Can we keep it simple…..real?

In these days of cynicism, negativism, hopelessness we Indians go the usual route – search for a savior…a divine avatar..a messiah!
And yes, I am one of them – nothing wrong in admitting that we look for divine intervention in times of distress. But..that’s for another day!
These days, most of the youngsters and “right wingers” look towards Narendra Modi as that savior. We see in him something that we probably lack collectively -  a man who has the vision and the shoulders to carry our aspirations and lead the country out of the dark times.

From critics to supporters, all want an answer to the issues from the man – from agriculture to healthcare to industrial output to defence to the brick falling off from my neighbour’s wall! We feel all our answers lie in the head of this Gujarati who people love or loathe! But all this does say 1 thing, and that is that we understand we are in bad shape and need to be dug out. The first step to a solution is to accept that we have a problem at hand. May be not all of us think that we are staring at the darkest times in recent history.
For those who feel we have a problem, seem to have 1 more problem – that this ONE man will come with a magic wand and wish away all the problems and take India to heights that our founding fathers and saints saw our motherland at. Is that possible? Yes and No!
Our man has the ideas, the vision, the attitude and given the numbers would have the numbers to pull us out of the hole. Importantly, he has showcased all this in 1 state with huge results! This state has been unique, yes but then all states are uniquely unique. Gujarat always had a huge entrepreneurial class, but has had challenges in terms of water scarcity, infrastructure woes, polarization etc.

Plus, like it or not, the state has to fight the stigma of 2002 riots. That the state has had many more bloodier riots in past is conveniently forgotten but that is beside the point. But for now let us concentrate on some positives and out of box vision of our man in Gujarat:

1. From a loss making electricity board to a profit making company. 24x7 electricity in all cities, towns, villages across state


2. Vast and improved pucca road network for better maneuverability


3. Realization of the vast potential of the longest coastline of the country


4. Huge steps in promoting tourism – develop and market tourist destinations that existed for decades but were never considered for tourism


5. Realize, accept and address the problem of Sex ratio and malnutrition, on a war footing


6. Innovative ideas to help agriculture sector, help farmers with improved infrastructure and good advise


7. Promote youth activities, stress on sports


8. Huge efforts in the education sector – primary as well as university levels


9. Focus on police reforms – still a long way to go but at least it has begun


10. Vision on what the world wants and needs, focus energies in being proactive and in being ready for that next step/challenge

There are many more but am restricting myself to the above 10. Can these be repeated elsewhere? No. But yes, they can be replicated using the available resources and needs at those places!

Will that be easy? No! Will that be possible? Yes. He would need the numbers, support, luck and the political manipulations to even start working on replication of these ideas!

We are a complicated country with an even more complicated polity. We have a voter base that ranges from extremely gullible to depressingly cynical to menacingly divisive and polarizingly manipulative. How to overcome them, how to win them over is a fight for him and his party. All I know as a citizen is that in an era of cynicism our man talks of endless possibilities and inspires to realise them. In an era of cynicism he talks of hope he talks about what is positive. In an era of cynicism he talks of Hope. That is what makes him unique.
But then he is a human. He is no God who would come, wave his hand and cure all ills and put us ahead of all. As a favor to him and our own sake, let us not burden him with impossible expectations. He at best would be a facilitator to reach that ultimate goal – to dig ourselves out of a hole and progress to enable India lead the world.

We need his ideas and decisive leadership on the long route to greatness. But he doesn’t have a magic wand. He would have to do it the hard way, which would be the ideal way. It is this search for faux Gods in promising leaders that leads us into a mess! Keep it simple..keep it real!
Please let us not make a messiah out of him…messiahs end up on the cross. We need a Moses more than a Christ!

Please Upgrade to 'Bifocal' lenses..

Most on the social media have probably witnessed the seemingly antagonistic view that "right wingers" carry for the Mainstream Media. This short-of-intolerance is particularly prevalent in the younger generation of Gujarat. Ever wondered why?

The state came into existence in 1960. I am not old enough nor do I have the avenues to investigate if the earlier generations too had this grudge with the media, but then that is beside the point. What I know is that in the 80s and 90s Gujaratis were not anti-media, otr at least I never saw that feeling around. Yes, there were differences but by and large there was no animosity per se.

No, the angst of Gujaratis against the media was not a result of 2002 riots as many tend to think. The seeds were sown after the devastating earthquake of 26th Jan 2001. Thousands of people died, lakhs lost homes and livelihood and it was a picture of gloom. At a time when all that people would look for is some solace, encouragement and support from various quarters - government, NGOs, religious institutions, corporate and media - the 1 group that failed was Media.

>> The electronic media kept on showing the same scenes of destruction and gory day in and day out, as if an earthquake stuck every hour

>> There were repeated requests from the Government, Intellectuals, Psychiatrists, Civil society to stop reminding people every minute on what has struck their brethren

>> The vernacular press went the notch down - they would report of astrologers predicting earthquakes every few days. As happens after any massive earthquake, there were aftershocks all the time - some that people felt and some that they did not - so more or less the astrologers’' predictions were "true". Another cause of worry!

>> I've seen people sleeping with their shoes on in case there was a quake as they were terrified with what they had experienced and were reminded constantly

This madness went on for months. And there was a lot of political color also added as time went by.

A year later - Godhra happened - am not going into details on what happened as probably rims of newsprint and hours of airtime has already been spent on it. When Godhra happened, the electronic media kept on showing the dead bodies, the newspapers kept talking of it. When riots broke out each and every news channel worth its salt had its cameramen out there. In the garb of reporting "truth from the ground" they in fact ended stoking the flames to a large extent. It is a known fact that when a situation is fluid, rumors become truth, anything you say and show hits someone in the mind and heart - a few grieve while a few act their own way.

At this point I can't stress enough that what happened was wrong and a blot on Gujarat. I do not believe that the root cause was the media reporting. Those who rioted have wronged and must be punished.

There was a media onslaught - everyone started lambasting the riots but crossed the fine line where the Indians in Gujarat started to feel that they were being attacked personally. It was as if all Gujaratis are bloodthirsty bigots who do not want the minorities to survive. All along they kept ignoring the fact that since independence there have been umpteen communal riots and the Majority has suffered the most in those. There were areas in Amdavad where a Hindu cannot even dare think of entering - and all this before Godhra and even before Ramjanmbhoomi andolan.

All these years there would not be a single Rathyatra that would pass peacefully.

Cutting the long story short, listed below are a few points that as a Gujarati makes me "anti-media"

1. Judging every Gujarati from what media perceives are the Gandhian principles. All my life I have heard media talking on how Gujarat has moved away from Gandhian thoughts and that prohibition is just tokenism!

Why? Who are you to judge us? Yes, there are points where I do not agree with Gandhiji but that is the beauty of it. When you want to criticize Gujarat you say "Gujarat has moved away from Gandhi's ideology" but when it comes to riots you say "Muslims suffer in Gujarat" Are Muslims not Gujaratis? Do you talk of the 100s of riots where Hindus suffered? No! Because there you report "Gujarat has a history of disturbances"

2. Gujarat today adores and follows Sardar Patel more than Gandhi. What is this supposed to mean? Was Sardar Patel a crook? He followed Gandhi's principles all his life. You may agree and disagree with both. Gandhi and Sardar to me are like Ram and Krishna - the former being bound to his principles in letter and spirit, whatever the situation be, while the latter following the same principles in spirit and in a more practical way!

3. Finding faults in the Gujarati Asmita. Why? Why would you see Gujarati Asmita from the political lens? I don't need a Narendra Modi to tell me how proud I am of being an Indian and a Gujarati. But yes, it took a Narendra Modi to awaken that dormant feeling. Did he use that to his advantage? Hell yes, he did! He is a politician after all!

4. Calling Gujarat the laboratory of the Hindu radicals! By saying this you kept hammering us for years that we are radicals. A meek, docile, family and business oriented Gujarati was actually a blood thirsty political laboratory of a few radical Hindus! That I take umbrage to! Just because I do not trust the leftist, socialist ideology I become a radical! How convenient!

5. Pointing out Ghettoism of Muslims. Did this happen after 2002? NO! Juhapura exists for more than 3 decades now, so did Jamalpur, Dariapur, Astodia, Kalupur etc. And as in all major cities in the country a few groups always live in ghettos. So why blame us for that?

6. Keep pointing out year after year about 2002. The moment I feel proud of some achievement of Gujarat, I am told to shut up and look at a Juhapura to get convinced that I am wrong. Forget Narendra Modi, even if a private citizen achieves something you view it with a communal lens. Irfan and Yusuf Pathan helped win world cup and they are Muslims in communal Gujarat. Why?

7. Allegation that Modi talks of Gujarat as if it was another country! You know what, don't care what Modi thinks, I think the same. Modi might have political objectives but I don't. But when I hear Media talking of Gujarat separately from India I am hurt. When journalists write articles lambasting Gujarat's achievements, I am hurt. When Media pitches Gujarat against rest of India I am devastated.

There are hundreds of more instances. All I say is come to us, talk to us - we are not monsters. But come to us without the political lens. Yes, keep a watch on us, point out where we go wrong but without the political lens. And this is true across the spectrum - whether they are "right wingers", "left wingers", intellectuals etc. All complain that Media doesn't see anything without an agenda!

Media is the mirror of the society but do not paint it with 1 picture - see the beauty of the mirror when it goes from person to person - but for that you have to let it be...a mirror, not a portrait!

Grow up, throw out the myopic political lens - upgrade to bifocal and then you will see it is not just the food, even we Gujaratis are sweet!!

Are we helping our cause?

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?

Where and When will this End?

I must confess I am a news junkie and a compulsive tweeter (though I do NOT tweet a lot) BUT I do NOT follow any celebrity journo like Rajdeep, Barkha and do not watch any news channel. That was something I never thought I would be able to achieve in my lifetime and till a year back I would keep reading articles and see news from these "journos" despite my blood boiling with anger. Today my source of news is Twitter - of course I do venture a little in news websites sometimes :)

I am a Gujarati and was settled in Ahmedabad in 2002 - of course in a very safe area BUT could understand the pulse at that time - but that is not the topic for now - well that was a sort of a disclaimer.

Going through the tweets/news articles or comments in blogs belonging to the Right space, I get a feeling that people still do not understand the basic facts - let me rephrase "people do not WANT to understand the basic facts" -  and 1 has to keep on pleading/requesting - to read the last decade in Gujarat with a clean lens and view the riots, speed/quality of justice etc. as a simple logical issue And not complicate them with religious/political/ideological overtones.

Isn't it simple:
1. Karsevaks killed by miscreants
2. Subsequent riots by miscreants - some were enraged, some wanted to avenge a personal loss, some just wanting to take advantage
3. Administration erred, MAY BE in gauging the enormity of the situation initially, but quickly corrected it by asking for Army assistance
4. Damage appeared to have been done by rioters in very less time. But then they were dealt with strictly which is obvious with the number of Hindu deaths by police firing. KPS Gill's (a no-nonsense cop) help taken
5. Vidhan Sabha dissolved, elections held in Dec instead of July so that there is no unfair advantage to ruling party (polarization, minorities rehabilitation etc.)
6. Elections held under no-nonsense CEC Lyngdoh
7. Modi won the election with big majority
8. Commission to probe formed taking even the CM into its purview (advocated by the CM himself), led by professional and respected officers
9. NGOs filed 100s of cases in local courts, HC and SC and shifted many cases outside Gujarat
10. No evidence found by any probe against the complicity of administration
11. I am not even going into the use of victims by NGO industry (Rais Khan's story) OR the Banerjee report that tried to prove that it was a sinister Sangh ploy to kill karsevaks - that is for another day
12. Meanwhile development at full pace and another election in 2007 - this despite "sting operations" conveniently timed along with "other proofs" that are usually supposed to be "setback/blow to Modi"
13. Officers coming out of hibernation with "facts" whenever the time suits them - not in 2002 or 2003, but in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 even 2012
14. This time(2007) again a BIG win for BJP - this time no polarization, no fear in minorities etc.

15. Meanwhile progress of the state goes full steam...Industry, Agriculture, Tourism, Human Resources etc....
15. SIT supposedly finds no evidence in its probe - will know more in the coming weeks

Still, questions from both sides of the fence (and also those sitting on it) seem to be "Who decides who is guilty and who is innocent?" - read "Narendra Modi" as "who". There is no logical end to this till either side bends. Peoples' court has decided twice but it doesn't seem to have proved anything for the riot industry - for them Modi is the culprit and he has fooled everyone till now. I wonder on 1 hand these people credit the progress of Gujarat to the smart Gujjus (and I am a proud 1), not Guj Govt,  and on the other hand they feel we "smart Gujjus" can be fooled by a man for 10+ years? How ingenious! Are you trying to insult us - if so Thanks but you may STFU - if NO, still STFU!

So when and where does all this stop? Answer : Never till Modi loses an election Or is convicted by someone. Even if the judges declare his stand correct, the NGO Riot industry will always have a Sanjiv Bhatt or a Sreekumar or even dead people like Haren Pandya to "help" them. There was a day not too long ago when Political and ideological battles were fought in the real battlegrounds - Elections. Now they are being fought in the courts, print, television studios and in that sense we truly are becoming a banana republic - not as a country perhaps but definitely as the citizenry and that doesn't augur too well for the coming generations.

In democracy the people are the real Gods - janta janardan - so all I can say is "Ishwar allah tero naam, sabko sammati de bhagwaan"

I am not concerned that you have fallen..I am concerned that you arise

I have been resisting (successfully) from writing anything on the ongoing BJP

troubles, but the way everything is going I wanted to put my thoughts in

perspective...probably I can reflect back on them once the storm has died down.

2004....NDA loses the general elections to everybody's surprise..even to the

surprise of Congress. It was a loss..yes, but was manageable as the loss in seats

was not too much when compared to the results in 1999. It was mainly the loss of TDP and other regional allies that hurt the most. Vajpayee was an able leader and I'll curse my luck till I live that we did not have him as the PM again in 2004.
BJP coul not cope up with this defeat...
2009....Another general election and BJP lost it miserably. I am saying BJP and not NDA as this time BJP was the main loser. Its allies ofcourse lost but the percentage lost by BJP was higher.
The hidden volcanoes (or should I say the self-created-bloated-eog-volcanoes) erupted. Before I move further I must admit that it was wrong for Advani to continue as the Opposition leader. he should have taken responsibility and made way to the next generation. It would have sent ht right message to party cadres and would have also pressurised Rajnath to step down.
Ok...Jaswant and Jinnah, Yashwant and his big mouth etc....all this has happened. Jaswant was expelled..I regard him high for his abilities both as external affairs minister and finance minister. But his Jinnah book was not meant for Indian politics. The political(and read Media here too) cannot separate personal academic intersts and politics. He had to go and he was expelled...what caused the furore was that he was expelled by a leadership that itself had little moral authority to do so.
Yashwant has been 1 of the most opportune politicians...BJP would do good to rid him too...I would still keep Arun Shourie as he is an intelligent and well read man and has interest of the country and the party.

After all the hue and cry came Mohanrao Bhagwat. Mediamen pounced on him at a press conference in New Delhi. What role does RSS play here...what was RSS doing for BJP...like a pack on hungry wolves they pounced on him..but to his credit he didn't give anything to them and nor to the congress.

whatever happens now...I just want to keep Bhagwat in the picture. BJP leadership should have done what Bhagwat did all these years. The main problem with BJP is that there are too many mouths that want to speak and theya re eager to say what the media wants...gullible to an extent. Why not have designated people who are calm, composed and give out things only that they want to....let them assume whatever they want but dont blurt out whatever....

I am 100% confident that BJP is going to come out of this mess...leaner and stronger..with a more focussed leadership. Let Rajnath go into the shadows...let Advani guide as a mentor..he has been good at it and ma sure he will still be able to do it..after all I find his contribution bigger than Vajpayee's when it comes to building the party. Let someone like Jaitley, Swaraj, Shourie, Khanduri, Raman Singh, Shivraj, Modi take up the leadership....BUT with a goal to REbuild the party..
India needs a very strong opposition...specially with Congress ruling the country in a dangerous fashion. 5 years gives enough time to refocus...take each assembly election as the stepping stone...exepriment in the assembly elections...choose the right allies...play it alone in states where allies are not reliable...BJP has paid the price more because of the follies of its allies than because of itself (excpet in 2009). Build  base....in fact the base is already there...just bring confidence back into them. Let India be stronger with a strong party.

 

Note:

Subject line quote by Abraham Lincoln