'MODIFICATION' OF POLITICS: Sudden removal of Modi
Karan Thapar
December 29, 2007
The Hindustan Times
Narendra Modi's stunning victory will change Indian politics decisively, perhaps dramatically, possibly desperately. I have no doubt it's a turning point. Actually, it will amount to several turning points. For the Congress and for the Left, just as much as for the BJP and the NDA.
First the BJP. Nothing has galvanised the party so comprehensively since Advani's rathyatra of 1989, imbuing it with a sense of hope, even a sense of purpose. In Modi, the BJP has discovered three elements it was anxiously searching for -- leadership, issues to stand for and the first hope that it can win a majority on its own.
Of course, Advani will continue as its prime ministerial candidate, but Modi is the future. The
succession is settled. No other second generation leader can match him. And as for the argument that Modi cannot take centrestage in Delhi because the NDA allies won't accept him, the counter is that with Modi at the helm, the BJP could attempt to win on its own. The NDA may no longer be critical.
The key question is can Moditva work outside Gujarat? It depends on how you define it. If you believe it combines strong personal leadership and integrity, with an appeal to regional pride or robust nationalism -- admittedly with strong communal undertones -- and a stress on development, I see no reason why it can't translate throughout the country. Even the fact that it alienates minorities is counterbalanced by div the promise of uniting Hindus as never before. And if in Gujarat it could cut across divisions of caste, wealth and location, then it can hope to do so elsewhere as well. Modi and Moditva is, therefore, the facing the Congress, the UPA and the Left. I don't deny it has to be fought ideologically, but that also calls for the projection of a single personality who, in herself, embodies the fight. She has to rival Modi's appeal --both his magnetism and his myth -- and symbolise the alternate vision.
Perhaps there is only one person who can do that. The pronoun 'she' was used deliberately. It's Sonia Gandhi. It may be an irony that an Italian-born woman, a widow who till 1998 detested politics, should transform into one of the twin poles of Indian politics, but it could also be an inescapable fact. No other person from the anti-BJP parties has the appeal or the nation-wide to rival Modi.
Only the sudden removal of Narendra Modi can stop this. For he is the agent forcing this change. And whilst he's with us, he will do just that. I have no doubt Indian politics after Sunday the 23rd is another country. We have to live with new challenges. Some of us have to accept new leaders.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Why Hindus Love Modi
Why Modi appeals to Hindus all over the world?
B Raman December 24, 2007 rediff.com
Maut ka Saudagar', 'Liar', 'the Ugly Indian' etc etc etc.
All the kind of epithets, the likes of which till now used to come easily out of President George Bush's mouth and the pens of his neo conservative supporters.
Mr Bush should be worried that he has now a growing number of competitors in the coining of demonising epithets in the community of the self-styled secularists of India.
What epithets they did not use against Narendra Modi for the last five years and particularly in the weeks before the election to the Gujarat legislative assembly, in which the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party won a spectacular victory despite the best (or worst) efforts of these self-styled secularists to demonise him day in and day out!
The pathological dislike -- even hatred -- that some of our journalists -- particularly in the electronic media -- have for Modi could be seen or sensed as one watched the television coverage of the counting of votes on December 23.
Initially, as it appeared that the BJP might not do well in the final tally, there was excitement among many television anchors. They thought they had tasted blood. After an hour, the BJP candidates started racing ahead and it became clear the the Congress was in for a drubbing.
The disappointment on the faces of some of the anchors was to be seen to be believed. A star lady anchor could not help remarking: 'Modi might be able to win the elections in Gujarat, but he still can't get a visa to go to the US and other Western countries.' Some consolation!
Instead of spending their time searching for abusive expressions in the dictionary and in their copy-book of such expressions, if these self-styled secularists had only visited the Web sites, discussion groups and blogspots of members of the Hindu community not only in India, but also in other countries of the world -- particularly in the US -- they would have noticed something, which might have given them cause for introspection.
They would have noticed that Modi is becoming the icon of a growing number of Hindus not only in India, but also in the Hindu Diaspora spread across the world. The support for him is not confined only to the Gujarati-speaking Hindus of the world. It is spread right across the Hindu spectrum -- whatever be the language or ethnicity or place of origin of the Hindus concerned.
They would have noticed that in the Hindu Diaspora in the West, more young people admire Modi than grown-ups. Many of his young admirers in the US were born and brought up there and had the benefit of the best of secular education. In spite of this, there is a sense of pride in them that the Hindu community has at long last produced a leader of the calibre of Modi.
What is it they see in him?
His simple and austere living of the kind associated with the late Kamaraj of Tamil Nadu, but not seen in the leaders of today?
His reputation as an incorruptible politician, the likes of which is not found anywhere in India, not even in his own party? ",
His style of development-oriented governance, which even his detractors do not hesitate to praise?
The fruits of his policy, which Gujarat and its people are already enjoying?
His tough stance on terrorism?
His lucid-thinking on matters concerning our national security?
His defiance in the face of the greatest campaign of demonisation mounted against him, the likes of which only Indira Gandhi had faced from her political opponents and sections of the media in the 1970s?
All these are factors, which influence their favourable perception of him, and which have already been highlighted and analysed in the articles on\nhis impressive election victory. But there is one factor, which is more important than these and which has not found mention in the analyses.
That is, for large sections of the Hindus -- young and old, even more among the young than among the old -- he gave them a sense of pride in their identity as Hindus. They feel that he removed from their minds long habits of defensiveness as Hindus carefully nurtured by the self-styled secularists.
As if to proclaim one's Hindu identity and to assert one's rights as Hindus in their own homeland in which they are in a vast majority (80 per cent of the population) is to be communal, is to become an ugly Indian.
For these self-styled secularists, a pretty Indian is a Hindu, who is all the time on the defensive, fights shy of proclaiming his Hindu personality and asserting his rights as a member of the majority community. ",
B Raman December 24, 2007 rediff.com
Maut ka Saudagar', 'Liar', 'the Ugly Indian' etc etc etc.
All the kind of epithets, the likes of which till now used to come easily out of President George Bush's mouth and the pens of his neo conservative supporters.
Mr Bush should be worried that he has now a growing number of competitors in the coining of demonising epithets in the community of the self-styled secularists of India.
What epithets they did not use against Narendra Modi for the last five years and particularly in the weeks before the election to the Gujarat legislative assembly, in which the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party won a spectacular victory despite the best (or worst) efforts of these self-styled secularists to demonise him day in and day out!
The pathological dislike -- even hatred -- that some of our journalists -- particularly in the electronic media -- have for Modi could be seen or sensed as one watched the television coverage of the counting of votes on December 23.
Initially, as it appeared that the BJP might not do well in the final tally, there was excitement among many television anchors. They thought they had tasted blood. After an hour, the BJP candidates started racing ahead and it became clear the the Congress was in for a drubbing.
The disappointment on the faces of some of the anchors was to be seen to be believed. A star lady anchor could not help remarking: 'Modi might be able to win the elections in Gujarat, but he still can't get a visa to go to the US and other Western countries.' Some consolation!
Instead of spending their time searching for abusive expressions in the dictionary and in their copy-book of such expressions, if these self-styled secularists had only visited the Web sites, discussion groups and blogspots of members of the Hindu community not only in India, but also in other countries of the world -- particularly in the US -- they would have noticed something, which might have given them cause for introspection.
They would have noticed that Modi is becoming the icon of a growing number of Hindus not only in India, but also in the Hindu Diaspora spread across the world. The support for him is not confined only to the Gujarati-speaking Hindus of the world. It is spread right across the Hindu spectrum -- whatever be the language or ethnicity or place of origin of the Hindus concerned.
They would have noticed that in the Hindu Diaspora in the West, more young people admire Modi than grown-ups. Many of his young admirers in the US were born and brought up there and had the benefit of the best of secular education. In spite of this, there is a sense of pride in them that the Hindu community has at long last produced a leader of the calibre of Modi.
What is it they see in him?
His simple and austere living of the kind associated with the late Kamaraj of Tamil Nadu, but not seen in the leaders of today?
His reputation as an incorruptible politician, the likes of which is not found anywhere in India, not even in his own party? ",
His style of development-oriented governance, which even his detractors do not hesitate to praise?
The fruits of his policy, which Gujarat and its people are already enjoying?
His tough stance on terrorism?
His lucid-thinking on matters concerning our national security?
His defiance in the face of the greatest campaign of demonisation mounted against him, the likes of which only Indira Gandhi had faced from her political opponents and sections of the media in the 1970s?
All these are factors, which influence their favourable perception of him, and which have already been highlighted and analysed in the articles on\nhis impressive election victory. But there is one factor, which is more important than these and which has not found mention in the analyses.
That is, for large sections of the Hindus -- young and old, even more among the young than among the old -- he gave them a sense of pride in their identity as Hindus. They feel that he removed from their minds long habits of defensiveness as Hindus carefully nurtured by the self-styled secularists.
As if to proclaim one's Hindu identity and to assert one's rights as Hindus in their own homeland in which they are in a vast majority (80 per cent of the population) is to be communal, is to become an ugly Indian.
For these self-styled secularists, a pretty Indian is a Hindu, who is all the time on the defensive, fights shy of proclaiming his Hindu personality and asserting his rights as a member of the majority community. ",
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)