Punjab's post truth politics

Punjab's post truth politics

In faking it for political effect, appeals for votes in Punjab have surpassed chicanery (वाक्छल/धोखा) in America.
Wouldn't it be just `huuuge' to know what President Donald Trump thinks of Shiromani Akali Dal's manifesto promise of acquiring one lakh acres of land in foreign countries, including the US, and settle Punjabi farmers there? At a time when the American president is threatening to shut out almost all immigration, Punjabi farmers will simply saunter (चहलकदमी करना) through LaGuardia, do some bhangra on the Golden Gate Bridge, drink some lassishassi in front of the White House and grow wheat next to Mount Rushmore! If you thought that only American politics was a reflection of the post-truth world we are living in, think again. The entire campaign for the Punjab assembly election was a messy collection of emotional appeals and unrealistic promises. In fact, just before Punjabis voted on February 4, a concerted attempt was made to spread fake news, clearly establishing that we are as much post-truth as in America.
Shiromani Akali Dal doesn't have a monopoly (एकाधिकार) on making `huuuge' promises. Besides, making outlandish (विचित्र) promises is not even new to Indian politics. But some of the campaign pledges (वादा/वचन) this time are so far away from logic that it is shocking.
For instance, both Congress and AAP have promised to end the narcotics menace (ख़तरा/संकट) in Punjab within one month of coming to power. The US couldn't end the problem in 50 years despite running a sustained war on drugs with the resources of the most powerful country in the world. But Congress and AAP are dead certain they can end the menace in 30 days flat. The details of how they will do it are as hazy (अस्पष्ट/अनिश्चित) as a drug-filled high.
Thankfully, we already have a pretty long fence along the Pakistan border or both parties would have run a campaign to build a wall there and have Pakistan pay for it! In March last year, three months before `Udta Punjab' was released, then President Barack Obama had told the National Prescription Drug Abuse Heroin Summit in Atlanta that it was time to stop looking at addiction through the lens of criminal justice. He wanted the focus to shift to reducing demand and providing treatment.
In Punjab, however, Arvind Kejriwal is making recorded phone calls to voters telling them that to end the drug menace quickly, his first step would be to jail a few politicians. It is ridiculous (उपहास्य/मूर्खतापूर्ण) to think that jailing someone would end Punjab's drug problem when you consider that All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi's survey last year had estimated that in a population of around 2.77 crore people, Punjab had an estimated 1.23 lakh heroin-dependent people.
These are, of course, facts. But in the age of post-truth, facts don't matter. Feelings do. So, finger pointing is more effective than building political consensus (सर्वसम्मति) to end a menace that has the capacity to destroy an entire generation.
To ensure that all the characteristics of post-truth politics were played out in Punjab, attempts were also made at spreading fake news. Just before votes were cast, a letter ostensibly (प्रकट रूप से) written in Hindi by AAP's Punjab affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh was circulated on social media. Written on the official AAP letterhead, it asked Kejriwal to start maintaining a distance from the Punjab campaign just in case the party loses, as Congress's popularity was growing.
Singh categorically denied writing any such letter. By evening, another fake letter was doing the social media rounds. Making almost the same argument in English, it had Prashant Kishor writing to Sonia Gandhi asking her to stay away from Punjab. Both letters have now reached the Election Commission.
And that wasn't all. A colour-coded map, allegedly prepared by Punjab police's intelligence wing, was the hottest forward on WhatsApp a week before polling. It gave a massive majority to one of the opposition parties. It is extremely unusual for intelligence officers to give out such maps with their official stamp, making many wonder if it was yet another attempt at fakery (The act of faking).
Then on February 3, another fake letter was circulated. This time it was on the letterhead of the highest temporal seat of Sikhism ¬ the Akal Takht ¬ asking people not to vote for Akali Dal for taking support of Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa. It was quickly refuted by both the high priests and Akali Dal leaders.
It is now clear that political parties and their supporters have mastered the social media and know exactly how to let loose a balloon with nothing but gas to get people chattering on a particular issue or subject. You can project patent lies and half-truths as absolute truth and there will be enough people to believe in it just because it went viral. Viral trumps veracity (सच्चाई) (the pun is intended).
By the time people realise that what they gulped down was fake, they will be in no position to regurgitate (to repeat (something, such as a fact, idea, etc.) without understanding it) it. And by then a mood, a sentiment, a perception will be created and veracity will no longer be relevant.
You can crib about (Restrain). fake news and false promises, but we have created the sentiment we need ahead of a crucial election ¬ that seems to be the strategy. Facts can wait, feelings can't.