanging as much as the BJP fellow in his ‘box’.

Again, not surprising, there’s at least one primetime show daily on the “Taliban takeover of Afghanistan” featuring these two on television news channels. There are other equally effective and talented “spokespersons”, but Shadab and Majid take the cake! And for somebody like BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, it cannot be better, though it does sound rather unlikely for Patra, Shadab and Hyderi to be BFF – “best friends forever”, however, short the dalliance!

The bottom-line is ever since the “Taliban takeover of Afghanistan”, it couldn’t be better for the BJP, and the beleaguered Modi Government. However ludicrous and anathema to Hindu ears it may sound, ‘Sharia in Hindustan’ is music to the ears of Sambit Patra and Gaurav Bhatia; Amit Shah and Narendra Modi; Yogi Adityanath and Tejaswi Surya! And Taliban spells ‘Sharia’, in which people get gut-shot and strung high.

Majid Hyderi insists that replacing the Indian Penal Code with Sharia will rid India of the scourge of rapes and molestations. “No Unnao or Hathras,” he says, and the next minute, it’s chaos, just the kind of environment for Patra to weave in his fantasies. When Majid Hyderi wants to borrow from the Sharia that which deals with “rape”, it gives Patra the chance to polarize.

“We have to do it for our women and girls,” says Hyderi and it’s the perfect pitch for Patra to jump in. It’s a cinch that the Taliban takeover has come at a very opportune time for the BJP, and the Modi Government. Most of all, perhaps, for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose personal stock has been falling, falling…,ever since the West Bengal election results trounced him and whatever sheen was left was taken away by Covid 2nd wave.

Coming as it is, just 7-8 months before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has lifted BJP’s spirits. And people like Shadab Chouhan and Majid Hyderi have helped polarize the electorate for the BJP. For Modi it helps him get out of the rabbit hole he fell headlong into.

Modi’s fall from “66 to 24” in the “Mood of the Nation” ratings is but one part of why he would be glad that President Joe Biden got out of Afghanistan when he got out. For India the American pullout and the Taliban takeover is not good news. After 20 years in Afghanistan, India is in the hole for upwards of $4 billion, but who cares so long as it serves the political survival of somebody high and mighty!

Election year 2024 is a little too far off in the future, but 2022 and Uttar Pradesh and the Uttarakhand elections are this side of the horizon. It’s imperative for Modi that the BJP scores wins both these years. The Aam Aadmi Party, if not the Congress, is breathing down the BJP’s neck. A polarization of votes is, therefore, a must for the saffron party, though any “reverse-polarization” will no doubt benefit the secular parties.

That said, the kind of communal polarization that the BJP wants is one which is married to nationalism. The ‘Talibanization’ of elections helps best when it teams up with nationalistic streaks – maybe another version of Pulwama, and Balakote! What the Indian Army, and the Indian Air Force, does between now and 2022, 2024 will to a great extent dictate the outcome of the forthcoming elections.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and its effects on India and its relations with Pakistan and China will impact internal politics. The Taliban takeover has also affected the Opposition parties. In Uttar Pradesh, for instance, the Samajwadi Party, which is the BJP’s main opposition, believes a consolidation of Muslim votes behind its banner will help Akhilesh Yadav return to power. Maybe, that is why Shadab Chouhan is so vociferously voicing the sharia line.

The long and short of it is, for the Pegasus-hounded and hit Narendra Modi Government, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and its geopolitical ramifications, how events from now on will impact India vis a vis Afghanistan, are the perfect foils to use to get out of a politically very sticky situation. In fact, Modi might be praying that he doesn’t meet an Ashraf Ghani fate – out on a limb, asked to walk the plank! (IPA Service)