Is God Governing India, or Have Politicians Learned to Govern in God's Name?

 

Is God Governing India, or Have Politicians Learned to Govern in God's Name?

Hindi Version: https://rakeshinsightfulgaze.blogspot.com/2026/07/blog-post.html

Years ago, I heard a joke that India was governed by God because, despite its endless chaos, the country somehow continued to function. At the time, it was amusing. Today, however, it no longer feels like a joke. It increasingly appears that politicians have discovered the easiest way to govern India not through accountability, but through God.

Whenever governments find themselves surrounded by uncomfortable questions, the public conversation suddenly changes. Instead of discussing corruption, unemployment, inflation, law and order, institutional failures, or economic policy, television screens are filled with images of political leaders dressed in holy attire, visiting temples, performing rituals, meditating in caves, or presenting themselves as men chosen by destiny. Governance quietly takes a back seat while religion takes center stage. The message is simple: if people believe that God is guiding the leader, perhaps they will stop asking whether the leader is governing well.

That is not governance.

That is political marketing.

Faith was never meant to become a substitute for accountability. The purpose of religion is to strengthen the moral character of society, not to provide politicians with a shield behind which they can hide. Corruption is committed by human beings, not by God. Economic policies are created by governments, not by God. Criminals are protected by broken systems, not by God. Yet whenever difficult questions arise, millions are encouraged to believe that whatever has happened is somehow God's will. In doing so, responsibility quietly disappears.

Religion has become one of the most powerful political tools in modern India. Emotional symbols have replaced serious debate. Leaders who should be answering questions about governance instead spend enormous energy projecting spiritual imagery. Meanwhile, the nation continues to struggle with problems that no amount of symbolism can solve.

Take Punjab as an example.

Punjab today stands on the front line of one of India's most serious national security challenges. Drones regularly cross the international border carrying narcotics, weapons, cash, and other illegal supplies. Security agencies intercept the overwhelming majority of them, but even a small percentage getting through is enough to fuel organized crime. Every successful shipment strengthens criminal networks operating inside India. New gangsters are recruited, extortion expands, drug addiction spreads, and innocent families continue paying the price.

The problem, however, extends far beyond Pakistan.

Modern organized crime no longer respects international borders. Criminal networks receive financial, logistical, and ideological support from individuals living outside India. Funding, communication, recruitment, and propaganda increasingly flow through international networks operating from countries such as Canada, the United States, and parts of Europe. Pakistan is often blamed because its territory is used for cross-border operations, but the ecosystem supporting organized crime is much larger than one country. If India is serious about defeating these networks, it must address every source of support rather than treating the problem as though it begins and ends at one border.

More importantly, national security cannot become a political issue determined by which party governs a particular state. Drugs entering Punjab do not remain in Punjab. Illegal weapons entering Punjab do not threaten only Punjabis. Organized crime born in one state eventually spreads throughout the nation. This is India's problem, not merely Punjab's. The Central Government has both the constitutional responsibility and the moral obligation to treat it as a national priority regardless of political considerations.

The same questions arise when we examine public spending. India proudly inaugurates expressways, airports, bridges, and highways worth thousands of crores of rupees. Yet reports continue to emerge about newly constructed infrastructure developing serious defects within a relatively short period of time. Citizens are expected to celebrate ribbon-cutting ceremonies while asking very few questions about construction quality, public contracts, or whether taxpayers actually received value for the enormous sums being spent.

The burden on ordinary citizens continues to grow. Fuel attracts substantial taxation. On top of that come tolls, registration fees, road taxes, insurance, and numerous indirect taxes. Governments describe these charges as necessary to finance development, and infrastructure certainly requires investment. But taxpayers are equally entitled to ask whether the quality of roads, bridges, and public projects reflects the amount of money they contribute. Paying taxes is not the problem. The problem arises when citizens begin to suspect that they are paying first-world prices while receiving infrastructure that often fails to meet first-world standards.

Meanwhile, inflation continues to squeeze ordinary families. During my current visit to India, I have personally noticed how rapidly the prices of essential goods have increased in just a few months. Every increase in the cost of food, fuel, transport, or daily necessities reduces the purchasing power of ordinary citizens. Yet these issues rarely dominate the national conversation because emotion has become a far more effective political strategy than governance.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of modern politics has been the ability to replace facts with repetition. History teaches us that when a message is repeated often enough, many people eventually begin to accept it as truth. That is precisely why an independent media and citizens willing to question every government are indispensable to democracy. A nation cannot be governed through propaganda forever. Eventually reality catches up with slogans.

The greatest tragedy is that whenever citizens raise uncomfortable questions, they are often accused of being anti-national, anti-development, or anti-religion. Public debate shifts away from evidence and toward emotion. Personalities become more important than policies. Loyalty becomes more valuable than competence. Institutions become weaker because criticism itself is portrayed as betrayal.

I continue to believe that India possesses extraordinary talent, capable institutions, dedicated police officers, hardworking civil servants, and citizens who genuinely want the country to succeed. But no nation can solve problems created by human beings by expecting God to perform the duties assigned to governments. God never asked to administer police forces, secure international borders, build highways, manage public finances, investigate corruption, or govern a democracy. Human beings created governments precisely because those responsibilities belong to human beings.

Perhaps the old joke was only half correct.

India is not governed by God.

India is governed by politicians who have learned that invoking God is often easier than answering difficult questions.

Until citizens begin demanding accountability with the same passion that they defend political personalities, very little will change. Democracies are strengthened not by unquestioning faith in leaders, but by questioning those entrusted with power. God can guide our conscience. Governing the nation, however, remains the responsibility of those whom the people elect, and they should never be allowed to hide behind God to escape that responsibility.

Perhaps the greatest offering we can make to God is not another donation box, but an educated child who can build a better India.