Sunday, September 15, 2013

For a change, lessons in SECULARISM from...

Just read Narendra Modi's speech at the Rewari (Haryana) rally today (Sept 15) at the NDTV website. The rally was largely attended by ex-servicemen. The man knows how to touch a chord in his audience. But for the discerning the contradictions are too obvious to miss.

At the Rewari rally, Modi said he has been in love with the Army since he was in Class VI. Then he gave a lesson in secularism to politicians: "I would like to tell the politicians who want to divide India into small groups... there is no bigger example of secularism than the armed forces".

Now see the contradiction, despite his life-long love for the Army and its secularism, he did not seem to have learned how to truly implement Army's secularism in governance. Otherwise, the post-Godhara riots (2002) would not have happened. Another reflection on Modi's 'secular' thinking: His government has gone up to the Supreme Court to justify its decision of not implementing the Centre's pre-matriculation scholarship scheme for students from minority communities. The Supreme Court has refused to stay Gujarat HC's order to the Gujarat govt to implement the scheme.  

One also finds it difficult to digest Modi's advice on secularism in view of his justification of voter polarization in his July 12 interview to Reuters. To the question "Allies and people within the BJP say you are too polarizing a figure", Modi had replied: "In America if there is no polarization between Democrats and Republicans, then how would democracy work?" But here, an obvious poser is: Have we ever seen the Democratic-Republican polarization leading to riots like we have just winessed in Muzaffarnagar (UP)?

I have another poser to the  new 'secularist avatar' of Modi: Why all these 60 years, BJP did not embrace Muslims? Because it made it easy for Saffron leaders to charge non-Saffron political parties of Muslim appeasement.

At the rally, Modi also congratulated the Indian scientists for the successful test-firing of the Agni-V ballistic missile in the morning. Here the discerning would have a poser: Was it possible for India to become a nuclear power and successfully launch many Agni series missiles without the suitable policies and encouragement of scientists by successive Congress governments. Modi, please give the credit to the 'Devil' where it is due.

To touch a chord in the Rewari audience, Modi also presented the following appealing facts of his humble background:
  • I was in Class 6 and belonged to a poor family. I had not seen 2 rupees together. I saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a sainik school
  • I saved Rs. 2 , and went to the post office for the first time. I got the prospectus from the school. Serving the country meant joining the Army
  • I asked my father for money to travel to the sainik school, but my father said  we did not have the means.
Believing the above facts, one expects Modi to be well aware of the miserable life of the poor. But he and his party criticized the Congress govt for its haste in bringing the Food Security Bill for ensuring two square meals to the poor. This was pure politicization of a much needed legislation, which resembles in great measure with the Food and Nutrition Act 2012 passed by BJP government in Chhattisgarh. This act covers almost the entire Chhattisgarh — 90 per cent of its population. Though this Act was passed only last year, the Chhattisgarh government has been providing highly subsidized food to the poor, as has been envisaged in the Central Food Security Act, for many years now.

Today as the common man is reeling under high inflation, and most urban Indians seem to detest the Congress because of the alleged UPA–II scams, whatever Modi says is taken as gospel truth. The Congress attempts to put record straight mostly fall on deaf ears. 

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