The Economist - USA (2020-08-08)

18 Asia The EconomistAugust 8th 2020

2 ern state of Kerala.

The bjp, in contrast, has propagated the

notion that Hindus, who make up about

80% of the population, are hard done by in

modern India, and that Muslims, who ac-

count for just 14%, get too good a deal.

Since winning a thumping election victory

last year, it has reversed, at least in part, the

three supposed injustices on which it has

campaigned longest and most insistently:

the failure to honour Ram at his birthplace,

the special constitutional status granted

Jammu & Kashmir, India’s only state with a

Muslim majority, and the distinct laws on

marriage and inheritance that apply only

to Muslims. On August 5th last year the

government not only revoked Jammu &

Kashmir’s modest autonomy, but down-

graded it from a state to a territory and split

it in two for good measure. A week before it

had rescinded Muslim men’s right to di-

vorce their wives instantly and at whim

and had made it a crime to attempt to do so.

These moves in part reflect the bjp’s po-

litical dominance. For the first time, it en-

joys a majority in both chambers of parlia-

ment and no longer has to rely on less

sectarian allies to pass legislation. But the

sudden rush to advance the Hindu

nationalist items on its agenda also reflects

the diminished chance of making good on

its other main campaign promise: to accel-

erate economic growth and spread oppor-

tunity. The growth rate was already slowing

before covid-19 arrived; the imfnow pre-

dicts that the economy will contract by

4.5% this year. Millions are being pitched

into poverty.

What is more, the bjphas not yet hit on a

fresh cause with the appeal of the Ram tem-

ple. When it amended the laws on citizen-

ship to favour Hindus at the end of last

year, it was met with surprisingly big and

persistent protests in favour of secularism.

The government itself, meanwhile, seems

wary of stoking confrontation with China,

despite recent Chinese border encroach-

ments that have aroused public indigna-

tion. After Chinese troops beat 20 Indian

soldiers to death high in the Himalayas in

June, it took Mr Modi’s government two

weeks to retaliate, and then only with a de-

cree banning an assortment of Chinese-

owned smartphone apps.

In the Ramayana, the epic poem that

tells the story of Ram, the god is exiled from

Ayodhya by his father, the king, and passed

over as heir to the throne. Although it takes

him many years and titanic struggles to do

so, Ram eventually returns in triumph to

Ayodhya, where he takes his rightful place

as king and ushers in a golden era. Mr Modi

is deliberately echoing the story with his

own triumphant return to Ayodhya. He

would doubtless like Indians to imagine

that a golden era lies ahead. But the bjp’s

current political ascendancy is made of

baser stuff. 7

T

oo manyroads cross the southern bor-

der of the state of Queensland for police

to patrol them all. Instead, the authorities

have been setting up waist-high plastic

barricades to block small streets that lead

to neighbouring New South Wales near the

sprawling city of Gold Coast. The intention

is to prevent people entering Queensland

from avoiding police checkpoints. The

state, which has only a few active cases of

covid-19, is closing itself off to the 15m resi-

dents of Victoria, New South Wales and the

Australian Capital Territory, in an effort to

prevent more from being imported.

Walls of a less visible variety have been

erected all over Australia since the pan-

demic began. All bar one of its eight main

states and territories have imposed border

controls, either banning certain domestic

travellers or forcing them to quarantine in

hotels on arrival.

Victoria accounts for the vast majority

of Australia’s 7,500-odd active cases. Syd-

ney, the capital of New South Wales, has far

fewer cases—just a dozen or so each day.

But the twitchy governments of other

states are nonetheless banning Sydneysid-

ers as well as Victorians (see map).

This has helped to stop the coronavirus

spreading to less populated parts of the

country. Several states and territories have

technically eliminated the disease, mean-

ing that they have no local transmission at

all. But imported cases continue to pop up,

spurring constant tightening of restric-

tions on interstate travel.

Tasmania, an island, started making

use of its natural fortifications in March,

imposing two weeks’ quarantine on all ar-

rivals from other parts of Australia. It had

planned to launch a travel “bubble” with

other covid-free states on August 7th, but

delayed at the last minute. Its borders will

be closed until at least the end of the

month, and probably longer.

Western Australia, already separated

from the rest of the country by a vast desert,

shut out all other Australians in April, and

has no plans to open back up. Its govern-

ment makes exceptions only for miners

and other “essential” workers.

Australians seem happy to tolerate

these fetters to keep the virus at bay. West-

ern Australia’s premier, Mark McGowan,

who faces an election next year, hit an ap-

proval rating of 89% in a poll conducted

shortly after he closed the border. His

counterpart in Tasmania fares nearly as

well. Annastacia Palaszczuk, Queensland’s

leader, who is also approaching an elec-

tion, boasts that locals stop her in the street

“telling me they support our stance when it

comes to the borders.”

But the controls have scuppered plans

to revive domestic tourism and irritated

some businesses. Clive Palmer, a mining

magnate from Queensland, was incensed

by Western Australia’s refusal to grant him

special permission to fly in for business.

Mr McGowan, complains Mr Palmer, “has

great admiration for countries which have

heads of state...with dictatorial powers, but

that is not Australia.”

Mr Palmer has sued the government of

Western Australia, arguing that the consti-

tution declares that “trade, commerce and

intercourse among the states... shall be ab-

solutely free.” The courts have previously

ruled that there can be limited exceptions.

Mr McGowan believes that a pandemic

qualifies. In times like these, he asserts,

“constitutional niceties should...go out the

window.” But Mr Palmer argues that the

state’s sweeping border closure is not pro-

portionate to the threat.

The federal government initially argued

for looser restrictions, too. It sent officials

to testify in support of Mr Palmer at a hear-

ing late last month. Western Australia’s ap-

proach was “indiscriminate” and “uncom-

promising”, argued Scott Morrison, the

prime minister. A more reasonable policy

would be to open “in a staged, sensible, ju-

risdiction-by-jurisdiction way”, suggested

the attorney-general, Christian Porter.

But the federal government has since

withdrawn its support for Mr Palmer. The

prime minister explained that the com-

monwealth had “taken into account the

changed state of the pandemic” and the

“high level of concern” about covid-19 in

Western Australia. In other words, with in-

fections rising and voters feeling scared,

Mr Morrison’s Liberal Party is not planning

to go to bat for liberal principles. 7

SYDNEY

Barriers to domestic travel are being

tested in the courts

Australia and covid-

Borderline cases

Queensland†

NewSouth

Wales

Victoria

ACT

Tasmania§

South

Australia†

Northern

Territory

Western

Australia

Sydney

Closed Closed to Victoria

Open but travellers from

hotspots must quarantine

Open but state

in lockdown

Australia border restrictions*, at Aug 5th 2020

*Unless exempt or essential †Also restricts

visitors from Sydney or NSW §Also restricts

visitors from other hotspots. Tasmanian

residents from affected areas must quarantine