Emmanuel Macron comfortably and decisively defeats Le Pen in the French presidential elections. This brings a fortunate pause, if not a full stop, to the far right and nationalist tendencies which have been sweeping the elections all over the world over the past one and half decades. Be that Modi’s coming to power with a bang electoral win in India, be the Conservatives’ regaining and retaining the floor in the last British general elections in England and earlier the British electorate’s voting for Brexit, it has been observed with concern that stirring the nationalist sentiments, propagating far-right tendencies and resorting to conservatism, chauvinism and narrow nationalism has remained the major contributing factors in their electoral success.
It seemed as if narrow nationalism, xenophobia and conservatism had gained the currency and had become the recipe for electoral success all over the world and it appeared as if the days of moderation, peaceful coexistence and harmony among various ethnicities and cultures were fast departing.
However, from this episode where the people of France have shown tremendous sagacity and have rejected Le Pen, the grand priestess of fear, one really may heave a great sigh of relief. One can foster optimism that this episode proves to be a new beginning and sanity starts prevailing.
The people advocating peaceful coexistence, tolerance, cooperation and mutual respect among various communities, ethnicities and faiths get to the helm of affairs and who then could nurture and nourish these very qualities in the masses, the qualities which are fast waning in the society all over the world.
TASAWAR BOSAL
MANDI BAHAUDDIN
