I belong to the right, the center of right. In a country like ours it is not easy to accept and fathom this fact with the kind of secularism and communalism being practiced – thanks to social media the community now at least knows that there are enough intellectuals on the Right.
India, our motherland, has always been a complex culture that has intrigued the world for centuries and continues to do so. Be it the definitions and battle between Dharma and Adharma 5000 years back, the misinterpretation and exploitation of caste system, the battles within the Hindu religion, forming of alternate paths like Buddhism and Jainism, the battle with foreign invaders from Alexander to Nadir Shah to Ghazni, Mughals, Portugese, British and so on - we have always kept things "interesting". But we have always survived albeit with changes in our culture – while maintaining the essence of the past - which is the real beauty of our land. Post- independence, and especially in the last 3 decades we have seen a vehement debate, discourse and sometimes violence between the citizenry - although most of times driven by politicians. But then I don't want to digress from topic.
In the last few decades we have seen a very obscene form of secularism, which is always unjust to 1 group. Secularism can never be selective and subjective.- it has to be just and tolerant to ALL groups. The history of the world shows that real Secularism can be practiced and citizens can live a peaceful and progressive life when the majority asserts itself without suppressing the minorities - and THAT is an extremely tight rope to walk. On the other hand taking the majority for granted, dividing them and then appeasing the minorities is a very old political trick that has worked, especially in India and still works.
It is under this pretext that having a strong “Right” is extremely important. What side of “Right” one belongs to is again subjective but not as subjective as the interpretation of secularism – because at least the ones on Right agree that they are on “Right”. Today, for most “Hindu Rights” there is 1 messiah - for the lack of a better word - who is the need of the time – Narendra Damodar Modi – and there is almost no doubt in this. Modi represents the Right. He has worked for the progress of Gujarat in the last decade, more importantly he has worked at the grass root levels before the Gujarat miracle and has proven himself to be an excellent administrator both pre and post Gujarat story.
At the risk of being proven wrong and facing some vociferous rebuttals, I write this. Are we- Modi fans – really helping him? He has contributed immensely in the growth story, his vision has worked miracles and his political and administrative will has made many unthinkable things happen easily. BUT we, Namo fans also know that he is excellent at marketing things – and of course it is EXTREMELY important aspect. Not all that is being marketed would be true in spirit. Statistics are always double sided – as it goes “There are lies, damned lies and statistics”. A new set of statistics are thrown out from every side every day. For the very same parameter you see different sets of statistics with a different (hidden) context in the background. Modi churns out a few numbers that get rebuffed by the opposition and then there are rebuttals and further rebuttals and it goes on. That is an important battle that we need to continue to play though. What the Modi-baiters are doing is repeat the lies time and again till they wear the garb of Truth in the minds of the citizens – it requires strong rebuttal every time but with restraint. What we also need is to create a positive feelings in the minds of the fence sitters. Why alienate these fence sitters by responding violently to the baiters?
What is appreciated in the “Right” is the center not the extreme Right and definitely not the extreme Left. BUT, are we becoming sycophants? This is a question I have been asking myself for the last few months. Is everything that Modi does Gold? Can’t he falter? Can he never take a wrong decision? Do we really believe there is absolutely no corruption in Gujarat? Are all ministers as upright as the leader? Agreed that Modi is not corrupt and he doesn’t allow corruption around him, he has taken measures to curb corruption but then no system in the world is incorruptible. Modi has displayed in abundance something that is the need of the hour for the whole nation – GOVERNANCE. That is what we want for the whole nation and that is what we Modi fans need to propagate in his favor, spread the word, convince our peers, friends, families. Why should we keep Modi restricted to the Right? The whole nation needs him. But let us please NOT paint a picture that shows that everything will be rosy once he is the PM. The situation is so rotten that whoever has the right intentions has to first stem the rot and that is going to take more than 5 years. Once the rot stems, then the progress starts. There is also the compulsion of coalition, other pressures under which Modi has to work.
As fans we need to keep him true, we need to keep our own feelings and expectations true. We need to promote his works and his vision but also keep him informed on the fallacies. That would be the real help. Even Bhagat Singh, while fighting the British first tried to bring his house in order by promoting unity, removing social evils, working on the ills that were not the works of the British. Same goes for Gandhi, Ambedkar, all true leaders.
Why should we catch the baits floated around by vested interests? Why abuse journalists, think tanks, intellectuals who are anti-Modi? Why not debate logically? I am not generalizing but this seems be a trend now. 1 day a columnist/journalist/TT is showered with praises by us for writing something very anti-UPA or for writing something good for Modi. The next time he/she writes something against Modi we abuse him! Why abuse someone like Praful Bidwai or Arundhati who are known to be extreme lefts? Why provide gas to these empty running think tanks?
Are we helping our choice of leader (Modi) by forcing him as a Messiah and a solution to all problems? Is our “sycophancy” hurting Modi? Are we spending more energy on negative debates than creating a positive atmosphere for him? Are we keeping him true as our leader – more importantly are we keeping our expectations and hopes honest & true?
