Why should I? Why should I have to become an admirer of Narendra Modi today? Can a win in an election glorify the horrific past of someone? Can this popular verdict legitimize the inaction of the state administration which was headed by Modi, when it's cities were burning in the fire of post Godhara riots? Do we have to forget Modi's inflammatory statement 'Every action has it's equal and opposite reaction' to support the riot in the state? Do we have to forget the massacre of Naroda Patiya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naroda_Patiya_massacre) conducted by BJP and Bajrang Dal and a Nero watching the show as the Chief Minister of the state? Do we have to forget Prime Minister Vajpayee's advise to Modi to follow the 'Rajdharma' when he visited Gujarat following the riots? Do we have to forget Modi's 'puppy analogy' to show his 'kind heart' for the riot victims of 2002?
My criticism of Modi has not become untrue for a single moment just because he has won a popular election. I have always been a critic of Modi and shall always remain one. Pre Second World War Germany also had seen an Adolf Hitler rising to power (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Rise_to_power), we know the history thereafter. Definitely, there are differences between Hitler's and Modi's rise to power. But can we shut our eyes at the glaring similarities?
It is a fact that the country is fed up of rampant corruption especially during the UPA government, a change was very much the need of the hour, there is no question about it. The leadership-less-ness in the outgoing government had paved the way for a Modi to rise to power. And history knows that all the fascists, dictators around the world rose to power at the times of crisis. That is why Modi's rise to power has lot to do with an inefficient government at the center. There was the obvious question, what was the way forward in such a scenario had we not chosen Modi as the leader, no one had a convincing answer to that. Many people like me had showered criticism on Modi in every manner possible. But what everyone failed to explain was the alternative choice. But, is it not an undemocratic demand to stop criticizing Modi because there is no leader to challenge him today? It is not that we do not have leaders in the country, but it is a fact that no one else was able to market himself / herself the way Modi did.
No other leader was able to match up Modi's campaign machinery supported by a powerful group of crony capitalists during the election process. We have never seen such a non-ending flow of money during one election campaign in the country. The way Modi and his propaganda machinery performed that was astonishing and that reminds me of the Propaganda Minister of Hitler, Joseph Goebbels. Modi's propaganda machinery has learnt a lot from the books of Joseph Goebbels, in many areas Modi's machinery has in fact outperformed Goebbels' machinery.
They have transformed lies into truth. They have fooled people with a fake story of progress and development in Gujarat. The state has gone down in some of the most important Human Development Indexes during Modi's rule. Today the school drop out rate in the state is higher than the average all India rate. The percentage of non availability of doctors in Government Health Centers in Gujarat is higher than the National percentage. The state government does not seem to be the interested about the infant death ratio in the state, this is another area the state's performance has gone down during Modi's regime. Gujarat's performance in developing the lives of religious minorities, tribals and OBCs has again gone down during Modi's tenure as it's Chief Minister.
Agriculture is something Modi seems to hate a lot, that is the reason the state's once famous agricultural belt Saurastra is the least looked after region today. Modi's dis-likeness of the small scale industries is a matter of reality check of the Gujaratis, the benefits they used to enjoy once from the state government as subsidies are almost nil today. But is that a policy adopted by the State Government? The facts at least do not support that. If your surname is Ambani or Adani, probably you would see altogether a different story i.e. an industry friendly Government in the state. When Kejriwal accuses Modi for only developing the lives of the Ambanis and the Adanis, is that a subversion of facts? Is it not a fact that Adani has become a filthy rich person today because of a friendly state government that had sold lands to him at a throwaway price? Is that not a loss to the exchequer? Why is Modi silent on the gas pricing issue allegedly benifiting the Ambani owned Reliance Industries? Modi mocks his critics at every possible opportunity, we are yet to see his 'funny' side on the debate of gas pricing issue.
The banks of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad is free of slum dwellers today, they have been moved out of the city so that it can get a 'modern' outlook to be presented to the world. Is this the way a government should deal with poverty? I am sorry Mr. Modi, suppressing poverty can make your city look better, but that is again a fake story of prosperity of your city. How can a city be a modern one where there still exists ghettos of religious minorities? Yes, it is a fact that till date, Hindus and Muslims live in separate localities in the so called 21st century 'modern' city of India - Ahmedabad. And many people in the power house TV channels were announcing that Ahmedabad has forgotten it's wounds of 2002.
There is no shortage of TV anchors who are asking for an apology from Modi about the 2002 riots. I do not care about the idea of any such hypothetical 'apology'. I do not think, any sensitive person on earth would care either. The person who had presided over a state that had seen inaction of it's administration during the post Godhara riots, does not deserve any pardon.
Let us think what the Modi led government going to present to the people. It is definitely going to be a big industry house friendly government. If Modi's track record as the Chief Minister of Gujarat is the standard to asses what we are going to get from him (as I have explained so far) the lives of the maximum of the common man do not seem to make any improvement in my opinion. I am most concerned about citizens' rights to voice their opinion when Modi is at power. The signs of a fascist regime are already out even before Modi taking oath as the Prime Minister of India. Kejriwal's and one Devu Chodankar's (of Goa) arrests are the very first signals of intolerance of the government we are going to get. I totally support Kejriwal's decision not to pay the bond amount to get bail. Why should he? Why should a government be so intolerant to put someone behind the bars for an old petty case like criticizing a powerful politician of the newly elected party at the center? So, do they expect us to be mute spectators? It is a common fact that politicians across party lines do attack the opponents, if we do not have a sensitive government in power to deal with such verbal doses that's clearly the signals of a dictatorial regime. Losing rights to criticize a government is the death of democracy. And, we do not want to be taught what is right criticism and what is not.
I am not sure how long I would be able to remain a Modi critic in such a time!!
My criticism of Modi has not become untrue for a single moment just because he has won a popular election. I have always been a critic of Modi and shall always remain one. Pre Second World War Germany also had seen an Adolf Hitler rising to power (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler#Rise_to_power), we know the history thereafter. Definitely, there are differences between Hitler's and Modi's rise to power. But can we shut our eyes at the glaring similarities?
It is a fact that the country is fed up of rampant corruption especially during the UPA government, a change was very much the need of the hour, there is no question about it. The leadership-less-ness in the outgoing government had paved the way for a Modi to rise to power. And history knows that all the fascists, dictators around the world rose to power at the times of crisis. That is why Modi's rise to power has lot to do with an inefficient government at the center. There was the obvious question, what was the way forward in such a scenario had we not chosen Modi as the leader, no one had a convincing answer to that. Many people like me had showered criticism on Modi in every manner possible. But what everyone failed to explain was the alternative choice. But, is it not an undemocratic demand to stop criticizing Modi because there is no leader to challenge him today? It is not that we do not have leaders in the country, but it is a fact that no one else was able to market himself / herself the way Modi did.
No other leader was able to match up Modi's campaign machinery supported by a powerful group of crony capitalists during the election process. We have never seen such a non-ending flow of money during one election campaign in the country. The way Modi and his propaganda machinery performed that was astonishing and that reminds me of the Propaganda Minister of Hitler, Joseph Goebbels. Modi's propaganda machinery has learnt a lot from the books of Joseph Goebbels, in many areas Modi's machinery has in fact outperformed Goebbels' machinery.
They have transformed lies into truth. They have fooled people with a fake story of progress and development in Gujarat. The state has gone down in some of the most important Human Development Indexes during Modi's rule. Today the school drop out rate in the state is higher than the average all India rate. The percentage of non availability of doctors in Government Health Centers in Gujarat is higher than the National percentage. The state government does not seem to be the interested about the infant death ratio in the state, this is another area the state's performance has gone down during Modi's regime. Gujarat's performance in developing the lives of religious minorities, tribals and OBCs has again gone down during Modi's tenure as it's Chief Minister.
Agriculture is something Modi seems to hate a lot, that is the reason the state's once famous agricultural belt Saurastra is the least looked after region today. Modi's dis-likeness of the small scale industries is a matter of reality check of the Gujaratis, the benefits they used to enjoy once from the state government as subsidies are almost nil today. But is that a policy adopted by the State Government? The facts at least do not support that. If your surname is Ambani or Adani, probably you would see altogether a different story i.e. an industry friendly Government in the state. When Kejriwal accuses Modi for only developing the lives of the Ambanis and the Adanis, is that a subversion of facts? Is it not a fact that Adani has become a filthy rich person today because of a friendly state government that had sold lands to him at a throwaway price? Is that not a loss to the exchequer? Why is Modi silent on the gas pricing issue allegedly benifiting the Ambani owned Reliance Industries? Modi mocks his critics at every possible opportunity, we are yet to see his 'funny' side on the debate of gas pricing issue.
The banks of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad is free of slum dwellers today, they have been moved out of the city so that it can get a 'modern' outlook to be presented to the world. Is this the way a government should deal with poverty? I am sorry Mr. Modi, suppressing poverty can make your city look better, but that is again a fake story of prosperity of your city. How can a city be a modern one where there still exists ghettos of religious minorities? Yes, it is a fact that till date, Hindus and Muslims live in separate localities in the so called 21st century 'modern' city of India - Ahmedabad. And many people in the power house TV channels were announcing that Ahmedabad has forgotten it's wounds of 2002.
There is no shortage of TV anchors who are asking for an apology from Modi about the 2002 riots. I do not care about the idea of any such hypothetical 'apology'. I do not think, any sensitive person on earth would care either. The person who had presided over a state that had seen inaction of it's administration during the post Godhara riots, does not deserve any pardon.
Let us think what the Modi led government going to present to the people. It is definitely going to be a big industry house friendly government. If Modi's track record as the Chief Minister of Gujarat is the standard to asses what we are going to get from him (as I have explained so far) the lives of the maximum of the common man do not seem to make any improvement in my opinion. I am most concerned about citizens' rights to voice their opinion when Modi is at power. The signs of a fascist regime are already out even before Modi taking oath as the Prime Minister of India. Kejriwal's and one Devu Chodankar's (of Goa) arrests are the very first signals of intolerance of the government we are going to get. I totally support Kejriwal's decision not to pay the bond amount to get bail. Why should he? Why should a government be so intolerant to put someone behind the bars for an old petty case like criticizing a powerful politician of the newly elected party at the center? So, do they expect us to be mute spectators? It is a common fact that politicians across party lines do attack the opponents, if we do not have a sensitive government in power to deal with such verbal doses that's clearly the signals of a dictatorial regime. Losing rights to criticize a government is the death of democracy. And, we do not want to be taught what is right criticism and what is not.
I am not sure how long I would be able to remain a Modi critic in such a time!!
