Mr
Modi, whatever the outcome of the Delhi elections, its time for the BJP to
pause, take a deep breathe and chart out its future strategy and there is a
certain need to reflect & for some course correction.
He
won the elections at the Lok Sabha on the Development plank and won with a
thumping majority cutting across geographies, religions, caste & creed. It
worked in the Lok Sabha elections and will work again.
People
have voted in favour of Modi in huge numbers at the Centre and in states like
Maharashtra, Harayana, Uttarkhand, etc. If Modi fails to check his hardliners
and right wing elements within the BJP party, he will be a huge let down on the
confidence reposed by the people of this country, much akin to what Manmohan
Singh did in his earlier stint.
He
won on a platform of clean and good governance and because he was able to point
to his development record in Gujarat. India was tired of the corruption
scandals and the indecision that marked UPA 2. After having watched a weak-kneed Manmohan Singh sleep-walked through the last three years of his
prime ministership, the electorate wanted a strong leader; a man who did not
fear anyone, who did not take orders from party high commands and whose word
was final.
The
Hindutva lobby sees Modi as its own man. No doubt their loyal foot soldiers
campaigned tirelessly for Modi on the field and were largely instrumental for
his win. In their minds, therefore, Modi's victory is their victory.
It has emboldened them to think, that it gives
them the right to push its long hidden agenda as can be seen from some its
actions :
- “ghar wapsi” campaign
- blatant threats to hold mass reconversions
- Controversy over “love jihad”
- Attacks on churches & religious places
- Where was the need to make Christmas Day a working day, when the whole world observes it as a holiday and is an important festival to the Christians
- Forcefully marrying couples on Valentine Day
- The sudden love and felicitation for Nathuram Godse
- Oppose anything critical about Hindiusm, even if it a picture of imagination or a fiction (PK film)
- Trying to impose Hindutva curriculum in schools
The
problem with the issues that the Hindutva camp is now raising is that they put
Modi exactly where he does not want to be: On the side of aggressive Hindutva.
During the general election campaign, the Congress tried hard to portray Modi
as a Hindu extremist. He swatted off those attacks by suggesting that this kind
of secularist typecasting was the last refuge of the corrupt and inefficient.
But
now, it is Modi's own supporters who have raised the aggressive Hindutva
issues. And he doesn't seem to know how to respond to them. Consequently the
battlefield has shifted from Modi's chosen area of development to communalism,
an area that he had hoped to avoid. Suddenly the Nation, the society at large is being polarised. What the Congress could not do, the parivar
has now achieved.
All
this also seriously impacts Modi's larger constituency, the people who voted
for good governance, growth and strong leadership. Modi can claim, quite
reasonably, that he needs a little more time to revive the economy. But he
finds it difficult to explain why he does not control right wing fringe
elements in the party. We know that such communal issues as love-jihad do not
win elections as the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh demonstrated. We know also
that when the BJP talks of development as it did in Haryana and Maharashtra, it
rises to record heights.
So
why then does Modi make no effort to chastise the right wing elements who have
hijacked his agenda? Why didn't he openly distance himself from the more
poisonous rhetoric? It is easy - and largely non-controversial - to condemn the
Godse cult or send out subtle signals by attending a screening of PK. And yet,
he chose to remain silent or does very little – reminiscent of the previous
Prime Minister.
And
the less he does, the weaker he seems. India voted for a strong leader, one who
did not meekly give in to party high commands or activists. Tolerant and
liberal Indians, who constitute the majority of Modi's electoral support base,
are now saying: “ This is not what we voted for. Is this man not strong enough
to take on the right wing elements who want to push India back to the medieval
era?”
Already
there is a huge blemish & a piggy back that Modi carries as a result of the Gujarat riots and there were
many who doubted his Secular credentials. However he managed to steer away from
it by following a Development Agenda and rightly so. There were many skeptics
who feared that with BJP coming to power there will be religious polarization
in the country and its seems to be coming true.
However
the right wing fringe elements and hardliners in the party, are taking
advantage of a BJP rule and pushing their own agenda in a small way, that has
catastrophic effect on the Nation and the party. Unless the Prime Minister
steps in and nips it in the bud, it will spread like a cancer and will
ultimately cause the downfall of the party.
What
an opportunity India had when it had Obama at our doorstep. It was a great
achievement to our Foreign diplomacy and also the personal leadership of Prime
Minister Modi. However his parting remarks New Delhi last month was a polite message to Modi & India that we need to wake up to some irritant in the India Development juggernaut and has somewhat spoilt the otherwise good party.
In
his Siri Fort speech, Obama said, 'Every person has the right to practice their
religion and beliefs and not practice it if they choose so without any
persecution.'
The
US president asserted that all progress was predicated on social inclusion,
declaring, 'That's what makes us world leaders -- not just the size of our
economy or the number of weapons we have, but our ability to show the way in
how we work together, and how much respect we show each other.'
'Our
nations are strongest when we see that we are all God's creation -- all equal
in His eyes and worthy of His love,' Obama said, adding, 'Freedom of religion
is written into the founding documents of the two democracies. It's part of
America's very First Amendment. Your Article 25 says that all people are
equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess,
practice and propagate religion.'
'India
will succeed so long as it is not splintered along the lines of religious faith
-- so long as it's not splintered along any lines -- and is unified as one
nation.
That
every nation is stronger when people of all faiths are free to practice their religion
free of persecution and fear and discrimination," he said.'
Not to stop at his parting comments in India,
the US President Barack Obama's reiterated
again in Washington that
religious intolerance in India would have shocked Mahatma Gandhi.
The
New York Times asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his "deafening
silence." "What will it take for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to
speak out about the mounting violence against India's religious
minorities?" asked the New York Times on Saturday in an editorial titled
"Modi's Dangerous Silence".
"Attacks
at Christian places of worship have prompted no response from the man elected
to represent and to protect all of India's citizens," said the influential
daily. "Nor has he addressed the mass conversion to Hinduism of Christians
and Muslims who have been coerced or promised money," it said.
"Modi's
continued silence before such troubling intolerance increasingly gives the
impression that he either cannot or does not wish to control the fringe
elements of the Hindu nationalist right," NYT suggested.
India has moved a long way. We are now in the 21st Century and are being viewed as a serious rising Nation in the world. He has done well on other fronts - the economy, foreign policy, governance, decision making etc. However this blot on Religious Intolerance is threatening to derail the good image & work carried out by the BJP government. Every action of ours are being scrutinised domestically and internationally. People are more connected, there is free flow of information and citizens are increasingly becoming conscious of their rights. We have the potential to become an emerging Super Power amongst the comity of nations. However we need to shape our future in a way that we will be respected for our deeds.
At this stage, Modi will have a difficult choice. He will either have to throw in
his lot with the right wing lobby, in which case he risks alienating his larger
constituency. Or he will have to rein in them, in which case he risks
antagonizing his original support base.
It
won't be easy. Mr. Prime minister, but your continued deafening silence on such important issues is sure to dent your image and ultimately cause your downfall and it will be a huge betrayal of the faith reposed on you by the millions, as you have rightly said "putting India First".
Its time you reflected and did a course correction and move to the "Development Agenda", put India's interest ahead of the right wing elements interests and ensure a Secular India where people of all faiths are free to practice their religion free of persecution and fear and discrimination.
