经济学人下载:橙剂:印度大选(2)

This impetuousness disguised as decisiveness has infected economic policymaking, too. In 2016 Mr Modi abruptly cancelled most Indian banknotes in an effort to thwart money-laun-dering. The plan failed, but not without causing huge disruption to farmers and small businesses. He has pushed through a nationwide sales tax and an overhaul of the bankruptcy code, two much-needed reforms. But the economy has grown only marginally faster during his tenure than it did over the previous ten years, when the Congress party was in government, despite receiving a big boost from low oil prices. Unemployment has risen, breaking promises to the contrary.
这种伪装成果断的冲动也影响了经济决策。2016年，莫迪突然取消了大部分印度纸币，以阻止货币发行。该计划失败了，但也给农民和小企业带来了巨大的破坏。他推动了一项全国性的销售税和对破产法的全面改革，这是两项亟需的改革。但在他的任期内，尽管受到低油价的大力推动，但经济增速仍略高于国大党执政的前10年。相反，失业率上升，反而违背了承诺。

Indians hear such criticisms less often because Mr Modi has cowed the press, showering bounty on flatterers while starving, controlling and bullying critics. He himself appears only at major events. He has also suborned respected government institutions, hounding the boss of the central bank from office, for example, as well as loosing tax collectors on political opponents, packing state universities with ideologues and cocking a snook at rules meant to insulate the army from politics.
印度人很少听到这样的批评，因为莫迪恐吓了媒体，对拍马屁的人慷慨大方，而对批评人士吝啬有加、大力控制、恃强凌弱。他本人只在重大活动中露面。他还收买了有威望的政府机构，比如迫使央行行长离职，对政敌放松税收，在州立大学塞满空想家，还蔑视旨在隔离军队和政治的规定。

Mr Modi’s biggest fault, however, is his relentless stoking of Hindu-Muslim tensions. He personally chose as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, a fiery Hindu cleric who paints the election campaign as a battle between the two faiths. Mr Modi’s number two calls Muslim migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh “termites”, but promises a warm welcome to Bangladeshi Hindus. One of the BJP’s candidates is on trial for helping orchestrate a bombing that killed six Muslims. And Mr Modi himself has never apologised for failing to prevent the deaths of at least 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, during sectarian riots in the state of Gujarat while he was chief minister there. The closest he has come has been to express the sort of regret you might feel “if a puppy comes under the wheel” of a car.
然而，莫迪最大的错误在于，他无情地加剧了印度教与穆斯林之间的紧张关系。他个人选择成为印度人口最多的北方邦的行政部长，这位热情的印度教教士将选举活动描绘成两种信仰之间的一场战斗。莫迪的二号人物给邻国孟加拉国的穆斯林移民打了电话，但承诺热情欢迎孟加拉国的印度教徒。印度人民党一名候选人因协助策划爆炸案而受审，爆炸案导致6名穆斯林死亡。莫迪担任古吉拉特邦行政部长期间，他未能阻止宗派骚乱，至少1000人丧生，大部分遇难者是穆斯林。对此，莫迪本人从未致歉。他表达遗憾的方式最可能让你想到“好像一只小狗死于车轮下”。